Library:The Brief History of Cosmos

The Brief History of O|Cosmos
by the Mnemnocoral

On Creation:
Accounts on the origin of the cosmos are naturally a point of contention between metacosmologists. The following is an amalgam of aeonic propaganda, elven godmemories, and scholarly guesswork.

The First of all beings was Ai-An, the First-And-Last. It is not known for certain why them came to be; the most widely supported theory is that the existence must exist by necessity, a notion known as the Exalted Tautology. Ai-An initiated the worldsong for equally unknown reasons. As the song progressed, the ur-creation was formed from intervals and poetic concepts. The ur-world loved its creator purely and intensely, an emotion which Ai-An, as the Original Being, was unable to emulate. Therefore, to finish their creation, the First-And-Last created themself a Mother.

The following-preceding-concurrent event is commonly known as the Paradox Supreme. It entails the creation of Ai-An’s origin and the Not-Mother. Even as Ai-An reached the ability to revere a superior maternal being, their act infringed on the fundamental established order of the metasong. The First-And-Last was trapped in paradox loop, spawning countless iterations of the broken ur-universe and growing weaker-stronger until they becomes what they always are: an infinite of light and positives, while giving life to abominable arcane disruptions. But this is impractical esotery.

On our world:
From what little of elven godmemory deals with exocosmic concepts, it can be inferred that our world, often given a futile moniker of “O”, does not differ radically from other infinite infinites. It is filled with galaxies filled with solar systems filled with planets. Due to how our godmemory is built, it is impossible to know if evolving life is an isolated occurrence or if other cosmic iterations or even other planets in O have similar organisms; memories of such things overlap each other in our godmemory.

In our solar system, eight planets circle around a Sun. The planets are (from Sun) Kito (Motion), Tyen (Peace), Vaen (War), E2, Kelo (Stasis), Jaae (Age), Saire (Madness), and Mana (Death). Of the original planets, the fourth, Elo (Life), is missing: it was destroyed in the event known as Hellbreak, which I will cover shortly. Apart from the fourth and eighth planets, the planets are inhabited by docile overorganisms, which spend their days enraptured with divine purpose of passive stasis.

The fourth planet of antiquity, Elo, was hit by an iteration-jumper (a being which is able to transcend its native cosmic iteration and cross over to a different one. The phenomenon is said to be possible due to the weakening-strengthening of the First-And-Last, though it is unknown how common it actually is.) named Hii (a possible pseudonym and a corruption the pronoun “he”). Hii is one of the more enigmatic beings of our world. His origins are clouded; it is unknown how, why, and where he reached intelligence. Hii corrupted the native organism of Elo, isolating parts of it and creating the first instances of evolved life. To avoid persecution by the defense mechanisms of the organism, Hii entwined himself with the very structure of Elo. He was ultimately defeated by the First Aeonic Platoon of O, who destroyed the whole planet in the event known as the Hellbreak. However, this was not enough to defeat him, so he was contained inside E2.

The eighth planet, Mana, was the landing point of another iteration-jumper. This one is called Tuoni. Due to Mana being such a distant location, not much is known of Tuoni’s motives or origins. It seems to be highly intelligent and having a profound interest in evolved life. As per the contract between Tuoni and the goddess Ilma, all who die on E2 have their souls transferred to Mana to be observed and experimented on by Tuoni.

On E2:
During the Hellbreak, a charismatic figure known as the Architect emerged from among the intelligent creatures of Elo. The Architect was a scientist-king of early culture, versed in nature and laws of the universe. He was, naturally, protective of evolved life, and upon understanding that the Hellbreak would mean its extermination he held a parley with the Overlord of elves, Ilma. The two agreed to create a new planet to be inhabited by the life that had formed on Elo. Ilma further parleyed with the Archons to purpose the new planet as a prison for Hii, which had grown too strong to be defeated, but could still be contained.

Elo2,almost always referred to as E2, is orbited by two Artificial Lights named La and Sin, the Heirs of Sun and Moon. Its land surface consists of the twin continents of Teiliwaan or Thylia, and Tirnanoch. Deep inside lies the prison of Hii; the Pandaemonium. The planet is pierced by six World Pillars: the elders of elven race in shape of gigantic trees. The Pillars are arranged in married pairs: Tapio and Mielikki, Ask and Embla, Boas and Jachim. The waters of E2 are divided into several ocean kingdoms. Above the planet’s surface, the remnants of the ruined Aerosphere dot the sky.

On Theilon:
On Thylia, the being known as the Architect made gods of two nobles via a worldsong engine; The Music Box: a human king Valarn and the elven Queen Ilma. Himself he dubbed Thaugon the Wizard. Thus was born the Deific Reign of Theilon.

Theilon was a gigantic metropolis that loomed over the waking continent of Thylia. Ruled by the Triad of gods, it administered the life on the continent in a totalitarian fashion via mechanical constructs known as the Automachae and an insidious thought control structure known as the Akasha. Theilon’s downfall occurred for an obscure reason. The most commonly cited explanation is that a divine usurper, who later came to be known as Maulok the Changer, made a god of himself and wounded the boundary of the world-iteration. Soon, the wound wreaked havoc in Theilon and the supporting Aerosphere. The time-space elementals, colloquially called “dragons”, attacked the realm in an outrage. This time period became known as the Draconic War.

The war came to an end when a high-ranking draconic commander, Silver Dragon of the Boundless Skies, took pity on the poor peoples of Thylia. The dragon married a mortal woman and dubbed her the First Empress of a new dynasty. With Theilon absorbed into the world-wound, the draconic forces, aside from the Silver Dragon, took their leave from our universe, though remnants of them are said to slumber deep within our planet. Thus the Deific Reign of Thylia was replaced by the Celestial (or Draconic) Empire of Teiliwaan.

The major gods revered by many of the civilizations of Teiliwaan are remnants of Theilic times, and as such, are sometimes called Theilic Gods. They are: The Imperial bastardization of the pantheon adds the chief deity Teima, the Silver Dragon, god of the sky and space and the Empire. Meanwhile, the primitive gods of humankind are reflections of these deities, created during the Theilic Age as shadows of the divine mind-slavery.
 * Ai-An, the First-and-Last, the god of time, history and fate. Despite their great importance, the Infinity of Light is worshipped by few, mostly by aeons and historians, since they are not the most practical of deities.
 * Thaugon (or Tauqan) the Wizard, the Architect, the god of creation, wisdom, science and magic. A popular god and the chief god of dwarves.
 * Ilma (or L-Ma), the All-Mother, the god of life, love, and birth. The elven version of Ilma is much more low-key, since we understand her divinity to be at the same level as any elven elder. Lover of Tuoni and the adoptive Mother of Valarn.
 * Valarn (or Waliang) the Mighty, or Returning, the god of strength and courage. The chief god of humans. Due to his relation to Ilma and Tuoni, Valarn is born anew each time when he dies. The cult of Valarn thus searches for the next avatar to continue the divine line.
 * Maulok (or Maalong) the Changer, the Mockingbird, the Formless Devil, the god of thieves and lies. Maulok is more often reviled than revered. His relation to Hii is the point of much contest. He/She is thought to be the same being as Kaamos, the Raven of West, and speculated to have been the Caller of Light that appears in the dao history.
 * Tuoni (or Tuani) the Hermit is sometimes counted among the gods as the god of death. He is the lover of Ilma and the adoptive father of Valarn, as well as the mentor of Surma, the Swan of East.

On races:
The elves falsely boast to be the oldest of the living things, when in actuality we took our current form after the first evolved life. The elves are remnants of the planet-wide organism of Elo, given individual minds by an unknown source. Many say that the Origin of Our Minds was the Creator, who wished for us to become the guardians of life, some say that the mind is corruption of Hii. We are less powerful on E2 than we were on Elo, where we reigned as gods. Our collective godmemory reminds us of our origin. The most commonly seen kind of elf is the plant-bodied wood-elf, but us coral-formed sea-elves more than match them in numbers. The least common subrace is the arctic snow-elf, born of ice viruses. Among the elves, the most important philosophical question is the Dilemma of Life: whether the evolved life is good and purposeful or not. The Conservatists dub the elven race as the protectors of all life, and argue that the emergence of mind proves that evolution is favored by the Creator. The Primitivists wish to return E2 to the natural state of all planets: a blissful existence as a unified overorganism.

The dwarves, who call themself the duagar, are a most curious people. They are believed to be the heirs to the primitive people of Elo, trapped within the planet by mistake. In an event named the Emergence of Duagar, they were driven from their underground mythical realm of Gallanheim by volcanic activity that raised the mountains of North. The World Pillar Ask took pity on the duagar and released them from their imprisonment by leading them to the surface inside its root-tunnels, where they surfaced in Askglade and eventually would settle Askriga. They have enjoyed good relations with the local wood-elves ever since. The dwarven culture is a curious mix of inspirational greed and societal stubbornness.

Humans are a populous but unfortunate race of evolved rat-apes. It is unknown is humankind originated from Elo and if the people of the Architect were humans or some disappeared precursor race. What is known, though, is that the human population peaked during the Theilic Age, when they were bred as disposable servants for the god-rulers. After the Draconic War, humanity would face threats from the sacredblood Empire. Nowadays, two main concentrations of this resolute race exist: one in the eastern land of Cezva, and one in the grasslands of the southeastern coast of the Plains of Desolation, the Valaris Fields. Fairer-skinned midland human population has been mostly absorbed by the sacredblood gene pool: pure midland humans have most probably vanished completely.

The sacredblood think of themselves as the current “master race”, much to the amusement of our people. A young and lively race, the Eight Sacred People trace their lineages back to the Silver Dragon and his seven elevated beast companions. Of these, the silvery dragonbloods reign over all others, though the semiaquatic realm of scaly snakebloods is nowadays almost autonomous. The most common races are the ubiquitous rabbitbloods, whose hill homes litter the Empire,and the swinebloods, which are concentrated into the heart of Teiliwaan, as well as the ratbloods, which are found wherever there are Imperial cities. The mountain range to the northwest is inhabited by fearsome tigerbloods, while the nomadic horsebloods roam the plains beyond. The most northern of the races are the tribal houndbloods.

The hiispawn are, as their name implies, the children of Hii. The Earth Devil mated with imprisoned beings and produced offspring that were subjected to long-lasting breeding experiments that twisted their genealogy in profane ways. Hiispawn of Gluttony live in the capital of Pandaemonium, Betlemet the Oven. They are cannibalistic and omnivorous by design, but devious. Hiispawn of Lust are genetically obscure, but in such way that they appeal to all sexually evolved life. They carry out their hedonistic existence in the city of Bel-Babel, the Whorehouse. Hiispawn of Wrath are a monster race devoted to the extermination of all life on E2. Their base of operations is the fortress-city of Almegidon, the Doom Mountain. Little is known of the failed race of Sloth hiispawn and their lost city.

The aeons are alien servants of the Infinite of Light. Since the Hellbreak, they have meddled with E2 in subtle ways, and are supposedly watching the planet from the dark of the space. As part of their treaty to allow the existence of the planet, the aeons created the Grigori, humanoid simulacra that are adapted to serve the Infinite on E2. Their base is located on the Artificial Light La. Grigori that stray too far into mortal imperfection are stripped of their pyros and made the Fallen, which by themselves form a small and forlorn race.

The dao dwarves are cousins of duagar who were enslaved by the hiispawn and subjected to elemental influence. A portion them emerged in the Plains of Desolation, led to freedom by the mysterious Lightseeker. Despite its recent emergence, this race has created impressive and ever-expanding magitechnologically advanced nations in the desert. Short, copper-skinned and with radiant magical veins, the dao channel different elemental energies indicating their caste. The lowest and the most common are the fire dao, reminders of the crude subterranean hellfolk the race used to be. Merchants and other prestigious professionals usually come from the ranks of gold-hued wind dao. The highest nobility bears a blue glow; they are the aether dao. Though feared by the Empire for their ambition, they are less effectual a culture than they would like to seem, plagued by the political infighting of merchant princes, wizards and clergy.

The mechanical Automachae remain trapped in Theilic ruins, a reminder of an age when they served the gods as their divine instruments. Their whole worldview revolves around The Will, a program that Thaugon used to control his tools. Some have adapted into the modern society, though the elves will never recognize them as living beings.

Of all sentient beings, none may be more reviled as the werebeasts. Thought to be created from transfer errors during the migration of life from Elo to E2, these unstable things can change their shape and pass their condition via injection. They seem to be affected by the Artificial Light Sin, the Translocational Modulator. Of these, the vile and devious werefoxes plague the Imperial Heartlands, while feral werewolves are more common in the north and werejackals to the south. Weresharks roam the ocean kingdoms, as do the northern wereseals. The most “civilized” are the werecats, who live in the urban areas of the Empire. A special case are the highlings; once a race of werebirds, their rulers studied the worldsong to the extent that they could lift the curse off their people. They now inhabit the remnants of Aerosphere, revering their saviors as the Four Wind Kings, or the Directional Points, as opposed to the werebeasts, who most commonly worship either a facet of Maulok or the nefarious eldritch being that lives on Sin.

On Tirnanoch:
The history of the Shadow Continent is obscure and poorly-known. It is a place where the worldsong has its lease: after Theilon was created, the worldsong disturbance that the building process had accumulated – most likely due to the imperfection of the Architect’s understanding of the worldsong – was contained to the other side of the planet by a planet-wide veil named the Twilight. Thus, the Dark Side of E2 is a realm of wild magic, where gods have no place. It is inhabited by the fey, beings born of the unholy unions of elven and non-elven life; such a thing would not be possible this side of the Twilight. Tirnanoch is a battleground of two living ideologies that are alien to all other morality. The Seelie dictate that everything pristine and beautiful is of value, while the Unseelie see all things ghastly and horrific as preferable.

The races of the fey include the wynn, white-bodied paragons of Seelie, and the shadefolk, Unseelie-aligned miscreants that steal Teiliwaani children to be raised as slaves. Other, less strictly aligned races are the spriggan, troll-like moss beings, and the barbegaz, who are thought to be a cross of snow-elves and dwarves. The waters of Tirnanoch are ruled by the protean nix people, of which the Thylian lesser nix is a less magical version. The intelligent nonhumanoid fey are called sith beasts and comprise most of the native wildlife.

The specially prepared shadefolk children that are left behind during the shadefolk infant raids are dutifully raised by their Thylian foster parents, at least until they display their fey heritage. These misplaced fey are called changelings, and they are traditionally prejudiced against by the less magical peoples.