CHAPTER THE FIRST

In the beginning, there was naught but Entropy, and Entropy reigned in the cosmos. Of Entropy was born Symmetry and Balance. Out of the Grey was born the Darkness and Light. And the Darkness was Evil and the Light was good. But the Darkness and Light were without form and substance. Yet they became distinct entities with wills of their own. And since their wills were disparate, they became separate, and dwelt apart. Thus, there was on the one hand, Darkness, and on the other, Light. For many millennia they were each to themselves content. But the essence that was Darkness looked upon the Light and was jealous, for the Light was beautiful, and the Darkness was not. And so the Darkness secluded itself within its own essence and knew hatred.

The Darkness wished to obliterate the Light, but could not for they both were still without form or substance, and thus there was naught that it could do to harm the Light. So it communicated with the Light and suggested that they create beings in their own likeness, in order to expand the balance of Light and Darkness throughout the cosmos. In truth, it meant to destroy the creations of Light, and eventually obliterate Light from the cosmos.

And so they took each to themselves and bent their wills to the creation of beings in their own likeness. And so much of their own energies did they pour into this work that they were themselves diminished, and their essence was rebegotten in the form of their creations. And thus were born: the Gods! And the Gods were like unto the essence from which they were fashioned, that is, some were Good, and some Evil. And some were formed by accident that were neither good nor evil, but a balance of the two and these were known as the Gods of Symmetry.

And the essence of Darkness that was still within the Children of Darkness still felt hatred toward the Children of Light. But as they were created in a different place than the Children of Light, they still could not reach them in order to do them harm. Now, the number of the Gods was at first small. But as millennia past, the Gods begot other Gods and formed themselves into coalitions and carved dwellings for themselves out the cosmos, each pantheon fabricating its own plane of existence, thus splitting the Cosmos into many facets, as a jeweler would cut a gem.

Still, the Gods were separated by their own inventions, now known as the planes. This isolation continued until at last, by working together, the Children of Light were able to create a plane which touched upon all the others (generally referred to now as the astral plane). In this manner, they were able to trade ideas and new discoveries. But the Children of Darkness saw this as an opportunity to finally make war on the Children of Light. They invaded the dwellings of the Children of Light, attempting to destroy them, or drive them into the void. However, in this battle they proved unvictorious, for their power was greatly diminished in the planes of Good. Yet they were able to wreak such great havoc that the Gods of Light decided that something must be done.

Here they faced a dilemma, for although the Children of Darkness could not defeat the Children of Light on the planes of Light, nor could the Children of Light defeat their opponents on the planes of Darkness. For it was in their own place in which the Gods maintained their greatest power. It was the Gods of Symmetry who saw and manifested the solution to this dilemma. They created another place where none of the Gods held undue sway. It was here that the disputes of the Gods could be settled. It was also here that the Gods of Symmetry (or the Elemental Gods, as they are more often referred to) found their greatest delight. For this was a creation of their own spirit, and it was the most glorious and beautiful place in all the cosmos.

This special place is the universe we know and live in, known to the wise as Primus Materialis. Speculation has it that there have since been other prime material planes created since the first, each one different in some respects. Nothing is known for sure of these other universes, although some suspect that some Gods spend more time and energy in one universe than another. So it is that some Gods are more powerful in one universe, and less powerful in another.

In the First Era of our world, none walked the face of the earth but the Gods themselves, their only purpose in so doing being to settle some dispute amongst themselves. It may be superlative to point out that the very Gods battling on the face of the world destroyed much of the land.

Mountains were thrown up, valleys gouged out, and the courses of rivers were changed by this supernatural violence.

After a time, it was discovered that no permanent damage could be done to the Gods in our world, for even should their physical forms be destroyed, it only meant that their essence would be whisked back to their plane of origin, there to recoup their strength.

And so it came to pass that the Gods gave up their personal warfare, and for a time kept to themselves.

But the earth was ravaged, and for this the Elemental Gods were greatly saddened. Though the ravages could not be reversed, something could be done to save the remains. And so the Gods of Symmetry created the Tenders of the Earth, to care for the world, in the mountains and forests, the plains and the hills, in the rivers and seas and the desert. This was the beginning of the Second Era.

It is not known by whom and for what purpose the first mortal race was created, or indeed, which race it was, although it is generally conceded that the elves are the oldest of the races. What IS known for certain is that many of the Greater Gods, true to their competitive nature, each created a race after their own likeness. And at first, the germination of each race was placed in an area isolated from all the others in order that they may multiply and gain the strength of numbers.

As the eons past, the races grew and multiplied, spreading over the face of the globe, some interbreeding to form new races. As the several races grew and multiplied, various social customs and traditions were developed by many of the tribes, depending on which God or Gods they worshipped. Naturally enough, some of these traditions conflicted when two or more groups came together. Often this was not without purpose, for ever have the Gods used people as instruments of their will. And thus did people become directly or indirectly involved in the disputes of the Gods. This is how warfare had its beginning. And since the beginning of civilization people have been fighting not only their own wars, but also the wars of the Gods.