In the ancient scrolls of the immortals, the Illiri named their world Eilean Reul, meaning “Island of the Stars”, though in conversation and literature they most often shortened it to simply Eilean (island). It was most often assumed that they were naming their island home (which was really a continent), but it really referred to the entire world, their planet.
In the beginning there was only the Creator, Ar-Adun. And the void.
They say the Creator was, and is, and always shall be. Long ago, before the birth of the stars, still He reigned over the void, which was nothing. And in that time He decided to bring His children into the world.
From the mind of Ar-Adun, first there came a spark, and then fire, and Arawn came into being, who the Illiri later called Kirin Sa’an. He was light, and his power drove the darkness from the void. The Creator dwelt with his first-born for a time, teaching him of all things.
Then Ar-Adun desired more children, and he brought them also into being. From the lips of Ar-Adun, second there came a breath, and Latobius came into being. He was given mastery over the air, the sky, and the stars. From the hands of Ar-Adun he scattered some dust, and third Tera-Anu came into being, and she was given the power to create the soil and all living things upon it.
Arawn saw his brother and sister come into being, and he frowned at having to share the cosmos with them. Ar-Adun sensed his first-born’s anger and a tear fell from His eye, and from that drop, fourth came Llyr-Dylaan and he created the waters.
Together Latobius, Tera-Anu, and Llyr-Dylaan created a beautiful world they called Tiela. But Arawn was jealous of their creation, and he took air and earth from his brother and sister and brought his fire down upon their world and set it ablaze, burning in the heavens. Llyr-Dylaan found him in the act of desecration and destruction and sought to stop him, but Arawn acted before he could be betrayed by his third sibling. He turned his flame upon Llyr-Dylaan and caused all he had created to turn to steam. Then, to show his mastery over Llyr-Dylaan, he taunted him and showed what would happen if he removed the heat of his fire, and Llyr-Dylaan’s creations solidified into ice and snow, falling still. Llyr-Dylaan wailed at the torture of his creations, and Latobius and Tera-Anu came at the sound of wailing and found their world Tiela engulfed in flame, utterly destroyed.
The three sorrowed over their loss, and their life began to leave them, and the Creator grew angry at what his first-born had done to his brothers and sisters, so he brought down His wrath upon Arawn and cast him from the heavens. He made Arawn ruler over the darkness, and with a loud voice decreed that his flame would no longer hold it back. In addition, he took the burning creation Tiela and set it in the heavens to replace Arawn’s light in the void. Then He took the gift of fire from Arawn and ordained that henceforth only with air and earth could he use the gift of his spark to bring forth fire. To Llyr-Dylaan, who Arawn had tortured cruelly, Ar-Adun gave him the power to engulf and extinguish Arawn’s flame. And, Ar-Adun gave to Llyr-Dylaan the gift of Varnn, the moon, reflecting the light of their lost Tiela in a cool, soothing softness, and Llyr-Dylaan then fell in love with Varnn and would feel drawn to forever more. Lastly, Ar-Adun took the spark of life from Arawn, and he brought forth another Child.
Inar-Adun, youngest of the Children of Ar-Adun, came into being, and to him was given the gift of the spark of life, and he ruled over the heavens for his father, and was loved by his brothers and sister. Arawn stared with hatred from the dark void at the youngest brother, and hated him from that moment onward.
In time, their sorrow passed, and Latobius, Tera-Anu, and Llyr-Dylaan created another world, Eilean Reul, and the Creator blessed them by bringing life to the world. The children of the creator created the first three races in the world, to honor their Father. First came the Tuath, who were the gnomes. With the spark of life from Inar-Adun, this male race was created by Tera-Anu, and they toiled in earth and water, and made beautiful things to honor their Creator. Then Llyr-Dylaan and Latobius brought forth the Fae, who were the nymphs and fairies, and after Inar-Adun gave them the gift of life, they brought the power of the Creator into the creations of the gnomes. Llyr-Dylaan made the nymphs female, to honor Tera-Anu’s creativity. Latobius created the fairies as both male and female, and gave them wings that they might fly in the air of his realm. The Tuath and the Fey were immortal, yet they could not have offspring, as the children of the Creator did not have that power to grant. Nevertheless, Ar-Adun was pleased and then He brought forth the Illiri, male and female, and he made them immortal and gave them as a gift to Latobius, Tera-Anu and Llyr-Dylaan, to rule their creation. Then Ar-Adun brought forth a fifth race, male and female, who were the Avanyar, and he gave them as a gift to his youngest born, Inar-Adun, and though they did not have immortality upon Eilean Reul, he gave them the gift of an eternal after-life, where they could dwell with the Creator and His children in the cosmos. Inar-Adun was humbled by the gift from His Father, and he used his spark to create the Guardians, to protect and watch over the all the Creator’s people during their mortal time upon Eilean Reul.
Now Arawn, watching the races come into being, grew jealous and began to copy the work of his father and siblings. He created people’s of his own in the darkness, and the demons, the Grimm, the gargoyles, the goblins and the nilganash were some of his abominations. Yet they couldn’t gain entrance into Eilean Reul.
Then Arawn shouted from the darkness that the people in this new world of Eilean Reul only worshiped the Creator because he had made them, and that they weren’t given any choice or free will in the matter. Arawn challenged Ar-Adun, his father, saying that if the new children in the world were given a choice, they would choose to worship Arawn, and they would never of free will worship the Creator. Ar-Adun answered the challenge, and allowed Arawn a hand in the world, while giving Latobius, Tera-Anu, and Llyr-Dylaan the power to hold him at bay from destroying the whole creation. Arawn argued that the peoples of this new world would never unite in worship of The Creator, and that if Inar-Adun was prevented from having any contact with them, the Peoples would choose to follow Arawn. So Ar-Adun, answering his first-born’s challenge, took his fifth son, Inar-Adun, and imprisoned him at the behest of Arawn, and set it so that only the free-willed union of Illiri and Avanyar, the Tuath and the Fae, could free Inar-Adun, who could then cast Arawn at last forever into the darkness. That is how Arawn came into the world, and he brought his creatures to Eilean as a mockery of Ar-Adun’s creations, and he strove to gain mastery over the world, to forever ruin the beauty his brothers and sister had made.
It is into this world that we come.