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Mythology: Aezite Creation Story (Posted on 1/25/04)

In the beginning, there was only Igin, the Creator. Within Igin was the potential for all things. Not only all things that are, were, and will be, but all things that could-be-but-are-not, might-have-been, and perhaps-one-day-would-be-if-things-were-different. The universe was as a blank canvas to Igin, who created the sky and the stars, the mountains and the ocean, the sun and the moon - but Igin, although creative, was not tireless, and grew weary of the act of creation before the world was done. It seemed there was always one more star to hang, one more mountain range to sculpt, one more river to guide... And so, Igin's last act of creation was an assistant: Andras, the Caring. Retiring to the realm of the Gods, Igin left it to Andras to finish the world.

Andras filled Igin's world with life. From the summits to the valleys, Andras set in motion the cycles of birth, growth, and death. Grass spread across the plains, forests grew and flourished, birds and beasts spread through the land. Andras took great care to fit all life into its proper place so that it would grow and flourish. The cycle continued for many thousands of years, Andras making only occasional changes - for though Andras was tireless, Andras could not be everywhere at once, and often would discover that setting one cycle in balance unbalanced another. Realizing that to care for an entire world at the same time was impossible, Andras created another assistant. This was Ormis, the Wanderer.

Ormis possessed insatiable curiosity, and travelled the world over to see its sights, learning from each one. Ormis spoke to Andras often, telling of the many places Igin had created and how Andras's creatures had come to find ways of life in each. However, Ormis was not the only one in the world who was curious... Some of Andras's creatures had been following along on the journey of learning. As Ormis learned, so did they, becoming wise in the ways of language and logic. Ormis knew about these creatures, and continued to teach them as they journeyed together across the many lands. However, there was much Ormis could not teach - for although Ormis had much to say about the way the world was, Ormis was silent on the subject of how the would ought to be. The creatures, although intelligent, were still wild, and completely immoral. Seeing another gap to fill, Andras created Arbas, the Protector.

Arbas taught the creatures to farm and to build, and to live in towns. Arbas created civilizations, where before there had only been aimlessness. Arbas taught the creatures to clothe and feed themselves and each other, and wrote laws to guide them in the ways of peace. For hundreds of years, these villages grew where there had once only been wilderness - but now that the creatures were men and women, and completely self-aware, they realized that the lives they had been living were completely hollow and meaningless. There was no joy or sorrow - simply day after day of the same pattern of work and rest. Arbas could do nothing about this. Neither could Ormis, who was nowhere to be found, or Andras, who didn't know how to fix this problem. The solution was to create yet another assistant: Quimas, the Dancer.

Quimas brought to the people the gift of art. Realizing that their discontent was for the same reason as Igin's so long ago, Quimas showed them how to express themselves. Quimas taught the people to smile and frown, to laugh and cry, to feel anger and jealousy, but also calm and satisfaction. Quimas brought clay to the sculptors, paint to the painters, and guided the words to the mouths of storytellers. Quimas taught the people to live by their own minds - but in doing so, they discovered that Arbas's rules were not sacred. They could be broken without consequence - for although Arbas could create laws, there was no way to enforce them. Quimas, seeing the civilization Arbas had created on the verge of collapse, sought the help of Andras and Ormis, and together the two of them created Caltis, the Ordainer.

Caltis brought the people order - this was the beginning of kings and generals, of people knowing their place in society. Guided by Caltis, the people built castles and fortresses, and organized themselves into cities and nations. Farmers farmed, builders built, and the rulers ruled with justice and wisdom. Now that society had order, one could say that civilization had truly begun... And the people - now living on their own with no direct guidance from the Gods - discovered the power of magic by themselves. They learned that words could be used to command spirits with power approaching the Gods themselves... The Gods were all mystified. None of them had created these spirits, and yet they were there. Ormis could only say that they had all appeared at once; Arbas could only guess what the proper rules for speaking to spirits might be. For the first time, the Gods felt that their creations had perhaps grown too powerful - and so they created one more: Zenis, the Magician.

Zenis learned the ways of the spirits, and soon commanded more power than any mortal mage, for while a mortal is bound to the limits of his own mind, there was no limit to what Zenis was capable of. Zenis's intent was to travel the world to teach the proper uses of magic to the mortals, but this was not to be, for the people had grown proud of their new power. When Zenis came to show the mortals magic, they turned Zenis away, claiming that they already knew the words and spells. Everywhere Zenis went, there were mages who challenged the Gods to produce such wonders as they themselves had, and although Zenis was powerful, not even the Gods could match the combined cleverness of the entire race of mortals, and at every turn, Zenis was greeted by new uses for magic that the Gods never could have imagined. The people had learned well from Caltis - they were now organized against the Gods. The time had come for the Gods to assert their power over the mortals who had defied them... Although all of the Gods were capable of creation and guidance, only Zenis was capable of destruction, and so the sad task fell to Zenis to destroy the civilization the Gods had worked so hard to create. Zenis prepared the mightiest spells known - ones that could level mountains and drain oceans... But, before they could be cast, Arbas and Andras had an idea, and created Temenias, the Judge.

Temenias stopped Zenis from casting the spells that could have been the end of the world, realizing that not all mortals should be punished for the actions of a few. Temenias's task was to decide who should bear the burden of the Gods' wrath, while Zenis was to carry out the sentence. Agreeing to work together, the two Gods sought out the most proud of the mortal mages - those whose defiance had been the loudest - and cursed each of them to live the rest of their days in agony. Not even the strongest counterspells could undo the curses, for they had been ordained by Temenias. Temenias, however, grew less and less merciful as time went by, for once the most proud had been dealt with, the slightly-less-proud were the next to fall, and soon mortals with even the slightest measure of pride in their hearts were being cursed by Zenis - now, because the farmers could not farm and the builders could not build and the kings could not rule, the great cities were falling to ruin. Temenias and Zenis had gone too far in punishing the mortals, but neither of them cared to stop. Even merciful Andras looked the other way, for Andras was the one who had given the task of deciding who was to be punished to Temenias. Ormis was the only one of the Gods who saw what was truly happening, and knew that, if Zenis and Temenias could not be stopped in their destruction, then at least the world could be rebuilt in their wake - and so Ormis created Celentis, the Renewer.

Celentis, last of the Gods, looked at the world - all that Igin and Andras had created, all that Ormis and Arbas had guided, all that Quimas and Caltis had taught, and all that Zenis and Temenias had destroyed... Celentis followed the trail of ruin that Zenis and Temenias had left, and offered the people hope if they would keep the gods and their symbols foremost in their hearts, for only another god could undo the curse that had been placed upon them. Celentis gave the people a way to remember all that had passed, so that they would not lose the favor of the gods and fall back into ruin - the very alphabet and numerals that have been passed down to today since ancient times are a constant reminder of the story of the world's creation.

Even Celentis, however, went too far. Not only did Celentis restore the people's hope and let them start to live on their own once more, but also renewed everything that had been destroyed by the people and their magic, and then all the mortals who had died since the beginning of the world, and then every animal, every tree, everything that once had been but no longer was. All of history since the world's creation was coming back at the same time. Although the people were glad at first to see their lost ancestors return, the world was growing full. It was time for intervention again, but this time the Gods were wise enough not to create yet another one of their own, for there was nowhere for another god to go, and every god had been imperfect in their own way. It was left to Igin, the Creator, who returned from the realm of the Gods one last time to perform the final act.

With a heavy heart, Igin looked at the world. Everything, it seemed, had gone out of order. Perhaps even letting Andras create life had been a mistake in the first place - the sun and sky and mountains and oceans were quite able to take care of themselves. And now, all because Igin had needed an assistant so long ago, the world was a mess.

So, Igin created a second world. Another sky, another sun, another moon, another ocean. This was the realm of legend, into which the Gods moved not only all that Celentis had mistakenly restored to life, but also a great part of what had already been as well. The existing world was connected to the new world - the world of legend - only through memories and stories that would be handed down through the generations. The world of legend was vast and beautiful, but it was also eternally unchanging. A world of legends, separate from reality.

Igin chose only a few of the ancient kingdoms and people to start the existing world anew under the watchful eyes of the nine gods... But over the years, the people realized, somewhere in their hearts, that there was something that had been taken from them, even if their own memories told them that the world they knew had always been the way they saw it. And so, in addition to the nine gods, there will always been an empty space. A tenth pedestal left empty, an uncarved monument left blank, a circle that marks a space where something could be but is not - so these shall remain until the day the lost kingdoms return.

Mages Errant (http://mages.delyria.com), its logo, all related text, stories and characters are copyright (c) 2002 by Benjamin Yackley and Lia Itram (save where otherwise noted). Text may not be altered in whole or in part or sold for fun or profit without explicit permission of the authors. Text may not be copied or redistributed without this statement.