Appendix: The Cycle

After defeating the aquatic monstrosity that had once been Asura, the party delved into Fenlaros' memories and uncovered a memory where he had read a forbidden tome regarding the cycles of creation.

*The first was Mahat, she who fled from the Light. She came into the Void, and then Time began. She wandered the Void, singing a song of creation, yet none would blossom. Driven by the desire to create, Mahat gave birth to Adhan and Dunam, Chaos and Law; both bound to their mother’s song, to their dead mother’s dreams of creation.*

*Left to wander the Void they tore their mother’s body apart and from it crafted a Canvas. And through the interplay of Chaos and Law began the process of creation. Slow at first, protean creatures which were neither alive nor dead. But they desired more so they began anew with a second cycle, and yet beyond the Void, beyond their Canvas they caught glimpses of life and watched as other burgeoning pockets of creation blossomed.*

*From afar they observed, and learned from others who sought to create, they witnessed the horrors born from imperfect creations as well as the beauty that was inherent to those imperfections. What they saw, they mimicked and added to the cycle. And the cycle continued.*

*With each cycle they added more complexity, more creations, more celestial bodies; some habitable, some not, some created to further life within others. But as life began to grow more complex, and they came closer to their vision of creation, they grew wary of the dangers that lurked beyond their purview: observing failed creations and their effects on distant pockets.*

*They created a planar barrier, cordoning off their section of creation and wove the tapestry, the laws of causality that would forever govern the destiny of their creations. The protean nature of their creations did not go unnoticed by the two siblings, their creations had changed of their own accord, without the guiding hand of their creators, they were not fixed automatons, they possessed souls, living and mutable.*

*This realization worried Dunam, believing that such a thing was unpredictable, that such a thing could jeopardize the sanctity of their mother’s dream. But Adhan saw something else, it saw perfection within that mutability, perfection within that inherent imperfection. Adhan stayed its siblings’ hand and together they watched as the cycle progressed on its own.*

*When the time came to begin anew, the two noted that they could no longer just purge the previous cycle, and so they promised their creations the chance to be reborn within the new cycle. Their souls were preserved within the Wills, seven Wills where their souls could slumber until creation was complete.*

*Much how their living creations developed souls, so too did the essence of their creations achieve sentience. The primordial chaos of creation gave birth to the Primordial Elementals, beings that were bound to creation and destruction, unburdened by chaos and law, beings that were now bound to the cycle.*

*To oversee these elemental beings, they created the Ancients, Bahamut and Tiamat, lovers bound eternally. But they made sure that these Ancients, like the titans they sought to oversee, were unburdened by chaos and law and instead bound to neutrality, bound to the cycle. And the cycle continued.*

*Once more however, the siblings were reminded of just how unstable creation was, as the supposedly immutable and rigid Ancients changed. Tiamat became pregnant, and gave birth to Sardior, a new Ancient. And as if to mimic their overseers, so too did a new Primordial Elemental come into being, as Air and Water gave birth to the first Storm.*

*Dunam saw this and believed it an affront to their dead mother’s dream, a violation of the laws of causality. And so Dunam beat Tiamat and sought to kill Sardior; to purge the Ancients and the Primordials and begin the cycle anew. Bahamut rose in defiance to his creator, in defiance to the cycle. But once more Adhan intervened, calmed its sibling, and corrected its mistake. This was not an affront to the tapestry as it coincided with the cycles and the law of Causality as outlined by Dunam itself. Adhan then begged the Ancients’ forgiveness for its sibling’s transgressions. The Ancients forgave but they did not forget.*

*With unseen changes pervading their creations and breeding further complexity within their cycles, the siblings understood that they could not control all aspects of creation and elevated three of these beings to oversee their creations’ souls, to ensure their preservation within the Wills. Sarenrae, Ahriman, and Nuhra were elevated as the first Prime Deities, tasked with the preservation of souls. But the siblings had learned from the Ancients, and did not hinder their creations’ capacity to change, instead Adhan encouraged it.*

*New cycles brought with them new discoveries, as new life came into being, beings bound to order, and others bound to chaos. And yet both were beautiful in their own way, each of them possessing the essence of the creators. Although diametrically opposed both aspects had a place within the cycle. And as their mother’s dream quickly approached, so too did the promised rebirth of those held within the Wills.*

*But Ahriman grew to fear his masters’ dream, he had spoken to the Ancients and had learned of Dunam’s transgression at the slightest deviation from the Tapestry. He feared that at the end of the cycle his creators would purge him and his brethren, and he grew envious of the power that the creators possessed. And so Ahriman conspired with this brethren, conspired with the Ancients and the Primordials. They could not kill the siblings, but they could turn them against each other.*

*Ahriman approached Dunam and whispered the first lie. He wove a tale of betrayal and deceit and turned Dunam against Adhan. Dunam believing that its sibling sought to unravel the Tapestry, killed Adhan and cast its body into the Void. Upon realizing what it had done, Dunam’s very being splintered, the crime it had committed had upended the balance between Chaos and Law. It paid the ultimate price for this transgression and cast its essence into the Void hoping to recover its siblings’ remains. In its absence it left behind only fragments to anchor the tapestry.*

*And yet even without the siblings’ influence, the cycle continued, still hurtling towards its destined end. The New Gods governed the cycle, establishing themselves as its rulers, and as life continued to change, so too did more and more deities come into being. They governed what domains they could, carved out planes within creation, and purged those creatures which clung to the cycle. The siblings’ absence, however, did not go unnoticed, as the planar barrier began to weaken and from within the Maelstrom, the Wills rose up in revolt.*

*First came Balmorath, a formless shadow that sought vengeance against Ahriman for his deception. And yet with the aid of the New Gods, Ahriman managed to cast it into the Void, where it festered and grew to become a pit of chaos. Repelling this incursion required all of the New Gods’ power, and carried with it a steep price, as a number of gods were consumed by the shadow.*

*Fearing further incursions, Ahriman attempted to alter the tapestry, but his changes were imperfect, easily discernable to those well versed in the will of Adhan and Dunam. Seeing no other avenue for success, Ahriman plotted with his brethren, and while Nuhra and Sarenrae opposed their brother’s methods, they could not deny the fear that grew within them.*

*The second incursion came just as suddenly. From within the Maelstrom came two entities, the Death Knell, and the Pale Nightmare. One brought with it destined death in the form of a great storm of negative energy. The other took from the gods and their followers the gift of restful sleep, consuming their dreams and driving them to madness. Once more the gods united and while they could not destroy the Wills, they could imprison them. One they bound into a world born dead, the other they imprisoned in a white moon, forever in sight of their final creation, forever under their watchful eye.*

*The third incursion brought with it the All-Seeing Mother, a formless being which twisted the mind of the gods’ creations and turned them against them. Once more, the gods united, and once more they sealed it away. The Will was locked away within a green moon forever anchored to a realm of vibrant chaos.*

*The final incursion took the heaviest toll, it was heralded by a golden light that surged towards Sarenrae’s realm, towards the gates of Heaven. Shortly after came the red mist, a mist which consumed gods and planets alike. The first of the Wills had arrived, beings with power that eclipsed that of these new divines. Sarenrae faced the Golden Mind within Valastia and while what happened there is unknown, the gates of Valastia were forever sealed.*

*The other gods and their followers faced the Scarlet Hunger, a ravenous being that devoured Bahamut, and Tiamat; and imprisoned Sardior in a celestial storm. The last of the gods banded together in the face of this calamity, and Ahriman created his Divine Contract, written in the blood of the divine and woven into the tapestry, he consigned the Scarlet Hunger to an eternity imprisoned within the final creation. Imprisoned within Penastria. And the siblings’ promise was left unfulfilled.*