Origin (Elegy Supplement)
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The First Age: Creation[edit]
The Cosmos was created. How, and by whom? No one knows. Different religions attribute creation to different sources. Some say it was done instantly, some say it took only eight days. Some heretics even whisper dark secrets that there were no divine beings at all involved in the process, that things just happened out of primordial chaos and chance. (Naturally, these madmen are found and put to the sword.)
Regardless of the mechanics, no one argues that at one point there was an empty world full of raw magic. Then They arrived. Some call these creatures the Old Ones, some call them the Ancient Gods, some call them the Primals. They made the empty world their home, shaping nature and even magic itself to suit them. Accounts vary, but most believe that it was these creatures that broke the world, by accident or design, into separate planes. Some of the Primals departed into these new planes, but most simply disappeared once their work was done. A very few remained. Again, accounts vary, but none believe that there were more than 3 Primals remaining in the world at the end of the First Age. These last remnants either welcomed the arrival of, or directly created the beings that would begin the next age.
The Second Age: Gods[edit]
The powerful beings that came to be called gods took up residence in many of the outer planes, as these were still malleable enough to be shaped to the liking of their new divine tenants. Many believe that the gods were taught or granted this power by the Primals. After fashioning homes for themselves, the gods created the first races.
They created beings of terrible power and beauty, who wrought whole civilizations for themselves on the material plane. Some say they were the forerunners of angels and other powerful extraplanar beings. These races drank up the still-rampant magical energies of the young world. Over time they grew even more powerful, and accomplished wonders that even the gods that created them marveled at. Finally, the first races challenged the gods themselves for mastery and rulership of the entire cosmos. The war was terrible, and both sides took staggering losses, but the surviving gods finally appealed to the last Primals for aid. The sacrifice of two of the Primals was the sole reason for the gods' victory. The power of the first races was broken. Most of the survivors made new homes for themselves on the outer and transitive planes, or became servants of the gods once more. It was at this time that the worst offenders and most unrepentant of the first races became known as demons, and turned the planes they inhabited into hells.
The Third Age: Demons[edit]
After a time, the gods began to repair the damage caused by the revolt, and to do so, they created two new races. Elves, who helped repair the physical damage made to the material plane. Dragons, who helped repair the magic that held the world together. Over time, the world was healed. But the demons were not so easily put aside. In subtle and unsubtle ways they began to encroach upon the mortal plane, convincing some of the elves and dragons to turn from their created purpose and become evil. Thus it was the first war between the factions of Elves that marked the beginning of the demon wars.
Other races were created, both good and evil, natural and unnatural in this age. Dwarves appeared, as did gnomes. The dragons fashioned kobolds and other races as servants. Other less powerful gods created races of their own. But the elves and the dragons remained the most powerful, though the dragons had grown increasingly few in number as the demon wars took their toll.
Finally, one demon lord managed to gain a foothold in the material plane by corrupting and possessing the Elven High King and his entire council. The last demon war was by far the most devastating. Demon-possessed elves enslaved many of the dragons, using them as steeds and bending the power of those mighty creatures to their own dark purposes. Only a few dragons escaped enslavement, finding a curious process by which they infused themselves with the essence of certain magically responsive precious metals. This process seemed to protect them from the effects of the demon's influence. For the first time since the end of the Second Age, one of the Primals chose to involve themselves, and from the very spirit of the material world came the first druids. It was with their aid that the elves finally defeated the demon lord in his last city and cast him back into the abyss.
In the end, the dark elves were banished under the earth and onto an island far out to sea. The dragons became forever divided. Many dragons, even after being freed from enchantment, were still full of malice and cruelty. The elves diminished in power, and mastery of the earth was taken from them. Once more a period of reconstruction took place, and a time of peace and recovery ended the third age. Then came a new race... man.
The Fourth Age: Humans[edit]
The humans seemed to spring up suddenly, living brief but passionate lives. The elves found them curious and taught them of civilization and of magic. Humans were quick learners, but quick to forget, as well. They populated the world with astonishing speed (at least in the eyes of the elves), adapting themselves readily to almost any climate and condition with equal parts of stubbornness and curiosity. They proved to be able users of magic as well, though the wanton abandon with which they experimented with magical energy sometimes alarmed and dismayed the elder races. The half-races appeared as humans proved remarkably adaptable in other ways as well. Halflings, half-elves, even half-orcs appeared.
And so the world stands as we begin our tale.
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