Halestia Creation Story

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Several ages ago, before the dawn of time, there was only chaos: shapeless, unorganized, lifeless matter. The Highest Being willed that a universal order come into place. He took chaos and tore it into twelve pieces: light, darkness, earth, metal, fire, lightning, wind, water, ice, slime, verdance, and ruin. He scattered these elements throughout a great expanse of ether, concentrating light into stars, amongst a sea of darkness. Taking earth and and metal, shattering them into many pieces. Amongst these pieces, He wove a river of verdance and ruin, constantly ebbing and flowing. Near one bright star he called Asv, He gathered some of the elements together to create a brilliant sphere. He took fire and formed earth, slime, and metal around it, creating land. With water and ice, He created the seas. With the wind and lightning, He created the skies and the clouds.

The Immortals

The Highest Being then called forth his children, the Immortal Alnarya and the Immortal Morrak, and gave them governance over this world, to rule over as they saw fit. Alnarya named this sphere Halestia, and her brother Morrak created an expansive realm within which their spirits could dwell. Alnarya danced through the ether around the world, and formed two moons: the Elder Twin and the Younger Twin. The siblings grew lonely and created other Immortals.

First was Vecia, the lady of Fate, who governs time and knows all events past and future. Second was the mother of nature, Inashayle, who walked the breadth of Halestia and created lakes, rivers, mountains, trees, plants, and animals. Thirdly was Ruidrin, the keeper of magic, who covered the world in a blanket of mystical power. Fourthly was Loelir, the lady of light, who governed the daytime. Finally was Selragh, the twilight father, who governed the nighttime.

Inashayle and Ruidrin birthed two offspring, Bendash the brave, and his twin sister Deniss the beautiful. The children took precious gems from the earth — diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, onyx, and topaz. They sculpted creatures with these, and breathed life into them, and named them dragons. Alnarya was pleased with these creatures, and taught them art, music, and poetry. Ruidrin taught the creatures the science of magic.

The Betrayal

Over time, a seed of avarice grew within Morrak — he desired to govern the world and its creatures by himself. One night while Alnarya was asleep, Morrak went to kill her with his mighty blade, but Loelir saw this act and made a great shout to awaken her. Alnarya quickly called forth a protector, Krendar the Just, who took up his own weapon to fend off Morrak. Thus, a great war erupted in the spirit realm, and Morrak convinced Deniss and Selragh to serve him and fight in his name. He also called forth his own assistant, Traldiv – Dagger of the Night.

The battle raged its way out of the heavens and into the mortal world. Bendash and Deniss each led a great host of their dragons into battle. A great storm came about and whenever the Immortals' weapons met in anger, bolts of lightning ripped through the sky. The Immortals opened up great canyons with the swings of their weapons, leveling mountains and cutting huge trenches, which exist to this day. Their war continued for many years, when finally, Alnarya, Krendar, Bendash, and Loelir threw Morrak, Traldiv, Deniss, and Selragh into a great abyss. Bendash cursed the dragons in the world that flew behind Deniss, forking their tongues so none would trust them.

The Birth of Mortals

The Immortal Alnarya wept for a full year at the betrayal of her brother. Her tears fell to the world and caused great forests to grow. In these wooded realms, she gave life to the vidari, which quickly learned many things from the good dragons. She encouraged the other Immortals to give life to the world. Krendar pulled stone from deep under the earth, honed it, and gave life to the evengar. Loelir worked clay, gave it life, and named her creation humans. Vecia pummeled the earth with meteors and from them arose the jurens. Inashayle gathered some beasts of the field, and awakened them, and thus created the shou. Bendash searched the world for brave creatures, and from the buffalo and the ram forged the maghashi.

Morrak and the others, seeing this abundance of life and good cheer on the surface of the world, saw it fit to spread their pain and misery by birthing races of their own. Deniss cut her palms, and cast the apsarava from her blood. Traldiv fashioned the kulgeris from hot desert sand. Morrak reached into his twisted mind and produced the first doivarken. They also started to make monsterous creatures grow from the earth and the sea.

And so the world began a new age.

Enter Zif

Very early in the course of history, Vecia, holding the threads of fate in a great spindle, was intrigued by a particular man. She was fascinated because his future was unclear. She, who governed the flow of time and of destiny, could not see the course of his fate. His name was Zif. She became infatuated with him, and would sometimes take human appearance to converse with him.

Eventually Vecia determined that Zif, being special among mortals in that she couldn't foresee his fate, was to be gifted with immortality and to rise to the ranks of the Immortals. She sent a messenger to deliver this gift to Zif in an ornate and exotic-looking box. At the time, Zif was foraging through a small town that had been destroyed by floods, looking for a few items rumored to have been there. The divine messenger under disguise found Zif and greeted him. Zif was intensely interested in the contents of the box. Before the messenger explained anything about his purpose, Zif offered a game of chance for the contents of the box, offering up his weapon as a wager. The messenger of course accepted because the box was already intended for Zif.

A simple and fair coin toss won Zif the box. The messenger with a bow departed down the road. Zif opened the box and was bestowed with immortality, being delivered to the realm of Vecia, where she confessed her visits to him. He marveled at his luck to have won the gift. Vecia disagreed and noted that he was the intended recipient anyway. Zif countered and stated it was lucky for the messenger to have even found him. It is said that the two have lovingly disagreed in view ever since: Vecia divining mortals' fates and Zif allowing for a bit of chance.

Legends say that in learning his newfound godly power over luck, Zif accidentally created the race of Firnoy.