The Void

The Void

In a time long forgotten, Light (Rados) and Darkness (Nix) waged a war within the aether of the world itself. From dark to light and light to dark, the world oscillated in shades of grey, no force fully able to overpower the other. However, as the years wore on, Nix grew stronger, over shadowing Rados, casting the world into eons of darkness.

All who existed thought that Rados was destroyed, never to return until on the singular landmass, known as Novum, a cloud of darkness passed over a swirling pool of water and CRACK! With an almighty flash, the first flame in a millennium was borne upon the ancient bones of a titan that had perished when Rados was defeated. The glowing embers called upon the weakened spirit of Rados who entered the titan’s remains and together, bone and spirit, rose and lit once again. However, still weak, Rados knew they required the aide of others to defeat Nix and so bore life to the inanimate land, bringing forth Karuk, the walking forest and Sokun, whom Rados bestowed the fiery of flame.

Feeling a shift in their reign of darkness, Nix casts shadow over and into the heart of the mountain, lakes and seas, creating Etherest, Keccak and Skein. However, with the light of Rados having returned to Novum, life grew under the terror of the titan-wars. What little life thrived was easily destroyed by the spirit titans as they ricocheted across Novum bent on total domination. For eons the forces continued to battle with Karuk, Sokun and Etherest championing Rados and Nix on the physical plane. However, having been born from the lands on which they were destroying, Keccak and Skein took lesser roles and only aided Etherest in the direst of times. Like lovers, Keccak and Skein worked together and could dry out any land they turned on, leaving behind total desolation when they chose. The great 100,000 year war followed where the gargantuan titans, powered by the spirits of light and dark wreaked havoc on the land, finally splitting Novum.

On the largest shard of Novum each of the tribes congregated, selecting their most intelligent and fiercest warriors to defeat the tyrannous titans and bring peace to the land. With the blessings and magic of each tribal shaman, they transcended their mortality to become demigods of the region. Working together with their knowledge of the land and their newfound powers, these heroes joined the 100,000 year war, turning on both Rados and Nix and the titans. Imbued with godlike magic, the heroes were able to capture their foes. Recognising that the forces of light and dark were too powerful to permanently control, the heroes banished Rados and Nix, sealing their physical forms away from the world using scroll magic. Only one powerful enough to gain all scrolls would be deemed powerful and wise enough to be given the option to release the ancient powers. Nevertheless, prior to banishment, wanting to never forget the horrors of the 100,000 year war, the heroes took and eye from Rados and the eyelid of Nix, combining them and raising this into the sky. The battle of light and dark still occurs to this very day in what is now seen as the rising and setting of the sun. For the titans who worked at the hand of Rados and Nix the heroes banished them to forever serve the land. Etherest was immobilised in the centre of the land, and is now known to commonfolk as Mount Etherest. The rare few who may know the true origin of the great mountain can be found mining deep into Etherest in search of the titan’s frozen heart. Karuk was doomed to feed and shelter the creatures of the land, bearing fruit to be ripped from trees and cut down to build structures as creatures of the land willed. To further humiliate the titans, Sokun, carrier of the flame was commanded to serve enlightened creatures as a source of life and fuel, burning into Karuk to provide for those they once terrorised. However, at times, the power of Sokun grows and the might of the fire is known by those it maims.(2/3)

[19:55]

Now the heroes recognised that Keccak and Skein were forced to do Nix’s bidding, having been imbued with the dark spirit and thought to punish them in a way more humane than the rest. They were doomed to forever reflect the power they fought, hanging in the sky, reflecting the light of Rados onto the land. To honour their beginnings, the heroes gave Keccak and Skein the powers to still control water and tides but forbade them to ever meet, though they orbit each other, never near enough to be together once more. They are the two moons of Ethermore. Once the titans were defeated, the heroes returned to the land, which they named Ethermore after the titan Etherest whose body lay upon the land, and parted their separate ways. Each of them founded a different race of beings, using their godly powers to evolve into what they saw as the most enlightened race. However, even with their combined wisdom and power, the heroes knew nothing of where the forces of Rados and Nix were banished, nor of the havoc that could come from an eternity of being locked away together and to this day, no one knows what will happen if the Gates of Desolation are opened. This story is not well known by the current residents of Ethermore, rather bits and pieces have been changed until each race has a different story. All stories lead back to an amazing hero who was the founder of their own race, but knowledge of a group of heroes is uncommon and thus not all current races get along (3/3)