On the age of the rulers

This is a translation of the original text “Vom Zeitalter der Herrscher”

...Land and sea were shaped, clouds formed and mountains stacked. Every form of living being ran or flew, swam or crawled in the realms which the "Quihen Assil", who are also called "the world children" or "the eternals", had made. The soul of Mitraspera lived and in the eternal cycle the beings were born and passed away and the world children walked amongst them.

So it happened that they had the desire to create beings that resembled them in spirit and shape and should inhabit and rule the world as their children.

Each race of the Eternals created several races of beings, different in shape and size, different in habitat and species, but all blessed with the spark of knowledge and the flame of understanding. Some of these peoples did not last long, perished again immediately after its creation. But others existed and survived. They were taught and educated by the children of the world and grew to become a cultural splendor.

These peoples were later called "rulers" or "ancient rulers" by those who followed them. As they grew and acquired power and wisdom, the children of the world felt that their presence was no longer necessary and probably not even desired by their children, because they wanted to control their own destiny and live freely, without guidance.

So the Quihen Assil left the rulers and withdrew from the world, but remained as an integral part of creation in Mitraspera, in refuges deep in the sea, high in the sky and in the depths of space.

From there they look at the world and enjoy the life and change of their creations: 

The cultures of the rulers, however, flourished, and although they were not blessed with the power of their creators, they invented mighty things, ruled over nature and weather, shaped the face of the land according to their will, and became almost immortal. 

As their greatest work they succeeded in creating other thinking beings, own peoples who were lower than them, which they called the "young peoples", and which one knows today as the " elemental peoples ". They taught and educated them, as the Quihen Assil had once done with them. But also, as soon as the rulers had been left on their own, an essential difference between them and the Eternals came to light:

Where the world children had always created together and had been filled with the spirit of the united creation, the ancient rulers fought against each other, warred and destroyed each other, demolished cities and slew the peoples and children of their enemies. Despite such deeds, that time was later called "the golden age", the time of the rulers, the peak of the cultural creativity of mortals on Mitraspera. But this age was not to last forever.

When the rulers had achieved all that was attainable by the power of the elements and the nature of themselves, their opinions diverged:

Many wished to continue to live as they did, in the blessing of the sacral elements, but knowing that the limit of what was possible in creation had been reached and that one would have to limit oneself with humility. They called themselves "the Adamant Ones".

Some, on the other hand, believed it was time to follow the example of the Quihen Assil, to leave the world to the young peoples that had been created, and to withdraw themselves. These called themselves "the Silver Ones."

But more than a few also thought that it was now time for the generations of rulers to overcome everything that had existed before, the creation, the Quihen Assil and even the elements themselves by the power of their intellect and thus become true creators themselves. These were called "the Sceptics".

Those sceptics were the ones who gave birth to what was called "Ratio", the source and the gateway of every conceivable and unthinkable new creation. Even when, becoming aware of the possible consequences, the most powerful of the rulers, across all boundaries of opinion, united in an alliance called "the Pact of Nine", and at great sacrifice sealed that source and everything that belonged to it, it was too late. 

The seeds of world doubt had sprouted and four great evils, creations without soul and without blessing of the elements, had been born. They were called "the Forsaken" and are known today as Black Ice, Undead Flesh, the Absolute Void, and Oily Pestilence.

For some time, the new creations lived peacefully and in control alongside the old ones, for the sites called Shan Meng Ray and Shan Meng Feyn were established, where the mighty could arbitrate by duel instead of waging war on the land.

But betrayal ended the peace, and when the new creations got out of control, even the arrival of the heralds of the Quihen Assil, now called Avatars, could not prevent war, which was to disfigure the face of the world. The battles were enormous and the destruction was beyond anything imaginable. Living beings and the land were tormented until in the end almost nothing remained that was worth fighting for, because the victories belonged to the Forsaken, who left behind only death and wasteland, as was their nature. 

Finally, in the hour of greatest need, the last of the Adamant Ones called the Quihen Assil themselves to their aid. And so some of the Eternals returned to the world. The forsaken creations had nothing to oppose the power and the wrath of the world children, and they were rounded up all together and locked under enormous seals, which were closed by the power of the land, because presumably they could not be destroyed completely...

The remaining adamant rulers, however, were banished by the Quihen Assil. For 1000 generations, their peoples would live beyond Mitraspera while the land healed from war. Only the few of the young peoples who survived the ravages of the Quihen Assil remained behind, hidden in enclaves, for most of the land was uninhabitable during the time of banishment.

A thousand generations have now passed and the heirs of the rulers have returned in the form of the diverse peoples of the settlers, tolerated by the children of the world. But the settlers are now subjected to trials, because by opening the seals and thus regaining the land, they must face the ancient terrors that their ancestors once created, until one day they will reach the source of world doubt, and there both their fate and that of Mitraspera will be decided, perhaps for good...