Long, long ago, in an age before the ages there was only a great darkness that can only be described as The Void. Empyrea, The Sea of Endless Night had not been formed and all was empty save for a single source of light, which flickered like a candle against the vast nothingness. Thus the great furnace Aürynn strove against The Void, hoping to fill its vast emptiness with light and warmth. Her vast form stretched out for distances immeasurable in a thousand lifetimes, and the living celestial flames that welled from within her galactic core surrounded her with a brilliant spectrum of nebulous wonder. Aürynn’s magnificence surpassed all beauty, yet to what, if anything, could she be compared for there was naught but her and The Void. This time was known to sages of Myralon as the Primordial Era, and for countless epochs it was so.
One eon, something stirred within The Void. It had become aware of the furnace and after eons of existence The Void found that his emptiness was merely that, empty. The Void and the sentience which dwelled within found desire as it sought to be touched by the light and filled with the warmth of the Furnace of Aürynn. Aürynn felt the desire of The Void and saw that her age old hopes might be fulfilled. Thus The Void left the realm known only as the Ebon Maelstrom and began to court the majestic Furnace of Aürynn, personifying himself as a being known only in the most ancient of Legends as Uürläk. The two celestial entities found themselves in an unlikely partnership as they sought to fulfill one another’s desires. Fate, however, would play a bitter joke on the attempt of such a bond, and so as Uürläk and Aürynn sought to carry out their unification, it became all too clear that certain things were never meant to be as darkness and light could not exist in the same place at the same time, nor could the cold emptiness of The Void and the living fire found within the celestial core of Aürynn’s nebulous heart. Upon their joining, the unquenchable chill of the emptiness of Uürläk’s existence pierced the galactic core of Aürynn’s being, poisoning her. At that moment, in this time before time itself, the Furnace of Aürynn knew that something was amiss, for she could feel her life-force beginning to fade. The deathly cold of The Void’s touch had compromised her essence and without knowing it or meaning to hurt his beloved, Uürläk had set into motion, the events that would change the course of existence, forever more.
Even as Aürynn’s life-force began to ebb, she could feel within her core the stirring of two great beings, the offspring which had resulted from her and Uürläk’s joining. So it came to pass that the entities within Aürynn grew in size and strength, and her own essence continued to fade. Eras and Epochs passed, as the twin entities formed within the Furnace of Aürynn. Though she knew that she was dying, Aürynn loved her children, and strove to see that they would carry on in her absence. Uürläk, on the other hand, was distressed over the harm he had brought to his beloved Aürynn and as he watched her once brilliant light start to fade, he departed from her and returned to Ebon Maelstrom from whence he came, only to become empty and lifeless once more.
Finally after countless eons, the Epoch came which Aürynn knew would be her last. She had long prepared for that fateful moment when her twins would emerge from her being all but draining her life-force completely, and at last that time had come. With a series of nova-like bursts, she wrought into being two great entities, twins, whom she named Ano and Äuros. They were the epitome of the celestial bond between Aürynn and Uürläk beings of Light and Void, Life and Lifelessness, Creation and Destruction.
Upon gaining consciousness, Ano and Äuros immediately became aware of their mother’s distress. For the first and only time in existence, the brothers came together with a common purpose, to give the Furnace of Aürynn the strength to live on. Ano took a part of himself and made the tools of creation as he was endowed with more of his mother’s life giving essence than his twin. Äuros, on the other hand, had more of his father’s emptiness with just enough of his mother to make him feel. He produced similar tools to that of Ano, yet with a profound difference, they were warped like weapons and infected with the cold unquenchable emptiness found within the heart of the Void. Together the brothers fought valiantly to save the celestial matron which gave them life. As they worked, hammering, sculpting, tempering, at the dying furnace, sparks of her essence flew out into The Void, scattering to the deepest and most remote corners of the vast emptiness that was known only as The Void. Thus The Void was no longer truly void as it was slowly becoming home to the tiny pinpricks of light that would become the Primordial stars, the first galaxies and celestial bodies in existence.
From the depths of the Ebon Maelstrom, what minute resonance remained of Uürläk’s sentience witnessed these things and found them to be tidings of joy. However he knew that his beloved’s sparks were merely transient things away from Aürynn’s nebulous form, so with one final act of love for his Aürynn, he established the cosmic plane, an infinite realm which was once The Void, and gave the Primordial Stars along with all other celestial bodies born of Aürynn’s form an eternal residence whence they could exist, grow, and live. In his beloved’s honor and with his last command, he dubbed the cosmic plane as the realm of Empyrea, The Sea of Endless Night. Thus Uürläk faded and was no more. The twins felt the change come over The Void and knew that they alone now had dominion over the infinite reaches of Empyrea. Ano, still believing that he and Äuros could revive their mother, turned his full attention to restoring her grand majesty, completely unaware that Äuros had begun to grow cold- the emptiness of The Void which had infected and was responsible for the grave condition of Aürynn- had begun to stagnate within the depths of Äuros’ being poisoning him with its venomous essence. What began as a being capable of caring and creation was rapidly devolving into the first primordial evil who would forever be his brother’s arch-rival; the personification of destruction itself. Anger, loathing, and utter hatred seethed from Äuros poisoning every strike he set to Aürynn’s form, further infecting her with the venom of The Void.
Ano in his valiant effort to save their mother noticed that despite his efforts, Aürynn’s life-force was depleting before his very eyes. Then he saw the black fires of Äuros’ tools, which ebbed at her as a black hole ebbs at a nearby star, and the maniacal look of glee upon his brother’s face as he dealt deadly blow after deadly blow to the Furnace of Aürynn’s celestial form. Immediately he tried to get Äuros to stop, but his brother was so infused with the venom which had encompassed the core of his being, that he just looked at Ano and smiled with wicked glee as he struck another venomous blow to their mother.
Ano could not just sit back and watch as his brother worked to kill their mother, and sought to intercede. He grabbed the descending arm, bringing Äuros’ hammer fall to a halt just above the crystalline surface of Aürynn’s nebulous core. What Ano received was a violent gash from his brother’s black sculpting knife, for his efforts. For the first time in pre-history, Ano, a cosmic entity of divine proportions, knew pain as the poison which had become one with his brother’s existence, invaded his body with a sickening touch. A righteous anger overcame Ano and with all of his might, he launched himself at his sibling, knowing that he had to stop Äuros, no matter what the cost, if the Furnace of Aürynn was to survive.
What ensued was a battle that none had ever seen before, nor would ever be seen again, for in the wake of their struggle, cosmic bodies were formed as both life giving heat and the utter unquenchable nothingness that was the Void scattered across Empyrea. Brother against brother, the struggle raged on for countless eons; each receiving grievous wounds in their confrontation, but in the end, it was Ano who proved victorious. His passion, an inheritance of the life-giving light of his mother, Aürynn, gave him the strength to overcome the profound hatred which surged through his brother Äuros. Thus the first primordial battle between good and evil had ended. Swearing his vengeance on Ano and all of creation, Äuros crawled away, retreating to a remote corner of the Sea of Endless Night where The Void still held dominion over the Empyrean Sea.
From that eon on, Äuros swore that he would not rest until Ano was thrown down from his dominion over creation. Until that day, Äuros the Destroyer would use his influence to infect, corrupt, and ultimately destroy every world, universe, or paradise that Ano would ever create. Thus Äuros sat in the throne of the Ebon Maelstrom and waited for the day to come that he would heal, and he could put his devilish plan into effect.
Ano found no glory in his victory, but felt emptiness for the first time in his existence as he watched his only sibling cast himself into the realm of the Ebon Maelstrom. His love for his twin had been severed by the primordial evil that had poisoned Äuros’ soul. He knew that the next time that the two encountered one another, only one would emerge from the conflict, so to prolong the coming of that day from he took a bit of himself, a bit of crystellium, and a little bit of the Furnace of Aürynn and with them created the Astral Rim, a nearly impenetrable barrier that would mark the boundaries between the void of the Ebon Maelstrom and Empyrea, sealing them away from one another for many ages to come.
When Ano was able to turn his full attention back to the Furnace of Aürynn, she had all but faded from being. Once more he fought valiantly to save his mother, but the venomous effects of the Void had done its damage. With her remaining strength, Aürynn passed the greatest part of her remaining life-force to Ano, making him fully whole once again and erasing the damage he had suffered in the cosmic struggle between him and Äuros. With all of the strength, skill, and purpose that had driven him to stop his twin, he set to preserving what remained of his celestial mother. Using the faded crystalline chunks that drifted like flotsam in the Empyrean Sea, he fashioned a hearth to contain her essence. Then using his own breath and a bit of nebulous haze, he fashioned a solar wind bellows to sustain her form and support her celestial fires.
Aürynn saw Ano’s valiant effort but knew her time to be at an end. The Primordial age had passed, and a new Epoch was dawning, with the twin brothers now having dominion over the cosmic powers of good, evil, light, darkness, life, emptiness, creation, and destruction. With this in mind, Aürynn made one final decision and executed it before Ano could stop her. She passed all of her knowledge of what had been before and what would be; she passed on the instructions of what to do with her crystalline form, and the divine fires burning within. Aürynn told him of her dream to fill the void with light, beauty, and life, and she passed onto him the blood of her existence, the immortal stream that fueled both creation and the shaping of all reality; Ensorcelleri- the source of all magic. These things became melded with Ano, giving him more power than he ever dreamed he could have, yet filling him with the desire to see his mother’s desires fulfilled. Thus Ano the Creator became the source of goodness and life throughout all Empyrea and the Sea of Endless Night.
With her final selfless act, the life-force of Aürynn faded, leaving only the celestial flames of her existence and the crystalline form that once made up her body. There was a great wailing as Ano wept over his loss, scattering moisture to the ends of the Empyrean Sea. However grieved Ano had been at Aürynn’s passing, he knew that he had to preserve her divine flame so that she would never truly fade from her existence. Gathering up her form, Ano set to completing his first task as the Creator, the finishing of Aürynethia, The Great Forge. And so it was, with the crafting of The Great Forge, Aürynethia that the Primordial Era passed away, and The Epoch of Creation dawned upon the realm of Empyrea and the Sea of Endless Night.
As Ano worked on completing Aürynethia the sparks from her crystalline form scattered, showering the Sea of Endless Night with countless embers that became the second generation of stars most of which clustered together, forming the first galaxies. Other particles were slag, embers from Aürynn’s remains that had all but died as they sailed through Empyrea’s obsidian sea. Some of them met with other stars from the primordial age and burst into giant clouds of celestial flame, forming the first nebulae which bore the likeness of the primordial nebula, the Furnace of Aürynn. These became the stellar nurseries from whence new stars and worlds were born thereby ensuring that the cycle of creation would never end. Ano placed upon an anvil of crystellium the still misshapen form of Aürynn’s remains, and there he worked upon her form until she was folded into a fetal-like position so that she could be safely placed inside of the hearth of The Great Forge. Sparks flew as he worked diligently to prepare his mother for her final resting place, and countless other stars, nebulas, and celestial bodies were formed in their wake. Finally after ages of tedious work, it was done and Aürynn was ready to be laid to her rest in the hearth of The Great Forge, Aürynethia.
Aürynethia’s core swelled with celestial light as her crystalline form was set into the bed of the hearth. The divine fires that burned within Aürynn’s core blazed with a heavenly brilliance that nearly blinded Ano himself. The Creator turned from his handiwork to rest his eyes and saw for the first time what had transpired during his efforts to preserve his mother’s form. He caught his breath as he marveled at the vast wonder that Empyrea had become throughout the course of his endeavor. Countless galactic maelstroms swirled in the depths of the Sea of Endless Night along with the brilliant furnaces of distant nebulae and glimmering stars that shone from the farthest reaches of the Empyrean Sea. There were crystalline chunks of celestial ember which sailed through the course leaving trails of stardust and flame in their wake. Ano saw that his mother’s vision could indeed be realized; and thus he left Aürynethia to set on a journey to begin filling the realm of Empyrea with life.
From beyond the Astral Rim, Äuros the Destroyer watched all that had transpired with utter loathing. The primordial evil of the Void which had corrupted his very being beyond redemption surged, replacing his battle scars with black resin of darkened matter which was naught but concentrated evil itself. Thus Äuros’ power grew much like that of his brother, even as he fed on the chunks of living embers that happened his way. He Destroyer’s vow churned over and over inside of his mind, nearly driving him mad, and he knew that all he had to do was continue grow and draw dark energy from the heart of the Ebon Maelstrom until the age when he would be strong enough to breach the Astral Rim. And so he waited, seething, and calculating, for the day when his vengeance could be set into motion. Thus began The Epoch of Creation…and ends the tale of the Furnace of Aürynn, and the Primordial Era before anything ever was.
W. R. Frady
