The Story of the Godstones

During my lifetime many men have come to me on quests of knowledge. Knowledge is a powerful tool in our ever-changing world. These men seek the history of kingdoms that have been destroyed for ages, races no longer seen and lords that helped shape the world. Still, of all the stories that I?ve recorded, none is requested more than history of the Godstones. The stones have shaped the hearts of men since the dawn of the modern world, and through those men, the stones shaped the direction of our history. Most think of the stones as mythical objects only present in bedtime stories told by their mothers on sleepless nights. They may be right. Whether this story is a legend, a myth or history is not my place to say. Instead I?ll reveal the story in its purest form as it is recorded in my books. - Lore-master Raenar

The immortals lived in a place without form. Their existence was empty of substance and filled only with their awareness. It was a paradise of pure thought they shared together. It was the elder named Calen who first changed their existence. She is present at the start of every new beginning, and her simple contribution changed reality forever. No one has learned what inspired her act of defiance against their void, but it was a simple act; Calen laughed. Her voice filled their world with noise. Her giggles were the first time an immortal made substance from ideas. Her voice and dreams brought aspiration to the others. Her simple sounds of joy were the first creations of the immortals. It allowed the others to become conscious that their thoughts and dreams could be turned into something beyond the empty ether of their current existence.

One immortal named Nielanna was sorrowed by the joyfulness. They made her realize the elder?s existence was one of emptiness. Nielanna recognized their place as a void filled only by the sweets sounds of a Calen. Nielanna dreamed of a place filled with sounds and movement. For how could their thoughts and wishes truly be worthwhile if there was nothing beyond them to love them? Her wish evoked the first sunrise on Mormothor. So it was that the sorrow of Nielanna brought the world out of shadows. With the first sunrise, the rest of the elders took notice of the beauty of substance.

When it was first discovered, Mormothor was a world without consciousness, but the elders loved its beauty. Still without form, the immortals wandered the forests enraptured by the light cast down through the dancing leaves. The wind blew across open plains and between mountains. It cast a subtle whisper across the world. The rivers flowed down the nooks in the land to meet the welcome oceans. The world was alive with sound and movement so beautiful that Calen no longer felt the need to sing her own.

Of the immortals, it was Trellin who found his expression in the flowers and fauna. He created a garden so that he could see all of the most beautiful species at a single time. He spent all of his time searching out the hidden places for the most beautiful and rare flowers and he brought them back to his garden. Slowly he created a small piece of land filled with every imaginable color the world had to offer. He would interbreed the species to create more beautiful and wonderful flowers.

One day in Trellin?s garden a creature appeared. A rabbit, born of the same soil as the plants, poked its head up from the dirt and ran off into the forest. The elders were stunned. They could sense emotions from the creature, and that made this simple beast more like them than any other thing they knew. All at once the immortals wanted to see more creatures driven by emotion and their desire caused welling of life. The world shook and creatures erupted from the ground. A whole new wave of life and motion covered the ground, sky and oceans.

Alanere, always prideful, was sure that there could be creatures even more wonderful then those from Trellin?s garden. He wanted to something with the potential to be as intelligent as the immortals themselves. He desired to surprise the others, and revealed his idea only to Calen for help. One evening when the two were at work discussing what their creature should look like, Gorwen overheard them and became worried. He thought that a creature with the potential of the immortals might someday attempt to displace them forever. So Gorwen spent many long months trying to conceive a way to assure the power of the immortals over the creatures they were creating. He came up with the concept of mortality and planned to give it to these new creatures. His excitement for the idea was so great, without warning, it spread to all the animals on the planet. Though not expecting it to happen, Gorwen was happy for the mistake. Anyone with his curse of mortality could be displaced if needed. It ensured their place as the elders.

After many weeks of work, the first man emerged from the earth to take his place and immediately Gorwen gave him mortality. The curse was quick and unnoticed by the others. The immortals were enraptured by the beauty of man and quickly helped them to spread across the world. The immortals became so fascinated by creatures with their own intelligence that they took the form of man to interact with him. The elders openly walked upon the world and taught men skills and crafts to create many things of great beauty.

It is said that by taking on the form of man, the elders limited their powers greatly. No longer could they work their will so freely on the world. Instead they found the greatest capacity came from channeling their desires through their bodies or the wills of man to bring fruition to their goals. It was a great change for them to be so tied to the world.

Many decades past as men and elders grew to love and appreciate each other, and there was happiness and beauty across the world that has never been known since. Men lived much longer then, when the burdens of hatred and anger were not yet heavy on their minds. Finally, Gorwen?s curse caused its first causality. There was a mixed reaction when the first of mankind past away. It came as a great shock to the elders, but some, like Nielanna, saw it as part of what made men beautiful. For she saw that no man would ever need to live in eternal suffering; he would always eventually be given freedom from any difficulty of the world.

Alanere was devastated and swore to find a way to stop the deaths. He attacked Gorwen with all his might. Gorwen, still tired from his unleashing of mortality on the world, was no match and quickly fell. He cowered and apologized to Alanere, but Gorwen could not take back what he had done. Alanere would be forced to find another way, for he had made an oath to stop death, and he would not go back on it.

The world continued for a long time. Nations were formed and waged war on each other. Borders moved fluidly over the years as lords conquered neighbors. The immortals wandered the world and inspired people with their will. Melsanie and Aralain were the two most prominent of the immortals in the world of man. There wills worked against each other. Melsanie would be found speaking with kings of nations at war and inspiring them towards making peace while Aralain would be found next to the generals on the battlefield rousing hatred.

Then, without warning, things changed. All at once the elders vanished. There were rumors across the world about where they may have gone. People thought they must be planning some great change to the earth. Years passed by and hope for the elders? returned vanished. Mankind would be forced to live without their wise influence.

Almost ten years after they left, Melsanie returned to the world. She made a five-year journey to visit individuals throughout Mormothor that immortals had been friends with. She told each person she visited that the immortals were called away and it was uncertain when they would be able to return to the world. Yet, she left gifts behind. Each immortal had bestowed part of their consciousness into a gem. She passed these gems out to the friends of the elders. These gems became known as the Godstones. The person who controls a stone gains the ability to inspire others as the elders are able to. Melsanie finally left our world almost a thousand years ago. No one knows where the immortals have gone or when they will return. The only thing left of them on our world is the Godstones.