Snippets of Writing

6.

When the world began, there was darkness and nothingness, swirling around and around. It was out of this nothing that They emerged, Anavran, the One. Anavran willed Themself into being, and They were a supreme being. They were genderless and all-knowing, with the power to create All. Anavran was made from pure power, glowing and golden, and with that power They created Everything. Their hair was made from swirling galaxies and systems of worlds made up Their bodies as They used up Their power to Create.

Anavran Created endless worlds and systems, but one was created, greater than other, and it was Their heart. This world was called Hvarsev, and it was divided into three Realms. Eynarsah, the Upper Realm; Jharnesah, the Central Realm; and Kversah, the Lower Realm were these. To govern this world, Anavran Created eight Gods. There were the four High Ones: Virath, the Firelord; Dennath, the Earthshaker; Haviré, the Stormweaver; and Esníl, the Seacaller; and they dwelt in Eynarsah. There were the four Dark Ones: Vanas, the Nightlord; Kharanan, the Reaper; Usser, the Voidstormer; and Tevlin, the Frostbringer; and they dwelt Kversah. Each One governed one of the eight elements, all was in harmony as Anavran Created life to fill Hvarsev.

Anavran made plants to grow on the landmasses, creating trees that towered higher and higher, and beasts to dwell among them. They Created beasts of water to swim in the oceans, growing stranger and stranger as they dwelt deeper and deeper. Soon, however, the High Ones and Dark Ones grew to worry about Anavran, for as They used Their power to Create, They lost Their sanity, and created stranger and stranger creatures that trampled the earth and whose roars shook the earth. Finally, though the High Ones and Dark Ones had no love for each other, Virath and Vanas, brothers and rivals, made a pact. They would kill Anavran and take Their power for themselves, to spare the world that they had fallen in love with from destruction by Anavran's strange creatures.

So it was, that in the dead of night when Vanas's shadows ruled the earth, Virath dimmed his flame and he, along with Vanas, crossed Jharnesah, the Central Realm, and entered Kversah, the Lower Realm, where Anavran's heart of hearts was guarded by Tevlin's ice. There, Vanas shrouded all in his darkness and Virath summoned his fire, reducing Anavran's heart to ashes.

Though Anavran had used up most of Their power to Create monstrous beings, there was some of the raw power left after Their heart was destroyed. Virath took this power without Vanas knowing, and later, in Eynarsah, the Upper Realm, split it among his brethren the High Ones. Each used their power to create a race of intelligent beings: Virath, the Firelord, created the dragons, humanoids that could shapeshift into a dragon form but lose some of their soul every time they did so and control fire; Dennath, the Earthshaker, created the dwarves, short but sturdy creatures that loved all things to do with the earth, who excelled at farming; Haviré, the Stormweaver, created the elves, powerful and near-immortal beings out of which some had the ability to harness the wind itself; and Esníl, the Seacaller, made the race of man, who were perhaps the least remarkable of the four, save for their attraction to bodies of water and aptitude for sailing and harnessing water for their crops. And so the Four Kindreds were created, and they dwelt in Jharnesah.

Soon enough, the Dark Ones found out about this power that the High Ones had stolen from Anavran's heart, and they grew jealous, for they had not known about this power. Vanas, the eldest of the Dark Ones, snuck into Eynarsah, covering himself in shadows to make himself invisible. He stole the power that was left after the creation of the Four Kindreds, and took it back the Kversah to share among his brethren, for though the Dark Ones are painted as evil, they are fair among themselves and not selfish. From this power the Dark Ones created their own life, but it was a pale mockery of the life that the High Ones had created, for the Dark Ones were not favored by Anavran as the High Ones had been and had not received Their knowledge and teaching. Vanas, the Nightlord, created the Faceless, who were naught more than swirling darkness and shadows, looking like holes in the fabric of reality; and Tevlin, the Frostbringer, created the icelings, who had pale skin, silvery blond hair, and the ability to change their shape. Kharanan, the Reaper was unable to create life, for his is the domain of Death and creation is the opposite of his power; and Usser too was unable to make a race of beings, for she holds dominion over the nothingness of the Void, holding sway over things that do not exist, hence she cannot create things. And so the Malkindreds were created, and they too dwelt on Jharnesah, but they were driven to the edges of the earth by the Four Kindreds, who harbored great hatred for them.

And so it came to pass that each Kindred chose a place to live. The dragons made their homes in the dense jungles near the volcanoes that stretched from north to south across the continent of Aheynash, while the humans dwelt near the coasts and spread across the sea to the continent of Arenkan. Elves dwelt in Arenkan as well, but most made their homes in central Aheynash, establishing the great kingdom of Nweltan. The dwarves settled away to the north in a fertile valley where they were protected from outside harm and were unbothered by the happenings of the outside world. The icelings chose to live in the frozen north, while the Faceless were driven off the face of the earth. To this day, nobody knows where they dwell.

Now, though elves were immortal and lived forever - as long as they were not killed - all other kindreds, were mortal, and the High Ones began to worry, for the bodies of the dead clogged the rivers and were scattered through fields. Virath, who had the greatest power out of the High Ones, used this to change the dragons. "No longer will dragons have to stay on the earth after they have died," he said. "Now, if their bodies are burned after they die, they will ascend to the heavens." And so the dragons burned their dead, and the bodies fell apart to ash and their spirits became the stars.

"The humans have great connection with the water, and they are great explorers," said Esníl, the Stormweaver. "If a human's body is let out to sea, it will become a new island." And so the humans buried their dead at sea, and they became the scattered islands.

"The dwarves are great farmers, and care deeply for nature," said Dennath, the Earthshaker. "If they die on the earth, they will become trees after they die." And so the dwarves laid their dying on the earth, and trees sprouted where dwarves had died and so the great forests of the Stone Mountains were made.

"The elves do not die of natural causes," Haviré, the Stormweaver, said. "But if one of my elves is slain, they must be laid out at a high point, and they will become the strongest of winds." And so the storms that raged from east to west were born.

And so the world was born, and the Four Kindreds lived in relative harmony with each other, pushing the icelings and the Faceless out of their glorious kingdoms and thriving as their respective gods smiled upon them. But that all changed when the Fire Nation dragons attacked...

from worldbuilding for 'wielder of frost and flame'
still debating plot worthiness.