Now, listen closely to me, for here is the tale told throughout the ages.
In the beginning, there was nothing but chaos. If there was land in that time, it was not visible or habitable. Nothing but the insufferable Darkness existed in those days. It covered the whole world and moved with a life of its own. No one is sure where it came from, or how it came to be. Perhaps it had always existed, or perhaps it was placed there by beings unknown.
From that Darkness, a single being of light was born. Its skin was as white as freshly fallen snow, and its long robe shone with the light of a million stars. It lifted its eyes to the dark heavens and its name was Orassul.
Orassul wandered through the Darkness surrounding it but could find nothing. The Darkness was everywhere and concealed everything, making it difficult to navigate. This made Orassul feel lonely and one day it tried to rise above the Darkness to see what else existed. Breaking through the veil, Orassul found the sun and the stars and was awed by the light. Having finally seen light for the first time in its existence, Orassul knew that it never wanted to return to being inside the Darkness. Using power granted to it by beings unknown, Orassul broke through the dark veil and allowed the light of the sun to hit the world. Upon hitting the world for the first time, the sun revealed the stunning blue green oceans and the green canopy of trees in the forest. All of A’sthy was revealed when the sun's light pierced and scattered the Darkness.
Orassul wandered these lands for many a cycle, studying the land it had revealed. Soon however, it grew lonely again, as no living soul was to be found. Only nature and her wonders greeted it, and it grew sad.
One day, as Orassul sat in the plains of Dochel, it occurred to it that maybe it could create someone to end the loneliness. Orassul began to pick up weeds from the surrounding area, twinning them together. Once enough had been gathered, Orassul blew on the weeds gently and revealed the first male elf: a graceful creature of the flora, with a slight green tint to his skin. The elf revered Orassul with awe and the Creator was delighted. Excitedly, it began to gather flowers and twinned them together as it had done with the weeds. Orassul created a female elf, her skin as colorful as the flowers that had created her. Orassul asked the elves what they wanted to do and both elves left the open plains to make their way to the forest, where they and their children would stand guard for all eternity.
Orassul then collected piles of giant boulders and smaller yet sturdy rocks. Orassul hit both piles lightly with its hand, and from the shattered remains were born the first dwarves. Small and sturdy, they were truly creatures of the stone. The Creator asked them what they would like to do as well. The dwarves looked about them and saw the mountains that rose above the land. They asked if they could learn to speak to the stone and Orassul sent them gladly. Next, Orassul created the beasts to roam with its creations: the bear and wolf that walk the ground, the dragons and birds that own the skies, the whales and fish that inherit the sea, and the insects and tiny creatures that live in the shadows of those larger.
Soon the land was filled with all manner of beast and creature. The races changed and moved about, giving rise to most of the races we know today. The gnomes and trolls, who preferred wide-open skies to their mountain heritage, and the fairies and nymphs, who longed to leave the green forest of Hirie. And so, the world became filled with all kinds of creatures, even those we could not even imagine.
Watching the world change and become full of life pleased Orassul greatly and it was happy for a time. But soon, Orassul felt as if something was missing. Even as it celebrated with the dwarves, dined with the fairies and listened to the stories of the spindly, Orassul still felt alone.
Orassul wandered into Exla, walking along the shores of that inner sea. Orassul ran the mud through its fingers, allowing it to fall and be washed into the unknown depths of the water. An idea came to it, and it began to use the mud to make a creature unlike any other on A'sthy. Out of the sand and water of Exla's shores, Orassul gave life to the first of your kind, the humans.
As Orassul finished giving life to humans, it sent the humans across the land bridge that connected Exla to the rest of the world, and humans mingled with the other races, living side by side with their predecessors. Orassul, however, never left the shores of Exla and over many cycles, the land became shrouded in a mist and clouds are always seen over that land, even on the clearest day. Many believe that Orassul sleeps there, tired from the effort to create humans, which took many cycles to complete.
But, worry not, dear child. Orassul will wake if A'sthy has need of it and the Creator will soon walk among us again.
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