In the beginning, there was everything, and yet nothing.

Everything was, and was not, and changed from one form to another freely. Nothing stopped, nothing existed, nothing remained.

Into this world of chaos came the Goddess of Creation. Nobody knows from whence She came, but She had the power to still the ever-changing nature of this world.

By Her words was the earth and sky born, the earth and the waters parted, and the land split into its continents - the lush forested lands of Westerland, the deserts of Ostland, the frigid tundra of Nordland, and the meadows of Sudland. By Her words, the continents were parted by steep ridges and mountains. By Her words, the sea and land were filled with life, the myriad ever-changing forms of Creation finally settling into permanent bodies, free to live lives of their own choice - until death brings them back into the flow of life again.

For a time, all was well, and the Goddess slowly altered the laws of the world to better fit the requirements of life. The land was at peace, and filled with plenty, but most life was the same. Each fish behaved the same as another fish, each chicken behaved the same as another chicken. While the world was filled with life, life itself lacked the richness of the world before the world was fixed in form by her words. The Goddess realized that to capture the essence of creation in the world as it was, She was not able to do so alone.

The Eight Holy Gods were brought into the world by the Goddess of Creation. It is not known if They were created by Her, or if They were peers She brought from the realm of the Gods, but what is known is that They each possessed abilities of creation equal to each other, and second only to the Goddess Herself. She placed each Aspect of Creation under the dominion of one of the Gods - Air under Baraqiel, Water until Jeremiel, Earth under Jehudiel, Fire under Uriel, Life under Raphael, Death under Michael, Space under Gabriel and Time under Selaphiel. They would exercise absolute dominion under each of the Aspects of Creation in Her stead, and They would breathe life into that which would display the traits of Their Aspect - humans. To increase the amount of variety, some life was co-created by more than one of the Holy Gods at once, and to receive the Aspects of multiple Gods is said to be a mark of favour by the Holy Gods in general. At last, the rest of all Creation was placed under the dominion of humans, who create and manage in the stead of the Holy Gods, who create and manage in the stead of the Goddess of Creation Herself.

Alas, the good times were not to last, for the newfound richness of Creation drew the ire and jealousy of other beings from the realm of the Divine - beings known to man as the Evil Gods. They, too, participated in creation, but created defects, flaws, and methods by which this world can be destroyed, for even those unable to participate in greatness can still achieve equality by pulling down the great to Their level. While Their names are not known to man and indeed, merely uttering Their names may draw Their attention to the perdition of the uninitiated, They are referred to by titles to avoid confusion without giving power to Their names. The Mother of Monsters created humanoid creatures that possess some of the intelligence of what they mimic, but none of their virtues. The Gate of the Beyond forcibly links Aspects of Creation, locations, and even time in unnatural ways, destroying all under His influence. The Darkness is the antithesis of light, devouring everything within its reach. The Faceless drives all sentient beings to madness and brings nations to ruin by turning them against themselves with forbidden knowledge, half-truths and lies. Finally, the Elder Dragon created beings with superior intellect to even humans and limited command of the Aspects of Creation, each of which could lay waste to massive tracts of land at a whim.

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Goblins are said to be a joint creation between the Mother of Monsters and the Faceless. Kobolds are said to be a joint creation between the Elder Dragon and the Gate of the Beyond. Elementals are said to be a joint creation between the Faceless and the Darkness. Demons are said to be a joint creation between the Darkness and the Gate of the Beyond. Giants and Ogres are said to be a joint creation between the Mother of Monsters and the Elder Dragon.

Faced with an existential threat, the Holy Gods instructed Their followers, and similarly placed limited command of the Aspects in their hands in the form of magic. Each person would only be able to bend the Aspect of Creation associated with their Creators, and they were led by special individuals who command multiple Aspects or command specific Aspects with more proficiency than most - the Noble Houses. Under the leadership of the Noble Houses, humanity managed to drive even dragons from their lands to some degree, but would never prosper in peace for too long, for power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and the Faceless never misses an opportunity to cause humanity to destroy itself. With no more dragons left within reach to fight, the Noble Houses began squabbling amongst themselves, and started using the powers granted by the Holy Gods to fight amongst themselves.

Peace finally returned when humanity fractured into four nations, each occupying one of the four continents, due to the sheer logistical impossibility of defending or fighting over the mountain ridges. And with four nations formed, each with its own choices of policies on trade, education, politics and philosophies, people gained the freedom to move to another nation fitting their preference instead of necessarily having to try to change the ones they live in, which resulted in peace within each of the nations, but a cold war between all of them that flares up every now and then when someone influential falls under the influence of the Faceless.