Utopian Realm Genesis

By Anton Kukal

 

The Creation Myth Regarding the Realm of the Five

From the patterns of the Void, the Creators woke to individual consciousness in the nothingness that was the beginning of their realm. They took names and forms, but collectively they were called the Five.

The Five

Natallis formed from the mystic energies of earth, electric, chemical, and sound. Her form was a human female of plain beauty. She had long reddish-auburn hair adorned with leaves and flowers. She was curious, inquisitive, and playful. She loved music, song, and dance. She gave the world Nature. 

Lumina formed from the mystic energies of wind, vitalic, holy, and fate. She was the essence of love and kindness. Her form was that of a human female of stunning beauty. She had long blond hair, the color of sunshine, and carried herself with elegance and poise. Her nature was patient, trusting, and loving towards all people. She gave the world life.

Noctis formed from the mystic energies of decay, necrotic, profane, and psionic. He was a seeker of knowledge who valued learning. He is best remembered as a pensive dreamer, an intellectual, a poet, and a singer of songs. His form was that of a human male with a slim build, dark hair, and intelligent, caring eyes. He gave the world death, but always regretted its necessity.

Solnus formed from the mystic energies of order, water, cold, and time. He was always correct, solemn, and devoted. His form was that of a powerful man with chiseled facial features and eyes that portrayed a serious heart that was true to justice and right. He was solid in his beliefs and dedicated to honor. He gave the world law.

Karthis formed from the mystic energies of heat, chaos, radiation, and toxic. He was laughter, carelessness, and lighthearted mischief. His form was that of a handsome human male with an athletic build. He is best remembered for his carefree smile and easygoing manner. The realm knew him as the trickster, the fool, and the jester. He gave the world freedom.

Creation

The Five were happy together, but Natallis convinced the others to aid her in creating a realm where the Five could give physical form to all they could conceive. It would be a place of beauty, full of promise and possibility. A land of adventure and a home for heroes. Her enthusiasm took hold, and the Five began to build.

The brothers, Solnus and Karthis, were as different as fire and water but were connected by the unbreakable bonds of sibling love. Devoted and dutiful, Solnus created the physical and non-physical laws such as mathematics, mechanics, gravity, magnetism, and legal systems. Karthis valued freedom, offering change and variation in those laws so that everything was unique in its own right. Whereas, Solnus gave consistency to the world, Karthis gave individuality. 

The lovers, Lumina and Noctis, were as committed as any couple could be complementing each other with perfect symmetry.  She offered the idea of a sun and daylight. He suggested a period of darkness lit by a romantic, silvery moon. Together they designed the sunset and sunrise, making them beautiful to behold as a special time for lovers. Noctis created the moon and the stars.

Solnus created the oceans and raised the land from its depths. Karthis shaped majestic mountains that Solnus covered in snow. Breaking up the flat ground, Karthis carved valleys, and Solnus filled these places with lakes and streams. Karthis created a swirling desert of ever-changing sands.

Karthis created the clouds and Solnus made rain fall from the sky to irrigate the land. Lumina created wind while Natallis created lightning and made the thunder rumble. In the winter, Solnus created beautiful crystals of snow, and Karthis made every flake different. 
Lumina and Noctis, working together, gave the world the cycle of life and death, which allowed the Five to create grasses, flowers, shrubs, and trees. They formed the vast grass-covered prairies and then the forests and jungles. The world was full of life, but nothing moved, and the Five wanted more.

Beasts

Natallis created the beasts of fur, feathers, and chitinous skin. She filled the skies with birds, the oceans with fish, and the rest of the world with animals of all sizes and temperaments. She created the tiny insects and the giant dragons. Movement and the sounds of life suffused the realm.

The forms of her creations were beautiful and beyond compare, but they were creatures of instinct, driven by their natural purposes. Among them were predators and prey who lived in the interconnected web of life, each bound to the eternal balance of nature. The Five looked on the natural world and believed they could do more.

Elderkin

The Five sought to create beings who would complement the beasts of the realms. These new creations would feel, reason, remember, and communicate. Working in pairs, the Five brought forth the first mortal beings of the realm, the Elderkin.

The Five reveled in the success of their creation, gazing on these new beings drawn from their own imaginations and the patterns of the Void: cyclopes, drones, goblins, gremlins, kravynn, ogres, tibbyrs, and trolls.

Yet the Elderkin were flawed. Their minds could not hold full thought, nor grasp abstract concepts. Worse still, their actions were driven by base emotion, unchecked and overwhelming. Though they could feel, they could not truly understand, and were driven by base instincts they could not overcome.

The Five knew these beings would not be able to care for the world. They would not build or create works of lasting beauty. They considered unmaking the Elderkin and beginning anew, but found the act unworthy of their own design. Instead, they chose compassion and did not destroy the Elderkin. 

Non-Humans

The non-humans were created to care for the Realm and to give guidance to the Elderkin. Lumina suggested that all Five work together, combining their energies to create more capable beings. Thus the eight non-human species came into the world: beardon, elf, klacton, minotaur, orc, pythian, rakarrin, and weetle.

The united effort of the Five ensured that the non-humans possessed the ability to reason and a full range of emotions. They could develop distinct and individual personalities. Each was self-sufficient, inventive, and aware.

The Five were pleased to share their world with such a diverse group of peoples, but not all of these new beings cared for the Elderkin as the Five had hoped. In addition, each species had temperaments that tended toward the primary energies used in their creation. They also gravitated to certain climates and terrains based on their physical forms.

Humanity
After so much creation, the Creators came to the conclusion that the world needed beings with a perfectly balanced amount of energy who could carry forward their work and understand the realm in full.

With the skills they had developed in creating the Elderkin, and then the non-humans, the Five were confident they could create beings in their own imaged.

The Five acting together and carefully balancing their energies, contributed equal amounts of themselves to form begins in their own human image. Thus, human species came to the Realm of the Five.

The Creators were pleased, and they rejoiced. The humans were unlike any creation before them, as they were adaptive, creative, and inventive. They developed unique ways of life and spread across the world, becoming more numerous than any other peoples.

The Age of Nature

The First Age is the Age of Natallis, also called the Age of Nature. In this time, the Five lived among their people in the Cradle of Creation, a beautiful flat garden on the highest peak in what was later to be called the Forlorn Mountains.

The first age was a time of great learning where the Five shared knowledge of the universe. The greatest gift they gave to the world was the Way of the Five. A moral and ethical code for peaceful living based on five principles: balance, love, learning, law, and freedom.

The Five encouraged that all conflicts be resolved by intellectual discourse with an equitable decision reached by compromise and decisions made by democratic committee. Violence was unknown and crime was nonexistent. It was a time of plenty where all were content.

The Five asked for volunteers who would help guide the realm. In exchange for their oath, the Five gave them the power to manipulate the fundamental energies of the world. These blessed few were called the Five-Sworn, and they took a sacred oath to the Five promising to forever protect the realm.

As part of their pledge, the spirits of the Five-Sworn would be reborn through the ages in the service of the Five. The Five-Sworn were grouped according to the god whom they served. The Beaconers served Lumina, the Reavers served Noctis, the Crusaders served Solnus, the Warders served Natallis and the Jesters served Karthis.

By the end of the Age of Nature, the people of the realm had grown too numerous to remain in the place of creation, and so it was decided that they should go forth into the realm. One by one, the species left the Garden of the Five to make homes out in the world.

The Age of Nature was declared ended as the world became settled. The cities rose up in glory and splendor. Fields were plowed, animals were domesticated, and civilization came to the world.

The Age of Life

The Second Age has been called the Age of Life or the Age of Lumina. During this time, the people created their own governments and established national boundaries. The people moved away from the democratic ideals of the Way of the Five. Kings, queens, and supporting nobility rose to rule some nations. Others created caste systems or governments ruled by certain social groups.

The Five did not interfere as each people developed their own traditions, which grew into distinct cultural identities. The Creators allowed all nations to develop as the people desired. As long as all people lived in peace, all were free to live as they desired.

Solnus, Karthis, and Natallis built the city of Evermore. Aided by thousands of people, they raised crystal walls and spires high into the sky using powerful ceremonial magics. The national leaders crowned Noctis and Lumina as the Lord and Lady of the realm so they could lead the congress of nations and, if need be, act as intermediaries to resolve disputes. 

The city of Evermore was the center of the realm, and every species had their own district in the city. The people living in Evermore would use the crystal walls and spires to control the flow of mystic energies through the world. This power was shared equally with all. The FiveSworn guided the exchange of heat energy from the south with cold energy from the north to make both areas of the realm more livable. The facilitated energy to enhance the growth of crops and the production of food.

During this Age, the Five-Sworn traveled the realm helping all those in need, settling disputes, and keeping the laws so that all people could continue to live in peace. It was a time of high magic where the world sparked with energy. There was little crime and no war. Everyone had enough, although some did have more.

For three thousand years, people lived long, happy lives following the Way of the Five, but this dream of eternal peace… the utopian world of flowing mystic energy and shining crystal spires… was doomed to be shattered.