On the creation of the World and the Firstborn
The oldest of tales speak of a featureless, barren globe suspended in nothingness, and of two Prime Powers that descended from the void to shape the world and bestow upon it the gift of life. Some say that the divine beings had been different from the start. Others claim that it was when the sun rose and then set over the world for the first time that the gods separated: one embracing the Light and becoming Dawn, Mother of Day, and the other forever merging with the Darkness to become Dusk, the Nightfather.
Despite their differences, they laboured dauntlessly, always on two opposite ends of the globe, enveloping it in clear skies, sculpting mountains and valleys, separating the lands from the seas and filling rivers and lakes with water. They would also create life, Dawn crafting plants and all the creatures that would feed on them, and Dusk shaping beasts of prey and all things happy to live under a night sky. Finally, having built a glorious home for their offspring, they went about creating their masterpiece: the Firstborn.
The work was divided evenly: while Dusk crafted his children’s bodies by night, Dawn created their minds and souls during the day, instilling in them the love for all her creations. But when the Firstborn woke up, not knowing their father, they flocked to the Mother of Day, constantly following her into the light, and ever fleeing from their father. Despite his best efforts, they would remain fearful and indifferent towards his beckoning. Disappointed and scorned, Dusk lashed at the ground in a fit of dark rage, burning his creations with a wrathful black fire, covering the lands in ash and burying the broken bodies of his children under rock and stone.
On the great despair and the Last Sacrifice
Silence fell over the world once again, and Dusk could hear in the distance the cries of Dawn, as even she was not able to give life back to her murdered children. Remembering the pain of his own loss, the Nightfather harvested all of the mercy and hope still lingering in the cold Darkness, gave it shape and forged it into a Moon that would eclipse the sun for a single day. Thus, the Mother of Day and the Father of Night were united one last time, to work together on recreating their greatest achievement.
And so they crafted mankind, gifting it with both their essences in equal measure. Instilling human minds with Light and Darkness made the gods’ children truly free, for now they had the capacity to love both day and night, and the ability to choose between the two paths that started from the same place, but ultimately led into two opposite directions.
Since that last union, the Moon has stood as a solemn reminder of Dusk’s last act of grace, and some say that it reflects the light of the sun because the Nightfather used up all of his compassion to forge it, and all of his love for the Mother of Day to make it yield to his will and eclipse the sun – and that when it all happens again, it will be at the end of days.
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| A Beastman Tracker - prototype sketch by Enggar Adirasa |
On the passing of the First Age
From the day of the Awakening, humanity started spreading and conquering the furthest corners of its new home. And as men grew in the Light, the Mother of Day watched her children with pride. But as Dawn smiled upon men, Dusk watched them with a growing disdain, for in those times only few would choose the shadows over the light of day. And those who did were either too weak to make their father proud or so headstrong, that they would try to harness his power and use it to their own ends.
Bitter and irate, Dusk turned his thoughts to crafting a new race – one that would serve him without question. In the deepest darkness of the old forests, in the forgotten caves under the tallest mountains, he engineered his servants, building their bodies to resemble both humans and the beasts of prey he had made in the beginning. Without Dawn’s aid, he crafted their minds with his own essence, instilling in them rage and malice, and a desire to feed and to conquer, but no compassion and no regard for love and life.
Satisfied, the Nightfather watched his new offspring multiply and grow in strength, with minds focused on death and rampage and the Darkness that spawned them. And when their numbers grew, he unleashed them upon humanity. The war that came soon after brought many of the ancient kingdoms to ashes, dividing the world forever and showing humanity that it can never again feel safe in its own home. And thus the First Age ended in blood and a new order came to be. And henceforth it would shape the world, locking it in a bitter struggle between the Mother of Day and the Nightfather – and all of their children.
And so it remained until the Mists came to twist and devour the works of both Dusk and Dawn.
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