Falcor's Vision of Creation

Leaping from the centre of a massive volcano, He exists, fully formed, fully conscious as a separate sentient being, completely linked to the world around him. He can feel Her presence lifting Him, filling his wings with the heat of the life-giving fires below. Powering into the skies above, He knows that no other soul exists anywhere on the lifeless world beneath Him and yet already He feels connected to the millions yet to be born, compelled in His very soul to protect and nurture them. A mighty roar of dominance bursts from His cavernous jaws, accompanied by an intense jet of flame, easily the equal of the molten rocks from which He emerged. Exhilarated by the power surging through Him, He climbs higher and higher until the world curves away at the edges; She is His creator; He will always be a part of Her and yet apart from Her, bound together by Her life-force, which is all that allows Him to exist. Second Born in all the universe, only She is older, and yet He can already sense the shape of the future, feel the pressure of Gods unborn reaching back through time to disturb the energies of creation. There can be no other like Him, but He knows that She is pleased with His existence and She creates others, born of the fire to join Him in stewardship of Her but lacking his boundless life. Together they will make more, He as their Lord and the third born as their mothers, thus the children of the fire will endure forever, sworn protectors of Her and all Her yet to be born children.

Aeons pass as She allows life to grow in all aspects but no more are truly born until the new Gods arrive. Marvelling at Her ability to create life, the Gods seek Her secrets and wish to create life of their own, driven by their Father's compulsion to bring order into the chaos of the universe. Strongest among them is Seeks Dominance Over All and he is first to bring new life from Her. From the moment they emerge from the Forge, He feels the immense pain of loss as the first of the new children separate from Her, taking some of her life essence with them, their souls connected only to Seeks Dominance Over All. In millennia to come their name will be remembered only as the deepest insult in the High Tongue shared by all Her children, they are the 'Sarn', the bringers of death.

Witnessing the miracle wrought by their brother and the immense pain that it causes Her, the others work to understand how He came to be, seeking to create only life that is part of Her, connected always. Second amongst the new children are born directly from the soil of the Forge; born of Her and connected to Her, they exist from the outset in harmony with the world around them. Recognising Him as Her first-born, they accept His stewardship overall but also embrace the friendship of those created by Seeks Dominance Over All. Lifted by their success and working always in friendship with Her, the Gods bring forth a multitude of life until the pain from the creation of the Sarn recedes and an uneasy peace is maintained amongst the Gods, Her, Him and all the children.

Even while speaking words of peace and friendship, Seeks Dominance Over All continues to strive for mastery of the Forge, slowly drawing life away from Her to use for himself. The six greatest of the Sarn are gifted with powers beyond those of any created thing save Him and the Gods themselves. Raised above all others, they assert their dominance on the children and the first darkness begins. One of the six, Lord of all Fire in Service of the Creator, strikes down a child of the trees for cursing Seeks Dominance Over All and takes his soul for himself; the first death comes to the children. Seeing creation destroy creation, the chaos lord turns his infinite attention to Her and knows for the first time that ordered creation can stoke the fires of chaos; destruction can arise from the very life that he despises so much. The chaos lord reaches out to Her, seeking souls to corrupt to serve him, applying order to bring ultimate chaos. His connection to Her is unbreakable and through Him, all the children are shielded, but the Sarn are not of Her and Seeks Dominance Over All cannot oppose the will of the chaos lord, who claims the souls of the six for his own. The second darkness begins.

With chaos living amongst them, the children and the Sarn wage terrible war, as the Gods themselves fight for dominance over Her. Countless thousands of souls are lost, many claimed by the chaos lord as a gift to the six, who now draw power from the death of others. Numbed by the horrifying pain inflicted upon Her, She withdraws, until only He can reach Her mind. Mother to All and Protector of Life beseech Seeks Dominance Over All to intervene and prevent the slaughter but he senses the opportunity to finally wrest control of the Forge from Her and, with it, the elemental powers of creation. Her body is shattered repeatedly by the ensuing war, as the Gods battle with all the powers of universal creation until Seeks Dominance Over All finally strikes his brother, Protector of Life, from existence; the Gods know death and the chaos lord is triumphant. Drawn by the jubilation of his timeless adversary, One Above All brings his infinite gaze to now and here, denying his power to the surviving Gods as punishment for their actions. Mother to All withdraws from the world vowing to restore Protector of Life; He does not see her again.

Seeks Dominance Over All is enraged by his Father's punishment but dares not pursue Mother to All. Instead, Seeks Dominance Over All joins the Sarn in their war on Her creation, saving his personal fury for Him and His offspring. They wage war for hundreds of years; countless children die in their defence of Her but Seeks Dominance Over All is no longer infinite and the countless battles weaken him to the point that He can face him in open conflict. Their final battle stretches to the very bounds of the surface of Her until, in one final explosive outpouring of raw energy, each destroys the other.

He knows this to have been true and yet now is after then, He is back with Her but he is less than He was; still Her one true creation He senses the mind of another tied to his own through time. The touch of Mother of All is on His soul and He can sense Protector of Life drawing on Her power and helping Him to live again, then and now connected by the power of the Gods. In the moment before He wakes, Seeks Dominance Over All brushes against His consciousness and both know in that instant that their terrible war is unfinished. The third darkness begins