World of Jorda - Mythology

Creation Myth

Speak through me, O Keeper of Knowledge. He who speaks through the wind and the howling of wolves, imbue me with your wisdom and impart to me the tale of our world.

When the gods awoke from the first sleep of life, they saw the darkness that filled the cosmos. As they watched, small bursts of light erupted throughout the universe. Entranced by their beauty, Berkna gathered them. Together with the other gods, Donnar, Balder, Eir, Kela, and Y'Grath, Berkna used them to form the heart of the world. The gods breathed life into the world and it began to grow.

As the heart of the world, first child of the gods, grew, tears of joy fell from the eyes of the gods forming massive oceans, calm lakes, and swift moving rivers. The water, filled with divine essence, further blessed the young world and it began to generate life of its own. Tall trees took root in the heart of the world and shot up through the sky. Wide stretches of land erupted with jade colored grasses and patches of vivid flowers. Forests bloomed in the sweet scented air. Even the oceans, in their shallows and depths, sparkled with the life of massive coral reefs and free floating plants.

The gods looked down upon their child and smiled. Yet the world grew mournful; it was alone. The gods did not have forms that could enjoy the bounty offered by the growing world. Feeling empathy with her child, Berkna traveled the cosmos to gather more of the tiny pinpoints of light that flourished in the darkness of eternity.

With great care the gods each took some of the light and formed it into the living creatures they could place upon the world. These animals filled the forests, the plains, the deserts, and the oceans. Some ate of the bounty of the world, while others ate of the labor or of the bodies of other animals. Berkna assigned the world as their caretaker, and the great circle of life, the duty of nature was born.

Then, in an instant, or an eon, the gods saw a light brighter than any of those before it. Knowing that this light would form the greatest of their children, the gods did not collect the glimmering light, but called to it. The light responded to their gentle words and put itself into their protective care. The gods found that lights of different colors and intensities spun lazily about each other to create the responsive light. Carefully, they separated the lights and created the most beloved of their children.

Some of the lights were forged into the short stout dwarves; they were placed in a rocky, mountainous place well suited to them. The gods also formed graiths, large creatures with huge claws that were given a home deep within a desert clime. Tall, slender creatures with chiseled features and pointed ears called elves were settled in and around a huge forest. Other lights were molded into tall majestic beings with broad wings and elven bodies. These winged elves were separated from the others and given their own mountainous heights to live on. A great equine, larger and stronger than any war-horse, was created too. To this creature the gods gave a magical horn and granted unto it tremendous powers. These unicorns were placed inside a dark, virgin forest where they bonded with the world. Finally, the gods created the human race: tall, strong, intelligent, and brave. These children the gods scattered across the world, knowing that they, of all their children, would be able to withstand any hardship.

Time passed and the few children the gods placed upon the world began to grow in numbers as the gods watched contentedly. They formed villages, towns, and cities that flourished. The gods knew that they must protect their children, so they divided the task among them, each taking responsibility for some aspect of the world. Civilizations rose and fell over the millennia that passed, and the gods watched over their children, guiding and protecting them.

After a millenium-filled moment, there was movement on the world, movement of some creature that was not their child. The gods tried to look at the creature, to determine its nature, but the creature eluded them. The gods asked the strongest of their faithful, beloved children to journey to the land of this strange creature, so that its nature could be discovered. The children found the creature, and found its nature to be far different from that of the benevolent gods. The children fought against the malevolent creature and many died by its hand. Other children renounced the gods and their precious life-bestowing gifts. Those children took up the banner of the creature, accepted its gifts of power, and at the creature's bidding, fought against and killed other children of the gods. With great sadness the gods wept over the sudden loss of so many of their children.

The gods watched in horror as the world they labored to create was slowly turned to cinders; they watched as the land withered and died; they watched as their beloved children grew filled with the burning fires of hate against them. Now the gods named the creature: The Flame.

In the eons that passed, the elder gods all sought to free their beloved world from the evil grasp of The Flame. First, Berkna, she who grants life to all, attempted to use her power on the creature, but failed. A millenium later, Eir, guardian of the tomb and mistress of all healing, attempted to call the creature to her embrace, but the creature eluded her. In the next aeon Balder, bright and beautiful lord of plenty, tried to bank the fires of the creature's anger, but the creature would not calm. Y'Grath, keeper of all knowledge, devised a trap for the creature during the Age of Enlightenment, but it escaped. Most recently Donnar, lord of the earth and sea, brought the elements together to form great storms around the creature, but it withstood them all. Now in this age, even as The Flame spreads across the land, Kela, the youngest goddess, fuels her own fires of vengeance, justice, and retribution. She gathers her children together and prepares for her attempt at the creature's demise.

The World of Jorda