The Creation of Varda

A note from the author - Where most Articles are written from a perspective of knowledge you will find in-world, amongst the populace of Varda, this Article is different. Detailed below is a story of how Varda came to be, its many Deities, Planes of Existence and even the sentient Species of the land. There may even be an Eldritch Horror or two. Please note, no single person, be it Elf or Dwarf or Human or Goliath, will know this knowledge. For anyone reading this Article that has a Character in a Campaign based on Varda, or who wishes to use this world for their own creative purposes, let it be known – this is the true story of Varda's creation, and should never be spoken about In-Character.    

The Dawn of Existence

At the start of everything, a single event of radiant brilliance occurred. A star was born from nothing, bursting forth its solar energies in to the void of space around it. And over the millennia after this stars creation, six planets formed around it. This star would come to be known as Seren.   It was not just light and solar energy that spread out around Seren, but also a much more mystical and unknown power of primordial creation. This energy swirled around the star and its planets, at first a mass of chaos and pandemonium. But slowly over the course of thousands of years, it began to settle. An as it did, conscience came to be.   Three entities emerged, made up of the primal energy of the universe. The Divine Beings, as they would be come to known, blossomed in to existence. Their names were Aias, the Weaver of Order, Cadohr, the Keeper of Time, and Gyva, the Source of Creation. Seeing the chaos that existed around Seren, the three began to dictate the rules that would govern all. Their first act was to set the planets in order, an have them all orbit Seren in a dignified manner.   The Divine Beings were not all that the chaotic energies of Seren's birth bought in to creation. At the edges of the solar system, where light would struggle to reach, seven more entities formed. With little light to guide their birth, these beings grew of malice, hate and the pure chaos of existence itself. They were the Old Ones, and their insatiable hunger to feed would never sate.  

The Celestial War

It was inevitable that those that sought order and those that wanted destruction could not exist in harmony, and so it was that the Old Ones came to destroy what the Divine Beings had only just started making. Conflict began as the Divine Beings fought to protect the star and the planets they had claimed, and the Celestial War began.   Despite their unlimited powers, the Divine Beings could not hope to combat all seven of the Old Ones at once. It was Gyva who first harnessed their energy to begin to create something to help, something made of the Divine Beings own energy. The Elder Gods were bought in to being, imbued with powers of their creators. With numbers bolstered, the Old Ones were defeated.   But such beings cannot be killed so easily. Instead, banishment was needed, and a means to keep them away. With this, the Divine Beings combined their energies and began to seal one of the Old Ones away. Eventually this Old One would be named Rillmokath, or The Imprisoned. At the centre of everything, the Divine Beings constructed a prison for Rillmokath, a place that was known as the Heart of Chaos. Using the energy of the Old One would ensure that its kin would stay away, and be banished to the void beyond Seren's reach – The Endless Abyss.   Around the Heart of Chaos, energies once again formed and began to swirl. Separate from where Seren and its planets existed, a new Plane of Existence would form – the Plane of Magic. This would become the source of all magical energies that those on the Material Plane would eventually come to harness, and was also the place where the Elder Gods wold reside.  

The Creation of Varda

With the threat of the Old Ones no longer present, the Divine Beings set about creating once again. A single planet was chosen, chosen for its ideal orbit around the star Seren. Eventually this planet would become known as Varda.   Aias wrote the laws that would govern the world, from the way matter would interact to the basic forces that would enable creation to thrive. Cadohr bought forth time, the passing of seconds used to watch things come to be and come to pass. Gyva worked last, sculpting the lands, the seas, breathing oxygen in to the air and finally giving that first spark of life to the world.   The Elder Gods watched on from their domain in the Plane of Magic, marvelling at the creation they saw. Eventually, Varda was complete, and the Divine Beings retreated to watch as the life there flourished over the millennia that followed.   Eventually the three Divine Beings would disappear, their essence becoming one with the Plane of Magic. It is assumed that after the battle against the Old Ones and the creation of the Elder Gods and Varda, that their energy was all but spent, and all that was left was to watch their creation grow, and eventually fade away. In their place, the Elder Gods were left, custodians of both Varda and the ever-present Heart of Chaos that sealed away Rillmokath.  

The Birth of the Elves

The Elder Gods marvelled at Varda, watching as species developed and evolved in to all sorts of life on the verdant planet. Occasionally, they would extend a portion of their will and power to the Material Plane, shaping it in a way that they saw fit. But something was lacking. Such beauty needed to be looked after and admired from closer than the Plane of Magic. With this thought in mind, the Elder Gods decided to follow in the Divine Beings footsteps, an they created their own life. Sentient life. They would bring about the first Elves.   Despite being powerful, the Elder Gods only had a fraction of what the Divine Beings had. In this way, they could only create the Elves to live a certain amount of time, and not immortally like the Gods. They also infused within each Elf the essence of the Plane of Magic, and when an Elf were to die, this magical essence would return from whence it came. Echoes of the Elf's life would return with it, becoming one with the Plane of Magic for all eternity.   Elvish civilization grew rapidly on Varda, and so to did their beliefs and mythologies. A strange influence reflected itself from these beliefs into the Plane of Magic. Where before each Elder God was very similar to each other, it soon came to be that they found themselves begin to transform with the wordly beliefs of the Elves. Soon, Elder Gods would find they had names and ruled a certain domain tied to the Material Plane. Gods of the sea, Gods of land, of the sky and the forests. The beliefs of mortals reflected upon the Elder Gods through the centuries, and the first Elvish Pantheon would come to be.   With their personas more focused, those that formed the Elvish Pantheon found they had more influence over the Material Plane, and in these early days of Varda, it was not uncommon for the Deities of the Elvish religion to walk amongst their worshippers from time to time.   The ebb and flow of religion over the course of centuries always changes, however, and it was not uncommon for Gods to fall out of favour or be forgotten. In such instances, when all belief had evaporated, the God would disappear, their essence rejoining the energies of the Plane of Magic. Likewise, when a new religion or God would come in to being, after enough worship and followers, it would be born from the magical energies. As Varda developed, the Elder Gods as they were known would cease to be, and a cycle of life and death for the Gods would arise, tied intrinsically to the mortals of the Material Plane.   Occasionally, when a God learned of its fate at being forgotten, it would seek out one last act of creation. With its last energies, a new sentient species would be created on Varda, in the vain hopes that a new religion would come to bolster the Gods power once again. This has seldom worked, as the power used for such a feat destroys the God, leaving the new species open to will in a new Pantheon for them to worship.  

The Influence of the Old Ones

Despite being banished or sealed away, the Old Ones were still powerful entities in their own right, and their presence could still be felt on Varda. Whispers crept in to the minds of mortal, and temptation and promises of power would corrupt their essence and bring about destruction. When such mortals died, they would still return to the Plane of Magic, but instead of rejoining the energies, their essence would warp and transform, bringing about a creature of malevolence and hatred. This was how Demons first came to be.   Many would fall in this way, and the Plane of Magic would see a new threat rising. Within the Heart of Chaos, Rillmokath extended its will to these Demons, and forged an army to see it set free.   Alongside this, a new Plane of Existence was forming. A dream-like mirror of the Material Plane formed, warped and shadowy. It is here that the lost essences of mortals would end up, a place for souls to wander. The Ethereal Plane was created, a hidden world parallel to Varda, the same but behind a different veil. This Plane would become an easier passageway between the Magical and Material Planes, for those that had the power to use it.  

The War of the Gods

A time referred to as The War of the Gods would come to pass, as legions of Demons battled against the newly established pantheon of Gods. With the creation of the Ethereal Plane, it was easier for these Demons to influence the mortals of Varda, and thus bolster their ranks.   Conflict spread across all the Planes of Existence, but the Gods would fight back against Rillmokath and his Demonic armies with ingenuity. Following in the footsteps of the Divine Beings, they began to shape new elements of existence to aid them in their battle.   The first of these was another new Plane of Existence. With the Ethereal Plane being so easy to access for Demons, the Gods needed a place concealed and hidden away. Combining their powers, they created the Astral Plane, a place that allowed the Gods to travel, communicate and strategise away from the influence of the Heart of Chaos. A safe-haven for wayward souls and a passageway for divine intervention, the Astral Plane aided greatly in the fight against the Demons.   But as they were creatures made from the very magical essence of reality itself, the Demons were hard to defeat. Each one would only return back to the Heat of Chaos, and then be free to break in to the Plane of Magic beyond. The Gods needed a solution for sealing the way for good.   Harnessing the belief from the mortals on Varda, he Gods went about with creating something far more powerful than they had before. Above the Heart of Chaos, a glowing, sun-like orb formed. Immense power radiated from it, created with the single purpose of fighting against Demonic kind. The origins of Light magic was formed, and this creation, the everlasting sun, would be known as the Solara Aeternum. Belief was spread across Varda about this new power, the faith in it bolstering the defence. Through the years, many religions would use it as a basis of their faith unknowingly, with such examples as The Sun of Purity, The Radiant Flame and the Holy Light.   The Solara Aeternum would seal away the Heart of Chaos, the demonic armies of Rillmokath being enclosed within with their master. No longer would they be able to enter the Plane of Magic directly, and the War of the Gods came to an end.  

The Plane of Magic Reformed

Such use of power had a profound and permanent effect on the Plane of Magic. The swirling energies solidified in to a more structured realm. Around the Heart of Chaos, a ring of elemental regions came to be: fire, earth, water and air. The fundamental forces of nature would become represented in the very fabric of magic itself.   The Gods also influenced the lands directly, their domains bringing a semblance of order to where they resided. Much of the Elvish pantheon would come to inhabit a place nestled between the earth and water regions, and as Varda progressed in its beliefs, this would become the Feywild. Much later, when Dwarves came to Varda and started worshipping their own Pantheon, the great Halls of Hallarn would appear along the border of the fire and earth regions.   As the civilizations and sentient species of Varda grew and developed, so did the Plane of Magic and its Gods. But everlasting within the centre lies the Heart of Chaos, the Old One sealed inside with its Demonic armies, the Solara Aeternum hanging above it, blazing in radiant glory.  

Whispers From Beyond

Despite this magical seal binding Rillmokath and the Demons inside the Heart of Chaos, whispers of malevolent promises and wishes fulfilled still seep in to Varda, swaying the mortals that hear them. For those that know, it is possible to summon these entities to the Material Plane. Yet, with each breach of the barrier, doom and despair follows. It is thought that one day, when the faith in the Solara Aeternum eventually fails, Rillmokath will be unleashed, bringing the end to the Plane of Magic and the world of Varda.