Origins+of+the+Whisperlands

In the beginning there was the Sea, vast and full of life. In time, three sons were born to her, Ulil, Mer, and Eod. Long they dwelled together, reveling in their lives and the enfolding waves of their primordial mother. In time, however, each chose a different path. Mer always loved the dark waters best, delving deeper each day, farther even than his brothers ventured, until one day he went into the black waters and did not return. Ulil and Eod thought little of his absence, used as they were to his long journeys, and they busied themselves with their own interests. Ulil had found a mass of land, long and wide and wondrous. His days were spent more and more investigating each vale and hill, the high peaks, the carved canyons, the placid lakes and bountiful meadows. Eod's eyes were turned to the heavens and his pleasure was in flight, gliding among the clouds and currents, ever higher. He delighted in the sun and wind and rain, the glowing moon and the glittering stars. He wondered how far away the sparkling lights were that glimmered in the dark and when one day he too did not return, Ulil knew Eod had departed upon a journey to seek the answer.

Ulil wished his brothers well in their investigations and knew that in time they would return. Long he spent traveling the endless island, delighting in what he discovered and the power of creation that he found he possessed. His brothers, however, did not come home. In time, Ulil at last grew lonely for companionionship and in the absence of his kin he created children of his own. Each one was a different aspect or combination of traits of Ulil himelf.

Though in time these beings, known to mortals as the Pantheon, would destroy themselves in a fratricidal warfare, for milennia they wandered beside their father who taught them of the wonders of the world and bestowed upon each of his children the gift of creation so that they might shape a part of the cosmos in their own image. These worlds became known as the Eternal Realms, and even now that their founders have been shattered, these planes persist in their image, sustained and defined by the divine essence each member of the Pantheon bestowed upon their creation.

The Eternal Realms exist beyond the veil of Andavar, meaning "blessed" in the Old Tongue, land of wonder first discovered by Ulil when he emerged from the Sea. Ulil himself proclaimed Andavar sacred, and though he allowed each of his children to contribute to his favorite world by creating a race of creatures to live there, he commanded that there was to be no further interference.

As long as Ulil remained in Andavar, ever joyous as he watched the world evolve, his command was kept. But in time, growing once again lonely for the company of his brothers, he departed in search of Mer and Eod, and like his siblings before him, he did not return. The Gosdwar was the ultimate result, as some members of the Pantheon, grown restless or proud, vied for either dominion of Andavar, or to safeguard their father's realm. At first, proxies were used by the gods, minions, agents, and armies, but the conflict quickly progressed to involve war within the Eternal Realms themselves between the immortal armies of each member of the Pantheon. Ultimately, god began killing god, the ultimate sin. And though it is said that the wicked Perfion, most malicious and corrupt of the Pantheon, was to blame for the beginning and the escalation of the war, all participated, all shared in the guilt. And when the war had ended, Andavar lay broken, the Eternal Realms were in ruins, and all of the gods were dead.

Fragments of the divine essence that had been housed in each god now lay scattered across Andavar, the remnants of the fratricidal dieties who had broken their vows to their great father and had been destroyed. As the world began the slow process of healing, it was remarked by the perceptive that the land was not as quiet as once it had been. There seemed to be murmurs on the wind, whispers in the waves, and soft words in the winds among the high grasses. Whether the last desperate uttering of the restless dead, the echoes of dying gods, or new stirrings of life in a devastated land even the wise cannot agree. What is undisputed, however, is that Andavar has awoken once more and for those who take the time to listen, the Whisperlands have much to tell.