Here follows an account from an ancient scribe or priest, written, it is thought, six hundred years before the unification of Olaran. The original text was reportedly written in a stone, but this translation was created by the Scholars of Oxfrith, and dates to the year 5 in the reign of Alirion the Conqueror.

A god awoke amidst the expanse of space and time, which was devoid of life. Only drifting shards of stone and ice circled the void. With hands outstretched, this god made a light from their body that illuminated the expanse, and became Luminos.

Luminos gathered the drifting shards to form the foundation for creation. Seeing the ice and stone stand empty and still, Luminos gave a spark of their soul to the world. The once frozen mountains surrendered into rising seas and oceans. Valleys of rock began to melt and climb to towers of fire. Soon the world was in motion and churning.

Luminos saw the world was willing to nurture more of their creation. Land and sea still rose and fell, however, and would swallow what was made if left to its nature. Luminos, wary of the chaos in the world, created the air to calm the earth. Soon the world slowed, the churning lessened, and the time for life had come.

Luminos toiled upon the earth as though it were a garden. Each flower was given a purpose and each tree treated as a friend. These labours continued as Luminos created creatures and beasts, each with a unique role in this great garden. As the garden grew, some creatures clung to the shadows away from Luminos’s light. Seeing this, Luminos hung a great light in the sky and set the world to dance around it to chase the shadows. With this came the first dawn, and thus the Age of Light began.

Luminos needed caretakers to tend his creation. Similar to Luminos’s own form, the Elves were wrought. They were made swift and graceful and taught to wield a small portion of Luminos’ power, known as “Magic”. These beings were fair to look upon and gifted with near-immortality to assist in the care of the world and the protection of the light. 

Millennia passed as Luminos taught the values of life and creation. The Elves went on to expand the garden and build great civilizations. When the time came for the world to expand, Luminos revealed the next of the folk in the world. While Elves would become masters of magic and the natural world, they were not able to shape the earth and stone to open the rest of the creation to them. Thus, Luminos woke the Dwarves. 

Dwarves were made stalwart and strong for their purpose. These people were resilient to all the elements of the world, and stood stout so as to go forth and explore places their Elven kin could not. While Dwarves would not live for millennia, they were granted centuries of life to fulfil their tasks. They learned quickly and became the masters of nearly every craft, save the magic the Elves had learned in their time with Luminos. Although the finesse to wield magic was difficult for Dwarves, they learned to capture the essence of earth’s magic through runes embedded in their crafts. 

After more millennia passed and the children of the world flourished and expanded, Luminos took pleasure in what was created and allowed all creatures their free will to experience their gifts. Luminos departed to create the resting places for the souls of those who have laboured in their garden. Thus came the twilight days in the Age of Light.

While Luminos prepared a place of rest, the folk of the world prospered. The dark can be deceiving, however, and time will blur the memory of even the most long lived races. 

Many Elves began to doubt the teachings of their people, leading some to doubt the very existence of Luminos and their purpose in the world. A division among the Elves grew more apparent over time. A small few chose to remove themselves from the growing tension by isolating themselves in great forests or remote islands. Those who remained began to grow distrusting and apprehensive toward one another. Over centuries, this tension grew and evolved into aggression. Elves had the magic to create, proving to some that they were just as mighty as Luminos. Others held fast to their beliefs and teachings and remained unyielding in their faith to their true creator. That faith was tested in the centuries that followed. 

A great Elven noble rose among those who doubted the teachings of Luminos. This noble, Lord De’grun, set out to prove his own godhood. While Luminos gave the ability to create that which fit into the world, Lord De’grun sought to create something new and worthy of the title he desired. Turning to the dark and the secrets that lie and its shadows, he was able to create new races from the creatures that hid there. 

Thus from the shadow were born orcs, goblins, trolls, and other foul creatures of the dark. Lord De’grun and all who used this dark magic after were marked by its power. Their hair lost its colour, their skin grew pale, and their eyes grew dark to reflect the betrayal of the Light. This came to be known as the Fallen Age.

Once the division amongst the Elves became too drastic, violence was inevitable. Those who remained loyal to their charge and the teachings of Luminos began to refer to themselves as High Elves, and to the fallen as Shadow Elves. 

Lord De’grun crowned himself king of the Shadow Elves and lord over all creatures of the dark. After amassing his dark armies, King De’grun set upon the world to snuff out all that clung to the light. 

Centuries of brutal war followed and the Garden of Luminos knew chaos. Great hosts of Elves on both sides were wiped away and the darkness of the Shadow grew in their place. Even those who avoided the conflicts felt the pull of dark forces. The isolated Elves became distrusting and bigoted. Dwarves delved deep into the earth to avoid the bloodshed while seeking riches and wealth, going so far as to take treasures from the Elves to create tools of war for both sides. 

King De’grun went on to seek aid from a renowned Dwarven craftsman in order to create the ultimate weapon to attain the godhood he desired. In a ritual to imbue this blade with powers of creation and destruction, De’grun sundered the essence of his own being and bound his vitality to the sword. In the common tongue this weapon became known as the Etcher of Souls. King De’grun became known as Father of Shadow and was worshipped as a god by the creatures of darkness. 

Soon after, Prince Korlan, heir to the Kingdom of Shadow Elves, was born and the campaign to vanquish the light quickened. As the years passed, the High Elves were hunted and slaughtered by the hordes of the Shadow. Pushed to the brink of extinction, light had all but faded from the world. 

Just before their victory was complete, the creatures of darkness surrendered to their own nature and turned upon their master. Driven by greed and ambition, the generals in King De’grun’s army attempted to slay him and claim the Etcher of Souls. The Shadow Prince Korlan was forced into hiding while the hordes of darkness turned upon one another. Armies of Elves, orcs, and goblins rose and warred in the following years and eventually killed King De’grun. The Etcher of Souls was lost in the chaos. This has become known as the Age of Rebellion.

Luminos wept as the children of creation were seduced by darkness. The garden, once made to be perfect, lay scarred, wounded, and nearly devoid of all of its children. The Elves and Dwarves were diminished, but they continued to fight against each other as well as the remaining creatures of the dark. They burned their offerings in the ancient Fire Temples of Luminos, while outside the world grew dark.

Luminos set to their final labour of creation. While the ancient races slowly retreated from the world, Luminos made the last of their children: Mankind. 

Man was set to inherit the world as the ancient races collapsed. Their tribes and kingdoms would be built on the ruins of civilizations past, and this new race would arise to keep the sacred flames burning in the Fire Temples the ancient ones had built. While they were able to adapt to the world, they were not given the gift of long life as their older siblings were. Their lives would remain short in the span of time so as to give them appreciation for the gifts of life. 

Knowing the allure of the darkness, Luminos also chose to withhold the Magic of creation from Man, giving only small bits of knowledge to the first and wisest of this new people. Finally, Luminos fashioned from the stars a blade of shimmering beauty. It became imbued with the light of Luminos and would serve to protect and defend against the Shadow and the Etcher of Souls if it ever returned. The first men called this blade the Sword of Hope. Luminos took the blade into the world and hid it until the day it would be needed again. Luminos then departed the world to watch over it from afar. Thus began the Age of Man.