Creation Mythos

Creation Mythos

Alabaster Creates the Seolfor

In the beginning, there was one God - God of creation and all things beautiful, and King of heavens, earths, and all that lay between. He called himself Alabaster, for he shone with a light so blinding that his form could never been seen. He breathed life into nothing and created the Seolfor to rule in his court for eternity. Twelve, called First Lords and First Ladies, were made in His image and given free will. Alabaster then created the remaining Seolfor, myriads of lesser beings each bound to a Lord or Lady as a vassal. Together, all worshiped Alabaster among the music of the stars.  

Division in Alabaster's Court

Jealous of the honors paid to Alabaster, Farouk the Rebellious and Kerensa the Rebellious conspired to become god and goddess of creation. Through lies and treachery they killed Raphael, Lord of Life and Enora, Lady of Death. As the blood of the dead Seolfor blood mingled at the foot of Alabaster’s throne, thunder shook the heavens.

“Who has slain my children?” Alabaster demanded, although He already knew. “Come forward and repent.”

When no one came forward, Alabaster bestowed free will upon the lesser Seolfor and separated out those who were rebellious of heart. Then Alabaster cursed Farouk and Kerensa and their followers to forever wander the stars and live in fear of death. The ground then opened up under them and they fell from the heavens, never to return.  

Life Restored

Alabaster and the remaining Seolfor wept for Raphael and Enora. When their mourning was complete, Alabaster took a handful of blood-soaked ground and from it created Stonesage. He breathed life back into Raphael and Enora and appointed them guardians of Stonesage.  

Signs in the Skies

Alabaster placed images of the lords and ladies in the sky as stars and constellations to tell the story of creation, of life and death, and of the coming war between the righteous and the fallen Seolfor. Signs were placed in the heavens. He created sun and moon as two images of himself - one a light so bright it cannot be looked at directly, and the other a soft warm glow that brings hope and guides through the darkness. The rebellious Seolfor became as beasts and monsters in the night sky, and blood rippled around them as if a river.  

Creation of Worlds and Dimensions

As Alabaster created worlds, he gave domain over them to pairs of Seolfor. Their duty was to nurture and protect the world and populate it with their children. The magic of some worlds changed the offspring in small ways while others altered them completely. In this manner, all worlds had magic and all worlds had those who were once universally known as human.  

Flamesend

The world was once empty and formless. Alabaster, God of Creation shaped it into a sphere and breathed life into it.

From His first breath came the nichovan, powerful healers who traverse the boundary between physical and spiritual realms.

From His second breath came the dragons, behemoths of the sky. They are the keepers and teachers of knowledge and history. With their creation the skies were separated from the earth.

From His third breath came the elfae, and with them came fire and light to the world, all matter of plants and life, and music.

From around His throne, Alabaster picked two lesser Seolfor to be protectors of Flamesend. He called them Rene the Traveler and Hanya the Strong. Alabaster was pleased with His creation and He blessed Rene and Hanya. Their offspring were the first humans, born mortal and without magic.  

Stonesage

Stonesage is comprised of walking paths made of smooth stone and set in fields of wildflowers, twisting and winding like a labyrinth. Along both sides of the path are small node paths that each dead end at a delicate pedestal of silver inlaid with alexandrite. At the base of each pedestal is a symbol carved into the smooth stone path, and at the top, hovering a few inches above the pedestal is a small ball of light that gently flickers and rotates.

It is by standing on the symbol in the ground and touching the miniature star that a person is carried to the world named by the symbol. This is always the method of leaving Stonesage. Arriving is a different matter altogether. The link between worlds is governed by Alabaster himself and is severed only at his bidding. These "closed" worlds can only be accessed by Seolfor; no inhabitants can travel in or out.

Raphael and Enora mend the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual trauma of people who find their way there accidently or intentionally. Among their first patients were Jonathan, Jason, Ivan, and Rene the Traveler - four lesser Seolfor who had served Farouk until to his rebellion but chose to remain loyal to Alabaster.  

Corruption of Worlds

Farouk and Kerensa

Angered by their banishment from Alabaster's court, the fallen Seolfor took their revenge on his creation. They target first Rene and his world, as punishment for his disloyality to their rebellion. Together Farouk and Kerensa deigned a world that mirrors Flamesend and use the world's own magic to strangle it by siphoning it off. The more magic they pump into their Mirrorworld, the harder it was for the protectors and people of Flamesend to resist. The mirrorworld is held together with Seolforian magic, the likes of which has never been seen on earths, and the best way to fuel it is to imprison a Seolfor. Farouk created the mirrorworld around his wife Kerensa but decides he needs more magic and power to feed his revenge so he captures and imprisons Rene's wife Hanya. Rene and other Seolfor waged war to rescue her but every use of their powers against the mirrorworld only made the prison stronger and weakened the world.

Distraught, Rene retreated to Stonesage under the watchful care of Raphael and Enora to manage his grief and maintain a safe balance of magic in the world. For a millennium he watched the movements of Farouk and planned a way to destroy the prison that separated him from his beloved Hanya.  

The Summoning

Tired of waiting for the slow suffocation of the world, Farouk forces Rene's hand by rising up Ignos of Azramel to rip a hole in Rene's defenses around the world and portal in Farouk's Seolforian followers and those from other worlds. This does not go as planned when Ignos of Azramel, drunk on power and magic given him by the fallen Seolfors, changes the endgame. Spoliers for the Portal Report Series.

While not Farouk's original plan, the ensuing chaos does tip the world into dangerous unbalance like a cocktail of chemical reactions waiting to explode. He and his followers wreck havoc among the new arrivals by gaining followers and turning locals against any potential threat.

Spoiler for Portal Report Series.  

Aftermath

Once shattered, the pieces of the mirrorworld were drawn back to earth like a magnet attracting iron filings. Every piece retained the full potency of the perverted magic used to create it. It didn't take long for Farouk's earthly followers to track down shards and use them in spells or to harm others.

With the mirrorworld gone, magic was stronger and more wild, rushing back into the world like a flood. This abundance of magic clashed with the foreigners, causing unpredictable reactions. Farouk and his followers continued to siphon what magic they could, and corrupting what they couldn't. A wholesale slaughter began, with targeted species changing with each new generation of followers.  

In Legends and History

There are certain bodies of fresh water that are gates to the mirrorworld. Their surface is like glass and no matter the weather, it is flat and smooth and clear, never freezing over, never polluted. Ethereal. Also, no reflection, like a void. Those who touch the water are pulled in and trapped. They have been forgotten, except in nightmares and cautionary tales. Those who go to the mirrorworld don’t come home but legend says one can see them just below the surface, banging on the underside of the water, searching for a way back.  

Successor

The war between Rene and Farouk continued on until Farouk raised another person to be his presence on earth - Saoirse the Sorceress.

She discovered that a person could absorb a shard and it would change their perspective of the world and dull their conscience and emotions. In most cases, this is done voluntarily through manipulation. In a few rare instances, mirrorshards could be forced onto a victim.With these powers and the support of Farouk and other fallen Seolfor, Saoirse rose to power as an immortal high sorceress. Her intent is to continue the siphoning and polluting of magic until such a time when Farouk could return and destroy the world.  

Warriors of Alabaster

In an attempt to counter Saoirse's destructive influence on humanity, Rene and other Seolfor beseeched Alabaster to intervine. He did, by allowing Rene to make a covenant with a family on earth. They are his chosen people to fight the effects of the unbalanced magic in the name of Alabaster.