Graterras: Birth of a Universe [CW: Short Story.]

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

They say, the world begin in darkness. That at the beginning of time that there was nothing but an inky black abyss. They'd be wrong. In the beginning, there was a primordial being. We don't really know what he was, but many believe he was the father of dragons. He was the first and only being that existed.

 

His body was thought to be a mass of stars. A lithe and long form that sprawled on for eons. A being that transcended time and space. If there was darkness, it was nothing next to the light he cast into the universe. He was the embodiment of the sun, before there was a sun. He was the moon, and the stars, before their creation. Flames danced underneath his skin bringing forth an eternal light. They licked the skin with a gentle caress, the touch of a lover. They did not burn him. The energies swirled in sorts of colours, a display that if it could be seen would be incomprehensible to a mortal. The glittering lights danced, happy to serve the being in lighting his way.

Not only was he the light, the Flame of the the Universe he was also the Stone of the Universe. For he was the first world, the primordial being. He was both a living creature, and a world himself. Stone was born from him, it gave world's shape and a physical existence. With his hands he shaped the clay and sculpted a million worlds. He labored for eons, slaving over every world with his weary and tired hands. He scraped away the roughs with the force that was unimaginable. He thought to even leave some blemishes, as to know true beauty one most know what roughness looks like, ugliness. But, even in it's own strange way it was beautiful too. After all, if a primordial being left it to exist, it must beautiful. He would toil and dig his claws into the very stone that he pulled from his body. Each new world, a small piece of himself. Each world a child of sorts. He'd not leave them until each was perfect. He'd work until his hands bled.

 

He was also the Wind of the Universe. His every breath a divine word, with it carried the weight of a million worlds, the ones he had given form.. Where it went things changed, laws, truths, the very fabric of the universe around it. At its touch, worlds bloomed. They sprung to life. Flora sprouted in the rough cracks of the world. Lush greens painted the surface of the ruddy brown surface. Dust rose from the surface as life grew from underneath. Trees, flowers, and thousands of others struck their heads through the dusty surface. They came to greet his light, at the beckoning of his sweet and honeyed voice. They heard his call and looked up towards him, and basked in his light. But, he needed to give this life something with which to be sustained. He had been so ashamed at forgetting this, that he was brought to tears of frustration. And thus, he was also the Ocean of the Universe. His tears filled the dry worlds. They filled the blemishes he had made, gave them true purpose as they filled the spaces, and created lakes, rivers, oceans, delta planes, and filled all of the emptiness in the body of the stone, with a body of water.

 

It took so long that he couldn't remember how long he had been here anymore. Eternity had no meaning to him, for his was the only being, the only one who could feel the effects of time. To him, it had been mere seconds. No events marked the passage of time other than his works of art. To him, each work flew by in an instant. But, he now sat here, with nothing to do. More and more it dawned on him what this meant. He could only feel one thing. Loneliness.

 

Forlorn, he flew around the universe looking for some place untouched by his hand. Looking for, something he could shape, he could sculpt, create...just to ease the burden of his mind. However, much as he felt, the effort was hopeless. Even had he found what he was looking for, it was only a matter of time until it resurfaced and probably worse than before. The repressed feeling already lashed at the back of his mind like a tide bashing against the shore of the sea.

For the one thing he wanted, he didn't know how to create. A friend, someone like himself. He wanted, companionship. He wanted to not be alone in this universe. However, in his quest to create he had forgotten that. He had forgotten how despondent the lonely beat of his heart was.

 

He had created life but it wasn't like him. It was mindless, unable to think, feel, to be as he. He wanted to be able to speak to it as he could. So, he spoke another word into the universe. "Friend". He said. A futile effort. It did nothing. He, had never felt his words not move the cosmos. This feeling to him... it broke what little he could hold onto. In grief, he scratched into his arm the word friend over and over, hoping that the power in his body could make it come true. He created more and more words to describe the feeling he wanted to create what he wanted to exist in this world. The antithesis to his pain... the remedy. However, for him it wasn't meant to be. He felt as the final drop of his blood spilled from his body, and in that moment, he felt an incredible surge of despair. But, in that despair he found the answer to the question that had long alluded him. He discovered the secret to life, life like himself. He took in one final breath, one final divine wind and he exhaled a new command to the universe. "Disperse!"

 

With his final word, The Primordial Being expelled his form into the cosmos. He tore it into small bits, each a part of himself. Nine aspects where what he could manage to do in the time before his conscientiousness ceased to be. He created them, so that they wouldn't be lonely. So they wouldn't need to feel the pain he suffered in the world by himself. He created the remedy to his ailment, to late for it to save himself, but... if it would save others from that pain, he was more than happy that his life went towards this discovery. He was happy, that he could feel the absolute depths of despair so that no other had to. His blood would be the reminder of that. It stained every world now. Each piece of his body felt as the blood drops sank into their center. Each one becoming the world's heart. They all beat in unison. A million drums beating as one. Each of the Nine felt the echo of their father within them. They each felt the sting of his loneliness. But, each also felt the hope he had, and, the want to complete their father's mission.

 

The first layer came with the breath that created the "Final Word". In his breathe was expelled a great drake of wind. An opaque form of pure air. He shimmered in the light of his father's body. A phantom in the expanse of space. Before the body of his father, he was the only to watch The Dispersal. For he was the dragon of mind and for now, he couldn't move. For with the Primordial beings breath, he expelled his mind from his body. It melded with the air, and became, a Dragon. The platform that created the universe, the mind that had envisioned it, now rested outside his body in it's new form. The Breath of the Universe. The Wind of the Universe, Now, given form. The force that envisioned, now had form. The Mind that bent the fabric of what could be, now formed a dragon of wind, one born from the last breath of his father.

The second layer to be removed was the one that was closest to the surface.

 

Emotion. The strongest part of the Primordial Being at the time. It was his emotions that burned white hot, the heat of a collapsing star. The twisting energies underneath his skin burst forth. The light that had lit the universe, broke forth from his being. His very soul took essence, form. Form it was born a great drake of fire, but also... a Drake of pure starlight. The two had been intertwined within the primordial being and now that he began to tear himself apart, they came undone and became two dragons. For the emotion he felt most at the time was hope. Two sisters. One, made for from the flames of stars, and raw emotion. The other, the Light that came from the flame, hope. The Emotions of the universe were given form, and the most powerful of them, hope was given it's own form. The Fire of the Universe, it's emotions, and the Light of the Universe, the leader of emotions, Hope. With this, the heart... the soul within the Primordial being had left it's body. The flame, the Soul of the Universe, snuffed out. However, it lived on in these two Dragons. Together, they were the Soul of the Universe. The Flame and the Light, they sang together. They were two different beings and yet, one in the same. Sisters of the soul.

 

Next, the loose knowledge within the Primordial Being, poured forth from his form. A deluge of murky water poured from every pore on his head, and out of his mouth, a waterfall. For when his mind left, the knowledge didn't follow. It remained within. The Only thing keeping it in place, the heat of emotion. But, with that heat gone, it poured freely, like blood from an open wound. It cascaded out of his mouth, his eyeless sockets. Every place the fire and the light of stars had once resided, now a primordial ooze seeped out of. It was a murky navy, the colour of spoiled water. When it hit space, two liquids started to separate. One, a clear crystal form, water. The other, a black sludge. Something that could only be described as some sort of... darkness. The crystal clear waters poured into the great abyss, as they formed a Drake of pure water. One that held all the knowledge that his father had. He held the key to the universe in his hands, all it's secrets resided within him and, the depths of the ocean that was the knowledge he inherited from his father. The Ocean of the Universe. The Knowledge lived on in him. The other however... was the cost of knowledge. What knowing did, the thing it inspired. Despair. The antithesis of hope, for despair was no true emotion. It was a phantom that pretended to be. It was a false being. However, the despair that lived within the Primordial Being's mind now leaked out. It had only previously been suppressed by the hope within his heart, his soul. Now, it was free. Unlike the the Flame and the Light... these two were not kindred spirits. Together they didn't create anything good, they did not become more than themselves. Despair was only a being that suppressed and tried to destroy. Darkness personified. The Ocean of the Universe, stared at this being created with him, and wanted to understand why it was created. But, he couldn't bare to look at it. It... pained him that this being was created from his father as he was. However, for the time being, he was stuck with The Darkness of the Universe, it's Despair.

 

Nearly nothing remained within the Primordial Being's body anymore. It sat still for so long. The Breath of the Universe had almost left. He was sure that whatever was happening had ended. Until he felt, something hit his heart. A strange sense of... Justice? He wasn't really sure how to describe what he felt. That word came to mind, but it had no meaning to him. Another word then filled his head. Ideals. He could feel the emergence of two more forces. Both, two sides of the same coin. They were to represent the same force, but it's give and it's take. Two Beings that were in essence, one. first, a flash of Platinum. From it, was born a dragon that looked noble and proud. Breath felt in his heart that this dragon, whoever he was, was perhaps the strongest of all of them. Only he made his heart move this way. Beat with the force of the strongest gale. His skin shone with as much light as the Flame and the Light of the Universe. The Soul of the Universe. However, The Breath felt, an equally powerful reaction as from the other side awoke a darker power. a cloud, pitch black puffed out from beneath the Primordial Being, directly opposite the shining platinum dragon. The cloud was darker than even when Despair was created. This dragon, was the reflection of the other. Her form was terrifying in equal parts to the awe inspired by platinum dragon. Her obsidian scales caught the light from her brother and reflected the light as well. While she didn't create her own light, she was capable of having it light her dark form unlike Despair. What... was she? Breath didn't understand as he watched the two separate from their father. They went opposite directions. Both stole a glance at the other as they passed. A spark seemed to jump between the two's glares. Two beings, diametrically opposed. The Ideals of the Universe. They both together represented this. Breath hesitated to say one or the other was good or evil. He figured that, would simplify matters too much. But, he noted that both, could be seen for what they were. The platinum dragon, the vanguard of all things good, the obsidian dragon, the champion of all dark endeavors. Yet, he hesitated to believe one was evil, and one was good. For, it was perspective that told that story, wasn't it? It was one own's point of view that told them which was which.

 

All that remained now, was the rock that had once been the body of the Primordial Being. It seemed, lifeless as it just floated in the vacuum of space. The husk that once held so many things, was now empty. Breath stared at it wondering if, something else had yet to come forth from it. After all, the last time he had thought it over, it wasn't. He would find himself correct once more. Except, this time, nothing came out of the body. The Body itself was given new life. Stone cracked and dust flew off of it in all directions as the once stationary corpse began to move. It wasn't undeath, but new life. The giant being, remained the size of their father previously. He was an immense dragon made from pure stone. The first thing he did with his life... was scream in pain. Breath knew why. He, only remembered vague things from his Father's time, after all, he didn't inherit his Father's knowledge, but he did inherit his mind. And with it some things remained regardless. One of them, was that his father used his own body to create the worlds within the cosmos. Did, this new dragon feel all this pain? Was it because pieces of him were torn away? Did their father feel this pain? Breath noticed the thousands of missing pieces that lined the skin of this new dragon, the one that now owned the body of his father. This dragon, had inherited the Stone of the Universe, but with it, the Pain of the Universe as well. His body felt the pain of being split into many pieces. It didn't effect the Primordial Being, but this dragon wasn't nearly as complete as he. He was a living world like his father, but, he was nothing more than that.

 

And with that, The Breath of the Universe found himself alone. He had witnessed the birth of Seven dragons. And, surely, this was all there was meant to be. There was nothing left of his father after all. And so, he decided to leave like his other siblings.

However, as a result he missed the birth of the final dragon. The being of pure nothingness. A being born from the absence of the Primordial Being. In the darkness, her form was given shape. She was the epitome of the Primordial Being's feelings. She was the emptiness he felt, the loneliness. Nothing. Nothing, and yet something. For... nothing couldn't exist.. could it? And yet, it did.

 

And so, the Nine children of the Primordial One were brought into the Universe. Each inherited from him something. But, they never knew his name. They never knew the name of the forlorn shadow that gave them their life. They each felt a part of him, but none of them, the complete feeling. But, they all knew what his favourite thing was. The sound of a heart beating. The sound, of life itself. And so, he was known as Heartbeat. For he was, and is still, the heartbeat of this universe.

[Honchy]

Whoa, this is a really descriptive story! I thought it was really detailed!

Edited June 16, 2016 by Honchy

[Cyanna Cyril]

I really enjoyed this creation story, Hukuna. I do have a bit of feedback, but it's only suggestions. Take them as seriously as you wish.

1) When you're describing the different aspects of the Primordial Being, you refer to him as the XXXXX of the Universe, whether it's stone/wind/fire/ocean/light. I feel like these might be made stronger by refining their descriptions/paragraphs to be a similar style. Or, another idea might be to weave them together as opposites. Describe him as the fire of the universe, but then reflect on his opposite self as the ocean.

2) When he splits apart into 9 pieces, it's not really clear if those are referring to the beginning where he's XXXXX of the Universe or if they're completely unrelated. A little clarity here might back the piece better. Also, I don't really know why the number is 9 if there's any significance to that number or you believed it to be approproate before losing consciousness.

3) It might be interesting to know more about the splitting apart. Which piece came first? Did that piece influence how the rest viewed the universe they were dispelled into? Are they all the same size?

In the end, it's still a very interesting read. Keep doing great works Hukuna!

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

I really enjoyed this creation story, Hukuna. I do have a bit of feedback, but it's only suggestions. Take them as seriously as you wish.

1) When you're describing the different aspects of the Primordial Being, you refer to him as the XXXXX of the Universe, whether it's stone/wind/fire/ocean/light. I feel like these might be made stronger by refining their descriptions/paragraphs to be a similar style. Or, another idea might be to weave them together as opposites. Describe him as the fire of the universe, but then reflect on his opposite self as the ocean.

2) When he splits apart into 9 pieces, it's not really clear if those are referring to the beginning where he's XXXXX of the Universe or if they're completely unrelated. A little clarity here might back the piece better. Also, I don't really know why the number is 9 if there's any significance to that number or you believed it to be approproate before losing consciousness.

3) It might be interesting to know more about the splitting apart. Which piece came first? Did that piece influence how the rest viewed the universe they were dispelled into? Are they all the same size?

In the end, it's still a very interesting read. Keep doing great works Hukuna!

1) I probably could clear these up by more explaining what these elements represent within the story in the wrold of Graterras. Perhaps the only well explained one was Stone, being that Earth represents the body or physical form.

2) The Nine, sorta have a different story I'd probably teel about them that continues the story of the Creation, and how Graterras itself came to be however, it probably makes sense to expand on how he tore off each piece of himself and what each piece is and represents. In this, I could also more closely explain the elements explaining the pieces therein. It'd, probably set up the second part of the story much better as well. For example, he would cast off his mind to create a dragon of wind etc, and keep casting away parts of himself until there were nine dragons in total. ((9 is actually the number because it corresponds with the alignment chart most commonly known from Dungeons and Dragons. SInce each of the nine is an imperfect aspect they are actually extremely bound by what they are, and it really narrows how they act etc...)) Basically I could see how this would be helpful to set up here, even though it will only impact the part after.

3) would come more with explaining the Nine in and of themselves. ((for example I know that the Ninth represents nothingness. He is filled with nothing but negative space and energy. He's the last of what was left. He takes on the aspect of true neutrality, or one that has no ties, but to the utmost extreme. Of the Nine, he's the closest to Heartbeat in that he was what was left of him after The Dispersal. More or less, he is the epitome of his loneliness, emptiness etc... think sorta like a Nobody from Kingdom Hearts in a fashion. He's nothing, but... even nothing is something.))

I probably could and should add some of that stuff within to just describe moreso how things are and what they are. As each XXXXX of the Universe, becomes one of the Nine, though I didn't explain all of them even XD. So, yea I could probably clear up things around "The Dispersal" a bit since it's rather vague and might be a source of interesting information. ((at times I forget that I know more about what's going on then others do... that and I kinda just write and shit happens. Luckily! I can edit lol.~))

Glad you two enjoyed it and thanks for the suggestions. They are probably rather useful and something I may twist into the narrative so the Nine are easier to understand later. ((since I know I'll probably write about them at some point.))

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

aaAAAAAAA GRATERRIAN FOLKLORE AKLSDJSALDKJG

this universe never lost its magical quality and allure. <3 you never have, kuna.

is the nine here referring to the set of deities you introduced in your RPs and stories??? are you going to write about each of those gods' lores, too??? OwO

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

aaAAAAAAA GRATERRIAN FOLKLORE AKLSDJSALDKJG

this universe never lost its magical quality and allure. <3 you never have, kuna.

is the nine here referring to the set of deities you introduced in your RPs and stories??? are you going to write about each of those gods' lores, too??? OwO

Sorry for not answering sooner Zephy lol, but na, these are the Nine Dragon Aspects, or the pieces of Heartbeat. They aren't the gods that were present in the RP as those are the human gods, or the Nine Divines. However, part of the story of the Dragons Aspects is them creating the Nine Divine to rule over the world their father wanted to create. I will probably get to them though after I tell more of the story of the Nine Dragons.

Also as a Note, Updated! I put in the parts about the aspects splitting and moreso, what "The Dispersal" was. Hope you all enjoy~