The Beginning

Summary

The Beginning

At first there was nothing but darkness, except for an everburning flame and a block of ice. Over eons of time these circled closer and closer together until the fire melted the ice and the great cow Adhumbla was released from her former prison. The milk that flowed out of her utters created the cosmos as is known today. The water from the ice fell into a large dark pit, where it formed together with the milk of Adhumbla, creating Ymir the first frost giant. After becoming old and strong enough Ymir was able to crawl out of this dark pit and was met with the beautiful lights that Adhumbla had created. He searched for her and when they finally met they mated and the first Gods were born. They got a total of 13 children:

Vilya: female, married to Aruk, goddess of fertility

Aruk: male, married to Vilya, god of growth

Trago: male, married to Ericha, god of the underworld

Ericha: female, married to Trago, goddess of diseases

Vana: female, married to Echelon, goddess of nature

Echelon: male, married to Vana, god of the sun

Allea: female, married to Brego, goddess of the moon

Brego: male, married to Allea, god of the hunt

Kiera: gender-fluid, married to Pakhta, god(dess) of healing

Pakhta: hermaphrodite, married to Kiera, god(dess) of physical pleasures

Emusica: female, married to Slavoc, goddess of music

Slavoc: male, married to Emusica, god of the stars

The Raven Queen: female, her true name lost to time, goddess of memories

The Gods had gotten the powers off creation from their parents and they spread around the cosmos to create life of their own, whilst their parents retreated into a still dark corner. The Gods all worked together to create life in many shapes and forms, creating mountains and oceans, plants and trees and animals. Putting a piece of themselves in every creation they made. The immense powers and magic flowing through the cosmos came together in a big bang and a new species arose, one that the Gods had not intended to create. These creatures were known as the Titans and soon the Gods found out that these creations were strong, stronger than the Gods themselves.

Scared for their lives the Gods retreated back to the cosmos where they started to mate with each other, resulting in many children. A couple of these children are still known today by name. The most prominent ones being Zeus, Odhinn, Thor, Freyja, Aphrodite, Loki, Hera, Apollo and many more. This second generation of Gods saw what their parents had done and decided to use their powers to create new life in their own image. The first of them were the Elves, creatures of near perfection in the eyes of the Gods. That is until the Goddess Lolth corrupted them and manipulated them into having corporeal forms. Outraged by this, the Elves were cut off from entering Heaven and cursed to reincarnate, remembering their past lives and time in Heaven until they come off age.

After this betrayal the Dwarves were created, as complete and total opposites of the Elves. These were a much sturdier race, with a mind of their own and a stubborness that was nearly unmatched. This, however, created strife between the two races that now existed. The Dwarves hated the Elves for coming first. Finding them arrogant and aloof. Whereas the Elves hated the Dwarves fort heir blatant disrespect for nature, their stubborness and their major distrust towards anyone. This caused a war between the Dwarves and the Elves, which was not good for the Gods who needed numbers to be able to fight against the evergrowing threat of the Titans.

To try and create a balance between these two existing races the Gods introduced the Human race. At first it seemed like an experiment doomed to fail. The humans were weaker in almost every aspect compared to the Elves and Dwarves, not to mention their much shorter lifespans. However, the humans proved to be far more resilient than the Elves and Dwarves thought. Humans reflected the everchanging nature of the Gods better. With this third race that was mostly friendly with both the Dwarves and the Elves, a sort of balance was reached and the Gods were finally able to amass a great force to fight against the Titans.

Having numbers on their side a battle for life itself ensued between the Gods and the Titans. This battle is mostly known as the Titanomachy, or The War of the Titans, or The Battle of the Titans. After a lot of time, and lives, had passed the Gods, severely deminished in numbers, were able to seal away these Titans into the core of the world itself. All first generation Gods, but the Raven Queen, died in this battle. As well as many of the second generation Gods, Elves, Humans and Dwarves.

The Second Age (a.k.a. Fog of War, Era of War, Era of Strife, The Dark Ages)

In the following years wars broke out on Valerouros between Elves, Dwarves, Humans and the children of the Titans, the Giants. The powers of the Gods had dwindled and it affected the very foundation of the world of Valerouros itself, since they had created life and with their powers waning the world seemed unable to support itself. To protect the world of Valerouros, amongst others, the Gods retreated and left the races of the world to mostly fend for themselves and an era of war and battle where even more lives were lost.

Not known to most of the surviving Gods is that not all of the Gods actually retreated. Some manipulated the races of Valerouros and schemed with all sides to create these wars. When the majority of the Gods’ power was replenished they returned only to find a world dipped in chaos, ruled with forceful hands by the Gods that stayed behind and used the races as an army for them to gather more power. Apphauled and shocked by this the, now known as Good Gods, tried to free as many as they could. These freed slaves eventually joined the side of the Good Gods and another battle ensued, The Battle of the Gods, also known as the Dark War. In the end the Good Gods were succesful in defeating the Evil Gods. The remainder Gods swore that this could not happen ever again and that the races on Valerouros would be free to live their lives as they wanted to, with minimum interference from the Gods themselves. This resulted in the Actum Celandi, where the Gods sealed themselves away from Valerouros. Some of the Gods opted to stay and walk amongst their creations.

The Third Age (a.k.a. Time of Solitude, The Enlightment)

After the Actum Celandi, also known as the Act of Concealment, the third age started and the races of Valerouros needed time t orecover from their old wounds. The races all retired to their seperate corners and overtime they grew in strength once more. The intermingling of races created new races and eventually the world of Valerouros was filled with life again. However, not much information is known about the third age. This is because of something that is called The Convergence. Once every 13.000 years the planets surrounding Valerouros perfectly all perfectly align and the border between the worlds and the realms meld into each other. The end of the Third Age is when the Convergence happened and nearly wiped out all life on Valerouros once more.

Historical Basis

The events above are known as historical events that actually happened. Many people on Valerouros see them as fact and can see the evidence all around them. From the waters to the trees to the mountain to the sky. It is for them something that happened a long time ago but was passed down thanks to arts and poems that still remain. Some archeologists have found evidence of great battles, deep beneath the mountains and earth. There is a theory that the original battlefield between the Titans and the Gods can still be found on Valerouros where it is speculated that you can find the bodies of these creatures of old.

Spread

The myth is known amongst all five of the continents of Valerouros, it is seen as facts and not just mere stories

Variations & Mutation

It is said that after a while Zeus showed lenience to more of the Titans and allowed them to be set free, under very strict rules and punishment of death if they did not behave. The truth of this is debated though as well as the origins of certain other realms, like the realm of the dead.

Cultural Reception

All cultures accept that the Gods exist like they do currently. Some cultures, like the Miskunn, worship all the Gods, but call upon them for different reasons. The God of Death is called upon when people have died for example, and the God of War is called upon before a battle. Other cultures don't deny the Gods, but don't worship them either, and some other cultures focus heavily on a handful of the Gods.

In Literature

The origin story of the Titans and the Gods has been documented, however only one poem has survived time. It is called the Theogony and it has over 1000 lines. It describes the Titans and where they came from as well as the Gods that are worshipped in the Greek pantheon. It was written by a famous bard named Hesiod. The sole surviving poetry book is placed under lock and guard in the capital city of the Aftokratorián Empire.
There is, however, much more information that can be found on the Gods up until they went through the Act of Concealment. This is all information that has been gathered when the races and the Gods still walked amongst eachother as well as the current people who still have a more divine connection.

In Art

The touch of the Gods can not just be found in literature, but also in the arts. Many artists create images of their deities or other deities, whether it be in the form of stone, paintings, tapestries or songs. The Gods have always played a big part in the lives of the people on Valerouros.