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Gray Richardson
Master of Realmslore
USA
1291 Posts |
 Posted - 16 Oct 2010 : 07:02:58
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Make sure to read the history section of the 4E FRCG first. There are some important timeline details revealed.
I agree that the War of Light & Darkness didn't happen at the beginning, the 4E FRCG indicates that there was already sea life alive on Toril before the first sun was extinguished. This may or may not have included the aquatic creator race in their octopoid form before they became the Batrachi. I like to think they were around.
I am not so sure land versions of the creator races were around, I don't think land-dwelling critters appeared until after the 2nd sun was kindled. But how they did come about is a great big blank, so I guess there is some wiggle room. Were they created? Did they evolve naturally? Did they appear spontaneously through magic? Were they an offshoot of some other races? The Sarrukh could have evolved from some kind of eel or sea snake. Magically assisted evolution cannot be ruled out--something akin to Faezress that caused rapid evolution over a few thousand years instead of millions. |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 16 Oct 2010 : 15:57:37
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quote:
Originally posted by Gray Richardson
Magically assisted evolution cannot be ruled out--something akin to Faezress that caused rapid evolution over a few thousand years instead of millions.
This is my thinking.
I don't know if you ever read any of the Well World novels, but a lot of the psuedo-science in them helps explain magic, amongst other things.
I've never read a series before that so aptly married the concept of genesis and evolution, which is the one I use (even in RL). As the universe was formed, life was allowed to evolve naturally. What would seem like millions of years to us are just days to Immortal beings. When the time was ready, the 'Creators' choose their vessels, tweaking evolution to fit their design, and then placed a soul within the beings they wanted sentient.
So humans and hundreds of other intelligent species evolved 'naturally' and when they were ready they were filled with 'holy spirit' (or whatever you would like to call it), thus becoming 'Man' (and all those other sentient races in the novels).
So I picture the Ordials creating the universe from the Elemental Malstrom (the body of the dead Drękon Ymir), forming the spheres and nurturing life. Then when the time was right, they choose whichever races they felt were best suited to the mysterious 'destiny' that GOD(s) had in store. Because of the elemental nature of the Ordials, they could not agree, and thus were five races chosen in the before-time.
On each world these five races take slightly different forms, and on some all five thrived, while on most only one or two became dominant and the others died-off. On a few worlds all the first races were destroyed, and something else entirely took their place (mostly do to the corruption which Chthon is constantly fostering upon the Prime).
When Shar extinguished the first sun (A'Tar), it only took a fraction of a second for Ao (an Elder Ordial) to react and create a new one (La'Thander), but it was enough time for the world to have been shattered. This is why Ao needed to rebuild the world(s) and seperate the Ordials from the Deities (which were created through ascension or spontaneous procreation).
BTW, a small piece of what I had in that now-lost work:
Selūne was beside herself with grief for her lost love A'Tar, and begged Ao to bring it back, but Entropy's manifestation in Realmspace - Jergal - would not allow it. A deal was struck - A'Tar could be returned to life only if a portion of it's power was shared with the Dusk Lord, and so the tri-patriate Sun was born. Sharing the life of La'Thander and Jergal amongst three beings meant that only two could be present in the mortal world at any one time, and the other had to go quietly into the night. As the sun crosses the sky in three phases, so shall the millenia pass, a face of the day being hidden a third of each thousand years.
But Jergal was a clever one, and when it's time comes around, it passes on its portfolio of Dusk Lord onto some hapless pawn, thus retaining its power while circumventing the conditions of its contract. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Markustay on 16 Oct 2010 16:07:29 |
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The "Lost" Tribe
