Creation Mythos

## Background

Unlike our world, where there are many disagreements about the creation of the world, the story of Somara's creation is largely agreed upon by scholars, mostly because the gods are very real and are able to confirm this information (with varying degrees of accuracy).

The *Faket Vamoupah* is an ancient document that is largely regarded as the most accurate account of the world's creation. It was created sometime in the first era, and it remains the most-translated book in the history of Somara, with editions appearing in every known language.

## The Elder Gods and the First Gods

The Elder Gods are the earliest known entities to inhabit Somara, but it is unknown where they themselves come from. There are six of them: Valazar, Elder God of Creation; Guul, Elder God of Death; Talus, Elder God of Light; Vorokar, Elder God of Darkness; Yfuleg, Elder God of Chaos; and Neket, Elder God of Order.

Valazar's first act was the creation of the Prime Material Plane, then the Elemental Lords to help shape it (Vocan, Anar, Qovan, and Elnar). Afterwards, he created Syvl, the God of Nature, to help shape this fledgling world. To aid Syvl, he created Kevolah, the Goddess of Life. The two had many children, who in turn created most of the races of the world.

## The Triad of Entropy

At this point, the Prime Material Plane began to grow and prosper, with the various races spreading out to fill the land. Guul, however, saw this, and became jealous of Valazar's creation. So, he created three deities of his own: Nox, the Shepherd of Death; Caius, the God of War; and Xyas, the Goddess of Pestilence. The three acted as a counter-balance to the forces of creation that Valazar had created. Whatever Kevolah birthed, Nox would eventually claim, and whatever Syvl built, Caius and Xyas would break down. Guul's children would send the pure essence of whatever they would kill to him, and he gorged himself on that raw power.

## The Forces of Light

Valazar saw what Guul was doing, and became distraught, for Guul was a perfect balance to his power. Nothing he could do could harm the God. He went to Talus, the God of Light, for aid. Talus pondered the situation, then offered Valazar a solution: he could not directly interfere with Guul's plots, but he could deliver mortalkind from his hand. He created the plane of Paradise, and with Vikyn, the newly created Shepherd of Light, tied the spirits of all beings to that plane. When these beings died, they would be brought to this realm, freed from Guul's clutches.

## The Rise of the Fiends

Guul, desperately starved for power after Talus' play, contacted Vorokar, the God of Darkness. Vorokar, up to this point, had been watching the world, waiting for a moment to try and seize some power for himself. Seeing this opportunity, he took advantage of Guul's desperation, using the god to help him create a new plane for himself: Malumbris, then created the first fiends as his own army. He then introduced vice and corruption to the world, the pure antithesis of Talus. Any being who was fully corrupted by these measures would be unable to enter Paradise, and as a result, Vorokar and Guul could claim them after their death.

## The Armies of Heaven and the Blood War

Talus and Vikyn, seeing Vorokar's corruption of mortalkind, decided to act, creating celestials to aid them in fighting back against the armies of darkness. So, Talus created twenty-four Archangels, each embodying a specific virtue or purpose. The forces of Heaven and Darkness clashed in Malumbris, and the war was so fierce that part of the plane was torn apart, creating Gehenna, the home of the Yugoloths.

Vikyn, realizing that the forces of Goodness were out matched, gathered three of the strongest archangels: Michael, Azrael, and Eris. They secretly influenced Vorokar's Generals, instilling in them minor sparks of divinity, and convincing fifteen of them that the other fifteen would betray them if the fiends won the war, and vice versa. Their plan was wildly successful, and they created a split among Vorokar's forces. Half of his lieutenants became the Archdemons, and the remaining fifteen became Archdevils. They began to fight with each other, and largely ceased their attacks on mortalkind, preferring to war with their own kind instead.

This fighting became known as the Blood War, a great conflict that continues to this day. It led to the split between Devils (those who followed the Archdevils), Demons (those who followed the Archdemons), and Yugoloths (those who remained neutral). So fierce was this war, in fact, that it utterly destroyed the plane of Malumbris, causing it to divide between the Hells and the Abyss.

## Chaos and the Weave

While this was happening, another force was making plays on the Prime Material Plane. Yfuleg, the Mad God of Chaos, slayed the Forgotten God, and tied his divinity to the very essence of the world, creating a force known as the Weave. Scholars have theorized that the Ethereal Plane arose as a side effect of this process.

## Neket's Intervention and the Second Era

Neket, the Elder God of Order, saw that wars between the Elder Gods would eventually escalate, and due to their ultimate power, would ultimately destroy it. So, he set about trying to protect it. He first created the Outer Planes, places attuned to the natural alignments of the Universe. He then created the Inner Planes, drawing the Elemental Lords there to prevent them from destroying the world with their raw primal power. In order to allow movement between these worlds and the Prime Material Plane, he created the Astral Sea.

Neket's final act was to sacrifice a portion of his own divinity to seal away each Elder God in their own plane (including himself). Each Elder God would hold supreme power over their own plane, but would never be able to leave it; this collection of Planes would come to be known as the Sealed Planes, for no mortal creature was supposed to be able to enter or exit them.

For Valazar, he made Facerum, a world in constant change, fueled by the creations of the God of Creation himself.

For Guul, he created Morta, a world of death and decay, where all would rot and wither at the God of Death's command.

For Talus, he made Luminux, a plane of beauty and goodness, where no evil could ever thrive.

For Vorokar, he made New Malumbris a faithful recreation of the God of Darkness's original plane of existence.

For Yfuleg he made the Far Realm, an utterly alien realm of chaos and madness.

Finally, for himself, he made Inatus, a realm of absolute order and perfection.

When the Elder Gods had been sealed away, the world was largely free from their influence, the end of the First Era was decreed, and the Second Era began.

## Other Gods and Creations

There were other Gods who were created or birthed from those already mentioned. There is no conclusive timeline for these events, but they likely all took place before the end of the First Era.

### The Elemental Goddesses

Sometime before the creation of the Elemental Planes, Neket attempted to impose order on the Elemental Lords, for he saw them as forces of unbridled chaos that needed to be reigned in. However, his attempt to alter their personalities did not entirely work, the introduction of order was too antithetical to their existence, that it caused each of them to literally split in two, creating more agreeable Elemental Goddesses, and pushing the Elemental Lords further into chaos.

The Elemental Goddesses are Asur, the Goddess of the Sea, Derala, the Goddess of the Land, Neferi, the Goddess of the Sky, and Helia, the Goddess of the Hearth.

### The Light Twins

During the war between Talus and Vorokar, Talus realized that he was unable to devote his full effort to battle while also providing light to the world. As a result, he went to Kevolah, and together the two created two children: Velia, the Goddess of the Sun, and Voxia, the Goddess of the Moon.

### Guul's Forgotten Son

In addition to Nox, Caius, and Xyas, Guul created another child, sometime later. His name was Maryphal, and it is uncertain what his original purpose was. What is known, however is that he apparently went rampant killing anything he could find, in order to bring tribute to his father. Several prominent Gods, including Vikyn, Syvl, and Kevolah, worked together to imprison Maryphal underneath the world, cursing him to never reach the surface again. Enraged, Maryphal did his best to attempt to escape, carving out tunnels that would eventually become the Underdark. Maryphal's current whereabouts are completely unknown, and he has not been seen by anyone for several Eras.

### The Children of Syvl and Kevolah

Syvl and Kevolah had many children, most of whom went on to create races in their own image.

They first bore a set of twins: Valen, the God of Labor, who went on to create the Elves, and Feyan, the Goddess of Charm, who went on to create the Fey. After that, they had Durefn, God of Wealth, who created the dwarves. Mogus, the God of Warriors, came next, who created the Orcs, followed by Novokorus, God of Courage, who created Dragonborn. Roggirth, God of Invention, and Fortas, God of Humor, a pair of twins, created Gnomes and Halflings respectively.

Their last child, Saris, the Goddess of Outcasts, is not directly correlated to any race, but religious scholars have theorized that she is responsible for the creation of Humans.

### The Feywild and the Shadowfell

Feyan, the Goddess of Charm, had always been the favorite of her father, and appealed to him to give her a demiplane for her and her Fey children to inhabit, free from the war and strife of the Prime Material Plane. He obliged, and asked Valazar to help him, and the God did. The two created a copy of the Prime Material Plane, and removed many of the negative aspects that Feyan disliked, and thus, the Feywild was Born.

However, the negative energy that was displaced needed somewhere to go; it coalesced into its own plane of existence, and formed the Shadowfell. Some scholars theorize that one or more fiends may have had a hand in this event.

### The Children of Yfuleg

Yfuleg created two divine children of his own. They were Mealyn, the Goddess of Change, and Worun, the God of Magic.

### The Children of Neket

Neket also created six children of his own, two daughters and four sons. They are: Coroc, God of Time, Fune, God of Vengeance, Targus, God of Knowledge, Ultha, God of Language, Chaina, the Goddess of Luck, and Mala, the Goddess of Peace.

### Mealyn's Twins

At one point, Mealyn appeared to Vorokar in the guise of one of his consorts, tricking him into creating two divine children for her. They are Ophane, Goddess of Poison, and Yorexa, Goddess of Trickery.

### Other Minor Gods

The rest of the gods were all born of two other gods.

Iella, Goddess of Beauty - Child of Velia and Ultha

Paela, Goddess of the Arts - Child of Targus and Mealyn

Oghma, God of Forbidden Knowledge - Child of Targus and Ophane

Nhekri, Goddess of the Hunt  - Child of Targus and Voxia

Lucan, God of Love - Child of Targus and Iella

Decia, Goddess of Criminals - Child of Yorexa and Ultha

Dionus, God of Strategy - Child of Caius and Iella

Raei, God of Sleep - Son of Mealyn and Coroc

Jekhari, God of Storms - Son of Neferi and Qovan

Sorvus, God of Health - Son of Valazar and Kevolah