Yorash: The Beginning

It began with a pull. A s t r e t c h.

The gods, from their celestial plane, stretched their magic to its very limit, then watched as it folded in and over on itself, creating almost infinite matter - elemental planes, transitive planes, the Upper Planes, and of course, what we know to be the Prime Material Plane - all interconnected through the Weave, the very fabric of magical reality they themselves were made from. As these planes gained their own identities, so did the beings that inhabited them.

When it was finished, the gods weren’t shy about making themselves known. They flitted from realm to realm, walking amongst mortals as an everyday occurrence, but rarely were they able to conceal their power. Mortals quickly began to recognize their creators, assigned value and rarity to their favor, and boasted of their interactions. Some of the gods encouraged this worship and adoration, but many felt it was unnecessary - mortal lives were their own now, to do with as they pleased, to learn to pull on the Weave and interact with each other in their own ways.

Yet others still disagreed - these were their creations, and now they had playthings to do with as they pleased. Their baser intentions led to a rift within the cluster of deities, which quickly spread to the followers they had amassed, like it or not. A great war played out across all planes, destroying what little civilization had grown. Eventually, the hands-off gods and their allies gained the upper hands and were able to create the Lower Planes and the Nine Hells to permanently banish their more selfish counterparts and the worst of their allies, preventing them from direct disruption of the lives of mortals.

These gods, who became known as the Umbrad, had anticipated this defeat, however. In their final days, they each left behind a lifeline - a magical item that, if used correctly, could bring a dark god’s essence back to the Prime Material Plane, opening the door to their return.