Creationis I – III

[Creationis, I:1] In the beginning, there was only darkness.

[Creationis, I:2] All that existed in the time before Men and this world as we know it was an expanse of nothingness, a veil of shadow black as the darkest silk.

[Creationis, I:3] For millennia did this nothingness exist, a sea of darkness as still as a pool of tar that reached as far as the eye could see and the mind could perceive.

[Creationis, I:4] This great nothingness is known to us simply as the Void.

[Creationis, I:5] Within this great Void does the story of Creation begin.

[Creationis, I:6] One fateful day, many millennia ago, the Void was rustled with a fervent uproar.

[Creationis, I:7] For countless centuries, the Void stirred most violently and unexpectedly, as water disturbed by a thrown stone.

[Creationis, I:8] From this turbulent torrent of activity did the first life in our great Verse truly begin.

[Creationis, I:9] While we, the remaining vestiges of mankind, look upon the blessing of new life as a glorious miracle, the creations birthed from the great void could hardly be considered blessed or holy.

[Creationis, I:10] These creatures, the first true life in our great Verse, were dark and evil things that reveled in the darkness they considered home.

[Creationis, I:11] And so was the first life of our Verse born, dark children of the Void’s endless night.

[Creationis, I:12] Existing only to indulge in that which was not.

[Creationis, I:13] Their existence was as bleak and as dark as the shadows which had birthed them.

[Creationis, I:14] These wicked things are known to us as the Ancients.

[Creationis, I:15] The Void was a comfortable home to its dark children.

[Creationis, I:16] For many, many years, the Void was still and silent as it was before the birthing of the Ancients.

[Creationis, I:17] The Ancients drifted for centuries within their boundless black sea, content to simply exist in silence and solitude.

[Creationis, I:18] But one day the winds of change blew through the Void yet again, molesting the dark stillness the Ancients called their home with a viscous prejudice.

[Creationis, I:19] From this agitation came a new creation, one far different from the Ancients…

[Creationis, I:20] This creation was light, the opposite of dark.

[Creationis, I:21] This light took the form of a great orb of fire, which the Ancients came to know as the Flame.

[Creationis, I:22] This Flame stood defiantly against the darkness of the Void, illuminating it with zealous radiance and casting its light upon that which knew only darkness since the dawn of time.

[Creationis, II:1] The Ancient ones were immediately loathsome of the Flame, for its light had shone through all but the thickest shadows of the Void, its brilliance threatening their very existence.

[Creationis, II:2] Their home had been invaded by an intolerable presence, and thus they sought to remove it.

[Creationis, II:3] For centuries did the Ancients attempt to destroy the Flame, yet their efforts were in vain, for the Flame only grew stronger with every failed attempt.

[Creationis, II:4] In their desperation, the Ancients bid their most powerful and eldest kin to sacrifice themselves in a grand ritual, one that would create a great tool that could be used to craft a new home for their kind; a realm of shadow and darkness that the Flame could never pierce.

[Creationis, II:5] And so did the strongest and wisest of the Ancients take part in said ritual, combining their powers to create the great tool that would create them a new home…

[Creationis, II:6] And so came into being was the one known to us as the Mason.

[Creationis, II:7] The Mason had been a powerful creature, one born but for a single purpose; to craft the Ancients a new home.

[Creationis, II:8] With his immeasurable powers, the Mason manipulated the Void, rending it in half. In one half, he placed the Flame, and called it the Verse.

[Creationis, II:9] The other half he filled with shadow and darkness, and called it Hel. It was here that the Ancients fled, forever abandoning the Flame and the Mason, leaving their servant to perish to the Flame’s light.

[Creationis, II:10] But as the ages had past, the Mason did not perish.

[Creationis, II:11] In fact, he thrived. As years turned to decades, decades to centuries, and centuries to millennium, he had grown drawn to the Flame, mesmerized by its beauty.

[Creationis, II:12] Over time, the Mason was transformed by the Flame. It would bestow wisdom upon him, and showed him virtues such as love and empathy.

[Creationis, II:13] In time, the Mason grew to love the Flame, vowing to serve it and its needs until the end of everything.

[Creationis, II:14] And thus, the Mason had a new purpose.

[Creationis, II:15] And so did he tend to the Flame.

[Creationis, II:16] Heeding its call, the Mason once again took up the mantle of creation.

[Creationis, II:17] With his great power, he again ripped the Verse in half.

[Creationis, II:18] In one half, he left the Flame and its Verse, and in the other, he crafted a home to live within.

[Creationis, II:19] This home he called the Heavens, and from there, he tended the Flame.

[Creationis, II:20] The Heavens were a beautiful place of light, devoid of the shadows that populated Hel, and was a fitting tribute to the glory that was the Flame.

[Creationis, III:1] For time immemorial, the Mason existed in his palace of Heaven, content that he had brought order to the Verse.

[Creationis, III:2] Yet as the centuries turned to millennia he grew discontent, for the Ancients had long abandoned him, and the Mason became lonesome.

[Creationis, III:3] For having only the solace of Heaven was a lonesome existence, and he yearned for companionship.

[Creationis, III:4] Yet the only spark of vitality in all the Verse had been the Flame, and nothing else.

[Creationis, III:5] One day, the Mason conceived a great and wonderous plan; a plan that would bring him closer to the Flame.

[Creationis, III:6] The Mason would share his love of the Flame with the Verse by creating others that would bring him kinship and come to love the Flame as he did.

[Creationis, III:7] And so did the Mason draw from the power of the Flame to create once more, creating creatures that would be a fitting tribute to their birthright.

[Creationis, III:8] Hundreds of these creatures did he create, and he named them Angels.

[Creationis, III:9] They were everything he had hoped for; beautiful and animated, compassionate and wise, and they tended the Flame and enlightened the Mason in the mysteries only beings born of the light knew.

[Creationis, III:10] For the Mason had been the spawn of both Light and Dark, and while he loved the Flame greatly  he could never know the full embrace of its’ warmth.

[Creationis, III:11] And so did the Mason recognize that a few of the Angels he had created stood out from their brethren, exemplifying every aspect of the Flame that they so cherished.

[Creationis, III:12] Full of radiance and glory, they possessed not only the abilities of their kin, but the power the Mason himself wielded; the power of Creation.

[Creationis, III:13] A dozen of these Angels existed, and the Mason bestowed upon them names of his own choosing, and came to know them as Archangels, the strongest of their kind.

[Creationis, III:14] He tasked these twelve with the duty of bringing order and purpose to the other Angels and become the stewards of Heaven.

[Creationis, III:15] For millennia, the angels and the Archangels tended to the Flame, loving it unconditionally.

[Creationis, III:16] As the Archangels grew, so did their powers, until one day they were wise and strong enough to fashion their very own creations.

[Creationis, III:17] And so did the Archangels create, drawing from the Flame as the Mason had before them.

[Creationis, III:18] Their creation was that of Eden, a massive, living orb that drew sustenance from the Flame.

[Creationis, III:19] Upon this orb they divined forth many more creations, such as plants, beings that grew and fed from the Flame’s light.

[Creationis, III:20] They also created animals, beings that fed from the plants.

[Creationis, III:21] Their most prized creation, however, was that of a creature that could learn to love and appreciate the Flame as much as they had.

[Creationis, III:22] Into this being the Archangels instilled the potential for all of the virtues that the Flame had imparted to them.

[Creationis, III:23] They crafted them to feed from the plants and animals, forever reliant on the Flame’s light to give them sustenance.

[Creationis, III:24] They gave them intelligence and the ability to communicate, in so that they could praise the Flame amongst one another.

[Creationis, III:25] The Archangels named these creatures Man and loved them dearly.