First Age

Though the term 'The First Age' is commonly used to denote the entirety of the period before the creation of the elves and dwarves, historians agree that this period of history is truly two distinct epochs: The time of creation, which they often refer to as 'The Time Before Time', and the true First Age, when dragons claimed all of the world, without interference from lesser beings. The time before the rise of the 'mortal races' is shrouded in legend and half-story. Only the gods and the very oldest of dragons know the truth of these times, and for reasons of their own, they choose not to correct any of the accepted 'history'. It might even be accurate.

The Time Before Time
What can be said of what existed before existence? Legend, rumor, and wild speculation abound. Tales amongst the less learned dwarves speak of the Great Forging of the World, while their counterparts among the elves spin yarns about The Great World Tree. The Wise, however, speak of a story handed down by the dragons, the eldest of the gods’ children, which some claim was taught to their elders by Aurinko and Forstorelse in the infancy of Time itself.

Before all else, there was The First. Whence came Evighet, none can say, for nothing was until He entered the void, and into the void brought the Essences of Life and Death within His being. Evighet looked upon the emptiness of the Void, and knew what wondrous potential lay in Existance, and so resolved to bring that potential to ripeness.

Stretching forth His right hand, He created the first of the Prime Essences, Kivi, the Mountain Lord, the Essence of Order, while with His left, He brought forth Frihet the Windwalker, the Essence of Change. Stretching forth His hands again, Evighet brought forth Valtameri, the Lady of the Deep, the Essence of Magic, and Tuli, the Firedancer, the Essence of Inspiration. Unto these, the Allfather gave the task of the shaping of the world, Arol, That Which Is.

Seeing the world take form, Evighet turned His attention to the Void, Arol-Var, That Which Is Not. From the brilliance of His eyes, sprang the Great Lights, Aurinko and Forstorelse, long and sinuous serpentine coils, and at the beginning of time, twins in mind and body. Unto each was given a suit of brilliant mail; to Aurinko, Evighet entrusted Kulthos, made from plates of Celestial Platinum, and to Forstorelse Lamshal, wrought of scales of pure Mithril. Arrayed in their mail, the twin gods’ light shone down upon the world, and they were set to patrol the marches between Arol and Arol-Var, each overseeing a portion of the limits of Frihet’s realm.

And when the world was formed, and the pillars of Kivi separated the Deeps of Valtameri from the Expanse of Frihet, and sheltered Tuli’s Fires within the bulwark of the very bones of Arol, then once more did Evighet stretch forth His hands, to bring forth the final pair of the eight Prime Essences: Kukka, the White Rose, the Essence of All The Grows From Arol, and Elain, the Wolflord, the Essence of All That Moves Across Arol. Unto these two, in council with the others, did Evighet bestow the task of bringing forth Life across the face of Arol.

With Kivi’s advice did Kukka bring forth the lichens and mosses, mushrooms and fungi, that thrive in the hollows of Arol, or cling low unto the surface. On Frihet’s counsel, she raised great trees, reaching ever higher to embrace the skies. In Valtameri’s wisdom she found the seeds of kelp and reeds, algae and peat, while Tuli’s warmth brought forth the lushness of the jungle ferns and the tenacious strength of desert cacti. So, too, did Aurinko and Forstorelse give counsel as well, and in their dreams of light she found wheat and other grains, holly, and mistletoe. All these and more she wrought, and when her labors were done, Arol blossomed into fullness and life.

Then did Elain take heed, and sought the insight of the others, and therein found all manner of inspiration. Bats and birds, he crafted, to ride upon Frihet’s winds, and all manner of fish to fly throughout the Deep. Worms and burrowers, badgers and voles, to grace Kivi’s halls, while the Firedancer’s lands, both lush and dry, played host to serpent and spider, lizards and birds, creatures of all manner and kind. For the Light of the day, he brought forth cheetah and lions, the great hunting cats of the plains, while to the night he gave wolves and weasels, foxes and owls, hunters of the night. But ever did the thought of Kukka and Elain turn back to one another, until the forests overflowed with life. All of those creatures touched by the others found refuge in the woodlands and grassy prairies, and so too did elk and stag, deer and rabbit, horse and mighty aurocks, and others beside, too numerous to count. And as Elain’s thought turned to Kukka, so too did Kukka’s to Elain, and thus came about the hunting plants, flytraps and assassin vines, shamblers and others, to ensure that not always one-sided would the struggle for survival be, and so too ensure life’s precious value.

Thus did life begin, under the nurturing gaze of the six worldly Essences. Night and Day, however, stood alone, each in isolation as they held to their course about the edges of the world. And in isolation, the twin gods grew apart, though the rift was not immediately apparent. Pride grew in the hearts of each, and thoughts of creations of their own crept into their hearts. And so each, thinking their actions concealed and in secret, gave thought to the creations of root and paw that Kukka and Elain had created with the other gods, and began to think in like fashion, until each hearkened to the whispers of their inner voice, alone in the void, and spread the shadow of their designs across all of Arol: the Dragons. Like unto the beasts of Elain they were, but mightier and quick to learn, and each of the races of dragons were crafted with thought toward the other gods, that this new creation might find welcome. Six races each were thus created, Aurinko’s children, the stone-dwelling gold, fiery and capricious brass, the silver wyrms of the upper airs, the water-loving bronze, and for Elain, the copper, born to the hunt. In like manner were the children of Forstorelse arrayed: For Valtameri, the black dwellers of the water, for Tuli the heat-loving blue. With Frihet’s wintry bite in mind did she make the white, and to embody Kivi’s strength, the great red wyrms. Thought too did she give to Kukka, and so created the greens, to know the forests as none among their brethren would. And so in one fell swoop did the forebears of dragonkind awaken within the world.

Amazed by the metallic dragons, Forstorelse rushed to catch her brother, seeking to know how it was their thoughts had been so similar. But the Skylord’s pride was great, and the thought came to him that his sister’s children had been made in imitation of his own, and mockery. Angered by these thoughts, he met her approach with insult and scorn, both for her imitation of his creations, and for leaving her appointed task in order to seek him out, and continued away from the Eye of Night. Surprised, his twin pursued, demanding her brother explain himself, for the thought now came to her that he considered her the lesser god, and would destroy what she had made, lest her children compete with his own. In anger she approached Aurinko a second time, and seeing her wrath, he met it with his own, and struck a blow to nearly split his twin in two. Offguard and unprepared for battle, Forstorelse fell wounded and striken, in pain and shock enough to all but drive even a goddess mad. But though rage filled her, madness did not, and wounded as she was, the Huntress did not give chase. Cursing her brother, she forsook his form, and instead took that of her children, for whom she risked his wrath, and rose again into the sky, a lumbering behemoth with five heads, barded in darkened mail, stained black in places from the sun-god’s flame. And in that moment, she swore her vengeance, and dedicated the primacy of her thoughts, and those of her creations, the undoing of all the Skylord’s works, and those of his followers. From that day forth, her thoughts have remained of blood, and war, but still she has held to the purpose given her by Evighet, and lights the darkness of night. Thus did begin the wars of wyrm and wyrm, which have ever been subtly fought, and continue to this day.

The First Age
Following the rise of the great wyrms, countless years passed unmarked. After all, what concern are a few hundred days and nights to creatures who are, in all practical ways, immortal? And yet, time’s passage could not help but be marked by the dragons, who saw their strength increase, and their dominions grow. Inevitably, the oldest and strongest, the greatest of the wyrms came into conflict, both with one another and with lesser serpents. Invariably these conflicts eventually proved bloody, and territories changed and grew, shifted, and sometimes were divided up between groups of victors.

As the dragons fought, on occasion they encountered strange creatures. Undeniably draconic, these newcomers were children of neither sun nor moon; creatures of darkness and terror. Alarmed and dismayed, they sought out the gods, who were in turn surprised as well, and began to search for the root of these strange creatures, dragons of Shadow and Nightmare. And thus it was that the gods became aware of another within their midst: Varjo, the essence of the Void itself.

These new dragons, however, sought neither treasure, nor land, nor even dominance, secure in their own domains deep in the bowels of Arol. And in time, they were dismissed, ignored, and eventually forgotten by most, as a new tremor shook draconic society.

Seeds of Revolt
The discontent began, it is said, with Korinthar the Red, the eldest and greatest of Forstorelse’s brood, though some believe his sister, Sslira the Black, first whispered the poisonous thoughts to him in his sleep, for thoughts of the future and forethought were never the Red’s way. However the thought came to him, however, it was the Red who first openly raised the question: Why? The dragons grew, and grew stronger, and fought, and mated, and had filled the world… to what end? What would they do when there was no more room? When the only way to expand was to continue destroying the others, the weak working together to tear down the strong, until in the end, if breeding outpaced battle, all wyrmlings would hatch into a world without adults, where the very essence of what it was to be a dragon would be lost? Or, if battles outpaced breeding, to fight and expand personal conquests until all the world was drawn to two sides of one conflict, and the dragons fight to the last? Was there nothing more for them, the greatest of the gods’ creation?

The answer would shock even the most prideful of the dragons, for Korinthar had set his sights on nothing less than divinity itself. What else, he argued, could the gods intend? Clearly the dragons were their successors, created in the very image of Aurinko and Forstorelse, and the gods were merely waiting for the time when the dragons proved themselves strong enough for worlds of their own, creations of their own to dominate and oversee, even as Evighet oversaw Arol.

Such was the power of the voice of Korinthar in that day, with the light of a new dream and vision kindled in his eyes, that many hearkened to him, and though many more called him mad, and listened not, none who heard the words of the Firstborn of Forstorelse were unmoved. Many have wondered, if such was the potency of the Red in his madness, what works of wonder and majesty might have been, if not for the kin-strife of the Twin Gods.

The Dragons' Uprising
Counsel then, Korinthar took, with the mightiest of those whom he swayed: Skogen the Green, Jhoral the Blue, Sslira the Black, and Talvi the White, among his brethren, and Pharon the Golden and Lognare the Brass, of the children of Aurinko, and mighty among their kind, though neither belonged to the first Brood. Much was said in these counsels, though ever did Sslira and Korinthar guide the speech of the others in subtle ways, and Lognare spoke not, but merely watched, having thrown her lot in with the others out of boredom, and was much amused.

Telling one another that boldness is rewarded by the gods, the Six gathered their followers, though not Lognare, for she still came only to watch and be entertained. They came together in the great hollow of Tharak’nor, which is Dragon’s Deep in the draconic tongue, a great, wide depression in the ground many thought to be the place where Forstorelse had fallen to earth under the blows of her brother. Working great magics then, the dragons took wing, and rose to assail the very heavens, and in the van were the followers of Korinthar and Sslira, with their siblings behind, but ever before the great host went Pharon and his train, for in his pride, the self-proclaimed ‘Son of the Sun’ would suffer none to precede him on his ascent to glory. And as the host rose, Lognare followed, laughing.

Thus did Pharon first of all the children of the gods ascend into the realms of their creators at the hour of twilight, while Forstorelse and Aurinko both shone in the sky and drew nigh unto one another, and coming before the Twin Gods put forth the claims of the wyrms: that having come into their full power and majesty, the time was right for them to come too into their inheritance, and be granted divinity, and worlds of their own to mold. Yet proud were his words and in his vanity the mighty drake made demands of that which even Korinthar might have presented as pleas. Seeing the pride and majesty of Pharon, those dragons in his train, gold, bronze, and silver, clamored likewise, and great were the multitude of cries and demands that the gods yield up their due.

But greater was the anger of the gods at the arrogance and presumption of their children. Had not the dragons been given all the world? Did they not have within them the seeds of magic? How could they who were the eldest of their kind yet know when they had reached the fullness of their power? Sternly would Aurinko have rebuked the golden wyrm, had not Forstorelse, lower and closer to Pharon and his followers, responded first, striking the golden wyrm down and whelming his head from his neck with a single swipe of her talons. Thus ended Pharon the Golden, the mightiest of that breed ever to walk the face of Arol, and with his fall did Forstorelse turn her wrath upon his followers, and the light of Lamshal shone red through the blood of that host. But the hosts of Pharon were soon bolstered by the followers of Korinthar and Sslira, that arrived to find battle joined. For seeing Aurinko holding himself apart from the fray, the leaders of the great host laughed, and named him craven, and rushed to give aid to Pharon’s followers that they might gain lordship over them as well, and claim their mother’s divinity for their own.

The battle might well have gone poorly for Forstorelse then, had Aurinko been as the dragons thought. But though the Skylord’s temper had been held firm in check since his ill-fated blow against his sister, yet stalwart and fell he remained, and his seeming hesitance instead was merely a clarion call to the remainder of the Essences, ere he too descended in wrath upon those who dared seek to seize divinity by force. Yet even then, the Twin Gods were not assured of victory, for the fire of Korinthar in his rage was surpassingly potent, and those that fought beside him took heart, thinking he had achieved his godhood, so great was his might in that hour, and he drove between the Lights, and struck Aurinko from behind, and sprayed his blood across the heavens. Ever since, the scattered droplets have shone of their own Power, when the Skylord was not present to blot them out with their own brilliance, and have come to be known by the younger races as stars.

But in that moment appeared Tuli, and Kivi, and great and terrible was the face of the mountain lord, that all quailed before his fury. And Tuli unleashed her own fires, greater than those of Korinthar, who was made in homage to her, and Sslira was withered, and fled, and Jhoral scarred, and even Korinthar was burned, so great was the intensity of her blaze. Then did Talvi also withdraw, being unable to withstand the heat of the goddess’s anger, and as Korinthar reeled, Skogen abased himself before the gods, crying pardon.

But Frihet and Valtameri then arose, and wove about the rebels a great net, and Talvi was held fast, and Sslira caught, and the rage and madness of Korinthar and Jhoral contained. Skogen did not resist, but submitted to the imprisonment, and those of their followings who yet survived likewise were ensnared. But Lognare, who had not fought on either part, vanished before the net was closed, and it is known that Frihet withdrew her from the trap, to teach and protect her in his own ways. But of this, nothing yet was then known.

Punishment and Aftermath
Then came Evighet himself, and the captives quailed before him, save one only: Sslira the black, who smiled even as the All-Father drew near. And her smile remained as The First pronounced doom upon the rebels: Within the net of Mist they would remain, the Primordial Wyrms, tied to Arol and yet apart from it, and constrained from acting upon it. Dominion over new worlds they had sought, and so would they be set apart from the one they had forsaken.

Many of the rebels fought to escape the Mists, but the net was woven too tightly, and too well. But Skogen still resisted not, and Sslira instead turned to slither deeper into the net. Then did Kivi place the great net of the Mists deep within Arol, and Valtameri and Tuli wrapped it about again with great magics of binding and warding, and so came to naught the rebellion of the wyrms.

But it is said that even in that hour, in the distraction of the gods with their wayward progeny, did Varjo form the Abyss, the plane of malice without form. And there did her hatred and spite take on physical shape, giving rise to the untold number and kinds of the Tanar’ri, the demons. Being not of Arol, they could not enter, save by the allowances of those already within. But the Mists were not Arol proper, and ere long servitors of the Nightshade entered there, to whisper fell secrets into the ears of those who would give them heed. And it is said that from these creatures of Varjo came Skadia, the daughter of Jhoral the Blue. Being a creature of Arol, she too was bound within the prison of the Primordial Wyrms, but born of the Mists she was not adverse to them, and long did she spend exploring her home and meditating upon its mysteries.

But Forstorelse was aware of this blasphemy of creation, it being her part to govern the darker aspects of the soul as it was the darkness of night, and in this now did she see Varjo’s hand in much that had gone before, and resolved ever to wage undying war upon Varjo, implacable even as her vengeance upon Aurinko would it be, and yet more immediate and terrible. For Aurinko yet remained her brother, and though the grievances of eternity stand between them without hope of redress, yet they remain siblings, and there is that love between them still. But Varjo holds no claim of kinship with the Eye of Night, and clearly did Forstorelse see her hand at work in the pains that had befallen. And so was made the Bloodthrone, a realm of implacable hatred and cruelty, where Forstorelse raised up the Baatezu, that are the devils, to forge a mighty army. And thus has war between the regiments of Baator and the hordes of the Tanar’ri existed unceasingly to this day.