World creation

From Mizahar Lore

The term world creation is actually somewhat misleading, as it implies that the world of Mizahar did not always exist, which is technically not the case - it just existed outside of time. The world is a reflection of eternal Ideas that manifest through the gods, who in turn spread them among mortals. The world as the people of Mizahar know it was set up by Tawannen (That Which Needed No Name), the consciousness behind the whole universe, that later fragmented into the first generation of gods.

Origins

The Ideas exist in their separate, untouchable world. It is a world without time, without change. Ideas shine upon the universe of Mizahar by just existing, stars in a still sky. While Ideas have no consciousness, the light they radiate merged together and shaped an entire world of possibilities. This world was also without time and change, as it basically arranged itself to copy the Ideas it came from.

It was not identical to the world of Ideas, though; and the one major difference that occurred, probably because of a random twist, was that it became conscious. The entire universe awoke to consciousness and started to see the Ideas that shone brightest upon it. This ancestral version of Mizahar's universe is generally called That Which Needed No Name (because it represented everything that existed), or often Tawannen as a shortened, if sadly self-defeating, name.

Tawannen saw that there were many mistakes in its form, that it was not perfect and that many Ideas were not represented, and as soon as it noticed the Idea of "time", it attempted to change itself. Time started to flow, and there was a 'before' and an 'after'. Tawannen became the first god, and created countless dimensions, places, and all manners of creatures, but its existence became a paradox because it tried to enforce all Ideas equally. It soon became obvious that to serve one Idea fully implied that another should be ignored, and vice versa.

Recognizing the futility of its efforts, Tawannen knew that it had lost its purpose, and had no choice but self-destruction. It fragmented, creating a massive explosion that rocked the entire universe, and generating a first generation of children, specialized gods who were only loyal to their own Ideas. In this way, each of them held a purpose, but this purpose unfolded as gaining supremacy over the other Ideas. In this primitive universe, young and inexperienced gods waged the Cosmic War. In the aftermath, most of the first gods further fragmented into smaller deities, defining pantheons that were closer and closer to the current one. Also, even the gods forgot much of what had been so far.

Mizahar

Most of the universe was left devastated by the Cosmic War, and the surviving gods were but pale shades of their ancestors. The universe Tawannen had tried to reform was mostly destroyed, and no-one had the power to rebuild what was lost. Many of the surviving gods entered an uneasy truce and looked for remnants of the ancient worlds to rule over. Their search took many millennia, and eventually brought them to Mizahar's planet. It was a wild planet, populated by strange beings that were Tawannen's original creations. The gods did not move here because of these creatures. They waited, and waited for a long time. They waited for humanity.

The coming of mankind

Eventually, the first Humans crossed a portal from their previous, destroyed world into Mizahar. It is likely that a local deity opened the portal, sacrificing the last of their strength in order for humanity to survive and move into a new home. This was the event the gods were waiting for - with this orphaned race, they would be able to start anew and reforge a ruined world. The power of human worship would allow the gods to regain more of their original strength, making their Ideas echo more strongly throughout the universe.