Genesis of the Universe

### 1st Epoch

During the First Epoch, the Maker created 4 pools of raw elemental energy which became the elemental planes; Earth, Air, Fire and Water. These pools are not very well contained, and the energy within them seeps out creating a new Plane that we call Elemental Chaos.
The pools themselves act as portals to the respective planes.

Out of these pools the Maker caused roots to grow, forming the base of a tree. The branches of the tree itself are known to be infinite and winding, connecting the inner planes. Existing outside of the material plane, the tree is known by many names such as, The Realm Between Realms or the Astral Plane.

Within the fork of the first branches the Maker sat the Material plane. This was a fantastical plane, full of areas that were bright and teeming with life, and yet also areas that were the antithesis of these "bright" areas, full of darkness and dread.

Realising that this was very imbalanced and wouldn't suit the life the Maker wanted to create, he split these into 3 separate realms. The "bright" areas were pulled out, creating that plane called the Feywild. The "dark" areas were pulled away to create the Shadowfell. These planes are similar to the Material Plane, in that major landmarks are recognisable, but are changed to be reflective of the plane they are on.

The Feywild, Material Plane, Shadowfell and the Elemental Planes are all deemed to be Inner Planes.

Out of the excess "existence" that formed during the separating of planes, the Maker created the Ethereal plane; A transitive plane that connected all of the Inner Planes and allowed travel between them.

The Maker then created a plane for himself to reside, The High Heavens. This plane would be classified later as an Outer Plane, only accessible using the World Tree (Astral Plane).

At this point the planes were complete.

Within these winding branches the Maker seated Towers with grand doors that were the portals to other realms.

This ended the First Epoch of Creation.

### 2nd Epoch

#### Creation of the Created

Drawing from the elements around, the Maker created life. Beginning with the flora of the world, then the fauna. He then created the first generation of the Created. Neither elf, nor human, nor dwarf. The Created were closer to what we would understand as celestials, crafted to be perfectly good and perfectly made. These celestials were created few in number, there is believed to be 24. Unable to procreate or die, but wielding the knowledge of creation itself, the Created began to build.

#### Creation of the City and the Orb

The city they crafted was full of majesty and architectural feats, the likes of which could not be produced by mortals. The Maker gifted the Created with a spectacular, perfect orb. This orb allowed the flow of creation to permeate the surroundings, releasing the power of the Weave to other objects and creatures. The Weave was a diluted form of the power that the Created had, what modern Spellcaster's draw their power from, it allowed them to create more intricate and magical creatures and contraptions. With this the Maker was pleased, though, there we not enough to fill the city.

#### Creation of the Caster's

For this reason, the Maker created another generation of beings. The Casters were in tune with the Weave, a dilution of the energy that supports all of Creation, allowing what would be later known as magic. These first Casters were not as powerful as the Created, but were still immortal, yet not perfectly good, or perfectly made. Some bore strong resentment over the lack of power that they had in comparison with the First Beings, this didn't come to light until much later.

#### Creation of the Citizen's

Though time in itself didn’t exist, much of it would have passed before the Maker created a third generation of the beings called Citizens. Mortal, moral and not explicitly gifted with the Weave, the Citizens were closer to what we could consider an elf, human or dwarf. Perhaps they were a mix of the three. It didn't take long before a natural hierarchy was formed, Created, Casters and Citizens.

The Citizens quickly learned they had a gift the other beings didn't, the gift of pleasure, they were able to procreate and engage in sexual and personal relationships. This made the knowledge of mortality less damning, that they could enjoy the limited nature of life shared intimately with another, thus making the limited lifespan that much more empowering. By having a limited time, they were able to prioritize and cherish that which they had, complete in the knowledge that one day it would be gone.

#### The First Death

Eventually however, the first death occurred. This was around 1500 years after they were created. This caused a tremendous amount of mourning as others of this generation successful mbed to the cold grip of death. The souls of these departed were dutifully rounded up by the Created and taken to be with the Maker in the High Heavens, given new bodies to serve him and become a celestial as we know it.

The issue of a lifespan caused a rift amongst the Citizens, some were happy to live and die, while others wanted to rebel against the Casters and Created, and even the Maker himself. This caused enmity, which in turn caused war. This war lasted for many around 1000 years and  took many lives of the Casters. The Casters learned that they to could procreate with the Citizens, creating a half-breed of the two. This allowed them to carry on the fight longer than necessary as they raised generation after generation of these half-breeds for war.

Eventually the bloodshed stopped, but not before they had let loose such evil that they had created a perversion of the creation magic they all carried within them, devils and demons.

#### The Demon War

The Demons where a new side of creation that were unfamiliar to the Lawful beings that currently existed. The Demons were a opposite to the Celestials and sought nothing more than chaos and destruction to the material plane. The Demons left unchecked would ravage the material plane and then go onto all the other planes and destroy them all. After that the Demons would seek to destroy the universe.

On the other hand was the Devils. A perverse form of the order that the Celestials believed in, the Devils corrupted the meaning of laws and sought to use it to there advantage and own gain rather than for the betterment of the greater good.

This caused a second war, which united all of Creation. It seemed to be going well at first, pushing back the demons, however, as more fell, more demons were created. The horrors were unimaginable and reality tearing. The war seemed to have no end.

Because of there lawful evil alignment the devils did seek to destroy the Demons as well, however they were more than willing to let the celestial do all the work. The Devils took great pleasure in trying to corrupt the three different creations of the maker and tricking them into making deals. The Celestials refused to bargain with these evil creatures, however this delighted the Devils as they knew that time was running out for them and soon they would have to deal with them to defeat the devils as there was no other way. Some of the Casters were open to the idea as they sought to end the demon war, many of these casters went on to become powerful devils at the time and some are even still alive today. The Citizens were corrupted easily by the words of the devils. They promised them immortality and power, two things that had been denied to them by The Maker and thus they became the bulk of the Devils forces once they had given there soul and were transformed into Devils.

It is this idea of bargaining and trickery that gave the war its name. This is often referred to as the first Demon war. The devils are a footnote in this war but only because they chose to be. Their cunning nature lead them to plan in the shadows lying wait for the perfect opportunity to claim the souls of all the makers created for themselves to build a mighty force strong enough to defeat the Demons and then rule the material plane in a damming hierarchy that ruled via a strict caste system with a rigid chain of command that would be founded on a institution of sinister cruelty.

#### The Shattering

It was these looming threats and the fact that there seemed to be no end in sight that prompted the Maker to interfere with that which he had left for his creations. First, the Maker recalled the Created, all 24 of them, then he shattered the Orb, releasing the Weave purely onto all of Creation.

This was a horrendous, but necessary action. In doing so, the Demons and Devils were banished to new planes created for them; the Abyss for the Demons, the Nine Hell's for the Devil's. The excess creation energy from the Orb's shattering created the river Styx. Unfortunately this act wiped out the rest of the Created and tore the land apart. This event is called The Shattering.

This ended the Second Epoch of Creation.

### 3rd Epoch

After the Shattering, the Maker was heartbroken that his creations were so easily twisted and perverted. He then decided that none, other than those he explicitly appointed, would have power like that of the Created or Casters again. He saw fit to create god's that would govern each new land created by the Shattering. These god's would create their own people to live in these lands. Though a single race he planted in the land where the Created first built, Humans. He gave the land the name of Lehi and a set of god's to govern and care for it. He gave every land, known and unknown, god's with portfolios and governance's.

This ends the Third Epoch of Creation and brings us into the beginning of modern history.