Aeon, Time

[earthwizard]

Aeon, Time

The eternities that are time stretch and lay out before the Devas, for the Devas are the creators of all things, including Aeon, time itself. The Devas see and know all; for them everything has happened and will happen. Eternity in an instant. The universe in an atom.

Before the Nation of Allanae came to glory, before the Chaos Times, before the Valkyries and before the Tuatha De Dannan, before Tor Dorran and Tor Modan rose from the ground and even before Geb itself became named, there were the Devas. They were Kotonashi and Isshiki, everything and nothing. But Isis and Gaia of the Devas joined and Gaia came to carry the physical realm inside her. Through an arduous effort, Gaia birthed the World. The Devas came together and saw the World and rejoiced.

The Vasus were the first to descend to the World. Vasus molded and shaped it and joined with it to form the lands, the rivers and seas, the mountains, the sky and the clouds. And so Isis descended to the World as well. There she tamed Vasus and cultivated the lands. She spread her seed and gave birth to the living, the mortals. Seeing that the mortals had no intelligence, Athena and Hephaestus descended to the World as well. There, Athena awakened the races, granting them the ability to think as individuals and to communicate with each other. Hephaestus imbued the races with free will and desire, and all the emotions. Upon seeing one of the mortals once wounded, Sulis descended to the World and taught the races the arts of healing, and the mortals became wise. It was at this time that through their study of all things, the mortals became aware of Themis and Cariocecus, who then descended in resplendent forms. Themis taught the mortals the ways of honor and charity, and Cariocecus taught them the ways of war, thus forever changing the fate of the World.

In the first battle among mortals, Yomo fought Yama. Their skill in battle was great, having each learned from Cariocecus. They battled in single combat as Themis taught them the code of honor. Hephaestus inspired in them each passion, and so the battle was fierce. But Athena had tempered their minds, so each gained insight into their opponent as they fought. Vasus imbued them with mastery of the elements for their weapons. From their fallen blood, Isis created new creatures of all varieties. And Gaia brought it all to balance, ensuring the Devas did not favor Yomo or Yama and granting that it was the way of nature, and in accordance with Aeon.

Thus it came that Yomo bested Yama of his own ability, and Yama perished. His soul descended and fell through the World to the cold, hollow dark center. But Yama was the first to enter Hel, the first to cross the Veil of the World, the first to perish, and so the Devas granted him immortality. Yama became one with the Devas, and the Devas rejoiced and welcomed their brother’s return, for Aeon had already included him as one of the divine. Thus Yama came to rule over Hel and the souls of the dead.

So it became that the World developed a soul. The Devas recognized its soul and named it, Geb. And in the mortals’ view, time, Aeon, began to pass and history began to reveal itself . . .

[earthwizard]

Athena began her work on Geb by awakening three races: the Valkyries, the Tuatha De Dannan and the Doragon. And when those First Mortals walked Geb, they were very powerful, for they had been taught by the Devas themselves.

For ages the world was at peace and the three races knew nothing of war. In the beginning they were nothing more than awakened animals. Then the Devas began their education. They were instructed in the manner of all the Devas. At last, the mortals learned honor and charity from Themis, and sacrifice and war from Cariocecus.

Of the three races, the Doragon were the most taken with Hephaestus's desire. They began to covet all the precious things in the world. Their emotions went wild, and this was how the first battle came to be.

Yomo and Yama, of the Doragon, each coveted the affections of a third, Ixana. Ixana pleaded they not shed blood, but their headstrong hearts urged them to battle. When the battle was ended, Yama had fallen, his broken body laid in the center of the world. Ixana, so heartbroken at the sight of her lovers' fight, spurned Yomo and went to live in solitude for the remainder of her long years.

But Hephaestus's desire did not dwindle in Yomo. He was enraged that somehow Yama had still beaten him, even in his defeat. Yomo began to covet other things. He began to horde precious metals and trinkets. Soon, his insatiable hunger drove him to covet the objects belonging to the Valkyries and the Tuatha De Dannan. Eventually Yomo desired to rule over all of Geb.

When the Valkyries and the Tuatha De Dannan discovered the plans of Yomo, they banded together in the ways that the Devas had taught them. War had come to Geb. Many battles were fought in all the corners of the world. In the end it all came to the Tear of the Mountain. There a great final battle was waged between the three races. They fought in the skies over the Tear, in the waters below, and on the surface of the Tear itself. But Yomo and his armies were so powerful, that the combined might of the Valkyries and the Tuatha De Dannan were unable to defeat him. And yet, the opposite was true as well. The first mortals were locked in battle, none gaining an advantage over the others.

The Devas saw this and knew that Geb could not continue to live in such a state of war for eternity. Thus they sealed off the combatants on a plane of existence far removed from the mortal coil. Athena placed those remaining on Geb into a deep slumber. From the ancient spilled blood of Yomo and Yama, Isis created new races, the modern mortals. And the process began anew. This time, the Devas took a less direct role in the education of the mortals, deeming it too dangerous to grant too much power to mortals. They inspired great priests to educate the people in the ways of the Devas. And still, while wars were waged, empires and kingdoms raised and razed, never again did Geb see the sheer destructive power of the First Mortals.

Occasionally, however, one of the First would awaken and make his or her way into the myths and legends of the modern mortal races . . .