The Story of Creation and the events that led to 3rd Era, as told by the Temple of the Divine Trinity:
The Era of Harmony
During a time of timelessness, Reylin forged Numinith, carefully placing and shaping the mountains, coastlines, and caverns. After he finished, he showed his work to his sisters Ynera and Hekata. They were pleased with his work and Reylin was proud of what he had done with his own hands. The Trinity, as they would come to be known, came to live on Numinith, but decided it would be best to bestow gifts to each other in honor of this day of creation.
Reylin gifted Ynera the Dryads. He took a piece of Ynera’s flesh and carved it into a form in her shape and carved the Earth Rune onto it’s exterior. The Dryads were born, and their connection to the Mother of Numinith imbued them with empathy for all that is natural.
Hekata gifted Reylin the Elementals. Channeled from Fire, Earth, Water and Air, their formless masses were imbued with energies that allowed them to move throughout Numinith’s vast expanses with ease.
Ynera gifted Hekata with the Mortal Spirit. Formed from the same Earth and Clay that made up the Elementals and Dryads, Ynera’s blessing turned the mass of clay into something vastly different. The Mortal Spirit could think for itself and ultimately return from Numinith back to Hekata.
The War of the Heavens
Out of the blackness of eternity, ancient beings descended upon the Trinity’s shining creation as if Numinith had been a blazing signal fire out in the darkness. The Old Ones had arrived from the Void.
The arrival of the Old Ones mutated, shifted, and corrupted a vast number of Elementals, Dryads, and Mortal Spirits into creatures of the Void, beginning the War of the Heavens which lasted for an untold age.
Eventually, the Old Ones were banished, but not without heavy losses. The Trinity had been wounded, and their energies grew thin. They decided to channel their energies to provide their children with an opportunity to defend themselves if their Spirits were strong enough. They were given tools and knowledge for which to prepare and arm themselves with:
Reylin gifted them motivation, diligence, and determination along with creating Numinith’s metals and earthly minerals. Hekata gifted them the ability for Spiritual connection with all of Numinith in the form of Magical Study and the various Runes. Ynera gifted them the ability to reproduce and the ability to feel empathy to help them better each other in the coming ages.
The First Era (1 – 9000 1E)
Following the War of the Heavens, the survivors of the War of the Heavens were blessed by the Trinity with what was left of their power. These blessings were said to enable them to learn, improve, and prepare for the return of the Old Ones of the Void. The Temple was founded soon after the blessings were granted and the first High Clerics of the Temple were chosen. Maltus led the followers of Ynera, Esria led the followers of Reylin, and Sybil led the followers of Hekata. Together, they formed the three arms of the Temple of the Divine Trinity, its purpose to arm all mortals with the ability to fight back against the Void and its denizens. However, that purpose would become shrouded as time, history, and the influence of the Void corrupt the impressionable Mortals and their newfound blessings…
*This Era lasted for at least three modern eras according to records, but was likely significantly longer. Historians predict that there is much we do not know about this era, including a concrete hypothesis about how long this era was.
The Second Era (1 – 3000 2E)
Deemed by Historians as “The Age of Corruption” as the Mortal Spirits, Dryads, and Elementals began to turn on each other and establish cults, domains, kingdoms, warbands, and tribes with vastly different interpretations on what to do with the blessings they had received. It was at the dawn of the 2nd Era that their blessings had began to subside, slowly twisting them into something less than what the Trinity had intended.
The War of the Elements (98 2E – 298 2E)
Up to this point in the Second Era, there had been growing resentment between Elementals, Dryads, and their Mortal Spirit brothers. The Mortal Spirits grew to believe that the Sylvan races were a threat to them as they continued to argue against the need for additional natural resources to develop their technologies. But the Sylvan races could not stand by and watch the Mortal Spirits lay waste to forests, lakes, and rip out rocks from the land. This war lasted for 200 years, until each of the children of Numinith had sent the world into an age of darkness, lasting for nearly the rest of the era.
The Fall of the Elders (695 2E)
Separated from their siblings, the blessings of the Trinity faded and the Dryads lost their immortality. Their connection to Ynera had dwindled to a whisper that only a few select of the race were able to feel, while the Elementals had faded into obscurity, all but gone feral, influenced by the natural personality of the element they embody
The Kingdom of Men (865 2E)
Now separated from their Dryad and Elemental siblings, the Mortal Spirits had begun to lose their shimmering forms and begun to take the shape of their original base form, made of clay and earth. The Mortal Spirits descended in time to creatures of flesh and bone, easily corrupted as their blessings slowly began to dwindle. Soon, the Mortal Spirits were no more, and the Kingdom of Men arose from the Mortal Spirit’s remains.
The Third Era (1 – Current Day 3E)
It is the year 1427 of the Third Era, and the blessings of the Trinity are all but lost. Many do not acknowledge their past forms, and others simply call the Story of Creation a myth carried on by those too old to see what the world truly is.
The Temple of the Divine Trinity still preaches the return of the Old Ones from the Void, but many do not trust an enemy that they cannot see or feel.
Swords & Stones 