Dae'alva-dregnor

Time is fleeting but is not infinite, for it is held contained within a concept of what it is. For if time were to exist it would need mortality to judge its need. There was once no time, merely an instance, yet it carried more actions within it than could happen within a moment. And in this instance, there was only those who are immortal.

For it was before everything had come to pass, before the breath of Men and machinations of Elves. Before the blood of Orks and the shedding of the Rakshasa. It was when time was being born, and when all that is never existed and the only sign of existence was the Void, and the Light.

The Light had taken the form of a woman, dazzling and brilliant, agile and playful as light is. it wandered through the space of the Void, amazed at its freedom, its form, its existence. Yet it became lonely, and it could sense another presence within the Void and it yearned for the other's company. Throughout the blackness it searched, eager to share its joy of the discovery of existence with another and it discovered smaller beings. These beings it called the dae'alva, for they were formless things, of the shadow and darkness from which they had been born. At first they fled from her, afraid of her brilliance, but her smile was alluring and her beauty overcame their fears. Timidly, in awe, they approached and she began to show them how to take their own forms. Eagerly the dae'alva followed her lead and created for themselves shape and size, and brought about their own existence. Filled with the joy of seeing them follow her lead, the woman laughed and her cheer filled the Void with the promise of possibility.

The dae'alva followed her around, watching as she learnt to do new things, to create substance from where there was nothing, and eagerly they copied her. Soon the void was filled with many areas of substance that needed a cohesion, and the Woman pushed it all together, and created the world upon which we now walk. Seeing this, the dae'alva were overjoyed.

Next the woman created life. First she created the animals that were needed to keep the earth alive, and then the Race of Men to rule it. From her own essence she created the Elves. One of the dae'alva, a great burly thing who had named himself Grarak, tried to copy her and created the OrKs and Goblinoids. The others soon joined in their creating and soon the land was filled with wondrous creatures.

And then the Woman stopped, for she sense something was wrong with their creations. She watched as the world started to tear itself apart. The Elves fought the men, the Dwarves who had risen from the earth turned on the Orks. Terror and pain entered the lands. The dae'alva too saw this and they rushed to the Woman, begging her to stop the chaos that was beginning to unravel the world they had made.

Overwhelmed with her anguish, she fled. Far away from the dae'alva and the world she and they had created. She forged a hallowed place, a place of peace and tranquility where she could hide from the chaos that was building in the Void and there she stayed for a long time, watching through tear filled eys everything that came to pass.

The dae'alva were torn and they turned on each other. They argued on what they should do to fix the mistakes they had made in creating these beings that wrought such destruction on the wondrous beauty about them. Some felt abandoned and by the Woman, and tried to subvert some of her creatures to their own power. One such was Lillith, who lured some of the elves into a dark realm she had created on the world. These became twisted parodies of the former beautiful beings and they grew to despise their kin. Others of the dae'alva tried to reason with their creations but the mortal creatures ran screaming at the sight of them, for they knew not what they were. Another of the dae'alva, one named Rakshas who had taken the form of a manlike cat, rallied some of the others to him and made plans to remove their creations from the world, believing that he could remake the world and fix the errors they had made. On and on the god like beings argued, and no solution was found.

Unbeknownst to all of them something had been watching their actions since the Woman had entered their midst. The other presence she had felt originally had been her antithesis, a being of dark. He had created the dae'alva and left them alone in the void, intending to see what they would do. And now, when all seemed lost, he chose to take the form of a horned man and made his own move to emulate what the Woman had done.

He created a world of darkness and pain. He shaped creatures that were mockeries of those who lived on the mortal world and he made them immortal, believing that without the ability to die they would never commit such atrocities against each other. But he was wrong, for the creatures found ways around this and instead commited acts even more horrible than the mortal creatures had. Seeing this he devised a plan to remedy the actions of the others.

He used his power to draw many of the dae'alva to him, and imprisoned them within his new world. He did this to punish them and then he sent forth some of his creatures to devour and absorb their essence. His creatures grew stronger and became what we now know as the Daevu, demons of the hells. He sent them forth into the mortal realm, seeking to instill fear into the mortal creatures of the world.

And this they did well. Terrors greater than had been seen before stalked the land. Horrified, Rakshas turned to the dark one and attacked him, not wanting the creatures to endure such horrors. But the dark one would not be dissuaded and he tore Rakshas into many pieces, scattering him across the sands of the mortal world. Where the blood of the dae'alva landed did new creatures take form, these mortal and resembling the torn god. They ran in fear from the daevu, for they had not the power to defeat them. The elves and humans formed a truce and rallied against the demons of the darkness and the Orks and their goblin king harried them when they approached their lands. Together the mortal races fended off the Immortal beings, chasing them back into the realms of the dark. Seeing this, the dark one smiled for this had been his intent from the beginning.

Filled with a feeling of unity the mortals of the lands started to form alliances, and a peace filled the lands. But the dark one knew that it would not last long, for in the hearts of all there were still many evils that would lead the light away. So he sought out the woman and approached her in her realm of light. He submitted himself to her and together they devised a way to keep the nortals of the world in check.

The lady strode forth from her realm once more, and gathered the few dae'alva that remained, and that would approach, for many were fearful of her wrath. These she set into her realm aso that they may watch and guide the mortal creatures. They became the many Gods of the world and they sought to teach their followers the ways of the light. Then she created her last beings, creatures of divine light and purity, avatars of her beauty and love, and they descended into the world, to teach the mortals the agreement betweeen the Light and the Dark. These creatures were the Forgotten Ones, lesser gods but capable of great feats. they instillied magic within the lands adn taught it to all. Then once their lessons were complete, they retreated to realms within the mortal world where no mortal could ever tread, and watched.

For the lessons they had told were that when a mortal died they would be judged and then, if they had lived pleasingly and stayed away from the evils within their souls, they would be moved into the light. But if they failed, if they succumbed to the vileness within, they would be sent to the realms of darkness, trapped forever in penance for their actions.

The Woman of the Light then moved to her realm of light and was still, watching the world as it grew. The Dark returned to his realm, and gave himself a name Asmodai, so that he might forever be known to those who dare tread in his darkness.

Such was how time became the true judge of life, and how life became a balance of time.