User:Qmasterflex86/Project Dwi 01/Supplements/Spoilers

The Infinite Realm

When existence first emerged from the Void of Nothing, the Infinite Realm encompassed all that existed. It was neither hot nor cold, light nor dark, material nor conceptual. In a sense, it was everything. There is no good way to describe it, as it is the primordial field containing all that exists.

The Old Masters

At some point the myriad powers of the Infinite Realm combined and interacted in such a way that some rare beings of different origins could direct such power. They created spheres of reality that were self-contained worlds separated from the Infinity. Each spellcaster had absolute control over all aspects of its sphere, becoming essentially gods of their own universes.

In time the spellcasters learned to create familiars by gathering concepts such as thoughts and feelings, and containing them within a conceptual boundary that would grant corporeal form to the concepts. They called these familiars "daimons". As not all concepts are equal, the stronger daimons were created from concepts that spanned eons of the Infinity's history, even rivaling the powers of their creators. The daimon soldiers that the spellcasters sometimes used in their wars to conquer each other's spheres of reality were often quickly materialized thoughts, usually short-lived in nature and vulnerable to becoming scattered into the Void of Nothing.

But the spellcasters were ever greedy for more power, and so they sent a small group of daimons to explore the Infinity and to report on any discoveries. They never thought that the daimons would survive and even take a power of the Infinity for themselves. Enraged and embarrassed, the spellcasters enacted a taboo on summoning any more daimons, and sealed off their spheres to the daimons.

Ages passed and the spellcasters wreaked destruction that sent ripples thundering through the Infinity as they tore rifts in reality to create new spheres, and shook the framework of reality as they destroyed rival spheres. At the height of their wars, reality was nearly shattered, with only fragments of the original Infinity and the many spellcasters' spheres remaining the only isolated areas of existence. In an effort to preserve themselves and everything else, the few surviving spellcasters set their second taboo on casting spells that affected the bare nature of reality, as well as a taboo on allowing such knowledge to be learned by anything else. And so the spellcasters united their remaining spheres, and repaired the pieces of the Infinity, fusing all into a single reality that they would safeguard for all eternity.

Daimons

The first daimons were merely the contents of a spellcaster's mind given physical form. They had as many abilities as their concepts, and their masters, would allow. All that changed when a small group was ordered by the spellcasters to explore the Infinity and to report on any findings.

Due to the nature of the Infinite Realm, only three among the original group survived travel through the border between the spellcasters' spheres and the original reality. Those three discovered something amazing, whether it was by chance or some fate unknown to them. As conceptual beings themselves, the daimons could comprehend and interact with conceptual entities. Thus, they could sense and contain the immense power they encountered before them. In their glassy transparent eyes they could see a bright golden flame that coursed through all parts of the Infinity, balancing the heat and cold.

The three daimons decided to rebel against their masters and claim the power for themselves. They formed a boundary to contain the core concept of the fire, allowing one of them to hold it in a contained area. The three attempted to return to a separated sphere, but the Infinity recognized the imbalance caused by the containment of the golden flame and reacted against the daimons. The one holding the fire, in desperation, used it to create a sphere, just like its masters did. In doing so, it escaped the Infinity, the sole survivor of its group. Shortly thereafter, the spellcasters dissolved the concepts of all other daimons as part of their taboo, making that one daimon the sole survivor of its kind. In the newly formed sphere characterized by a burning world spinning with storms of fire, the lone daimon bound its concept to the golden flame, allowing the stolen treasure of the Infinity to hold dominion over all daimons in the future. The golden flame would bind the concepts of the world, of that specific reality, the Netherworld, into forms, just like the spellcasters had done. From that moment on, the daimons would be conceptual beings forged through the golden flame, and the nature of their existence would be reflected in their burning golden eyes.

The original daimon survivor who created the Netherworld disappeared after binding the daimonic concept to the golden flame. That was the last daimon to have been among the original daimons created by the spellcasters rather than the golden flame.

In time, the daimons learned how to gate across spheres, an ability few spellcasters could use without significant cost. At first the gates were difficult to create, the bridges linking the Netherworld to other spheres forceful endeavors. The spellcasters had created strong seals on their spheres as part of the taboo against daimons, but eventually the gates to the Netherworld pierced the seals of many spheres. But the spellcasters were still powerful, and quickly subdued the altered daimons, sending them back to the Netherworld.

As time passed and the spellcasters destroyed themselves, the Netherworld only strengthened, for the moment it would open the gates again.

Keepers of Balance

The overview already gave a general summary of the Keepers and how they were formed. At the twilight of the spellcasters' era, humanity was only beginning to grow. Seemingly at random, the surviving spellcasters chose to bequeath certain gifted humans with certain concepts. The most powerful concept was that of the spellcasters' eternal oath to protect the equilibrium of all reality. This concept they named "Eternia", and would transfer it among the most gifted daughter of the Keepers, granting each succeeding generation the memories and abilities of all those who preceded her.

The second concept they named "Valiant", which would be passed to the most gifted son of the Keepers, to reflect the discipline and virtue required by the task. As well, Valiant would be the mortal representative of the Balance, maintaining harmony among the human world, whereas Eternia would concern herself mostly with communion with the conceptual world that the spellcasters retreated to.

As part of the taboo on preventing anyone from using or gaining the knowledge to affect reality, the spellcasters limited the Keepers to the material world. Unlike the spellcasters who could pay the cost of spells through concepts, and even transcend certain costs, the Keepers were all bound to restrictions of equivalent exchange in binding their spells by script on paper.

While the spellcasters had a wide array of spells, the Keepers were fairly limited. Banishment and Holy Light worked effectively against daimons and undead, who were more conceptual than material, but the Keepers could not cast the spells necessary to do the same to material beings such as monsters and humans. As such, they cast fear against monsters and man, hoping that strength and valor would prevail against frightened enemies. With the advent of metallurgy, the Keepers improvised based on the spellcasters' teachings, and created the Curse of Rust, causing even the finest steel to become useless in seconds.

In this capacity as mortal guardians of the world, the Keepers stayed vigilant but hidden for all of human history.

The Light

Around the early days of humankind, a few who had either encountered the spellcasters or the Keepers, but rejected their ideas, sought to gain the unrestricted powers the spellcasters were unwilling to share with anyone. After learning the location of a gate to one of the rare original fragments of the Infinite Realm, a group of five set off into the Infinity, hoping to gain unimaginable power.

Humans are fragile in all respects, and the five soon were crushed by the weight of the Infinity. However, they never ceased believing that they would be saved by a power greater than the Infinity. While they were not completely correct in that belief, they were preserved, and transformed. Encased by white light, the five shed their physical bodies, allowing their souls to become free concepts that were taken by the light. The conscious souls of the five survived even amidst the overwhelming power of the light, and after many centuries passed, the five learned how to take corporeal form and appear once more in their former worlds.

They sought to gain the power of faith, as stronger belief strengthened the concept of the light. To further this goal, the five of the Light set out across the mortal world, directing the Light to destroy all that was not human. Appearing as saviors who brought a divine blessing that would allow humanity to conquer the monsters and undead around them, the humans thanked the beings of Light, giving them their faith and adoration.

At some point in the past, the Light battled the daimons to prevent them from destroying western Dwilight, which resulted in the banishment of the Golden Horde back to the Netherworld and Akesh's retreat into Dragon's Roost. In the setting of Legacy, the Light appears as an antagonist to the Balance, as in that storyline their actions were contrary to the equilibrium of reality.

Undead

Origins of Darkness will go into detail about the origins of the Undead. In fact, it happens within that storyline.

Monsters

The Overview was pretty much enough to give an idea about the monsters. They have no special origin story because their different species each have separate "origins". The general idea is that at different times and places, different species of "monsters" gained sentience. What follows reflects the development of beings that are conscious and intelligent, which probably would not differ too much from human history.