Dawn of the Valiant (The Valerious Chronicles: Book One)
Page 4
An excerpt from the Chronicles of Silphuras Hilke
Taken from Book 9, Page 488
Dated 11th1034 The fifth age
Upon my next trip to the Third Plane, I was greeted once again by Skiye. The presence of the gods never ceases to amaze me.
Appearing in the form of a beautiful woman, she sat down upon the glistening ocean to which she had summoned me. For the first time in my visits to their realm, I found myself with a feeling of belonging. She asked me what I wished to hear, and knowing the one question that I had long been too afraid to pose, I asked Skiye to explain to me how the mortal race of men first came to be.
At first she seemed surprised and unwilling to answer, but knowing that I was pure of heart, she bade me to sit down and I obeyed. I will try to put in writing what the great goddess revealed to me. Though in truth, I could never put down in words all that I learnt on that day.
We mortal beings live on a plane of existence called Fellarrnur in the ancient tongue of the gods. What we do not know is that Fellarrnur was created by the gods from their own plane, Teefarrnur. They themselves are unaware how Teefarrnur came to be, yet they do know that each and every being receives its life from this plane.
Teefarrnur is made up of a form of raw power that everything we know of is created from. This energy is what we men using the common tongue call magic. The gods are made up of this and they in turn make living beings such as us from that very same matter. So consequently we are all linked to Teefarrnur. What separates us from the gods is the fact that mortal beings cannot survive in Teefarrnur. Therefore we are bound to inhabit Fellarrnur for the short span of our lives.
Once our lives are over, our energy is transported through the planes to the Third Plane of existence, which acts as the link between Teefarrnur and Fellarrnur. Our energy is returned to the gods so that they might use it to once again create life. It is on this Third Plane of existence that the gods can interact with living beings. Here the gifted of us men are granted powers to wield on Fellarrnur.
Skiye revealed that Teefarrnur itself gives its energy to the millions of gods that inhabit it, which they then use to create life. And when the gods choose to create living things on Fellarrnur they must give up a portion of their own energy. When certain gods choose to create entire worlds they must make a great sacrifice and offer all of their energy, ultimately destroying themselves. This is how Kovi was created. A powerful god, large beyond belief, created our world countless years ago. He was named Kovicus, and when he created the world he made this great sacrifice.
With the final shreds of his power, Kovicus broke up into four smaller portions of energy, which became the guardian gods of Kovi that we know today. These four each took from their maker certain features, and were subsequently bound to Kovi. Their fates were tied to the fate of our world and thus they became the true guardians of Kovi.
Yet the world that Kovicus created was barren and lifeless and thus the four guardian gods were given the task of creating life. Skiye was the first of the four to craft life upon Kovi. Using her power she created the seas, the oceans and the clouds. She then populated these waters with an abundance of life forms which became the first living creatures to grace our world.
Beon was the next god to pour his energy into the world. In a single moment he raised and created the lands that we now live upon. He summoned the mountains and the rolling fields, the islands and the vast deserts. Once the land was formed he unleashed animals onto the world. All creatures, from the smallest bug to the bears in the frozen north were given life in a single passing moment.
Nyrune was next. She filled the world with all manner of plants and trees, creating food and shelter for the living creatures, and once done, she gave the world weather so that things would grow and so that life could flourish.
The final guardian god, Gushkall, did not like what he saw and gave to the world something which could not be seen. He gave the world chaos and disorder. In order to entertain his own vile mind, Gushkall added an element to the world which we see in many forms, from earthquakes and plagues, to death and decay.
Thus the world of Kovi was created in its entirety. The four gods, thinking their work done, returned to the Third Plane to watch over it from their home. The living creatures were left to fend for themselves, and in that they thrived as the populations grew larger.
As the vast eons progressed, they grew disinterested watching these unintelligent creatures carry out their meaningless lives. So for one final time they banded together and chose to create a race on the world with the capability to grow in intelligence and achieve wondrous things. The four gods each created one man and one woman on Kovi, in the centre of the land that we now call Feldom.
The four pairs, each created in their own god's image, began life working together as one to build a stable existence. Their creations could father children and so emotions could evolve beyond what they then were. It seemed to the gods that all was well and that their new race would achieve great things, until the day that Gushkall's creations betrayed them all. Jealously murdering the children of their kin in the dark of night, they left their company to begin a life of their own.
Outraged and deeply hurt, the remaining three men began to fight amongst themselves. The gods watched as the men they had created fought and saw the separation of mankind. They were outraged at what Gushkall's creations had done and shunned him.
Beon guided his creations to another land across the seas where a new nation would be formed, the land known as Miirvk. Nyrune drove her creations south and created a vast forest in which they could live. In this forest, Karmena was to be built. Skiye's creations chose to remain in the original spot on which our race was created and founded the great nation of Feldom.
Now, though the other gods shunned Gushkall's creations, Gushkall himself was pleased and he led them to the east where they would create their own realm, now known as Dargon. The three other gods did not approve of Gushkall's actions and in their spite they blocked Dargon off from the rest of Kovi.
Beon summoned from the earth a vast mountain range which stretched from the North Sea down to the Misty Forest, and in the only gap between the mountains, Skiye crafted Lake Moonsong. Nyrune then used her power to bring the cold to the eastern lands, so that nothing could grow. Thus Dargon was separated from Feldom and the other lands of men. And thus the mortal races of men began.
CHAPTER ONE
OUTCASTS