Solas

“Nyarcon, the Black Mountain, rose in the void before the dawn of all ages. Its infinite size is immeasurable. To reach its peak would take eons, to penetrate its darkness would deplete the forces of the most powerful beings. Deep inside the mountain sleep the forces of chaos, the powers of the world – the Elders.

Their names, if they ever had any, were lost thousands of years ago. Their memory is nothing more than a pale flicker on the deepest bottom of the mortal soul.

Yet there was a time when the Elders were awake and free to leave the heart of the mountain. This was the Age of Storm. With terrible force they swept over the steep slopes of Nyarcon and changed its surface forever. In an endless cycle of creation and destruction, places and things rose from the darkness only to be shredded to dust again the next moment. The Elders’ powers raged without purpose and nothing would last.

After a very long time the powers of the Elders calmed somewhat. They grew tired and the ferocity of the endless storm ceased. Eventually, one by one, they returned to the heart of the mountain and fell into an endless sleep. What remained was a grotesquely shattered wasteland where nothing had any form or meaning. Without the dragging winds, however, things gradually began to come together and same merged with same. During that second age, the Age of Finding, the elements and the principle of order emerged.

All things that exist are ultimately a part of the Elders, but they represent only a very small part of their nature and power. After enough remnants of the storm had come together, the elements gradually awoke. From the multitude of individual particles a new whole awoke, inheriting a divine spirit. The first element to awake was fire and its true name is Halyma. It burst out of the darkness as a sudden flame and penetrated the eternal darkness with the very first light. Next Trom, the element of the earth, awoke and slowly spread across the flanks of Nyarcon. It was followed by the element of water, called Isa, and for a long time those three elements fought at the top of the mountain for supremacy. None of the elements could gain the upper hand and after many years of aimless struggle they decided to find a truce and Halyma retreated behind the vastness of Trom and the floods of Isa streamed down the Nyarcon and filled all the valleys that Trom had formed, forming seas and rivers. Halyma scattered a myriad of sparks into the dark spheres beyond Nyarcon before it’s flames were to be covered by earth forever. Until today the hot temper of the fire element tries to break free, pierce the earth and expand into the spaces above. Súl, the element of the winds, was the last one to awaken. Súl was closest to the Elders by its nature, unstable and untamable he argued with Trom and tried to take his place. The waters of Isa, however, appeased the dispute and separated the elements for all times and finally there was peace.

Over the millennia, lesser elements emerged from the four elements and by mixing created even more sub-elements. The most well known of them are wood (lagh), stone (valcr) and metal (sídh), but there are many more.

The fires of Halyma dug deep into the flanks of the mountain and though they never reached the heart of the mountain, they still touched the ancient powers of the Elders. Through the deep veins of fire and liquid stone a small part of the power of the chaos forces slowly leaked out and seeped into the young worlds that just had emerged. A fifth element, magic (Maya), was born. Due to her ever-changing nature, Maya did not find a permanent place in the world. Her power corrupted the other elements and what they had just formed. In an attempt to divide the elements and enforce domination over Nyarcon and all the worlds, the bodiless Maya created the giant Aelyn, the first being to walk the vast expanses of the mountain. Maya used almost all of her own power and forged it into this being of pure energy. The creature caused unspeakable harm and devoured entire worlds that had just been formed. For a while the major elements endured the creature’s rampage until they finally stood up together and threw down the giant after a terrible battle. They tore his mighty body apart and scattered it’s parts over the Black Mountain. His huge solitary eye was hung into the black void above the mountain, shedding an eerie light on the highest peak. His dark blood flowed into the seas and spoiled Isa’s waters there forever. His flesh fell to the dark depths and gave birth to sinister creatures in the shadows. His bones and tendons filled the deepest caves and when the mountains will one day be washed away, they will be the back of the world.

The heart of the creature was buried at the lowest point of the mountain and it still lies there today – the Daédalis, the bloodstone. From this place, lying in rotten waters, the power of Maya shines forth through the earth and the waters of the world and in some places even breaks through the surface. In these places dark beings and spirits gather and no mortal should shun them.”

The Esme Scripts, Catalyna 754 pC