History
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The history of Creation is the story of power, especially about who holds it and who desires it. This has been true in the past and will likely continue to be true in the future.

In the Beginning

In the beginning, before time and space existed there was raw Essence - chaotic and unshaped. Within this predessor of the Wyld existed the Primordials who may or may not be of the Essence, potentially even predating it, and the Fair Folk who were native to the place of chaos both groups fought over.

Desiring a place for themselves - a place where they could find harborage from the chaos they resided within and a place to play their Games of Divinity - the Primordials worked together and willed Creation into existence. However, Creation could not run itself and their games required their attention, so the Primordials created the Gods to administer and defend the world for them.

However, as time passed, discontent grew among the Gods but part of what they were also prevented them from revolting against their creators. Instead, they empowered mortals to be their agents. Those chosen by the Gods, the Exalted, rose up and made war against the Primordials for their celestial patrons.

The Primordial War

The full article can be found here: Primordial War

The strife generated by the Primordial War rocked Creation, destroying many things that would never be made again. The five great elementals were unmade by the Primordials to prevent them from being used as weapons by the Exalted. Also, the pre-human race called the Dragon Kings died by the millions - those who did not were left with a choice of continuing to fight (which could lead to the death of their race) or to retreat into torpor and hope for a revival in a future age.

After years of battle, the Primordials were defeated. Some were slain, which caused a horrific Abyss to open beneath them and swallow their dying souls, but others surrendered out of fear of the very same Abyss. These were spared, at the insistence of Gaia, the only Primordial apart from Autochthon to have sided with the Exalted. Those Primordials spared death were forced to swear oaths on their names that banished them to Elsewhere and imprisoned them within the body of their general, Malfeas.

The Primordials who died became known as the Neverborn. Too vast and powerful to pass into nothingness (or Oblivion) but also not governed by the rules of reincarnation that had been created for mortals, they lingered on at the doorstep of non-existence. Also, their collapse into the Abyss damaged the very cycle of reincarnation and the Essence that made up Creation. This pollution came together in the form of a parallel world that has earned it the moniker the "Underworld".

The Primordials who were imprisoned became known as the Yozis, or Demons. Almost as soon as they had been imprisoned by the Gods, these beings began to seek escape and a means of revenge upon their upstart creations. Within their prison they created races of offspring to serve and entertain them.

However, their defeat was not total. Even in death, the Neverborn cursed the Gods, the Exalted and Creation as a whole.

First Age

The full article can be found here: First Age

Following the Primordial War, a body known as the Solar Deliberative was formed as a governing body where all Exalted could have a voice. In this earliest part of recorded history, the Gods passed control of Creation to the Exalted and a golden age began.

The Solars ruled, the Lunars were their warlords and mates, the Sidereals advised them and planned the future and the Terrestrial Exalted served in a great bureaucracy. The gods and elementals obeyed their orders and wonderful works of art, architecture and sorcery were crafted - to a degree that is unlikely to be duplicated. All throughout this, the Great Curse insidiously worked its way like a worm in an apple core.

The Great Curse Ripens

Also see the full article located here: Great Curse

Protected somewhat from the curse at first by not having personally stained their hands in the Primordial War, the Great Curse at first skipped over the Gods in favor for the Exalted. Virtue was warped into vice and natural faults became magnified. Valor became vainglory and rivalry, honor became rigidity, compassion became corruption. Slowly, the Solar Exalted became corrupt and tyrannical, full of cruelty and malice.

The Great Curse did not just strike the Solar Exalted, however - it only laid most heavily upon them as they had been the leaders during the Primordial War.

The Prophecy of the Sidereals

The full article can be found here: Great Prophecy

The Sidereal Exalted met in a convention to discuss the situation with the Solars. During this convention they prophesied three possible futures. In one, they did nothing and the world was destroyed. In another, they tried to guide the Solar Exalted back onto the path of righteousness and had a small chance of success and the world would become a place of darkness and misery if they failed. In the third, they eliminated the Solars and the world continued on, diminished but whole.

It was decided by the Sidereals that this last future was the safest bet to ensure Creation's survival, so they conspired with the Terrestrial Exalted to bring it about.

The Usurpation

The full article can be found here: Usurpation

The Dragon-Blooded followed the subtle manipulation of the Sidereals and the Lunars either failed at their duty to protect their mates or chose to turn their backs and allow the slaughter to occur - both because of their own problems with the Solars erratic behavior. Those that survived the purge fled into the far reaches of Creation or into the Wyld beyond the elemental poles.

In order to prevent eternal war, the Sidereal Exalted used powerful magic to trap the Solar Exaltations in a device called the Jade Prison. While not all Solar Essences were trapped, so few remained to reincarnate that they were able to control them with the Wyld Hunt.

The death of the First Age Solars also lead to the birth of the first Deathlords.

The Sidereals then vanished from sight though the use of prodigious magics leaving their weaker allies in charge of Creation. The Terrestrials then rewrote history to cast the Solars and Lunars as vile Anathema who had been drunk with power and in regular collusion with Demons.

Second Age

The full article can be found here: Second Age

The Second Age of Man is easily divided into two periods. The dividing line is the Great Contagion. On one side of it you have the Shogunate Period and on the other you have the Age of Sorrows which includes the Scarlet Empire and the Time of Tumult.

The Shogunate

The full article can be found here: Shogunate

Feeling the need to reorganize the bureaucracy governing the Realm, the Terrestrials established the Shogunate in place of the Solar Deliberative. However, as time passed, the magnificent creations of the First Age failed and were found to be irreplacable and unrepairable. For centuries the Dragon-Blooded fought amongst themselves over ever dwindling supplies of magical devices and resources, obfuscating these reasons for the fighting behind obscure ideologies started by long dead leaders.

The rulership of Creation was held by a loose confederacy of daimyos who squabbled amongst themselves except for times when a single strong shogun unified them. This lead to a shuddering at the borders of Creation as armies of Fair Folk breeched the boundaries of reality to invade and sow chaos.

Age of Sorrows

The full article can be found here: Age of Sorrows

The Great Contagion

The full article can be found here: Great Contagion

After having centuries to increase their power, the Deathlords joined together to release a sorcerous disease into Creation.

The Great Contagion as the Deathlords' creation was called killed ninety percent of Creation's population. Between the Great Contagion and the attacking Fair Folk the fabric of the world was torn, creating Shadowlands and threatening to destroy everything.

In the midst of this a lone soldier survived her circle's attempt to win control of ancient defenses, activating them and becoming their mistress.

The Scarlet Empire

The full article can be found here: Realm

After first stopping the advancing hordes of Fair Folk this Dragon-Blooded hero used powerful First Age weaponry to consolidate her power, eliminating anyone who opposed her. Seeing an opportunity here, a previously minor cult called the Immaculate Order backed her and helped unite the surviving Terrestrials into the Scarlet Dynasty and created a vast empire beneath herself, the Scarlet Empress.

The Time of Tumult

The full article can be found here: Time of Tumult

This status quo created by the Scarlet Empress lasted for nearly eight centuries. Now, however, she has been missing for five years, the Solar Exalted are returning and Deathlords have new agents cropping up: the Abyssal Exalted.

See Also

Bibliography
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