Into Eternity

A tale to you, three thousand years from now...

Long ago, the world was quiet. With no conflict, no development, and no entertainment, the seven gods watched over the dull, peaceful world. None dared to make alterations among the gods, fearing that one change would ruin the peace. It remained this way for eons, untouched, unchanging. With the idle hands of the gods, the stillness was perpetuated. However, one god became dissatisfied with the world eventually and did what no other would.

The god bestowed magic upon the world, populated the world with fantastical creatures and horrifying monsters, and created Mankind. For making such drastic changes to the once-dull world, the other gods called them Chaos, and attempted to banish them from the divine realm to the realm of the mortals they had 'ruined'. However, the gods did not have enough power.

In their management of the world, they did little, and their power grew weak. With no strength to push out Chaos, they were, instead, banished to the mortal realm, where each was given dominion over a portion of the land, and promised a chance to work their way back up to godhood. However, only one god would get the chance to return. For each of the six banished gods, a new race was spawned to walk the realm. For each race spawned, only one could stand atop all others.

The one known as Tenebris spawned the Demonkin, whose strength exceeded the humans, but whose personalities were difficult to get along with. Atop their heads were crowns of blackened bone. With their long lifespans and Darkness as their precursor, they were brought up in the southern continent that was the heart and home of monsters. They became known as beast tamers.

The one known as Ventus brought about the existence of Elves, whose life spans were immeasurable. Though they lived for a long time, their rate of reproduction was low. They came to reside in the forests across all the lands, with exception of the Demonkin's territory. Easily identifiable by their long, knife-like ears, Elves were considered the most intelligent of the seven god-made peoples.

The banished god known as Ignis created the Dragonkin, inspired by the majestic and powerful Dragons that Chaos had placed on the world. Dragonkin settled down around volcanic regions and became kings and queens of the flames. Where the Demonkin had bone crowns, the Dragonkin had horns, sharp like blades, and strong like steel. Their bodies would often carry hard scales in various places, and were as strong as the beasts they were inspired by.

Terra brought about the Beastkin, whose strengths vastly varied per individual. Like the Dragonkin and Demonkin before them, the Beastkin mostly resembled Humans but had various traits linked to animals. With so many different Beastkin brought to the realm, many clans were formed to distinguish them.

Aqua resided in the oceans of the world with their Waterfolk. Much like the Beastkin, they were quite diverse; for every fish that swam in the ocean, there was a Waterfolk to parallel them. The Waterfolk feared not the surface, and their kingdoms, though lacking significant defenses, were grand and vast. Most of the intelligent races befriended the Waterfolk, as relations allowed for the trading of important sea produce.

Lux was granted the power to create Elementals, rather than humanoid races like the other banished gods, and decided that they did not want to ascend back to godhood. Elementals, as the name suggested, were granted elemental affinities that, in turn, granted each one different magic. The Elementals, which could take on the Dark, Light, Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water elements, were the pride and joy of Lux and were widely considered the most neutral of the races, being indiscriminate with their treatment towards the others. Lux allowed the Elementals to provide magic services to those who were willing to 'pay' some of their magic power.

Given enough time to prosper and create thriving kingdoms, the six gods expanded their races outwards and eventually fell into conflict with each other. With Chaos' humans and Lux's Elementals as generally neutral factions amongst the races, their involvement was relatively minimal. Chaos planted seeds of conflict in each of the races, and reveled in the entertainment it brought them. However, the wars this led to were but a warm-up for what they had planned.

As years turned to decades and war waged on, Chaos decided to put the banished gods through a final trial.

"Face my Daughter, the Star Eater, and the victor shall be granted a seat within the divine realm once again."

The Star Eater, who Chaos had chosen from the humans to represent the banished gods' final obstacle, had been granted power rivaling Chaos' own, ascending them to nigh-godhood to carry out their plans. By granting them the power to feed off of the stars of the night sky, the Star Eater would allow the banished to show their true strengths through their creations.

But it was not enough.

Despite thousands of years being granted as preparation time, no race was able to hold back the power of the Star Eater. Each race faced great ruin at her hands, and eventually, the world was purged of most life. Along with each civilization, the corresponding banished gods were assumed to have fallen too. With only a few small groups allowed to survive from each race, an apocalypse had befallen the world.

This event was known as 'the Godkin's Cleansing', and marking its conclusion was the disappearance of the Star Eater.