In the beginning, time and space were as one. The One True Being encompassed all things, filling all of creation with the Spirit of Flame. Thought and the world of substance were the same. Man did not know Pain, or Loneliness, or Despair, or Death. Man did not know War. Man did not know Love, or the offering of Holy Sacrifice. Man was part of the greater whole, of the Hialxu, and all was as it should be.
Yet as even the children know, the world has changed since then. Three Ages of the Sun have passed, and the world is very different than it once was. Yet even today, this perfect Time-Place-Life still exists, beyond the pale of life, beyond the veil of knowledge. Man can no longer reach this place as a creature of flesh and blood, and so he depends on the gods for succor and protection.
Yet if the world was not always as it now is, we must ask, how did it come to pass that man has fallen so far? The story of the beginning of the world and the end of perfection is a sad one.
It is said that long ago, when all was unified in the Hialxu, the Unraveller came to untie the knots that held the perfect Time- Place-Life together. He reached into the weave of Time-Place-Life, and seized hold of its threads. This He tugged and twisted until strands began to break and the fiber of existence frayed. Had he continued his fell work unopposed, nothing would now remain of the universe. All would be shredded and destroyed.
Yet as the Hialxu began to unravel, its largest pieces gathered together. Separate from the greatest part of the Hialxu, they now looked back upon the universe from outside it, and they gained understanding. They took on form and sentience, and shaped the fires of their own being into bodies. Then they gazed upon the Unraveller at His fell work, and they saw that the universe would end if he were unopposed. The first and greatest of these beings was Ometeotl, Father of the Gods. So great is Ometeotl's power that he cannot be seen by mortal eyes, and man can only know of his presence by his footsteps. Other gods soon followed, however, the fiercest of which were Kossuth and Huitzilopochtli.
Having given birth to themselves while the Unraveller was distracted, the gods gathered together in a great counsel. Ometeotl then stood forth and declared that the Unraveller must be stopped. Strong Huitzilopochtli urged immediate battle, but the Father of the Gods was wise. He knew the strength of the Unraveller, and he formed a plan. First, he gathered all of the lesser threads of Creation, and these he shaped into men and beasts, which now walk upon the surface of the gods themselves. He demanded of them their strength, and the first peoples gave it to him willingly. Then Ometeotl turned to Kossuth, who burned hotter and wilder than any of the other gods, and spoke of his plan. Kossuth listened and understood. Braving the cold depths of the void, the god who was called Wildfire plunged into the very home of the Unraveller and sought out a piece of cold, black stone with which he might wound the Enemy of Creation. Into this he blew his hottest breath, turning the stone to liquid glass, and then gave this to Ometeotl. The Father of the Gods quickly gathered the first peoples together, and with their help He forged the molten glass into a great black sword, sharp enough to sever the threads of time and space. This he named Tachutli, which means Obsidian.
In haste, the gods girded themselves for battle. They wove great suits of armor from grass as strong as iron, and cut themselves weapons of wood and stone. Only then did the gods feel prepared. Fearing to wait any longer, lest the Unraveller tear apart so much of the Hialxu that nothing would remain, they fell upon him while he slowly consumed the fires of Creation, and took him by surprise.
For thirty years after the battle was joined, boulders fell from the sky and storms raged in the Void. The lesser gods and greater heroes, which rode to battle upon the shoulders of the greater gods, dug great pits with their feet. These formed mountains and valleys. The gods bled freely, and their blood flowed into the deepest of the valleys to form great red pools.
Yet in the end, the Unraveller proved too powerful, and the gods saw that they were losing. Desperate, the three greatest of the gods came together in battle while the Unraveller slew lesser gods and men by the hundreds.
"There is only one way that we may save the world," Ometeotl told them, and they understood. The gods of Warfire and Wildfire then prepared themselves, and they came together with Ometeotl, who was called Hearthfire, and he forged the Three into a god greater than any other. They grew into a towering inferno of flame, and then they turned upon the Unraveller and rained fire so fierce that the Unraveller's black skin burned to ash. They struck him so deeply with the sword called Tachutli that his blood oozed black from his body, and he raised his arms to shield himself. Pieces of the Unraveller were hacked off by the hand of the Firelord, to spin away shrieking to be lost amidst the cold void. At last, able to bear no more, the Unraveller turned and fled into the Void, his home, where none of the gods could find him.
With his obsidian sword, the Firelord then cleanly severed the stands of the universe and cauterized them together so that it would not unravel any further. Then he looked upon the chaos of the world, wept tears to purify the spilled blood of the gods, turning their blood into the water which formed the first great seas, and this is how water first came to the universe of fire.
It is said that when the oceans at last grow dry, the life energy of the gods will be used up, and the world will fall into the fifth age of the sun, where the world will either be destroyed or reborn. And that is why men offer their life-blood back to the gods, to delay the end of the world, or so says the Firecult. The followers of Quetzalcoutl would disagree, of course.
Since the dawn of time, four Ages of the Sun have passed. In the first age, the Firelord set the god Tezcatlipoca of the Smoking Mirror to rule over the First Sun. Then the Firelord withdrew to the highest heavens, away from the world of men, so that he might gather the souls of the riteous to himself and think upon how to repair the universe from the damage the Unraveller had caused. From his vantage he forgot the worries of men, caring only that the gods stand watch against the return of the Unraveller. Thus, the Firelord did not notice when Tezcatlipoca began to grow full of his own power and importance. He did not see the Lord of Smoke turn to the dark arts in search of even greater power. The Firelord had forgotten about mankind, and did not see the Lord of Smoke stealing the lives of men with his wicked magic that he called Death. And thus Death came into the world, and much more ill would surely have been visited upon mankind had not the Lord of Winds seen the truth.
Fearing that the Firelord would not heed a simple warning, Quetzalcuatl, the Lord of Winds, flew far into the heavens to the Sun that grew strange and bloated with Tezcatlipoca's stolen power. And the great Feathered Dragon spread his wings that stretched across the sky and flapped them so mightily that the dark smoke of Tezcatlipoca's evil began to clear from the Sun. But in a rage, Tezcatlipoca called forth the flame that the Firelord had entrusted to him and struck Quetzalcuatl, so that the Wind Lord's feathers were burned away and he fell into the jungles. And so angry was Tezcatlipoca that he struck with his flame onto the world of man, burning away the jungle and leaving only desert in his wake, trying to slay Quetzalcuatl once and for all.
But the gentle Wind Lord was blessed with friends, while Tezcatlipoca had only enemies. For while the Dark Mirror sought the Feathered Dragon, the Stars, heroes all from the time of the Unraveller, given a place in the heavens as a reward for their service, crept up behind the evil Deathbringer.
As Tezcatlipoca struck into the jungle, Quetzalcuatl rose up before him and blew upon him with the Great Gale that was the Feathered Dragon's breath, and the Stars raised their shining spears and plunged them into Tezcatlipoca's back. The Death Lord screamed as all his stolen lives bled from his body, and the Power of Flame gifted him by the Firelord deserted his undeserving self at last.
Then did Tezcatlipoca dissolve into Smoke and Ash, and the Lord of Smoke fled from the world of men into the heavens themselves, where he hid from Quetzalcuatl in the darkness of what was once the First Sun. There he remained, skulking in his realm of ash and smoke, and plotting his revenge.
During the Age of the Second Sun, mankind flourished greatly. Quetzalcuatl the Wind Lord assumed the mantle of the Sun taken from undeserving Tezcatlipoca, and the Feathered Dragon taught mankind the peaceful arts of reading and writing, the making of glass, and many other mysteries.
The other peaceful gods also brought many good things into the world. Xochiquetzal and her brother Xochipilli brought love and beauty, and taught mankind to appreciate the wonders of the universe. Centeotl taught man to plant corn and raise animals, guarding the harvest from year to year. And Ixtliton taught man the properties of herbs and plants so that he might grow strong enough to resist the curse of Death for many years. The wicked gods found little favor among the noble races of men at this time, and even Tlazolteotl could seduce very few of the righteous ones with her vices and temptations.
Yet in time many of the other gods grew bored and jealous, and the Firelord himself began to resent the great knowledge and skill that the peaceful gods were teaching to mankind. Many gods grew angry that the men of the world no longer offered blood gifts as freely as they once had, and that some even disregarded the gods altogether. Some sages think that Tezcatlipoca schemed among the lesser gods, hissing dark words to them in the form of a panther, and flattering them from their mirrors, promising that they should be the true rulers of men. Some few, often denounced as heretics, think the Dark Mirror even corrupted Huitzilopachtli, fiercest of the faces of the Firelord, and even provided the War God secrets about Quetzalcouatl's weaknesses that the Panther God gleaned from skulking around the Wind Lord's cloud palace.
Whatever the truth, strife was born among the gods again. Huitzilopachtli quietly came to the races of mankind, and sought out the strongest of them to teach the arts of war. To these violent races he offered dominion over their brethren, and many followed him. When all had been prepared, the warlike gods and mortals took up weapons against the peaceful tribes, led by Huitzilopochtli, the god of War.
The other faces of the Firelord did not oppose Warfire, for they also had grown resentful of man for his lack of devotion and failure to shed blood on their altars. Indeed, many among the Firelord Cult believe that the Firelord acted to punish the Feathered Dragon for his presumption in daring to take up the Power of Flame lost to Tezcatlipoca, without the Firelord's permission. The sages of the Snowball Alliance believe that it was the leaning of the Wind Lord and his followers the Firelord feared, and that the Lord of Flame could not permit his human slaves to free themselves from unthinking obedience to His will.
The battle raged fiercely, but the peaceful gods had not learned the arts of war and quickly gave ground. They beseeched the other gods for aid, and the goddess Metzli who brought the cold blue light of the stars and moon upon the world, offered them succor. With her she brought Quetzalcuatl's old allies, the Stars.
Thus the fighting raged on for many years while the peaceful gods taught themselves the arts of war, but in the end the peaceful gods grew sad. They saw that further fighting could only bring ddestruction to the humans the sought to protect. Rather than bringing death on all of mankind, most of the peaceful gods at last decided to capitulate. Of all the gods, only Quetzalcuotl and Metzli did not submit.
The Wind Lord spread his mighty wings and launched himself away, beyond even the stars, to a place that his enemies could not follow. But before he departed, the Feathered Dragon promised the Firelord that the memory of a serpent is long. And Quetzalcuatl promised to his people that just as the Feathered Dragon coils in a circle, so what was, will be again. The Feathered Dragon will return to teach to the Firelord the same lesson he taught Tezcatlipoca.
Metzli, however, could not flee, but still refused to submit. In retribution for her defiance, the victor gods sought to punish Metzli and the Stars who stood by to protect her. Seeing an opportunity for revenge against her rival, the goddess Tlazolteotl of vice and debauchery seduced the Firelord into imprisoning the many lights of Metzli and her Stars in the very Second Sun that the Wind God had ruled. So it was that the Firelord thought this a fitting punishment and bound Metzli and her Stars. So was the shining world called Starfire created. But a legend remained that one of Metzli's Stars, her greatest and bravest warrior, had escaped the Firelord's vengeance. Many thought the Last Star had fled with Quetzalcuatl, but others whispered that the Last Star was simply hidden, and that it waited for the proper time to re-emerge. Many legends spawned that the return of the Last Star would herald the freedom of Metzli and the triumph of the Feathered Dragon.
After Metzli's binding, the victor gods took counsel among themselves to see who should rule. Warfire demanded this honor, but the faces of the Firelord thought it better to withdraw once more. Some heretics say they did this because they feared his growing power. Thus, the Firelord set the god called Tlaloc to rule. But rather than guard the Third Sun, Tlaloc was placed on his throne on the very world of man itself. For the Firelord had determined that after the rebellions of Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcuatl, only the Firelord himself would be permitted to hold the Power of Flame.
So the Firelord withdrew, but not to far, so that he could warm man, and watch Tlaloc suspiciously. Each of the aspects of the Firelord took a sun for his throne. Ometeotl ruled Hearthfire, Huitzilopochtli ruled the sun Warfire and deadly Kossuth ignited Wildfire. And yet this did not satisfy Huitzilopochtli, who raged in anger that he did not rule Lifefire, and threatened much war and bloodshed. It is no wonder that war has raged across the surface of Lifefire for so many years.
Now Tlaloc, the new Lord of the Third Age of the Sun, though not the Three Suns of the Firelord themselves, had always been a vain and vindictive god, and this did not bode well for mankind. The Firelord Cult calls Tlaloc He Who Makes Things Grow, but even they laugh at this title. Tlaloc guards moisture and rain, but he does not give these gifts freely. He only brings the rains after great sacrifice and shedding of blood. It was during his reign, the Third Age of the Sun, that the great Seas began to shrink, for he always demanded greater and greater bloodshed for his gift of rain. It is said that Tlaloc was even more bitter and angry than before he ruled, for he learned, some say from the Dark Mirror, that the Firelord suspected him of treason, and he felt that his honor was slighted by being denied the Third Sun.
Many years passed and life grew harsher upon the world of men. Lifefire grew barren. Mankind whispered of the return of Quetzalcoutl and tried to hope, but centuries passed and still no word was heard of the Great Feathered Serpent. Dark snakes with bat-wings began appearing in the vast deserts, and soon the legends of the couatls were all but forgotten except in a few places along the sea coast. At last, the peaceful gods grew fearful for man, and took counsel among themselves. The great Quetzalcoutl had not yet returned for many hundreds of years, and there were those who said he had perished. None could find him, for he hid far away from the other gods. Some say he fled beyond the pale of the world. Thus, the brave maiden Chalchihuitlicue, who was the goddess of marriage, stepped forward and told the others her plan. Upon listening, they counseled her against it, but she was determined. At last they relented and offered to help her. Xochipilli and Xochiquetzal grew her flowers to put in her hair and touched her lips with the scent of morning, and even bound Metzli secretly aided her by making her skin glow pale and sultry. Finally, Chalchihuitlicue journeyed deep into the seas, and after many secret perils she retrieved a skirt of many green scales of jade, and this she adorned herself with. She presented herself before Tlaloc, and seduced him. In a fit of passion, he pledged himself to her, and offered her a part in ruling his kingdom in exchange for her hand in marriage. She accepted the offer of this evil god, and being goddess of marriage she held to her bargain. This new time then became known as Age of the Fourth Sun.
Though not as terrible as the Third Age of the Sun, Tlaloc remained cruel and Chalchihuitlicue could do little to unleash the rains upon the world. She sought to help mankind when she could, and many priests of the Snowball Alliance flocked to her faith. But the snake-headed Tlaloc remained a cruel and stingy god, and resented any refusal of the blood sacrifices he considered his due.
It was thus when the Fourth Age of the Sun came to an end in cataclysm and fire. The Firelord resided in the great heavens, caring little about the state of mankind. While the Faces of Hearthfire and Wildfire look jealously down at Tlaloc's doings, only the Face of Warfire watched humanity, causing great suffering among mankind.
Quetzalcuatl had not yet honored his vow to return, though many still waited for him. And while they waited, the Sea of Ice, the last great sea of Lifefire, dwindled. Meanwhile, the terrible priests of Tlaloc and Huitzliopachtli spilled more blood every day.
The priests of the Panther Cult of Tezcatlipoca, Lord of Smoke and Ash, skulked around in the shadows spitting venom into the minds of men like adders. And it was due to the Dark Mirror that terror came once more to Flamespace.
In a time when the Firelord Cult warred with alien intruders from a sphere called Greatspace, and the Snowball Alliance, the last remnants of those who opposed Huitzliopachtli's reign of terror over mankind, saw their cities on the verge of collapse before the Firelord Cult's advance, the Dark Mirror seized his chance. The Firelord was distracted by the alien gods of Greatspace who threatened his realm. So it was that the Dark Mirror called to horrors from before time to come to his aid. The Panther God cared only for his revenge. He sought not rule, but death and devastation.
The Dark Mirror called into the Void, and he was answered by the horrible children of the Unraveller, the Beasts born from the Dark One's blood and body as the gods were born from the Hialxu. In war and pain were these Things created, and war and pain is all they understood. They forged a pact with the Dark Mirror, to drive the two rain gods who ruled Lifefire off of their throne, and to bring cataclysmic death to mankind. Once bloated and made strong by the deaths of men and women, Tezcatlipoca and his hideous allies planned to challenge the Firelord himself.
Thus did the Fourth Age end, as the Sea of Ice roiled and surged. Earthquakes shook the land and great waves swamped the beaches as a immense tentacle of darkness rose from the vasty deeps. Men cried like babes and women threw themselves on the altars of the gods, begging that their children be spared. But the gods' faces had been turned aside by the cunning of Tezcatlipoca. They were not ready. They did not act in time. All seemed lost.
But all was not lost. For the Great Desert shuddered with an explosion that could be seen on the shores of the Sea of Ice, as a blazing orb of light emerged from its hidden sanctum in the Underworld. Hidden and forgotten, the Last Star had returned in mankind's greatest hour of need. For the child of the Unraveller had struck first in the Underworld, where the Last Star ruled, and been driven forth from there to the surface world. And the Last Star followed its foe.
Then did the Last Star blaze across the heavens casting its light of hope onto mankind below. And it struck Starfire a blow that created a light so blinding that none could look upon the sky. Metzli was freed as Starfire flew apart into Stars and Moons. Then did the Last Star return on a beam of white fire, back into the Underworld. The Sea of Ice itself boiled as the power of Metzli struck from below and consumed the Thing that flailed in the water.
But while his foul ally was no more, and Lifefire did not feed him with death and power, Tezcatlipoca remained. Then truly did the Fourth Age of the Sun end. Hearthfire flamed through the heavens to strike Deathfire, as Ometeotl struck a blow into Tezcatlipoca's heart. No Things dared face the coming of the Firelord's rage, nor was the Dark Mirror bloated enough with death to force his allies to come to his desperate calls. Hearthfire and Deathfire fell to pieces as Ometeotl bound traitorous Tezcatlipoca's smoke and ash with his own flame.
Yet while the Fourth Age ended, the Fifth Age seemed out of reach. Change had come upon Flamespace, but without disturbing the tyrannical rule of Huitzilopachtli over mens' hearts and passions. Stingy Tlaloc held dying Lifefire in his rain-poor grasp while uncaring Wildfire added to Warfire's unbearable blaze. Indeed, with the loss of Hearthfire's warm touch, the suns of Flamespace no longer gave life, but only death. The dawn of the Fifth Age of the Sun came thus with fear and uncertainty for mankind.
Doom appeared on the horizon when word raced through the priesthoods that Camaxtli, lord of fate and secrets, had been slain. Many refused to believe, but the evidence was unmistakable. Even the secretive priests of Camaxtli could not long hide the death of a god. With Camaxtli's end, came visions to the soothsayers that mankind's end was near. Fate was no more, and surely the Unraveller's long-delayed victory was at hand. Even to the Firelord cult did visions of destruction come. The most violent and fanatical of the cultists, the pure followers of Huitzilopachtli, began to prepare for a cataclysm in which all unbelievers would be consumed by Huitzilopachtli's flame.
In this time of mankind's greatest need, when the good cried out for aid, did a miracle again walk Lifefire's shores. The Feathered Dragon returned.
First came the dreams. Dreams of light, which reminded those who had prayed of an ancient prophesy. Then came the signs. Dreamers awoke with huge feathered plumes in their grasps. Soothsayers proclaimed the prophesy on the verge of fulfillment. Legends walked and poured strength into the bodies of aged champions, and fulfilled the ancient portents.
A call was heard, and the faithful answered. They departed in bands, caravans, and even alone. They braved the deadly desert to gather at the crater where once Quetzalcuatl had fallen onto the surface of Lifefire. There, under the protection of the Wind Dragon, they were joined by myths and fables. Feathered serpents and ancient human heroes thought long dead led creatures of legend. Together, the faithful stood with the Wind Dragon's servants, and raised their voices in challenge.
Their challenge was answered. The Firelord Cult marched with mighty armies and mighty magics. The sands were scoured and melted into glass by the wrath of the Firelord Cult. But the Wind Dragon's power shielded his faithful with a mirror that turned the Firelord Cult's strength back upon itself. Few were the cultists who broke through the protective arch of the Wind Dragon's wings, and they were easily defeated by Quetzalcuatl's champions.
Then did Warfire's anger run hot. He cast down from the heavens his great heroes of old. Mighty pillars of flame rose up on the battlefield. Great was the death they inflicted, and great too was the response they drew. For Metzli unleashed her Stars upon their ancient enemies. The final battle in an ancient war was to be fought at last. Warfire grew got and huge in the sky, and rained down bolts of fire on his foes. The Four Ghosts of Metzli moved to cast themselves in Warfire's path, but could not protect all the field from Warfire's burning rain. As death rained from the sky, and divine warriors beat the earth of Lifefire with their stamping feet, many faithful on both sides of the conflict died.
Across the field, and across Lifefire, mankind looked to the sky, and saw with Warfire's enraged approach and rain of flame the end of all things. A moment of peace and clarity fell upon all who beheld their end. They cried for Quetzalcuatl to save them, and Quetzalcuatl answered.
A warrior of the winds, the Hand of Quetzalcuatl, did stride forth. To face him, came in a strike of flame that slew hundreds, the hated avatar of Huitzilopachtli himself. The champions faced one another for the last time.
Lifefire shuddered as Huitzilopachtli was struck down. In the sky above, Warfire was blown out by a mighty beat of the Wind Dragon's wings, leaving only a thin curtain of flame to mark the sun's passing.
And all beheld the Feathered Dragon appear on the field. With a mighty roar, the Dragon chased the warriors of flame and star from the land. Mortal armies too, ceased their conflict and bowed before the ruler of Lifefire returned. Only then, with his faithful safe, did the Feathered Dragon soar down beneath the earth to coil on his throne, and to begin breathing life back into a devastated world. Indeed for the first time in generations, a cool wind was felt to blow across Lifefire, in hot desert and by damp sea-shore alike.
The Fifth Age of the Sun had begun at last, and along
with mighty Quetzalcoutl, hope had returned.