The precise origin of Halcyon is clouded in mystery. The only sources of information are old relics and ancient ruins and temples throughout the world, some information is gathered directly from the Gods themselves, but they speak rarely of the time before man.
The Chaos of the Cosmos
In the beginning, there was only chaos, a messy cosmological and primordial mayhem that collided and conflicted with itself. It is believed to have been a realm of constant change, anger and hate. This changed when from either beyond the cosmos or from within it, certain entities used their power and influence of the chaos to stabilize it. These entities were the earliest forms of what we now know as the Deities of Halcyon. They carved out a section of the cosmos to begin shaping their vision for a different world. A world that would be known as the Prime Material Plane.
The chaos surrounding these young entities did not appreciate any sense of order being established within the infinite void. While these two forces fought eachother, it would only be a matter of time before the Deities’ world would be consumed by the chaos once more.
The Creation of Man
As the world began to take its shape, the deities created lesser forms to inhabit their created realm. It is believed that it was Titania who shaped the first beings, the Elves, who would walk upon the new world and gaze up at the heavenly skies as their creators continued to keep the cosmos at bay. Then, Mallus took it upon himself to forge the Dwarves, with whom he instilled the same desire to tame the world, the desire to create something. Next was a third race, the Humans, who were instilled with a sense of order by Solarion and curiosity by Luna to bring meaning to the world. Despite their short lives, they were imbued with ambition, joy, and a sense of purpose.
After the Elves, Dwarves, and Humans, many more species followed. The true origins or creators of these other species were, however, lost to time. Not even the meticulous and comprehensive archives of the ancient city of Aurora could shine any light upon this.
The Gift of Magic
While the deities were protecting the newly created life on their world from the hostile chaos outside, the creations themselves struggled to survive the harsh and unpredictable environments of an untamed world. They gained knowledge and attempted to build on the land, but even then many lives would be lost because of the seemingly uncaring world. In an attempt to aid their creations, the deities gave them a tiny fragment of their power, a sliver of the creation magic that brought mankind to the realm in the first place, to protect and shape the world around them as they deemed appropriate. This was the earliest form of Divine Magic. A type of magic that connected the people with their creators.
As time went on, more of what we now deem as normal came into existence. Solarion and Luna gave a sense of rhythm to the world by having the star shine its light upon the lands for half of the day, while the two moons, Majora and Minora, kept a watchful eye during nightfall.
The City of Aurora
The first spark of civilization was Aurora, the oldest surviving city in Halcyon, where community and preservation grew important as the world around them was still harsh to its people. The city housed a tightly knit community that lived in peace and harmony despite the brutal outside. The city would have the earliest known temples to the deities, and the oldest known records of history. These records are widely regarded as the primary source of understanding of the creation of our world. While there are various regional differences in the historical record, the broad strokes of this mythic history are undeniable.
It was in this city that mankind began to worship the deities, and it was only then that they were given name and form. The deities that we know now might have been significantly changed through this worship, but it is assumed that even before our world existed, the deities’ thoughts and emotions were still unique to them, but only reinforced through worship.
The Sundering
As mankind and the deities together poured their heart and soul into their realm, the chaos of the cosmos surrounding it only grew in anger and rage. It was only when the heavens began to fall and the essence of the world itself began to reclaim what was theirs, that mankind became aware of the wrath that outside forces were capable of. This event in history is called the Sundering.
Primal beings spewed forth from the earth and the seas and entities from beyond the heavens came down to destroy everything. This fight between the deities and the chaos fundamentally reshaped the land of Halcyon, shattering its essence, also known as Aether, across the spectrum. What was once an enormous stretch of land only surrounded by water, became an uncountable amount of floating islands and continents, all flying high above the unknowable depths of the Great Blue being held up by immense amounts of Aether.
The Gift of the Arcane
As the deities became desperate to save their realm and mankind was suffering greatly, the deities resorted to the most extreme measures. Luna gifted mankind with the ability to create magic on their own, without having to borrow the creation magic from the deities. This made mankind more independent from their creators and gave them more power over the world. The people that had a potency for this new kind of magic called themselves Arcanists.
This gave both the deities and mankind enough power to subdue the chaos attacking them, bringing forth an end to The Sundering.
Aftermath of the Sundering
Only a tenth of the population survived, and it created a schism within the Deities. Some of them wanted to protect the world with all of their power, some of them were overcome by grief and wanted to return the world to the cosmological chaos, as it was deemed a failure to them and too much to bear. This divide in the gods eventually culminated in the imprisonment of those that sought to bring the world to chaos. They were imprisoned in planes adjacent to the Prime Material Plane, where they would be unable to influence the world. Those that sought to protect their creation became the Prime Deities of Halcyon, while the others became known as the Traitor Gods.
As the realm was now scattered and broken, most of the civilized world had to be rebuilt. Aurora, stood the strongest, and even now is the only known continent that is still rooted in the Great Blue. The Elves that primarily inhabited it brought it back to its original glory. The Dwarves, Gnomes, and Humans that lived in Aurora invented technology and magic that was able to use the latent magical essence in the world, which was used in Skyship technology. A combination of using Arcane Magic and the natural Aether of the world to transport yourself through the world.
Golden age of Halcyon
Together with this new technology and the gift of the arcane, mankind sought to tame and master the new world in front of them, culminating in a golden age of the world. It opened up many possibilities for everyone to harness the world, magic, and its secrets. It is widely known as a long period of technological and magical progress for mankind, where magic users were able to innovate in unprecedented ways, completing difficult tasks with ease. It spawned wondrous, but also dangerous, new forms of life and power in the world.
The Cataclysm
But this progress also spread a deep rot through the world. It exemplified the arrogance and selfishness of mankind. One arcanist was obsessed with becoming a god, and became so powerful that they were able to challenge the deity of death, and won, taking their place among the gods. They subsequently made sure no one could gain that amount of power ever again.
Others became so disillusioned with the gods that they thought themselves to be the true owners of the world. Some of them went even further, losing sight of the meaning and purpose the world of Halcyon had to them, aligning themselves with the Traitor Gods, vowing to release them to give the world back to the cosmos.
One such powerful arcanist, Cyrus Tarathis, together with a group of other arcanists, indulged in this nihilistic worldview and sought power from the imprisoned gods, succeeding in opening the gates of their prisons. The Traitor Gods warped their prisons into reflections of their corruption, and their prisons also warped them in diabolical and terrible ways. Their emotions of loss and grief from the Sundering were twisted into hatred and an urge to dominate and ruin.
These newly released gods brought the arcanist under their wing and consolidated their power in secret. After a while, they declared war upon Halcyon and the Prime Deities.
This chaotic war over the future of the realm became known as The Cataclysm. Not much is known about the battles that ensued during this crucial event in time, but it’s effects are felt throughout the world. Ruins and artifacts from the war tell of unknown battles and stories. Legends and stories are told about the figures that fought in this war. It’s speculated that only a fifth of the world population survived this event. For the most part, all traces of the old world were erased from the face of Halcyon, leaving only a few ancient civilizations in well-preserved ruins.
The Veiling
The victorious Prime Deities banished their betraying kin back to their respective prison realms, and the world had to recover once more, just as it had to after the The Sundering. However, the threat that anyone could be convinced to bring about a second Cataclysm, still existed. The Gods created the Divine Veil, barring any god from materializing in the world, even themselves, and they could only influence the world through their most devout followers. This left mankind to survive on its own, to rebuild civilization, ushering in a new age of man.
Age of Man
After the veiling of the world, each different portion of the world began its own history. Some turned towards the Prime Deities, some turned to the arcane, but every single culture started a new history.