Legends of Terranis

As their language developed, Vallahaatu and Alvendarr discussed much, and at great length. What were they? What was their purpose? And were there any others like them? The answer to this last question burned strong in their minds, they had to know if there were others, and find them if they could.

So the two primordial beings ventured out across the cosmos. Their progress was slow, as they stopped to create whenever they saw the chance. Alvendarr’s creations [or stars, as Vallahaatu chose to name them] took much time and effort to make, so he did not form quite as many as Vallahaatu did his own objects, which yet went unnamed.

As the two traveled, they began to see new objects, things that they could not yet describe. Many were small, and were held inside of smaller objects than those that Vallahaatu had originally encountered. Some of them possessed what Vallahaatu could only assume was a consciousness similar to their own. Curious, the two companions searched for the source of these new objects.

They found another being like themselves.

This one was quick to learn the language of the companions, explaining in great detail its own life thus far. Alvendarr and Vallahaatu were amazed by the tiny creations of their new friend, so unlike their own. So small, yet so complex. They learned that the name of their new friend was “Gaia,” and that Gaia called its creation “life,” though admitted that the creation of life could not have been possible without the discovery of the creations of both Vallahaatu and Alvendarr, and yet another mysterious element, something that Gaia called “water.”

The three of them decided that they needed to find the source of this water, for they believed it to be another of their kind. It did not take them long to track down Aqualius, the creator of the water.

The now four companions discussed all of what they knew, and came to the conclusion that together, they could create something truly wondrous. They went to work forming the details of their plan: they chose to return to one of Alvendarr’s stars, which they realized had now drawn several of Vallahaatu’s creations, which Gaia suggested calling “planets” into a strong orbit around itself, keeping each one at a steady temperature [for that was the word they chose to represent the tingling sensation Vallahaatu first discovered] depending on how far away it had settled from the star. Aqualius took some of the frozen balls of water it had gathered, and hurled them down toward the surface of the planets. This caused a rapid cooling effect to occur, creating the perfect conditions for Gaia’s creations to settle.

The four companions watched the fruits of their labours mingle and thrive, and over time, evolve. They slowly grew larger, more complex, and some began moving about their environment with clear purpose, which the four creators viewed as a sign of true intelligence and consciousness. The conscious beings fed upon the other beings, which seemed of a different makeup than the others. No signs of intelligence could be found in these objects.

The four creators watched with amusement as the small beings procreated, creating new life themselves. But they then noticed something that horrified them. Some of these small beings had taken to attacking and consuming others. Gaia wished to intervene, she did not want to see her creations destroy each other, but Vallahaatu stopped her.

“It may be the way of things, for these little ones.” he offered. “Let us remain uninvolved, and simply watch what becomes of it.” Sure enough, changes in the makeup of these small creatures began to slowly occur, and some developed different traits depending on their own needs.

By this time, the four had seeded and developed many other planets, and noticed similar occurrences all over. But they soon realized that not everything was alright.

During his general rounds to determine the development of their creations, Vallahaatu discovered an area of space where the denizens of several planets had all ceased living. Horrified, he desperately scoured the surface of each planet to determine what had caused such calamity. He found no abnormalities, yet felt a similar energy at each dead planet he visited. Following the trail, he at last found the culprit.

It was another entity like the four creators, but this one did not seek to create life, but to end it. Or at least, that was how it appeared to Vallahaatu. Upon confronting the being, however, he realized differently.

“What have you been doing to our creations?” Vallahaatu demanded. “Why does every planet you visit cease all function?”

The new entity sighed in defeat. “I cannot explain it. I wished merely to look at the fascinating things you have made, but something occurs each time I do, and it is horrible, I do not enjoy it.” On that, Vallahaatu could agree. He brought the new arrival [who declared his name to be Ilventus] before the others.

The five entities deliberated at length the nature of their existence, wondering what the purpose of a being that only brought death could possibly be. For a long while, they bade him keep his distance from their creations, lest he bring about more destruction. This worked for a long while, long enough that other entities soon found and joined their group.

One entity, named Chronoviin, was intrigued by the passage of time, and gave meaning and order to each second that passed. Another, whose name was Vadunfalgarwas fascinated by the planets that Vallahaatu had created, but felt they needed some finer details added. He crafted beautiful mountain ranges, and created fissures in the deep earth, allowing for landmasses to rise up and form on the surface of the oceans.

These landmasses served as the next stage of the evolutionary process for the children of Gaia. Great plants emerged, and soon beasts of all shapes and sized crawled out of the primordial oceans of their various worlds. These beasts evolved mighty mechanisms for both defence and offence, and put these tools to great use. But a problem soon became evident. All of these creatures persisted with their existence. Those that were eaten simply rose again, despite their grievous wounds. Procreation continued as it always had, and soon the creators realized that their planets were becoming too full of life. And so Gaia made the difficult decision to approach Ilventus.

After explaining at great length the situation they found themselves in, Ilventus agreed to attempt a solution. At every planet that he approached, he carefully selected the individuals that should have expired, and swiftly, painlessly, ended their existence. But he had to do this for each individual, on each planet, and was finding it increasingly impossible to keep up as procreation replaced those removed faster than he could remove them. And so he proposed a change to life itself. He connected with Gaia, and made an alteration to the life that she created: that all creatures should reach a natural end to their existence.

This alteration proved paramount to the continued existence of their creations. The strong now dominated the weak, and those beasts that could not effectively defend themselves, now slowly died off.

Life now worked in an optimal way, but there were still concerns, the chief of which being that planets could only be seeded so quickly, and life took much time to determine whether it would hold. Gaia became increasingly frustrated by this limitation, and formed a proposal to the others…