Lore

This article goes into the pre-human lore of Árdan. That is, the story of how the world of Árdan was created. Studying pre-human history of Árdan has always been a challenge for historians, as the only accounts of the creation of the world are by angels themselves. However, unlike humans, angels have no concept of time: their only concern is the succession of events and their relative order rather than the absolute time they took place. This is because angels believe only in cause and effect: they are the cause and the world is the effect. As many human historians have put it: "There is no time without humans to witness it".

The Angels' creation narrative is not universally accepted, and some religious groups believe in a variety of creation myths ranging from minor alterations to entirely different stories. Below is the account of the world's creation as told by the Consensus, the most widespread religion in the world.

Pre-Theic Age & Age of Creation (countless eons)

In the beginning, the world was an endless sea of ichor, a magma-like substance. The ichor then gained a consciousness named Ár (pronounced "awr"). From the ichor, Ár created 24 Angels, whose duty was to watch over and tend to the world. Ár then raised land and mountains over the ichor, turning the world into a giant wasteland. The world was still shrouded in darkness, leading three Angels, Shúl, Laksha and Ezad, to fly into the sky and become the Sun and moons. However, the Sun was not able to light the entire world, leaving most of it still in shadow. The first lifeforms were created, consisting of animals and plants. These would eventually evolve into the wildlife of today.

Age of Flood (some millenia after)

One angel, Quénod, conjured rainclouds over the illuminated world which rained continuously for thousands of years. This created bodies of water such as rivers, lakes, seas and oceans. Another angel, Ukesh, tried to create people from ichor, but these proto-humans all ended up descending into madness and conflict, eventually annihilating themselves.

First Age of Man (a dozen millenia)

One angel, Isa, created the first humans from a mixture of soil, starlight and ichor. For millenia, these humans lived in small groups that mostly kept to themselves. Over time, some of the humans tried to worship deities of their own invention to try and explain the world around them. Furious, ten Angels created their own army and went to war against these heretics, easily crushing them. These Angels become known as the ten Seraphs. Under their rule, all humans were forced to worship angels. However, ten of the remaining Angels disagreed with the vision of the Seraphs, so they created an army of their own and went to war against the Seraphs.

Age of Fire (c. 1,000 years)

After remaining dormant for ages, Ár rose from its slumber to put an end to the war between the Angels. Continents were torn apart by giant chasms, tremors shook the world, ichor boiled the oceans. Every living being in the world was killed and the Angels were forced to make peace. Isa, who had been neutral throughout the whole ordeal, was troubled by all the conflict and went dormant, growing mountains and burrowing herself, so as to not be disturbed. To this day, there remain no traces of the First Men, and their existence is only known through accounts by Angels.

Second & Third Ages of Man (less than 10,000 years)

The Second and Third Ages of Man were failed attempts by the Angels and Seraphs to create humans and populate the world. However, without Isa they were incapable of creating humans who would last more than a few millenia. One day, a Seraph and an Angel who had become friends decided to seek out Isa and wake her up. Against all odds, they managed to penetrate her sanctum. When she awoke, Isa let out a cry that split the land in half and killed the Angel and Seraph who woke her. She then shed a tear that, when it came into contact with the two corpses, brought them back to life as humans.

Fourth Age of Man (c. 50 kya – 10 kya)

The Fourth Age marks the earliest modern human settlements. Stone Age cultures started appearing around the world. Over time, the discovery of agriculture led to a rise in sedentism, but dropping temperatures led to the decline of organized cultures.

Fifth Age of Man – Age of Ice (c. 11 kya – 6 kya)

For unknown reasons, the light of the Sun faded, resulting in significantly lower temperatures around the world. As the tale goes, one human known by many names around the world, hereafter referred to as the Lightbearer, traveled to the Zenith region where they spoke directly to the Sun. The angel Shúl, who became the sun countless eons ago, descended from the sky for the first time and spoke back to the Lightbearer. Accounts vary on what happened next, but the Sun’s light would come back in an event known as the Kindling.

Sixth Age of Man – Age of Magic (c. 6 kya – present)

The Sixth Age began after the Kindling. Temperatures around the world quickly began to rise again, and the climate would go back to how it was in the Fourth Age. The Sixth Age was the first age in which humans discovered magic. By communing with outer gods, mages learned to harness divine power granting them unimaginable strength. Magical schools were founded around each deity and gained a large influence over politics and religion.