Before the Abyss Had a Name
CREATION MYTH
Before there were kingdoms, before there were mortals, and before the gods had names, there was only an endless and unwelcoming expanse. There was no land to stand upon and no shelter from the emptiness. The world existed, but it had no place within it for those who would eventually come to call it home. Easu would later claim that he created the Abyss with his own hands. He spoke of a world that had rejected him, a place that offered him nothing but emptiness and silence, and of how he refused to accept it. With nothing but his hands, his will, and whatever power existed within him, Easu carved a realm into the hostile world around him. He tore open the earth, shaped its depths, and made room for himself where there had once been none. The Abyss was not gifted to him. It was taken.
According to Easu's account, the first foundations of the Abyss were born from struggle. Mountains were broken apart and reshaped, caverns were carved into the darkness, and seas were given somewhere to gather. Every piece of the realm was supposedly shaped by his hands until the empty wound in the world became something that could sustain life. Whether this story is truth, exaggeration, or the prideful recollection of a man who wished to be remembered as the creator is unknown.
The people of the Abyss tell a very different story. To them, the Abyss was never truly Easu's creation. They believe the realm existed long before he ever set foot within it, and that Easu merely carved his home into something that was already there. The oldest traditions claim that the Abyss was once inhabited by beings that were not mortal, but manifestations of the darkest forces that existed within creation. These beings would eventually become known as the gods, each embodying a sin so fundamental to existence that they could not simply be destroyed. Pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth were not merely concepts to the ancient peoples of the Abyss. They were living forces that walked the world. Some traditions tell an even darker version of the story. Rather than being the birthplace of the gods, the Abyss was supposedly constructed as their prison. The ancient gods were said to be too powerful and too dangerous to exist freely within the mortal world, and so they were sealed away in the deepest reaches of creation. The Abyss became their cage, hidden beneath the world where their influence could be contained. In this version of the myth, the gods did not create the Abyss. They were placed there, and the realm itself was built to withstand them.
The oldest and most feared interpretation connects the Abyss to the Horsemen. According to forbidden fragments of scripture, the realm may have been created as a prison for the four beings who would one day bring ruin upon the world. l. The prison was meant to be eternal, buried beneath layers of darkness and protected by forces capable of restraining even the Horsemen. Yet the longer the Abyss existed, the less certain its purpose became. A prison slowly became a home. Its prisoners became gods. Its darkness became a civilization. No surviving account can determine which version of the creation myth is true. Easu insists that he carved the Abyss himself, while the oldest religious traditions insist that the realm predates him by an unknowable amount of time. Some scholars believe both stories may contain fragments of the truth.
The First Age
The First Age of the Abyss was a barren and lifeless place. Although Easu had carved the realm from the world around him, there was little within it that could truly be considered alive. The land stretched endlessly beneath a dark and empty sky, made up of stone, dust, and vast stretches of untouched earth. There were no forests to provide shelter, no rivers or oceans to provide water, and no plants or natural resources capable of sustaining life. The Abyss existed, but it was not yet a home. It was simply a realm waiting to become one. For the first several decades, the Abyss remained almost completely empty. Zelos eventually took it upon himself to create a new population for the world, giving rise to the first mortal beings who would inhabit the realm. They were not gods, nor were they the ancient forces that had supposedly existed before them. They were ordinary beings capable of living, loving, fighting, and eventually dying. Their arrival marked the beginning of something entirely new within the Abyss: mortality.
With mortality came something else. The newly created population began to develop desires, ambitions, fears, and weaknesses. As generations passed, they began to commit the acts that would eventually be recognized as sin. Some stole, some murdered, some betrayed those closest to them, and others surrendered themselves to greed, pride, lust, wrath, envy, gluttony, or despair. The first deaths soon followed. Every life that ended seemed to leave something behind, as though the Abyss itself was beginning to remember the people who had lived within it. It was during this period that the first beings known as the Overlords seemingly appeared. To the people who witnessed their arrival, the Overlords seemed to emerge from nowhere. They were unlike the ordinary population Zelos had created, possessing power and knowledge that seemed far beyond what should have been possible for beings of their kind. Over time, however, the truth surrounding their origins became more complicated. The Overlords were not entirely new beings. They were the resurrected Asolan, descendants of the seven original families, brought back into existence through means that remain poorly understood. Their return marked the first major supernatural transformation of the Abyss and established the bloodlines that would eventually shape much of its history.
Even with the arrival of the Overlords and the growing population, the Abyss remained an inhospitable place. Life could exist there, but it could not easily flourish. There were still no forests, no natural sources of water, and no abundance of vegetation. The land offered little protection or nourishment, forcing the earliest inhabitants to survive within an environment that seemed almost determined to reject them. The Abyss could hold life, but it could not yet sustain it. That changed when Adah chose to intervene. Rather than accepting the Abyss as an empty wasteland, Adah took it upon herself to nourish the realm and give it the means to sustain the people who had begun to inhabit it. Her influence slowly transformed the barren landscape. Water began to flow where there had previously been nothing but dry earth and stone. Plants took root in places that had never supported growth, eventually spreading into forests, fields, and other forms of vegetation. The land itself became capable of providing food and resources, allowing settlements to grow without constantly fighting against the environment. Adah's work was ultimately what made the Abyss livable. What had once been a dead and empty realm slowly became a world capable of supporting an entire civilization. The transformation did not happen overnight, and the earliest inhabitants would have witnessed only small changes at first, but over generations the difference became undeniable. The barren landscape began to develop ecosystems, water sources, and fertile regions, creating the foundations upon which later civilizations would be built.
Because of this, many traditions consider Adah to be one of the most important figures of the First Age. While Easu may have carved the realm and Zelos may have populated it, Adah was the one who made it possible for that population to remain. Without her intervention, the Abyss may have remained nothing more than an enormous empty prison carved beneath the world. Instead, it became a place where life could take root, civilizations could rise, and history could finally begin.
The Birth of Mortal Life
The first mortals to arrive in the Abyss were never meant to be there. They were not sinners, criminals, or souls cast down as punishment. Their arrival was simply an accident, the result of something going wrong in the process of moving souls where they were supposed to go. Whether Zelos or Navi was responsible remains unclear, but somewhere along the way, the traffic of souls was misdirected, leaving these people within the Abyss instead of sending them to wherever they were originally meant to go. These first inhabitants were still alive when they arrived, meaning they brought something into the Abyss that had never existed there before: mortal life. At the same time, the Abyss still contained the dead souls of the Asolan from the seven original families. Somehow, the combination of these living people and the lingering souls of the dead Asolan allowed new life to be created. It was not something that was necessarily planned or understood at the time. It simply happened, and from that point onward, mortal life began to take root within the Abyss.
For a time, these people were simply inhabitants of the realm. They lived, formed families, and eventually began to build a population of their own. They were not considered sinners because they had done nothing to earn that title. They were simply mortals who had ended up in a place they were never supposed to reach. That changed as people began to die. As mortal generations passed, people began to die from the sins they committed during their lives. Those deaths became increasingly common, and eventually the population of the Abyss became dominated by the dead. These people became known as Sinners, not because they had originally been sent to the Abyss for their sins, but because they were the people who had lived there, died there, and remained there after death. The Sinners were also barren. Once a person had died, they could no longer create life. Whatever strange circumstances had allowed the first mortals and the dead Asolan souls to produce new life could not be repeated through death alone. Death does not create life, and death is not rewarded with life. This became one of the fundamental distinctions between the original mortal inhabitants and the Sinners who would eventually become the majority of the Abyss's population.
Over time, the original inhabitants became increasingly difficult to distinguish from those who came after them. Their descendants continued to live, while their dead continued to accumulate, until the Abyss became a realm overwhelmingly populated by those who had already died. What had begun as an accidental arrival of living people eventually became the foundation for the population that would define the Abyss for generations to come.
"Before there was history, there was memory."
Fragment of an Unknown ManuscriptTHE AGE OF NIHIL
For hundreds of years before Zelos created the Asolan, there was only himself and his daughter, Navi. She was the first being he created during this period, and for an immeasurable amount of time, there was nothing else. No civilizations existed, no mortal life had begun, and the Abyss had not yet developed into the realm it would eventually become. There was only the darkness, the distant points of light, Zelos, and the daughter he had created to listen to him. Navi's earliest memories describe this period as something almost impossible to understand. She remembers darkness surrounding her, broken only by countless distant points of light, and the unfamiliar sensation of existing without ever having known warmth. She did not understand language when she first opened her eyes, nor did she understand what it meant to be young. Her first understanding of the world came through Zelos himself. Before she knew her own identity, she knew the presence of the one who had created her.
"My first memory was of a hand moving towards my face. I knew the face of power before I ever knew language. Youth was foreign to me. Surrounding us was endless darkness speckled with dots of light. I knew no warmth on my skin. Only the bitter sting of emptiness. Until I heard a deep hiss whisper, 'My dear daughter, there you are.' As if he knew me before I ever even knew myself."
Navi could never determine exactly how long this period lasted. Time may not have been comprehensible in the same way it would become later, and there were no seasons, generations, or mortal lives by which its passage could be measured. From her perspective, it may have been hundreds of years, or it may have felt like countless lifetimes. What she does remember is listening to Zelos speak. He told her about his ideas, his plans, and the things he intended to create. He explained why she existed and what he expected of her, repeating these lessons for what seemed like an eternity.
"I know how much time had passed or if time was comprehensible at that time. My guess is countless lifetimes were spent listening to his lectures. His ideas and plans and how I was created- not born- to bring these plans to life."
Navi had not been born into the world as a child who would eventually discover her purpose. She had been created with one. Zelos had already decided what she would become before she had the opportunity to decide anything for herself. Her existence was part of his plans, and the countless years spent together were largely spent preparing her to understand those plans. The Age of Nihil was therefore not an age of kingdoms or great events, but an age defined by the absence of almost everything. There was no world for Navi to inherit yet, only the endless darkness in which Zelos spoke of the world he intended to create.
Status: Partially documented.
THE AGE OF UNUS PRIMORDIALIS
The Age of the Primordial One marked the beginning of true creation. After the endless darkness of the Age of Nihil, Zelos finally began shaping the world he had spent so long describing to Navi. He taught her that everything that existed had a purpose and that every living thing had a responsibility to fulfill that purpose. Life was not created simply to exist; it was created to serve a role within the world. Even death had a purpose, as animals were meant to die so that the stronger could survive and continue the cycle of life. Navi, he told her, was no different. She had been created for a purpose of her own, and that purpose was to eventually rule the world he was about to create.
“All that is holds a purpose. It is the responsibility of life to uphold its purpose. Animals must die and nourish the strong. You my child, are no different. You will grow into your purpose and rule this world. I shall bestow the gift of control to you for every world must have a god and it is your purpose to become it.”
Eventually, Zelos created a world at the center of a great ring of rocks. Unlike the darkness that had surrounded Navi for so long, the new world shone brightly, filling the surrounding darkness with light. For the first time in her existence, Navi felt warmth upon her skin. It was an entirely new sensation, and one she would remember for the rest of her life. After spending what felt like an eternity surrounded by emptiness, the warmth of the world was something beautiful. When Navi first stepped onto the surface, however, the world was far from the vibrant place it would eventually become. There was nothing but barren sand stretching across its surface. There were no forests, no animals, and no people. Zelos began to shape life to inhabit the world, creating seven distinct groups, each with their own bloodline and their own gift meant to help them survive upon the barren planet. These seven groups would eventually become the foundation of the Asolan and the seven original families. The gifts given to each group allowed them to develop in different ways. One learned to cultivate food and grow plants, transforming the empty land into something capable of sustaining life. Within only a few years, the world began to overflow with foliage and food as their abilities spread across the land. Another group possessed the ability to change their forms and learned to hunt by blending themselves into the animals that had been gifted to the world. Their ability allowed them to move among the creatures around them and survive through the environments they inhabited.
Another group discovered something entirely different within themselves. They learned that knowledge could be stored and preserved. They developed language and began recording the things they learned, documenting their successes as well as their failures. Eventually, their ability allowed them to pull knowledge directly from their minds until it became tangible in their hands. What they learned did not have to disappear when they died or when their memories faded. Their knowledge could be preserved, shared, and passed on. Navi watched all of this unfold. She watched the seven groups develop their gifts, adapt to their world, and slowly become something more than what they had originally been created to be. She began to love them. At the same time, she found herself envious of them. They possessed things she had never experienced herself: abilities that allowed them to shape their world, languages that allowed them to communicate their thoughts, and bonds that caused them to protect and care for one another. They were becoming a people rather than simply creations.
Then came the moment that changed everything. The first life was created without Zelos's intervention.Navi watched as one of the women gave birth to the first child born naturally within the world. To her, the experience was horrifying. The child was impossibly small and fragile, completely helpless in a world that had existed long before it. It knew nothing. It had no language, no understanding of its surroundings, and barely even knew how to move. All it could do was cry for its mother. Navi could not understand why something so fragile had been allowed to exist. She looked toward the stars, knowing that Zelos was somewhere beyond them, watching as he always did.
It was the first time Navi openly questioned the world her father had created. The beings he had made were no longer simply fulfilling the purposes he had given them. They were beginning to create things of their own. They were forming bonds, developing knowledge, protecting one another, and now bringing new life into the world without his assistance. For the first time, the creations of the Primordial One were becoming capable of continuing without him.
Status: Partially documented.
THE AGE OF SOL
The Age of Sol marked the beginning of death as a recognized force within the world. Until this point, Navi had watched the Asolan develop without understanding the purpose Zelos had intended for her. Zelos eventually revealed that her purpose was not to create or preserve life, but to oversee its end. He gave her the ability to separate the energy carried within living beings from their physical bodies once their lives had reached their natural end, allowing that energy to return to the stars above. Navi's first experience with this power occurred when she encountered an Asolan woman and her newborn child who were dying inside a small clay dwelling. Navi initially refused to accept that they were meant to die and demanded that Zelos save them. He refused, forcing her to recognize that their lives had reached their intended end. With this realization, Navi accepted her role and released the energy within both mother and child, sending it into the stars.
This event established Navi as the first being associated with death and the passage of souls. The Asolan began to notice that those who died in her presence seemed to have their life energy carried into the stars. One particular Asolan man became deeply devoted to her after witnessing the death of his family. He remained near dying individuals, waiting for Navi to arrive, and eventually began creating shrines and leaving offerings in her honor. His practices gradually spread throughout the population, eventually becoming established rituals and traditions surrounding death. The Asolan came to understand Navi as a guide for the dead rather than an executioner. Her role was not necessarily to cause death, but to recognize when a life had reached its end and release what remained of that life into the stars. This became the foundation of early Asolan beliefs surrounding death, the afterlife, and the stars.
The relationship between Navi and the Asolan eventually became more complicated. While most could only observe the dead disappearing into the stars, one particular Asolan claimed that he could actually hear them. When he told Navi, "You send them to the stars," she questioned how he could possibly know. His response suggested that the dead were not simply disappearing, but that some connection remained between them and the living. This marked one of the earliest indications that the Asolan possessed abilities and connections that even Zelos may not have anticipated. Navi had been created with a specific purpose, but the people she was meant to rule were beginning to discover things about death that even their creator had not necessarily intended.
Status: Partially documented.
THE AGE OF ILLE LAPSUS
WORDS ABOUT EASU FALLING
Status: Partially documented.
THE MODERN AGE
The current period of recorded history. The events of this age continue to unfold.
Status: Ongoing.
THE FORGOTTEN ERA
A suspected period preceding or existing between currently accepted historical eras. Almost nothing is known.
Status: Unconfirmed.
Recorded History
The following timeline contains major events known to have affected the development of the modern world.
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The Current Age
The events currently experienced by the party and the people of the world.
The Divine Order
Religion remains one of the most influential forces in the world. Each nation possesses its own traditions, beliefs, rituals, and relationships with divine powers.
Some gods are widely worshipped. Others are known only to isolated cultures, ancient civilizations, secret societies, or forgotten peoples.
Individual gods and their complete records are maintained within the Divine Archive.
The First Civilization
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The Lost Empire
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The Forgotten People
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The Eight Nations
The Abyss is divided into eight recognized nations. Each possesses its own government, culture, religion, history, and relationship with the other nations.
I — PRIDE
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II — LUST
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III — WRATH
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IV — ENVY
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V — SLOTH
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VI — GREED
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VII — GLUTTONY
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VIII — THE ISLE OF BIRDS
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The Nature of Magic
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Known Forms of Magic
Arcane
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Divine
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Primal
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The Abyss
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This entry has been sealed.
This document represents the current historical understanding of the known world. Information marked as disputed, rumored, unconfirmed, or unknown should not be treated as established fact.