May 04 2011 -
In the Beginning...
 h, Uncle Amaro, I found this scroll in your backpack. Looks kind of old. Is that your last will or what?" Vani approached me with a face full of excitement and curiosity. I could not suppress a smile upon hearing her calling me uncle. Several months ago, I met the young and rather reckless adventurer on my way to Edron. The passion in her eyes when speaking about fierce monsters, foreign shores and unsolved mysteries reminded me so much of myself at that age that I immediately felt the urge to offer her protection and guidance. Since then, we have been travelling together and on many nights I have told her stories around the campfire. 
"Everything has a beginning, and our story starts when the elder gods Fardos the Creator and Uman Zathroth stepped out of the big endless void. Full of creative power, Fardos desperately strived to give life, to create. Yet, all of his efforts were in vain, his creations all got devoured by the void within the blink of an eye. So he asked Uman Zathroth for help, a god combining two unequal halves in himself. Driven by his passion for knowledge and insight, Uman the Wise willingly offered his magical powers while the other half Zathroth the Destroyer, dark and corrupt by nature, felt nothing but jealousy and resentment, and denied.""Ha! So he's the one, right?!!" Vani crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "The one?" "Yes, THE one. You know, the ultimate evil, the dark mastermind, the lord of terror and chaos, the apocalyptic preacher of damnation, the originator of sin, the big bad adversary, the..." "Hold on, Vani!" I shook my head gently. "I just introduced the elder gods and you're already jumping to conclusions. Don't be so hasty! Let me continue..." "But I'm sure he's the bad guy, I so know it." she muttered, her face grimacing slightly. "Yes, go on, Uncle Amaro, I'm all ears..." "Well, where did we stop? Ah, yes! So Fardos and Uman joined forces to finally create something to last. Still, none of their attempts was successful and the power they spent seeped away into the void. But then, something unexpected happened and none of the gods could explain why. A shining goddess rose from the void, radiating perfect harmony. Tibiasula. Fardos and Uman welcomed the divine beauty who gladly agreed to work together with them. Zathroth, however, was full of hate but hid his feelings well for the time being. 
Finally, Uman came up with the idea of creating a firm fundament to build their creations on. A fixed point on which they could focus the raw creative forces. He invented the concept of time. Even Zathroth was intrigued by the idea to set things in motion, and he anticipated that time would eventually lead to decay and destruction. So for once, all four gods combined their powers and energies and created the crystal column of time. Fardos' and Uman's joy did not last long, though. Zathroth had secretly forged a dagger poisoned with his hate and Tibiasula's ingenuous nature made her the perfect prey. One day, he ambushed her and plunged the dagger deep into her heart. The harmony was shattered. As life was ebbing away from her, the four elements fire, water, air and earth were draining out of her body. Shocked and desperate, Fardos and Uman tried to save her but in the end, all they could do was cast a powerful spell to bind her remains to the column of time. They wove the elements into powerful strands and thereby, formed the first genuine creation.
The element of earth formed Tibia, the fertile land while the blue sea was created from Sula, the element of water. Air turned into a gentle breeze protecting the lands and the sea whereas Fire warmed them up from below. All of the elements were full of life but they were also wild, and none of them resembled Tibiasula's gentle nature. Yet, Uman and Fardos discovered that the elements held the seed of life within them. By uniting with one of them the gods would be able to create new entities. And so they did, and the lesser gods were born. Fafnar and Suon, Crunor the Lord of the Trees, Nornur the God of Fate, and Bastesh the Mistress of the Sea."
"Fafnar and Suon? Oh, I've heard about them. They are chasing each other across the sky forever, that's why there is day and night. She's a little minx, right? Burned the world with her flames and attacked the poor sea lady Bastesh like a beast..." Vani looked proud. "Oh yes, the struggle between Fafnar and Suon... but a single night is not long enough to tell all these stories so let's focus on the genesis... " "Yes, yes, go on! So what about Zathroth? Did he also... you know... unite with an element?" "No, not with one of the elements. But the destructive powers of Fafnar pleased him alot, and eventually, he seduced her. The fruit of this union was a fierce berserk, Brog the Raging titan, furious and wild just like his mother. Relentlessly, a searing fire burned deep inside his chest and became more and more unbearable over time. One day, he managed to release all the pain with a magical flame full of rage. Thus, the first dragon Garsharak came into existence. Fascinated by his creation, Brog created further life, this time to his own image: the cyclopses. His power to create life also caught the attention of his father Zathroth whose own creative powers were rather poor. He encouraged Brog to continue his endeavours and so the trolls, the goblins, and finally, his masterpiece, the orcs, spread all over the world.Zathroth's minions soon wreaked havoc wherever they went. In order to stop the devastation of the beautiful Tibian lands, some of the lesser gods created their own creatures to protect Tibia. Yet, neither the wolves nor the snakes nor the poison spiders were powerful enough to stand up against the ravaging hordes. But then, the age of the dragons began. Just when orcs were about to cover all of Tibia, Garsharak sent his lizard-kin to conquer the lands and rule over all others. Countless armies of orcs and cyclopes fell to the superior dragons and their fiery breath. However, the dragons also suffered numerous losses, and soon, all races competed with each other in an epic struggle for survival. A flood of death washed over Tibia. There were piles of corpses, rivers of blood wherever you looked. 
Even though Fardos and Uman did not pity Zathroth's slain minions, they were aware that the corpses were about to drown all life. However, Zathroth interfered with their plan to create a new god to take care of the dead bodies. Disguised as Uman, he united with earth and so Urgith, the Master of the Undead, was born. With his unholy power, he revived the corpses into a state of living death, turned them into creatures without a will of their own, following orders and feasting on the living with a seemingly insatiable hunger. Due to the countless dead bodies that had amassed, Urgith's undead army soon spread across the Tibian lands. Fardos and Uman were appalled at the sight of their creation being ravaged by the living dead. So Uman hurried to unite with earth as planned. However, his son Toth, the Warden of the Souls, could not stop the blight. Despite all his efforts to guide the tormented souls of the dead to the peaceful otherworld, Urgith and his undead servants continued to rule over Tibia.""Amaro, that is gross! Can you please get over with this part quickly?" I laughed at Vani's disgusted face. "No worries, Vani! Fardos and Uman did not give in so easily. They tried to create a sentient race strong enough and willing to face Urgith's abominations. They created race after race but all of them were defeated by the walking corpses. Most of these ancient races were even wiped out completely and vanished into oblivion, except the elves and the dwarfs who at least managed to survive somehow. Zathroth rejoiced over all this chaos and destruction, even more so when some of these creatures fell for his temptations and switched sides. It is said that Fardos and Uman punished the traitors without mercy. Some even believe that these cast-out creatures were the ones that Zathroth later formed into the first demons. Eventually, though, Fardos and Uman created a race marked by far more flexibility than any other race before. Banor, the Divine Warrior, and with him the humans were born. Banor's fighting skills were unmatched. He was a glorious knight, a legendary leader. Humans adapted well to the rough conditions and took up the fight against Zathroth's minions and Urgith's unholy legions. 
Numerous furious battles were followed, grim and without any mercy. Fardos and Uman tried to assist Banor and the humans to help them turn the tides of fate. Uman introduced those who were willing into the art of magic, thus shaping the vocation of sorcerers. Crunor the Lord of the Trees offered to teach the secrets of life and many humans followed his call to become a druid. With his wife Kirana, Banor sired Elane, who was highly skilled both in the arts of distance fighting and the arcane art of magic. She was the first noble paladin. But despite the combined efforts and diverse powers of the four vocations, humans often suffered defeat when Banor's blade was already occupied on another battlefield and they had to fight without their brave leader. So Banor asked the elder gods for help again. Consequently, they created the portal of souls: a mysterious, magical gate that allows souls from other dimensions to enter the realm of Tibia in the shape of human heroes.
With the help of these champions, the human race was soon on the brink of victory against the undead hordes. Confronted with the human superiority, the living dead, the orcs, the dragons and all other races suddenly decided to put their differences aside and join forces against mankind. A truce was signed, and again, Tibia was put into a state of war. The human race struggled against their countless enemies and was forced to retreat and seek shelter in fortified cities. Yet, they were not defeated. Surprisingly, a state of equilibrium was reached between humans and their enemies. Human life started to flourish within the confines of the cities. However, fierce and hostile creatures never ceased to exist. Enemies were not only lurking outside the cities. Some humans even started to turn against their own kind, and countless champions have lost their lives on the battlefield since then. So even today, heroes are needed to fight for a bright tomorrow."Vani looked thoughtfully. "I wonder if Zathroth still pursues some kind of evil plan to bring utter destruction to Tibia?" "Well, I guess we can only hope that whatever the future will hold, we will be ready to face it." Vani smiled. "Indeed. That was an inspiring story, Amaro. And I'm ready to do my part just like my ancestors did their part." She looked up into the night sky and I nodded confidently. "Not long until Fafnar and Suon will continue their chase across the sky, Vani. I guess you better get some sleep now. I'll watch the fire and make sure it doesn't die. And maybe I'll work a bit on my drawing skills." Sweet dreams! Amaro |
