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Creation and the Age of the Gods

In the beginning, there was Chiminus, the concept and creature that was absolutely nothing. During this absolute nothingness, there existed three siblings: Ani, the creator; Ina, the destroyer; and Mura, the mother of time. Ani sought to create a universe to exist where nothingness stood and so he went about creating. Ina grew disgusted with this creation and promised to destroy all Ani created. Mura began the flow of time so that Ani's creations could grow and age.

Ani created three children: Urelos, Morus, and Arius. Each child created their own plane of existence. Urelos created the plane of light, also known as Panmorus. Panmorus would eventually become the home of all deities, magical beings, and other worthy souls. Morus created the plane of mortar which is the planet where mankind exists. This planet is also misnamed "Urel' in honor of Urelos, the Great God. Finally, Arius sought to create his own plane but was foiled by Ina who corrupted him. Arius soon became Arius-Demorus, a being with two distinct minds. Arius-Demorus created the plane of chaos, also known as Demorus. The plane of chaos soon became home of the souls of the deceased, demons, beasts, and other evil spirits.

Urelos created six children to watch over Morus' new planet: Haamel, Juliak, Romek, Sudaar, Bedyisan, and Shyliak. Arius-Demorus created his own child, Dhara, who would join these other six gods to form the Great Pantheon of Deities. The planet had two main continents, Halmsalf and Maneria. Halmsalf was made of up seven main islands which Urelos then granted one to each of his children so they could influence the cultures there. Urelos then named Haamel the King of all deities. Haamel went about creating the Gno'Ak, a creature capable of worshiping the Pantheon (which ultimately gave the deities their power). Haamel dropped a seed into the now dormant great volcano of Yuda and from the seed grew A'man, the first creature on Urel. A'man pledged his loyalty to the Pantheon which enraged Demorus. Demorus sought to defeat A'man and created his own creature, the Gno'Ma named Ki'a. Ki'a was an ugly demoness. Urelos returned to the world to solve the new conflict. Urelos convinced A'man to marry Ki'a. Together, the two had a son, E'li. E'li was the first A'Olk, the first true human. Demorus grew angry that the A'Olk would worship the Pantheon and not him. To silence the god, Urelos promised to give the A'Olk free will so that they could choose who they wanted to pray to.

Urelos knew the new A'Olk people would be unpredictable. Fearing too many would side with Demorus, Urelos decided to place one A'Olk in charge of them all. This person would lead the A'Olk, influencing their beliefs (in Urelos' favor), and ultimately bring peace to the many tribes of man that had begun feuding. To show who he had chosen to lead the world, Urelos crafted a helmet, The Helm of Urelos, which the High King would wear to show his strength. The Helm would gift the wearer immense power, as strong as if not stronger than that of the gods. Urelos granted the helm to E'li, the First High King of Urel.

Later on, Bedyisan grew jealous of the other gods and decided to create her own race, the Bedyis. Urelos grew infuriated that one of his children would try and surpass him in power. Urelos banish his daughter to an island far off the main continent of Halmsalf (now called Yparisland) where her creatures would roam in isolation from all others. Urelos then cursed the Bedyis to be born either very short or very tall which ultimately led to intense racism and class splitting between the people. The Bedyis grew a hatred for the Pantheon and created their own religion with Bedyisan at the center.

The Age of Eli / The Age of Man

High King Eli (E'li) led the A'Olk people to the mainland from Yuda and created an empire for himself called Elisil (The First Empire). Elisil eventually spread and at its peak contained all of Yuda and the south of Halmsalf, reaching all the way up to the Akhari Desert. When Eli passed, it was time for another High King to rule. Mass fighting broke out and the tribes of A'Olk within the empire split up and began warring. The trusted High Council of Elisil voted 7 to 8 to hide the Helm of Urelos somewhere within the empire. The eighth man, Hismen Haldern, attempted to steal the Helm while influenced by Demorus to make himself the new High King but was smitten by Haamel to protect the empire from an evil ruler. For many years, no one knew where the Helm was kept until it was rediscovered by a man named Erik.

The Age of Erik

Erik was a peasant farmer in the now dissolved First Empire. While chopping lumber in the forests near his cabin, Erik discovered a chest covered in undecipherable runes. Opening the chest, Erik found the Helm of Urelos. Once he placed the Helm on his head, great storms grew in the sky and a thundering voice commanded "A new High King has been chosen. May King Erik live a long life!" Erik entered the ruined capital of First Empire, also called Elisil, riding an albino horse. (This is where the belief of albino animals being holy comes from). Erik was crowned the new High King of the Second Empire and reigned for the remainder of his life. As he neared his death, Erik grew corrupted by wealth and promised to give his crown to one of his closest advisers in exchange for large sums of wealth. Erik suddenly died before being able to give the crown away and the Helm disappeared again from the timeline. This marked the death of the Second Empire.

The Age of Syphia

The Helm was discovered some hundred years later by a prostitute named Syphia. Syphia, being uneducated, did not know of the Helm's great power. She placed the Helm on her head and was suddenly filled with the knowledge of the previous two kings. Syphia then used her new knowledge to make various deals with powerful kings that allowed her to gain large amounts of land and wealth. Syphia then declared herself queen of her carved out province. After winning many important battles against rival factions, Syphia had taken control of the lost Second Empire. She declared herself the new High Queen of the new Third Empire and soon married a wealthy king. Syphia had several husbands, with each dying of mysterious causes, allowing her to become the wealthiest woman alive. Haamel soon grew tired of her corruption and sent out a plague to kill her and her people. The Helm was again lost.

The Age of Calgarin

With the Helm lost, the A'Olk continued their spread, eventually moving to every corner of Halmsalf. The A'Olk still operated as various small kingdoms, constantly warring with each other. At this rate, it was looking as though there would never be unification again on Urel. A minor Camleric king known as Calgarin then won a war with a neighboring kingdom known as Serkas. Calgarin then went on to unify all of Camleron. Although he controlled vast territories, Calgarin did not have the Helm of Urelos and therefore did not technically deserve Halmsalf. The further Calgarin pushed, the more dissatisfied people grew. Many outside of Camleron felt he was a false High King or that he was an agent of Demorus. Calgarin's empire was eventually larger than the Third Empire. As Calgarin reached the end of his life, he passed his empire on to his son, Crancarin. This was the first time an empire successfully survived transfer to another generation. Crancarin and his descendants continued to rule the empire for several kings until the turn of the First Era. Some consider Calgarin's empire the Fourth Empire while others refute this claim saying Calgarin never had Urelos' blessing to rule in the first place.

The First Era

With the collapse of the Calgarin family's Fourth Empire, the First Era of Mankind begins. The Helm was officially lost and some began to think of it as a myth, rather than as a real artifact. Looking to Calgarin's empire as inspiration, the smaller kingdoms throughout the Helm began to spread out and fight with their neighbors. The gods grew distant during the First Era leading to many people to further believe The Helm and religion were merely stories.