Tome of Ancient Aeons

The First Nightfall

Often, the high scholars and lore keepers of Tharildur spoke of old stories. Tales which fascinated the ignorant, young folk during the great Atha'Vyen - a festival meant to worship the Gods who awakened us in this new, untamed world. Standing on tall stages carved by some of the best stonemasons, these historians would read us stories of the Great Creation, the birth of my people and eternal gift that the Greatest Light has bestowed upon us. They spoke of days when my folk were young, naïve and fearful, confused and lost in the great wilderness, hiding among trees and bushes, the grass and boulders in the faceless world that was beginning to sprout. Our eyes couldn't see like we see today for the world was dark and light was none.

Amidst the unlit woodlands of V'illinai, my people have heard the whisper of Anaya The Great, her words awakening us from a deep slumber we never knew we had. The vales and fields began to blossom, like young children heeding the soft voice of their mother, hasting to follow her into a new dawn. Strange plants began to sprout, huge and beautiful, shiny and blue like the later seas and when their buds shyly widened into gorgeous flowers, most peculiar beings opened their eyes. The ancestors of my proud people, the first Asurians. Although we were met by darkness and were afraid, feeling only a strange wind upon our fragile skin and the soft touch of the buds that once were our beds, we stood up and went on in the gloom for we knew, that the Light wished us to live.

The sky suddenly was brighter, embellished by glowing sparkles of light which became lighter for seven weeks. And we cherished it. Our eyes caught the first shapes of this new world, the first trees, hills and mountains, as well as our own faces. Although it was still blackness, but not as dark as before, we now were able to find fruit, vegetables and feed this unknown feeling of emptiness that had rooted deep inside us.

My people chose the long spreading woods as our eternal home, because we felt more close with nature and Creation amidst the tall trunks and their blooming canopies. For years we have cherished nature and admired its beauty, we celebrated life and every living being which sprouted on the soil of this new world. We, the Asurians, had no home, for we lived among the trees, sleeping in caverns and fields, wishing not to cut down the trees that lived there long before us.

Two centuries have past and my people have prospered. We've spread among the forests of Nordenheim, looking for new beauties to admire and new lands to discover. And then, my ancestors saw a light. Brighter than anything we have witnessed before. A gleam, like the sun that was born centuries later, a spark in the night which descended from the starry sky. Anaya, the Great One, came among us. And we knelt. We bowed our heads in respect, our hearts beating with joy and happiness like none before. She was more beautiful, more glorious and majestic than any part of Creation. And she smiled upon us. As if the world was not enough and the trees and vales that we dwelt in were insufficient, she gifted us the most precious gift of all. The spark of Creation. She taught us how to harness it, how to weave it and bend it and my race flourished.

Having the divine power in our blood, we summoned our own trees, shaped and raised them into our own homes. We raised walls of stone and fountains of pure, cold water, our fields were teeming with food and my people became more prosperous than ever before. It did not take long before the first Asurians built shrines and temples, places where young ones would study magic, discover themselves and be a valuable member of our society. The Asurian Empire has grown and prospered for a thousand years, my people inhabiting the distant reaches of the northern continent, living among trees and vales, nurturing life and living in peace and harmony with nature. We have raised mighty kingdoms in the woodlands, cities and villages. It was the golden age of mutual piece and prosperity, all of us united under a single banner, following the lead of our great empress Erialnyl. Every second was celebrated, every moment welcomed with joy and happiness and will to become better people than we ever were. Every hour we emerged better, learning new ways to harness the mystical power endowed upon us. We have conjured lamps of magic, beacons to cast away the eternal night that existed, our own stars to guide us along the roads and tracks that we have built around Nordenheim.