The History of the Gods

In the beginning, the worlds were empty, and the gods drifted through the endless seas of Celestia in an eternal sleep. Thus the cosmos was for countless eons. Then one day, one of the shapeless forms that was a god drifted ashore, and the god awoke, proclaiming, “I am the god Zheurnrol, first to arrive in this world, and I will wait here for my brethren.” And there he waited for nearly a millennium. From his face grew a long curling beard of gray, and from his head a tangle of hair of the same color. His eyes sunk deep into his head, as the pale yellow of his stare, gazed unblinkingly across the sea.

Thus time passed, and eventually another form washed ashore, and this one also awoke and said, “I am the god On, second to arrive in this world, and I will wait here for my brethren.” And the two of them stood there, and they talked, and became friends. As time passed, On grew thick scales from his skin and long horns protruded from his head. His teeth became sharp and pointed, as did the form of his slit eyes. And his legs grew thick, and ended in hoofed feet, while his arms shrank in width and extended outward to attach onto thin, clawed fingers.

The years continued to flow and short of another millennium passed when a third shape rose from the shore and told the world, “I am the god An, third to arrive in this world, and I will wait here for my brethren.” As An spoke the gray nothing that had pervaded the sky vanished, and became a vast field of blue infinity. And the two older gods were astonished, and grateful, and the three talked and came to love each other. While they waited, An grew long, white hair that glistened like the vast sea that had birthed her, and flowed with the same effervescent beauty. Her face became inspiring in its tranquil elegance. And her body was no longer the undefined slate that represented Zheurnrol, but instead became the universal curves of a young mother.

As the next millennium neared its passage, the waves delivered another body to the cosmos that awoke and stated, “I am the god Fodenon, fourth to arrive in this world, and I will wait here for my brethren.” The three elder gods then talked and welcomed their brother, but did not love him as they did each other. Fodenon’s head was round and hairless, which seemed to add a mysterious weight to his words. The curled, black beard that sprouted from his face seemed to suggest cold weather and a matching attitude. And his giant muscles were formed so perfectly, he appeared more of an idol than an entity. The fierce physical appearance that dictated his outward identity contrasted with the patient, awareness that he used to view the world.

Another millennium then drew close to its end, and Zheurnrol told his companions the next being would arrive soon. An insignificant year passed and brought another form ashore that rose and announced proudly, “I am the god Phaesur, fifth to arrive in this world, and I will wait here for my brethren.” The other gods greeted Phaesur and talked and became both proud and admirable of their youngest brother. Except for Zheurnrol who sat in the sand and observed the others with a focused analysis, and when asked why he was so unsociable he told them he had grown weary from waiting for so long. Phaesur’s gold-blonde hair rested just above his deep eyes that sparkled with ever changing hues of blue. His jaw was firm set and free of the curled forest of hairs that concealed his brothers faces. The shape his body took was so indescribably ordinary that it seemed divine in its own perfection of normalcy.

The millennium came closer, and the gods anticipated the arrival of their next ally, but the millennium passed, and the sea did not deliver another god. Zheurnrol then gathered the other gods around himself and told them, “Friends, we are what has come to existence. Now we must venture forth into the unknown and learn what we can, for we are divine and therefore have a predestined purpose.”

Phaesur then laughed in the carefree tone of his nature and said, “We will not find any one item be it tangible or not, that can dictate our roles in the universe. Instead I believe it is the journey itself that will lead to our discovery. And even then it will be our own beings that decide what we shall do, not some predetermined timeline that has existed even before ourselves.”

Zheurnrol responded with a show of only the mildest interest, “Do not speak so familiarly of that which you have never experienced young one, for that will only lead to broken expectations and ultimate failure. But we will accomplish nothing with our exchange of philosophies; instead we must take action and see what the cosmos holds.”

“Or doesn’t,” Phaesur added.

As the gods turned to start their journey a voice spoke from the water, that was so beautiful to behold, it lifted the heart of even the ever indifferent Zheurnrol, “I am the god Thalus, last to arrive in this world, and I will journey forth with my brethren. Nay, we are more than brethren, for we are bound by the soul, and shall forever live in harmony and love for each other. Whether the universe throw oblivion, and deceit, and hate among us, our bond will hold, and we shall see the end together, as we have seen the beginning, I make this as a promise to you, my family, for my existence has been insignificant compared to your age, and I do not know you, but I have felt you, even before I was aware of myself, and I have loved you before I loved myself, and my love has extended beyond us out to the very edges of the cosmos. And I rejoice in my existence, and thank the infant nothing that hath delivered us to this celebration of friendship that marks my birth.” The dripping figure that stood amidst the waves was not the formless mold the other gods had been at their creation, but was instead a tall man with short brown hair, and unshaven stubble across his face. His body reflected in everyway the idea of what a god should be, a perfection so masterful that it seemed wrong to gaze upon it. But it was his eyes that held captive the minds of his audience, for they seamlessly blended iris and pupil into a black pool that stretched so far it incited thoughts of not just death, but of nonexistence itself.

While the others remained entranced by this new, and awe striking god, Zheurnrol greeted him, “We welcome you, young Thalus, and stand in stunned consideration of your wise words.”

Thalus responded humbly, “Ancient one, it is you that I have felt most keenly. Your power is beyond the comprehension of even our immortal minds, and your scrutinizing observance has already granted you more wisdom than I could amass in a thousand eons. But lethargy and observance is a thin line to walk, and often end with the same consequences. Be wary brother, for action must, at times, take precedence over knowledge.”

Zheurnrol spoke in the same uninterested tone he had used with Phaesur, “Thalus, action without knowledge is an expedition that is doomed from the start.”

Thalus, thinking he could end the discussion, asked a question, but stated it as a fact, “Even if that action is to acquire knowledge?”

The oldest of the gods looked down scornfully at Thalus, “You tread upon an endless loop, for one can always observe an observance. If one does not possess knowledge then they know not what it is they are performing the action for. But I will secede this disagreement to you somewhat, for neither I nor any of our counterparts know or even understand what it is we are about to journey in search of, but we do know we are looking for something, and that is the first step to knowledge. As I have told your brother though, our exchange of ideals will not further our goal, so I bid you join us as we scour this universe that we have been so unceremoniously thrust into, for a purpose and explanation.”

Thalus, nodding his head in agreement, said to all the gods, “I thank you for your invitation, and gladly accept it, for this journey combines so many philosophies and provides the possibility of so many more that I become saddened at the thought of how long you have waited for my arrival to embark upon it.”

And so the gods searched, though they knew not what they searched for. Their journey lasted for an unfathomable length of time, for they inspected every part of all seven planes of existence, the smallest of which would take tens of thousands of years to cross by physical means. And each time they crossed into a new one, they would name it; first there was their home Celestia, second came Goloth, then Bennal, fourth was the Abyss, the fifth was Ennon, the sixth was Kelasial, and the final one was never named.

During this time the gods grew even closer, and their individual roles in the party became apparent: Zheurnrol, the quiet observer who took unchallenged command when he felt the search was being forgotten, On, the dauntless pacesetter who would rather climb a mountain if it lay in his path than go through the nearby pass, An, the sparkling mediator who could impassion the air itself with her presence, Fodenon, the knowledgeable and sensitive who could pick up on the slightest geographic detail at a glance, Phaesur, the lighthearted painkiller who was able to see the humorous side of even the most frustrating situations, and Thalus, the motivator who had the ability to encourage his friends with no more than a look of his entrancing eyes.

As time passed Thalus became the center of the group, and the other gods, excluding Zheurnrol, looked up to him, and knew that he could fix any problem that arose. Feeling that it was his duty Thalus accepted this with a stoic resolve, and he did not fail, and the longer he continued the more talent he acquired, to the point where he could discern a problem from body language before it was spoken. The only exception to this was Zheurnrol, he was not interested in the temporary problems of his companions, he was in fact silently disdainful, feeling it should be the responsibility of the individual with the problem to work it out on their own, not Thalus’ or anyone else. Zheurnrol’s natural examination of everything that surrounded him granted him a foresight that even Thalus did not possess, Zheurnrol was not just aware that a disagreement would arise between the other gods long before it did, but he was able to predict changes in terrain, weather, and direction from patterns he had learned. On was fascinated with these techniques that his older brother had taught himself, and the two became even closer as On learned patiently from the often distracted Zheurnrol.

It was during their journey through Goloth that the most important event in history occured, Thalus discovered magic.