The Beginning

In the beginning, there was nothing save for the swirling aether from which entire universes are formed.

Into this void came two nameless beings of great power that chose for a time to rest in this place outside of time and space. To say they were gods would be an untruth, for they had no need of worshippers or faith to sustain them, but far were they from mortal ken, for theirs was the power to create worlds.

These beings desired to take physical form in this void, and so created a small world on which they could stand. This world was nothing but stone and earth, for that was all they desired, and when they tired of this place they left. But beings of such power can never exist in any place without leaving their mark, and inside the stone and earth which they had created, a consciousness began to stir.

This consciousness grew, and it remembered the forms its creators had taken, and from the earth and stone it created a form for itself like those of its creators. This consciousness found it could shape the aether around it as well as shape the ground upon which it stood, and began to experiment. Mountain ranges grew at its whim, and the aether coalesced into gems and veins of metal that the consciousness places deep within the earth and stone. In time, the consciousness took a name, and it called itself Garrison.

The Coming of the Gods

In time Garrison grew lonely. He searched his world in vain for his creators and despaired, for they had long since left and he had neither the means nor the knowledge of how to reach them. After a long and fruitless search, Garrison fell to his knees and wept. His tears, taking form as aether in liquid form, struck the sandy earth below him and grew, there fluid becoming a great ocean that surrounded the world of earth and stone. Gently the waves of this sea caressed Garrison's hands, and, looking up in wonder at this new creation, he beheld another being grow from the water. Recognizing this being as one like himself, he rushed into the water and took the other into his arms, welcoming his companion with love. This being he named Siv, and as Garrison could shape the earth, Siv could control the water.

Finding the unsteady glow of the aether unpleasant, Siv gathered a large amount and set it into the sky, naming this creation the Moon. From the moon shone a gentle white light that bathed their world and sparkled upon the water. So that the moon would never be lonely, Garrison gathered up a countless number of the sparkles upon the waves and set them in the sky with the moon, calling them stars. And under the moon and stars did Garrison and Siv enjoy their world and each other's company.

Wherever Siv stepped upon the earth, rivers and lakes appeared and plants grew, and wherever Garrison trod in the oceans, islands sprang up and coral flourished. Desiring more life, Siv and Garrison gathered and shaped the mud at the boundary between earth and water into forms that pleased them, making animals of both land and sea.

However, Siv and Garrison found their creations were little more than lifeless statues that sagged under their own weight. Siv took the tiniest of the creations and blew on it to try and dry the mud and harden it. In doing so Siv gave the creation the breath of Life, and it began to move of its own accord. Delighted, Siv began to breath into each of the creations, taking delight as each one came to life. The creatures, given breath, began to breath the aether for lack of air, and from this came a being formed of air and wind that Siv named Lillith, and claimed Lillith as her sister.

Lillith possessed command over the air, and through her flying creatures were made and winds blew across the world. Lillith and Siv found that by combining their powers, they fashioned clouds and rain and other sorts of precipitation, and they called this new ceation Weather. Delighted in the acheivements they had together Siv and Lillith frolicked across the oceans, leaving Garrison alone to walk the land.

Anger burned in Garrison's breast at being left behind, for he was the oldest of the three and through him the others had been given life, and he felt deserving of better the attention the sisters gave each other. As time passed and still the sisters did not return, Garrison's anger grew until it was too much. From the depths of the earth exploded a fountain of lava, Garrison's loneliness and anger wounding the land. The lava cooled, turning to glass as dark as the sky between the stars and as smooth as the surface of a still pond. Heat radiated from this glass, and as Garrison bent to look he saw a bronze form like unto his own deep inside, cradles in a pocket of lava yet uncooled.

Breaking through the glass, Garrison retrieved the other form, which at his touch rose and greeted the world. This new being greeted Garrison warmly, and called itself Arudain. Arudain glowed with heat and light, and the creatures of the world flocked to him to bathe in his glow. Impulsively, Arudain created a ball of flame and set it into the sky to chase after the moon, and called his creation the Sun. With the creation of the sun the creatures and plants of the world flourished as never before, and Garrison claimed Arudain as the brother of his heart.

Seeing her moon and stars chased from the sky by the sun, Siv fled towards the land and Garrison, Lillith speeding after her. She arrived to find Garrison showing Arudain the great collection of trees Siv had cultivated, gathering such plants from all over the land into one place. Arudain marveled at the beauty of such a place, and reached out to touch a tree, but the heat of his body ignited the wood. Garrison found he had no power to control such a conflagration, and Arudain, too new to his power to control the flames, could only watch in horror. Only the timely arrival of Siv and Lillith and their quick response saved the entire forest from burning, but when the fire was extinguished more than a third of it was gone.

Infuriated, Siv struck at Arudain with all her might, searing his body with cold and scarring him so that his skin turned from bronze to a pale white. Not understanding the reason for such an assault Arudain struck back, but he was still to new to himself to wound Siv. Garrison became enraged at his brother's attack on Siv, as he had fallen in love with the lady of the water, and Lillith saw only a threat to her sister. Spurned by his brethren, Arudain fled far to the west where he had first emerged, and there he took solace and retreated into himself. Overwhelmed by the experience and consumed by the feeling of betrayal, Arudain fell within himself, and used the fires of his anger to harden himself against the other gods.