In the beginning, there was nothing but the void. Out of the nothingness, an idea formed. At first, it was naught but a firefly in the night; but as it grew, the idea took form. The first thing it did was give itself a name and thus a right to exist. The idea called itself Gaelyn, the Creator. Next, Gaelyn sought to fill the nothing. At his thought, inky blackness rose to fill each corner of the void around him. This he called darkness. Although the darkness was an improvement upon the nothingness of the void, by its very nature the darkness was cold and without true substance. At his whim, a spot of luminance sprung to life, providing both light and heat. As he had done for himself, Gaelyn formed this substance into two perfect forms: Olm, the Lord of the Dawn, and his twin sister, Umma, Lady of the Light.

“Go forth and bring light to that which is dark,” he told the Sibling Gods, “find the most perfect place with in all that exists for me to place my finest creation.”  Hand in hand, they drifted off in search of what the creator required. When the first spot of light would no longer allow them to see, they created another to mark their way. This process was completed again and again, until finally found a spot was found that was above all others. When the two turned around, they saw that in their search, existence itself had been filled with millions of spots of light.

Olm used his breath to soften the darkness and Umma shaped it with her hands into the world of Taerh. As she smoothed the rough edges, she found that she had much left over. This she used this to raise mountains and hills upon the flatness that was Taerh. To their eyes the world seemed complete; but struck them both as rather plain and certainly not the grand creation that Gaelyn had intended. The twins tore their masterpiece apart and rebuilt it time and time again; but everything they made seemed to them to be lacking. Umma, after countless attempts, became angry. crying tears of frustration upon the unfinished world. Those tears filled the valleys and low-lying lands, changing the face of the world and creating oceans and lakes, rivers, and streams. The siblings looked upon their new world and smiled.

They created an object near the world from Olm’s heat and Umma’s light, its radiance warming all that it shined upon and coloring the sky sapphire blue. They began to fashion new objects from the very substance of Taerh. The first object they fashioned was a tree that stretched beyond the sky, almost touching the luminous orb in the sky. Here was where the gods made their home, calling it simply the First Tree. They then created uncountable smaller ones just like it as well as grass to grow beneath it. They created rocks and sand to line the banks of the oceans and rivers created from Umma’s blessed tears. Alas, there was still something missing. Nothing on the face of the world moved.  Olm made an object in his image, but it was thick and crude. Umma created one in hers, but it was frail and ephemeral. Like the trees and rocks, each static and still. The two cried to Gaelyn, “We create, but they will not move!”

Gaelyn arrived beside them and chuckled at their dismay, “That is because they do not have names, children. Without names, they have shape but no purpose.” He went with them, pleased as he saw what his children had created. He looked down, touching a tree with his hand, “Tree”, he said. The leaves slowly shuddered and then began moving with the force of his breath. “Breathe onto each object and grant it a name,” he commanded, “with purpose, they will live.”

Only then did Gaelyn notice the crude images created by Umma and Olm, “The children already seek to be as the parent.” he mused proudly. He touched Olm’s creation to his lips and whispered, “Dwarf, first among the created, you shall create as does the Lord of the Dawn. Gaelyn then grasped Umma’s creation, bringing it to his lips, “Elf, so beautiful and lithe, you shall contain within you the majesty of the Lady of the Light.” Gaelyn watched as his children created the beasts of the land, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea.

After each thing was given a name, the three watched the world they had created. All things acted as they should, all things that is but the elves and dwarves. They looked up to their creators for instruction, for they were above the plants and beasts of the earth and as such should not act as they did, on instinct; but did not know how to act any differently. Umma and Olm wept for their children. Again, they called out to Gaelyn, “Help us, Father!” they begged.

Gaelyn waved them to silence and sat down to think on the problem for some time. When the Sibling Gods’ impatience grew too much for him, he took each into his hand. Taking a measure of Olm’s heat and Umma’s light, he created a vessel out of the void that surrounded existence. This vessel represented that which was beyond the rigidness of the created universe, Free Will. Gaelyn named it Sharroth. The vessel, being made of the void, was not pure and beautiful; but instead dark and twisted. His shape was a combination of the beasts of the earth, everything that the two had wrought. His face was that of a lizard, bearing the horns of the ram. His body was that of a lion, standing upright, bearing the poisonous tail of a scorpion. Gaelyn bid Sharroth to touch each elf and dwarf, bestowing them with a will of their own. They pulled back from his beastly visage as he touched each of them. So focused upon his task, Sharroth did not notice.

The elves, so full of the passion of their mother and the fire of free will, immediately fell to fighting with each other. It seemed to Olm that this passion was only sated with the blood of the creatures around them as Sharroth’s power drove them to more and more deviant atrocities. So savage were these creatures that Olm struck the land with his hammer, separating the Blades from the Cradle. He did not have the heart to destroy that which his beloved sister had created but he could not bear the thought of having them destroy what remained.

The dwarves were so filled with Olm’s drive to create and the freedom to contemplate their own ideas that they looked upon the world around them and found it wanting. Seeing no need of the gods, they turned to their own hands to grant them the grace offered by their creators. The dwarves soon bore into the earth beneath them, seeking the primal darkness from which Olm had wrought the world with which to create. Soon they were lost from sight, happily banging away in their obsession to exceed his feats of creation. The Sibling Gods looked upon their world and wept.

Gaelyn smiled at his children, “What is created in separation, exists in separation.” Bolstered by this, Olm took into his hands the very substance of Taerh, warming it with his heat. Umma took his hands in her own, focusing her light upon what was pressed between them. Together they molded a creation at once both beautiful and sturdy, obedient, and grateful. Sharroth touched this creation, granting it free will as well. He, again, did not notice when his siblings shied away from his touch. Finally, the world was complete, and the Sibling Gods returned to their First Tree to watch humans, the greatest of their creations flourish. When Sharroth tried to join them, they spurned him. It was then that the Father of Lies saw his face reflected in the surface of a nearby river and truly realized his hideousness.

Sharroth sped to Gaelyn’s side. “Father, why have you made me such a monster?” he asked.

“You are what you are, my son. Monster or not is proven in your actions.”

This did not calm Sharroth, “So shall it be then, Father…So, shall it be.”  With this, he retreated into the darkness, far away from the warmth of Olm and the light of Umma. The darkness was so vast that even Gaelyn could not find his wayward son. He searched every corner of the blackness and every cubit of the void, leaving the world to Olm and Umma.

While he searched, the Siblings watched the world as their creations moved about. At first, all was well. The humans lived without conflict and the twins were pleased. In the shadows of Umma’s light, however, Sharroth stood, whispering in the ears of any human that would listen. He promised much to those that gave him attention, showing them how to seize what they wanted by theft or outright murder. Each person leant their ear to Sharroth was gifted with a small portion of the void that made up his form. It grew within them until they, in turn, passed a piece of it on to anyone who listened to their own words. So evil entered the world of Taerh.