Ember Online

Gods of Old

Official entry into the Imperial Archive as authored by Cedric Volentina - Head Scribe of the Omaclaran Empire

In a time before the reign of The Five, now known as The Pantheon, the world was ruled by a potent group of beings who had dominion over the elements. The elements, influenced by an ancient race of elementals, are the first known “beings” that resemble the races we know today. Unlike The Pantheon, the power of the original beings didn’t reside in a single element; however, they followed many of the same mannerisms we see in the current known Pantheon.

Scholars do agree on a few key points:

“Laxus and Lemus, referred to as the Twins of Darkness are referenced; however, their roles during the time of the Old Gods are unknown.

Nedia, known to be little more than a giant leviathan, is directly tied to the rule over the elements of Water and ice. There are stories regarding Nedia and the Panthalassa Ocean; however, her purpose is also largely unknown.

Dulis, known only as the World-Wyrm, is the direct depiction we see of what we call Dragons. Dulis does appear in the War of the First Gods, but the scarce literature available has conflicting reports of the world-wyrm’s role. We know that the Dragons merged as one to dispatch the world-wyrm during the War of the Gods, resulting in Dulis’ destruction. As a result, the Dragons shattered, and their remains fell to the lands of Ciruin, resulting in stones that contained element residue. Today we call them Embers.

The last remaining Gods we can find are Hursad the Titan, Alcala the Storm, and Thanatos. It is worth mentioning that there are likely more of them than those we have found at the writing of this Archive.”

The Old Gods’ texts also bring in the first references we find of Andarike and Maktriket, which we now know to be the names of the physical and spiritual planes. It appears that while the elementals originally inhabited Andarike, the Old Gods resided between Andarike and Maktriket. While it isn’t exactly known when the transfer took place, there is substantial proof that lends to the idea that the Old Gods birthed the Creation of Magic era. Furthermore, it would seem that the periods between the Old Gods and the Creation of Magic took place before the War of the Gods, which ushered in the rise of the Pantheon.

The Creation of Magic

Official entry into the Imperial Archive as authored by Cedric Volentina - Head Scribe of the Omaclaran Empire

There was a time before the written record, and the Panthalassa Ocean was merely a vast void populated by violent storms and covered by an endless night. The Old Ones were constantly in turmoil and challenged each other in combat, which led to the birth of many things we now know today, such as magic and Ciruin.

Record talks of a battle between Nedia and Dulius, which blended Andarike and Maktriket, exposing the ocean to the elemental essence of the spiritual realm. Quietly and uninvited, the elements took on forms of their own and began to shape the lands of Ciruin.

Feeding off the aspect of Nedia, the essence of Earth started to push through the vast ocean creating a landmass that took over the Panthalassa Ocean, moving it into the Maktriket Realm. Not to be outdone, the element of Night covered the unshaped land once more, creating everlasting darkness once more. With adequate fuel for its fury, the essence of Fire covered the world, scorching the mud-ridden surface into vast mountains of stone, volcanic rock, and extensive caverns. The Night burned away into the day in a magnificent display, leaving little trace of Night. It was then that the never-ending cycle of life was known as Day and Night.

Then, in a beautiful crescendo, the element of Water latched onto Dulius and began to take its place in the changing lands. It crashed and clawed at the havoc created by Fire and quenched the flames covering the grounds. Vast bodies of water began to flow over the world, creating oceans, seas, rivers, and lakes. Unknown to the element of Water, the Storms that once called Panthalassa home raged on, pushing the influence of Water back into submission.

The elements would fight one another and bring forth vast caverns, petrified forests, jungles, and uninhabited coral reefs. Their eternal war was raging on, mimicking the unending resolve of Nedia and Dulius for ages. Then as quick as it had begun, silence covered the land in awe of creation. The intermingling of energy between elements and Old God created a perversion of the nether, separating the spiritual and physical planes, resulting in the dawn of the elementals. Powerful spirits that held the gods’ power slowly took form over the lands; however, unlike the Old Gods, they were chained to the elements that created them.

Seeing that their feud had destroyed so much and torn the barrier between realms, the world-wyrm and leviathan retreated to the spiritual realm leaving behind their creations. The elementals began to grow in power, fighting amongst themselves for some time. Slowly, they began to adapt the ability of their elements, and the Era of Magic came to be and set in motion the War of the Gods. In a magnificent display, the elementals would manipulate that which bound them, influencing their nature to do their bidding and creating the basis we refer to them today.

“Earth, known for its ability to give and take life.
Lightning, known for its ability to render those it touches blind.
Night, known for its ability to curse even the strongest minds.
Fire, known for its ability to ignite all who see it ablaze.
Water, known for its ability to slow any who attempt to cross it.”

While it is true that each element has dominion over another, all must bow to someone, and no aspect is genuinely the crowned head. The cycle of the Divinity was created, creating balance among them and leading to the quelling of the elemental wars. With peace among them and their eyes fixated on Andarike, it was but a matter of time before their ambitions grew and they dared cross the barrier.