How the world began
There have been many theories about the creation of the world over the ages, but one seems to be most commonly accepted: The tale of two Gods, the creator and the destroyer. In many parts of the world, this story is common knowledge, propagated by the teachings of the Church, as well as the Mer'anin and Vor'anin.
The tale describes two opposing deities (or principles), pitted against each other in perpetuity. One is Iaoth (The Creator, Wisdom, the good, the just, life, order). The other is Ophiel (The Destroyer, The Dark One, Ignorance, the bad,the unjust, chaos, death).
The Tale of Iaoth and Ophiel
"From eternity came a divine, eternal being, Iaoth. Iaoth created the Angels to love him. But one of the Angels, Ophiel, stopped loving Iaoth and fell from his grace. In his hate, Ophiel consumed the other Angels and through that process gained power to rival Iaoth.
Where Iaoth was lofty, enlightened, full of omniscience and goodness, Ophiel was debased, in darkness, full of aggressiveness and ignorance. Through his omniscience, Iaoth conceived and actualized the Creation and Time, because only these could offer him an arena in which to fight Ophiel and defeat him.
And defeat him he did, confining him in a prison outside of Creation and Time, isolated for eternity. But Ophiel was crafty. During their confrontation, he created the mortal body. He injured Iaoth and infused the mortal body with Iaoth's and his own essense, creating mortal souls. This is how the first mortals came into being, evolving over millennia into the primival races of the world - humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, giants and gnomes.
Mortal souls are eternally drawn to Ophiel. There will come a time when mortals will free Ophiel from his prison to once again combat the Creator. That is when Iaoth will eliminate Ophiel and with him, all of humanity."
Some scholars believe there might be a third force in play, trying to prevent Ophiel and Iaoth's final confrontation from taking place. That force is simply known as "The Balance", and followers of this school of thought pose that Ophiel and Iaoth's battle has nearly reached its conclusion many times through the millennia. Iaoth has never been able to eliminate Ophiel (and humanity) thanks to The Balance's intervention.
Our Creator, Iaoth
Not much is known about Iaoth's true nature. While many mortals claim to have heard the voices of divine beings, or seen visions of the divine, the entities referenced hearken back to one or more of the saints (or
Aes Volari , rather than the creator entity itself. In ancient texts and in religious tradition, Iaoth is depicted as a vast, unknowable yet all-knowing entity. It is far outside the scope of mortal minds to comprehend in full and there are no instances in which the entity itself comes in direct contact with mortals. In fact, the opposite is true. In all religious tales passed down through the generations, Iaoth only ever concerns itself with its fight against Ophiel and appears to pay no heed to the actions or the lives of mortals, or even gods of the world.
One thing is undisputed no matter where you are in the Realm: Iaoth is the chief of all Gods, the strongest, most important force for good in the cosmos. Since Iaoth is credited with the creation of everything that is around us, the people across the realms attribute most things that are good and beautiful to him. Common folk will pray to Iaoth often and will revere it as the God above all other Gods or saints.
Ophiel, the Destroyer
Similarly to the Creator, the Destroyer entity is described as equally unknowable and outside the scope of mortal understanding. Ophiel is the literal opposite of the creator, and it is an entity to be feared. Despite being trapped in a faraway prison of the Creator's making, it can still touch the world from time to time, so people attribute everything that is evil and impure to Ophiel's influence. Since the destroyer is credited with creating mortal souls, most people are aware that mortals are as capable of evil deeds as Ophiel - albeit at a smaller scale.
While the
Aes Volari 's ascention to godhood is a relatively recent event, and the breaking of the world and subsequent imprisonment of the Exiled Ones even more recent, many associate the Exiled Ones with the Destroyer. It is commonly believed that the Exiled Ones are corrupt saints, who sought to free the Destroyer from his prison, and thus were punished by their peers.
The Balance and Neutrality
And here, my brothers and sisters in the Light, is where we must go beyond the teachings of the Dualistic faith, for the story is incomplete. If the Creator made Creation as a battleground in which to fight Ophiel, why stop at the latter's imprisonment and not its complete destruction? Why not release Ophiel from its prison, only to finish it off once and for all? If mortals are a tool in Ophiel's plans, why not eradicate all mortal life? Would that not be a decisive blow in favor of Iaoth?
There must have been something that stayed Iaoth's hand at the moment of victory. A force equally powerful, that does not wish to see the conflict between the Creator and the Destroyer finished. A force wise enough to realize that creation, in all its beauty, could not exist without the push and pull of good and evil sourced from the two divine beings.
To this day, since time immemmorial, that third force strives to keep Iaoth content and Ophiel in check, so that their conflict may never reach its conclusion. Because of this monumental balancing act, we name it The Cosmic Balance.
And so, there are three divine beings in play. Our Triadic Luminary Faith provides a more balanced view of the divine struggle.— Father Sebastian on the main difference between the dualistic and triadic Luminary beliefs
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