Creation (CPrH)

__TOC__
The first place to start is the creation of the universe and the world.
In most creation stories, there was usually some disinteresting, stable condition in effect at the dawn of time. It might have been a formless void, or darkness, or unending ice and snow.
Then, we have the first great being, the one who brings about creation of the world. Note that this great being doesn't have to be the god who is now dominant in the campaign world. The myths are packed with tales of gods who created their worlds, became oppressive, and were then cast down by other gods, even their own children, who now rule in their place.
Nor does the creation have to have been a deliberate event. It might have been an accident; the god could have been dreaming and his dreams became reality.
The creator could be a tremendous monster, one which began the process of creating the world, but was overthrown before it finished making the world to its own satisfaction...  and one which, legends say, will return some day to finish the job.
It could be a simple creature, one not necessarily deserving of worship, which shapes the world simply by acting as the animal it is. As one example, if the original state of the universe were a giant block of salt, this creature could be a giant cow which licks it into the shape of the world.
In some mythologies, the great being that shapes the world stays around after that task is done; he or she might be the principal deity of the world. More often, that great being perishes, or is cast down by descendants, or settles for a lesser role once creation is accomplished.
==Basic Astronomy==
What is the shape of the world and the universe once they are created? What are suns, moons, planets and stars?
The entire universe could be a single huge world, with a dome overhead which holds the stars and confines the sun(s) and moon(s). The world could be a disk, a sphere, a bowl, or an unending surface continuing in all directions to infinity.
The sun and moon could be glowing chariots, or bright gods continually flying across the sky (perhaps as a service to the world, perhaps because they're being chased). They could be worlds unto themselves, and the player-characters might someday have the opportunity to visit and walk the bright surface of the sun in search of adventure. They could be the great, glowing eyes of the most powerful deity. They could be gigantic, fiercely-burning lamps created by the craftsman-god, lamps which circle the world on some giant mechanism. (Perhaps, instead of circling the world, they just shut off each day when the time is due; the sun just turns off, and the moons just turn on.) They could even be suns and moons as we understand them, though some of the charm of fantasy lies precisely in making such things different from our cold, modern explanations of them.
The planets and stars could be holes in the dome of the sky, suggesting that there is a great brightness beyond. They could be decorations placed in the sky by the gods. They could be worlds unto themselves. They could be glowing creatures forced to trace paths through the sky every night. They could be the suns of distant worlds.
And, of course, the DM can choose for all these astronomic bodies to be one thing, but for the prevailing belief of the people to be different, an incorrect belief; nothing says that the world's deities want the humans and demihumans to know the truth.
==Effects of Terrain on Creation==
In the real world, the terrain of the human culture to which a mythology belonged often had a strong effect on the myths. Norse mythology started with a huge abyss filled with ice, for instance.
If one race's religion is dominant in the campaign world, the DM should decide whether or not their creation-story has a setting like the land where that race originated. 
In a fantasy world, this situation could come about from one of two reasons:
The gods, having emerged from a particular type of terrain, would find similar terrain in the mortal world to be their favorite land for creating new races, exploring, and interacting with humans; or
The sentient races might have erroneously re-interpreted the story of the world's creation as a reflection of the terrain in which they live, and the legend is simply wrong.