The Creation and History of Eresetu
At the dawn of time there existed Ma'at, the divine balance, creator of all things seen and unseen. Ma'at looked about and, seeing nothing but the primeval waters all around, felt the despair of loneliness in its heart. And so it was that Ma'at raised the world, Eresetu, from the primeval waters, fashioned the gods from clay, and set each in dominion over a part of the world. Ma'at knew that the gods would feel the same loneliness it experienced, and thus created men and beasts to inhabit the land and plants to sustain them, binding each to the gods in turn. Pleased with its creations, Ma'at looked out upon the world for the final time and then divided itself among all things to give them life, at once becoming the essence of both life and death.
Once the novelty of life wore thin, both gods and mortals, possessing only a fraction of the divine harmony of Ma'at, turned against one another in struggles of power, wealth and pride. Gods roused the mortals in their dominion to war, driving them to slay in the name of righteousness all who would block their paths to power. Even those gods dedicated to peace were forced to fight, unable to remain outside the conflicts lest they and their followers be destroyed.
Some mortals, weary of war and fearful of destruction, began pursuing paths to power independent from the gods. In secret cabals and hidden corners of the world they met, experimenting and researching so that they might turn their powers of sorcery from divine gift to conscious choice. In time the art of wizardry was born, allowing sorcerous power to be passed in written form to keen minded mortals otherwise totally devoid of magical prowess. Unfettered by the will of gods but possessing a far smaller fraction of the essence of Ma'at than they, these wizards soon wielded their vast powers over life and death not to end the conflicts of the world, but to become as gods themselves. The most powerful among them began summoning their deities to the earthly realm in order to dominate, destroy, or ally with them to further their dark aims. Thus began the War of Gods and Mortals.
Though the world was accustomed to war, nothing could prepare it for the titanic clashes of gods and wizards railing against one another for supremacy and survival. As war raged on, many gods, many more wizards, and countless other mortals fell by sword and spell. The orc god Ulbog entered a dark pact conceived by Sitamun, goddess of death. In order to further his and his allies' goals he ultimately turned on his own people, but was undone at the hands of the elves in the later stages of the war. Between rampaging wizards and the sinister machinations of Sitamun and her allies the world was nearly torn apart, but the few remaining gods and their bravest followers eventually destroyed the wizards and banished the mistress of death to an icy prison.
In the aftermath of the war, the gods and representatives of all the mortal races held a great council in the hopes that they might prevent such horrors from ever happening again. After much deliberation, a great obelisk was raised engraved with an account of the War of Gods and Mortals and with two eternal laws, punishable by death or banishment from the godly realm:
- No god shall make war upon another, or upon another's followers.
- No god or mortal shall employ magic in written form, whether of word, rune or sign.
Since the time of the monuments creation, a yearly festival has been held around its base to forever remind all creatures of the responsibilities they hold toward one another.
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