Eclorea

The First World

At the dawn of creation, the Ecloshar ("The First Gods"), came into existence in ways not entirely understood. They existed as primoridial energies of the multi-verse, and their powers grew through collaboration, expression and creation. Over several millenia the universe took shape in the form of Eclorea (The First World) and an infinite number of planes and demi-planes. Soon after, immortal life was created at Their hands and thus the Celorians (The First of Man) awoke, that they might share in the delight of existence with their creators.
For centuries, the Ecloshar and Celorians coexisted in harmony, forging impossibly grand artifacts, relics, and worlds. Before long, however, the Celorians began to worship some of the Ecloshar for their perfect creations while, maliciously or otherwise, ignoring others.

The Birth of Worship

Celorian blood was so perfect that the worship afforded to some of the Ecloshar empowered them, throwing off the balance of the forces that shaped the planes of existence. Vying for the adoration of their creations, some of the Ecloshar began to bless the Celorians. These blessed Celorians gained access to magic, something otherwise reserved for The First Gods. Jealous of the adoration and abilities some Celorians were gifted, other Ecloshar began cursing those who had received blessings in an attempt to equalize power.
And so for many years the Celorians gained and lost terrible amounts of power as the Ecloshar bickered with one another, altering the fabric of reality at a whim to affect change on their creations. Legendary Celorians were birthed in stellar forges, brought to planets to spread the word of their creators, indoctrinating those who would believe and shunning those who refused. Imald the Blessed, a Celorian of near-Ecloshar power, confronted Vashlara, Goddess of Fire, when she began cursing droves of Imald's Disciples.
Effortlessly, Vashlara did what no one had done before: she cursed Imald with mortality.

The Birth of Fear

Despite the bond forged through spontaneous existence and shared creation, the Ecloshar began to go to war with one another. During this Godwar, mountains were ripped from continents, planets cast away from their stars, and entire planes of existence rended into oblivion.
This destruction, while grand in scale, was harmless to all but Imald, the only mortal creature in existence. His inevitable death birthed something small, alien, and terrible: fear.
The Celorians who learned of his death replaced the faith the had in their creators with fear of them as the paradise existence - the only the one they knew - was torn to pieces around them. The power of their fear soon began to shape those Ecloshar with whom they attributed the destruction or turned to for sanctuary in immutable ways.

Aklara, the First Consumed

Akalara, God of Hope, was the first to be twisted by fear and soon He became known as The First Consumed. Growing in power with every nearing extinction and every battle fought, He soon grew in power far beyond what anyone else could conquer. His purpose was singular: to destroy everything which empowered him - everything that was afraid.
Drawn to his might, other Ecloshar pledged allegiance and gave themselves to the twisting powers of fear, forming the ranks of The Consumed. Those who refused to give in - the Unchanged - continued to fight with everything they were until nothing remained but them, the Consumed, and the First World.

The Great Sacrifice

Realizing that everything in existence was on the verge of being annihilated, The Unchanged sacrificed themselves to put an end to The Consumed.
Though the exact mechanisms behind the sacrifice are unknown, relics, artifacts, and even ancient texts scattered across Vals'kar have disclosed some of the frightening details otherwise lost to the annuls of time.
The Unchanged managed to accomplish two things simultaneously: they re-created certain planes of existence, believed to mirror their most dominant feature or trait, and they destroyed every God and Eclorea in an attempt to redeem the atrocities committed over the previous thousands of years. In annihilating themselves and Eclorea, they protected the Celorians and gave them another chance at building the paradise they had so simply built at the dawn of time.
But the Ecloshar weren't the only ones that sacrificed something. In destroying themselves and Eclorea, they also removed the immortality that had protected their children.
When the Celorians awoke or arrived on Vals'kar (no one is quite sure which it was), they were bet shells of their former selves. As fate would have it, these shells became the first races of man. Each race - human, elf, dwarf, etc. - is descendant from one type of Celorian, which in turn is an aspect of the Unchanged Ecloshar that created them.
But the Consumed, too, left fragments of themselves scattered throughout existence, taking the form of aberrations, fiends, fey, and other supernatural creatures found throughout the world. Whether or not this was intentional by the Consumed, accidental by the Unchanged, or a combination of both is unknown. Still, the evil that once threatened the existence of everything still lurks in the shadows of Vals'kar.