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The Tibian Genesis
-by Knightmare
-retold by Walpole and Ranger Aragorn
The Awakening of the Gods
In the very beginning there was only a big, gaping void. It was everywhere and nowhere.
In this void, there were two elder gods Fardos the Creator and Uman Zathroth. Uman Zathroth had two unequal halves, one of these halves was Uman the Wise while Zathroth the Destroyer was the other, darker half.
Nobody knows where the elder gods came from, but somewhere along the way they decided to create a universe. Fardos was the initiator, for he was driven by the need to create and give life. However, none of his attempts to create were successful. All of his creations were swallowed by the void before they were completed, and none survived.
Uman Zathroth regarded Fardos's undertakings thoughtfully. Uman was wise and held awesome magical powers. He was driven by an insatiable hunger for knowledge and enlightenment. He shared Fardos's interest in creation, whereas his dark half Zathroth was very corruptive. Zathroth was a vain god who was painfully aware that his own creative powers were poor. Because of this he looked at Fardos's work of creation with jealousy, and from the very beginning he was determined to prevent or at least corrupt it in any way he could. Fardos did not suspect this, asked him for assistance. Of course Zathroth denied. Uman, however, agreed to help.
But just like before, everything Fardos and Uman created was swallowed by the void as soon as it came into existence. On the other hand, Zathroth ridiculed their efforts. His glee soon changed into surprise and anger when a new goddess stepped out of the void like a new-born mermaid from her shell. The amazed elder gods watched her divine beauty in awed admiration, for everything in her was perfect harmony. They agreed to call her Tibiasula. Zathroth, however, stood by and fumed with silent hate.
The Great Creation
In his divine wisdom Uman realised at once that Tibiasula could be a powerful ally in the project of creation. Tibiasula, who was also intrigued by the idea of creation, was easily won over. Thus the three gods began their work. This time, however, they chose a different approach. Uman had realised that something was missing, a fixed point on which creation could be built. And thus Uman invented time. With time it would be much easier to focus their divine powers.
But first, time had to be created. At this point , all the gods combined their powers. Zathroth was fascinated by the idea of time. He understood that a world subject to the ceaseless passing of time was doomed to fade away slowly. So for once all of the elder gods worked together the crystal column of time took shape.
Now, Zathroth hated Tibiasula, because she successfully filled the gap which he had left by refusing to participate in creation. Thus, he decided to kill her. He secretly created a dagger of great power. One fateful day Zathroth took Tibiasula aside. Innocent, Tibiasula was easy prey. Zathroth thrust the blade into her heart with all the strength he could muster. Mortally wounded, the goddess sank to the ground, and out of her fading body bled the elements of fire, water, earth and air.
When they learned about the heinous deed, Uman and Fardos were shocked. They tried to hold on to the dying Tibiasula, hoping to keep her from disintegrating into the void, from slipping out of their hands like their previous creations. Then they came up with a desperate plan: they decided to weave a powerful spell that would bind Tibiasula's fading body to the column of time. Uman and Fardos went on to weave the elusive elements into powerful strands. With this, they achieved something that was altogether new: The first genuine creation.
The Birth of the Elements
Tibia, the core of creation, appeared after Tibiasula's death. The four
elements created it but they were wild and impetuous. Fardos and Uman
discovered that they could join with the elements to give birth to new
entities.
The union of Fardos and fire gave birth to Fafnar and Suon. The
two gods were too different, and because of that Suon attacked Fafnar. The
second fled from the sky to the underworld while the first chased her. That
explains the day; the light of the morning and the darkness of the night.
The union of Uman and the earth begot Crunor, the Lord of the Trees,
who started to create vegetation and life himself, since he was a god full
of vitality and will for life.
The union of Fardos and the air gave birth to the etherial god, Nornur, the God of Fate. In resemblance of him, Nornur created spiders, and from them were spun the webs of fate itself.
Lastly, Uman united with Sula, the sea. Thus, Bastesh, the Mistress of the Sea, was conceived. The tears of this dejected goddess make the ocean water salty.
The First Creatures
Zathroth loathed most of the gods that had been created, but there was one who had caught his attention. Fafnar's base instincts and her destructive powers impressed him. With her he made Brog, the Raging Titan. Brog was very ugly and neither smart or cautious, but he was strong and fierce.
As he grew up, Brog was pained by the fire burning inside him. The pain grew to be unbearable, and on that day, he summoned all his magical powers and released this fire into the world. The searing fire mixed with his rage, and from it rose Garsharak, the very first dragon. Brog watched the terrible creature he had created rather accidentally. He realized that he possessed the gift of creation, and in vanity he created the Cyclopses in his own image.
Zathroth watched Brog's experiments with great interest. Since he did not understand the laws of life himself he knew that Brog's gift of creation could prove to be a great asset. Zathroth urged Brog to create something more terrifying and destructive than cyclopses. In fact, due to their love of mining and smithing the cyclopses were a creative rather than a destructive race. Brog then created trolls and goblins, races that were weaker than the cyclopses, but propagated much faster. However, his undisputed masterpiece were the orcs, a race of fearsome, single-minded warriors who lived only to expand and conquer.
The Age of Chaos
With the creation of orcs, Uman decided that his other half had finally gone too far. With the help of Fardos, Uman worked to destroy the bond between him and Zathroth. Sadly, the weaker the bond grew, the weaker Uman grew. Thus the project was abandoned.
However, Uman and Fardos's efforts were not wasted! During their experiments, a small part of the gods broke away, forming Kirok the Mad. Kirok had a dual personality. On one had, he mirrored Uman's inquisitive nature and became a patron god to scientists and researchers. On the other hand, Kirok also had a twisted sense of humor, making him a favorite among jokers and bards.
While Fardos and Uman were working on their project, Zathroth's minions continued to lay waste to the elder gods' creations. Many of the lesser gods decided to act against Zathroth. Bastesh, the Sea Goddess, created fierce sea creatures to protect her seas. Only Bastesh's venomous snakes were able to survive on land. Crunor created vicious wolves, while Nornur gave the gift of poison to his spiders.
Sadly these new creatures were no match for the ruthless hordes that roamed Tibia. Only small pockets of resistance from the wolves and spiders remained. Yet, there was more to come, for the dragons were expanding in silence. Garsharak, the first dragon, decided that the hour of dragons would set upon the world. Orcs, cyclopses, and trolls were all forced into underground exile while their proud cities were burned to the ground and lost forever. Legend says that the living drowned in the bodies of the slain.
The elder gods decided that someone had to take care of the slain bodies and souls that littered Tibia. Sadly the elder gods were not careful enough and Zathroth, the Destroyer, overheard their plans. Zathroth posed as Uman to fool earth and to sire Urgith, the Master of the Undead. Urgith was a cruel god who bestowed unholy energy into the dead, dooming them with neither life nor death. Thus, the hour of the undead had descended upon the land.
Soon thousands of undead armies roamed the world. The elder gods watched in horror as Urgith raised the dead. Uman quickly acted, and with earth he sired Toth, the Warden of Souls. Toth's job was to guide the souls to the next world where they could rest in peace.
The elder gods knew that if they did not act soon, Tibia would soon become a the land of the dead. Thus they created race after race to face Urgith's hoards. But alas! Urgith's minions were too strong, causing most of these races to disappear form the face of Tibia forever. Today, this period is commonly referred to as the Corpse War. The lost races are now referred to as the ancients.
Not all of the ancients were killed. The elves were creatures that could handle an instrument and a bow equally well. The dwarves were a stout race gifted as miners and smiths. Both races fought bravely but they were eventually beaten back. The elves sought shelter in the deep forests while the dwarves retreated to the mountain caves.
For all of their strength and power, these races all held a common flaw: they lacked flexibility. Many succumbed to Zathroth's temptations of knowledge and power. There is a theory that some of the ancient races that fell to Zathroth became the first demons.
The Creation of the Humans
The elder gods were in need of a race that could stand up to Urgith's hoards. Thus they created Banor, the Divine Warrior. Banor was the very first human, and his creators gave him special powers making him a demi-god. To this day he is remembered for his bravery in battle and his skill with his blade. Legend says that the gods were also planing to create a twin brother for Banor, one that would have extraordinary magical powers. However, it is said that Zathroth stole this prototype and created the first demon overlord. Despite the human's many weaknesses they did surprisingly well in the grim world. The undead hoards realized that a new, powerful enemy had come.
Many battles were fought with Banor; win after win. But the sheer numbers of enemies began to take their toll, and gods set out to help their creation. Uman introduced magic and Crunor taught the secrets of life and healing, helping humans become druids. These first druids even helped Crunor create many creatures to help wage war against the hoards, but many were wiped out in the struggle.
Banor established a stronghold in the land. He married Kirana, the noblest of all women, and she bore him Elane. Elane eventually became the master of distance fighting and arcane art of magic, thus becoming the first paladin. Therefore today the leader of all paladins holds the honorary name of Elane. There was hope for Tibia when Banor lead his armies, but those that fought without him fatefully lost their lives in the struggle.
Tibia's Renewal
Banor again turned to the gods to help him. In desperation, Uman searched for a solution, and found an amazing discovery- other dimensions of Tibia existed! After much experimentation, he learned the manner in which you conjure living souls from these planes. When brought to Tibia, these souls could be turned into human shape, forming the champions the human race desperately needed. The gods planted a number of magical gates on Tibia, gates that were soon referred to as Portals of Souls. Through these gates a steady flow of heroes came into the world, human warriors that were both cunning and brave, and with the aid of these champions the abominable hordes were slowly but surely pushed back.
Atlast, the future was brighter for the human race. It seemed as though their enemies were on the brink of utter defeat! Facing their destruction, the dragons, orcs, undeads and cyclopses did the unthinkable; they signed a treaty of alliance! With these foul beasts now working together against the humans, the tide of the war took a sudden turn, and the hopes of humans were soon horribly dashed.
The human armies decided to withdraw to their fortified cities to resume the war there. However, the enemies of the humans did not rush after them to take up the fight. Many were puzzled by this! A common theory was the tensions and the mutual distrust between the old races were too strong for them to combine their forces in a sustained campaign. Some even claimed that they had started waging war against each other once more. Others suggested that the old races had exhausted themselves in the course of the many wars, while still others hinted that perhaps an equilibrium had been reached, a status quo with which all sides felt they could live. Whatever the reason, a period of restless but fundamentally stable peace ensued, and it lasts to this day. For the very first time the troubled world has a reprieve from the ceaseless slaughter which troubled it for aeons.
The humans have availed themselves well of this opportunity. Under the wise guidance of the Thaian kings, who were direct descendants of Banor, the race is living through a golden age. To be sure, the humans' expansion has met with fierce resistance, and in fact the dauntless heroes who still enter this world from the mysterious Portals of Souls are busy enough to fight the constant threat posed by all kinds of hostile creatures. But so far the peace has lasted. However, there are disquieting signs that this glorious era might slowly come to its end. For the old enemies have never been vanquished, and now it seems that they are growing increasingly restless. Worst of all, the humans, that curious race, have started bickering amongst themselves, and more than once tensions have led to battles. Some humans even renounced the Thaian kings' rule and founded their own cities and empires.
It may be that this is yet another one of Zathroth's wicked plans. Perhaps Tibia is on the brink of another cataclysmic war, and a new twilight will fall on the world. Fate alone knows what the future has in store for Tibia. Let us all hope and pray that the humans' unity will not break just when it is needed most.
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All images are copyrighted CIP's. Walpole nor GoT takes any credit for them.
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