Creation Stories

[Lady Sabine]

One of mankind's oldest questions has always been "How did we get here?". It's worth assuming that, in your world, the humans or Elves or aliens or whatever they might be have also asked this question. But everyone that asks gets a slighly different version. Take a look at Earth, for example.
Abrahamic faiths take it that a single god created everthing from force of will. The Greeks had it that a goddess assembled Chaos into an orderly world. The Aztecs had another spontaneous-creation god, but it had sex with itself and a bunch of babies came and assembled everything as we know it. Giant turtles, Flying Spaghetti Monsters, gods of all shapes and sizes, chaos and voids and all kinds of things... and we haven't even gotten to scientific theories yet!
Fact is, explaining how we got here is always a challenge, and one unlikely for any culture to ignore. So if your culture is lacking a creation story, bada bing bada bam, here ya go!

YOUR JOB
to make a creation story, either scientific, religious, or merely storytelling tradition, that explains how the world came to be according to a culture.

Some questions you may want to consider:

• Was there something before the current world? Something before that? What was there first?
• Was the world purposely created or an accident?
• Are there gods, deities, immortals, or other similar beings that were there at the time or shortly after?
• How did this story of creation come to your people? Was it told to them by someone? Did they adopt it from another culture? Was it spontaneously created?
• What is the bias on this story that reflects on the cultue that tells it? (For instance, the Aztecs have it that their homelands were created first and are at the center of everything, an obvious political move)
• How fluid is this story? Does it change with the times/ideas/facts the culture is aware of? Do the people in charge of recording or telling it make alterations? If so, how has it changed from its original form?

RESOURCES!
Creation story Database - http://www.innovationslearning.co.uk/subjects/re/information/creation/creation_home.htm
Iroquois - http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6375/
Aztec - http://www.aztec-history.com/aztec-creation-story.html
Greek - http://www.pantheon.org/articles/g/greek_creation_myths.html
Pastafarian - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gospel_of_the_Flying_Spaghetti_Monster#Pastafarian_creation_myth
Big Bang Theory - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang
Non-BB scientific theories - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-standard_cosmology

 

[Kyd Jhesus]

In the beginning there was only Boi. Boi was a being of Light and Darkness. Boi looked like a man, Boi also looked like a woman as well. Boi switch appearances by it's preference at that time. You see, Boi was neither gender. Boi lived in vast a nothingness, Then one day Boi longed for something, Boi wanted to create something. Boi close both of it's mighty hand and mouth created 4 children when it open them and spit out of it's mouth. Boi then created the worlds and the stars. This left Boi very weak.

Boi's first child, Arka, The Thunder bird of Destruction and Beauty. She was beautiful in her human and animal form. She was a golden bird with giant wings in her animal form. In her human for she had gorgeous long blond hair. She appeared to be 20-25. She was violent but longed to create things as beautiful as her. She is the thunder goddess and maker of all birds.

Boi's second child, Nasto, The Lion of Healing and Pain. He was a black lion in his animal form and a black human that carried a wooden staff everywhere he went. He appear to be 35-40 He was the reason pain would fade and come. He was the creator of all land animals, He created them once he saw his sister do. He is also the earth god.

Boi's third and fourth child, Mu and Du, The twin Serpents of Emotions. Mu was the blue serpent off negative emotions and his sister Wu was the red Serpent of positive emotions. In there human forms they look as young twins around 8-12. The created all of sea creatures once there siblings showed them. They are the water god and goddess.

All 5 of these beings lived together. The siblings would battle trying to make on obey the others. One day Boi grew tired of them and attacked them it's self. Boi was very weak but Boi was still powerful enough to dominate all Boi children. Boi trapped each of his kid in a cage of Light and Darkness together. It was called the All Cage and now use to contain the universe from falling apart. Boi asked why they fight so much, They all responded that i was because the animals didn't worship them well. They wanted to be worshiped by highly intelligent lives.

Boi released them from the All Cage, Boi enjoined Nasto to bring him a mountain, Boi then had him break it down and had Wu and Du to add water to the dirt to make clay. They then made small sculptors, They then all painted them the way they liked it. Boi then ordered it's Oldest child Arka to strike the sculptors with lighting. She did not want to for she feared she will destroy the beauty she work so hard to create. Boi then told her they will be unharmed. She fired the mighty lighting and hit the sculptors, They dried and started to move, Man and woman has been formed. The gods then had people to worship them and they were pleased.

 

[Buio]

As it was recorded by Those Who Came Before, the world was created by the 'Pohaathum' or 'the creators' (more literally, 'the masters of creation'. Creation here being used as a verb rather than a noun) a group of nameless, shapeless, gods whose numbers could be anywhere from one to one thousand, to spanning into vast infinity, or could not exist at all, depending on their moods. Where these beings came from is unsure, as not even their oldest children fully understand the workings of these primordial beings, but it is said that when they found our universe it was as if an artist had stumbled upon a great canvas, and was inspired by its vacant state to pain on it his greatest masterpiece. It should be noted that another name for the Pohaathum is Haathfol, transliterated this means 'flow of creation' but it is also the word for 'time' in the language of Those Who Came Before. This is because the pohaathum were seen as ultimate neutral forces in and outside the universe, who were often existing in contradiction unto themselves (such as how they could be one, many, infinity, or none at all, often times all at once). They were seen simultaneously as the deities of time, the personifications of time, and the very flow of time immaterial itself, making it purposefully difficult to understand the chronology of their actions, as chronology is a concept that does not apply to them.

Existing outside of time, yet being the force of time itself, the pohaathum can be said to have created the universe in an instant, as equal as they can be said to have taken an eternity, and while the children of these elder gods claim that the pohaathum left this world upon the completion of their task, it can also be said that the pohaathum are still diligently at work painting this infinite canvas, as thy are time, and only when time reaches its end will they be said to have truly left. From the point of view of these divine beings, it could be said that they have both already completed, and have yet to begin this task, while from the point of view of the mortals, it would appear as if they are still working towards its completion. These are the fundamental differences between the Pohaathum and their creations.

Once their work was complete, and they had painted all the stars and planets and galaxies into the vastness of the void that was our universe, the pohaathum created six children to look over and guard the world where Those Who Came Before treaded. Six Velhape or 'children of those who came first', who were created at the end, yet existed since the beginnings of our world, partly mortal, and partly eldritch as their creators, serving as the bridge for the will of the pohaathum unto the mortal plane.

First, there was Am: the white bird of the skies, Goddess of Light; then her counterpart Ix: black serpent of the earth and Lord of Darkness. Next came Vis: green stag of the forests, God of Life, and his counterpart Mu: the gray rat of the underworld, queen of death (it is to be noted that the word for 'underworld' in the first language is the same as the word for caves, basements and grottos, she is the queen of all that lies beneath the earth). finally there came Fus: the cerulean tortoise of the seas and rivers, God of prosperity (this, in the sense of cultural, economical, technological, and intellectual growth, as prosperity in the sense of vitality and natural growth woudl fall under Vis' territory), and his counterpart Kah: red bull of the canyons and wastelands, Queen of ruin.

These six did rule over the land as physical gods, and brought balance to the world, serving both as lords and guides to Those Who Came Before, creating children of their own to serve as lesser gods amongst the mortals, and guiding all mortal races through their journeys through history, through the flow of time that was the creator of all, and destroyer of all.

 

[Krazaz]

This is from an incomplete short story I wrote called Harpy.
In the beginning, Orstar was an empty wasteland. It was there that Oralu and Harpy took shelter. They were deep in love and it was their fiery passion that brought life to our world. From this passion they had two children Khao and Oraudor. Oralu and Harpy gave more attention to Oraudor instead of Khao. Khao became jealous of his brother and angry at his parents. One night when Oralu and Harpy were sleeping, Khao paralysed the both of them. He threw his father into a hole in the center of Orstar and started to flood it with water. Khao plucked all of Harpy's feathers and made a pile of them which formed into the mountain. Khao then took his mother to a far off place, which we call the Desert of despair. When Khao came back Oraudor found what Khao had done, Khao then began to chase Oraudor, the two started to circle the world faster and faster, eventually they started to fly into the air and flew really high in the sky, one day Oraudor stopped and walked slower, this suprised Khao whom was still going fast, eventually Khao couldn't stop, his light became day, and Oraudor would be night, but sometimes one can see Oraudor being passed by Khao. One night, the hole that contained Oralu filled to drown him, but Oraudor woke him up and gave him the ability to breathe water. Unfortunately, Oralu was still unable to move from his position but he could move his arms. With his arms he was able to breathe life into five figures. One made of clay, one made of stone, one of sand, one of dirt, and the last of the feather of Harpy. These became the five peoples of the world, the Sofinos, the Lavents, The Akane, The Wastar, and The Harpies. Oralu told them they have the ability to make more of their own kind but eventually they would all become unable and they would have to mate amongst each other every twenty years where each tribe would have to give up five women, and give them to men of the other tribes. Generations flew by and the people established lands of their own, The Harpies lived at the summit of the mountain, the Lavents lived on the rock quarry to the south, the Akane lived on the small desert to the south west, the Wastar lived to the far west of the mountain, while the Sofino lived at the mountain base And as promised every twenty years one man from each tribe left to collect a woman and have a large wedding by the sea where Oralu lived. After years of racism growing for the people of below, the Harpies refused to send out men and refused to give up thier women, instead they attacked the men whom came, this angered the four tribes and they all attacked the harpies whom held them all off. Oralu was angered, but in his paralysis, there was nothing he could do, the agreement changed and the four lower tribes would only give up three women, and the world was to condemn the harpies for thier actions. Despite the warnings of Sterility, the Harpies still lived and so laughed at the tradition saying that Oralu had no power.

 

[Keiga]

This is the creation story for a steampunk world I created.


The Book of Anasharu: Creation

The Gods have always been and that is all there is, but creation was how they entertained themselves, proved themselves amongst each other and as always, it was a source of tension between them all.

Buru, a goddess of light, was a prodigy among the other gods of similar status. At her young age, her power had reached its full potential and was capable of creating life. This bright star of pure and holy light approached the throne of the gods and found great favor for her wisdom and humility. She had assisted in creating other worlds by adding light, color and beauty to help them thrive and grow, but the time had come for her to petition for a world of her own. As right of passage of fullness of power, young gods were allowed a chalice to be filled from the river of life and used to create a world, but because the King of gods was so taken by her, when she stepped forth from the small group of her peers, he gave her his very own chalice from the table of the High gods to everyone's surprise. There before the eyes of the host of the high court she dipped the chalice into the waters.

Buru's amber eyes sparkled as they reflected the contents of the chalice and with intentions pure of heart, she blew her own breath upon its surface. Crystals of several different shapes and sizes formed within the sacred water, physical embodiments of her power of light. Many of the gods gathered close to see the rare power she displayed as her light crystals shimmered reflecting their rainbow of colors about the court. The King commanded a path be cleared for Buru as she made her way towards the gates, the universe with its millions of twinkling stars and worlds just beyond. With great care she poured out her chalice and watched with delight as the contents took form, creating the world she named Altheria, its very atmosphere and soil infused with Aether, the vapor of the twice blessed water.

Each of the varying colors, shapes, and sizes brought forth different forms of life. Animals great and small multiplied rapidly as plants, rocks, oceans and mountains sprung from the land forming lush habitats that would sustain them. The last crystal, a large gem with an amber glow, she placed carefully within the world with her own hands wet from the life water. From this was born humes or humans as they came to be know, creatures made in her likeness, more glorious than any other being in Altheria. The Orburu, or The Eye of Buru, a center piece of creation, remained half embedded in the land for all humes to see, reminding them of their creator. The first city was established in the shadow of Orburu named Bur'lia in honor of their goddess.

For a few generations all was well and Buru watched her world grow and thrive. In turn, the King watched her as he had sensed a current of evil lurking beneath the perfect surface of Altheria. Unbeknownst to Buru, her brother Karu, the trickster that he was, had added a seed of his own among the crystals. A dark red stone hidden among the brightness of the others, and on the day of creation it silently fused with the pure crystals, silently tainting random creatures and objects as they formed. Its full powers lay dormant gaining strength from the negative thoughts of the free willed humes. Simple things that Buru took little notice of fed Karu's stain which could be anywhere and in anything, from a rock to a heshcat... even within her beloved humes.

Fatigue from working the field, petty jealousy of another hume's success, any negative emotion that was easily be forgotten the next day gave minute amounts of power to the stain over time. Soon these small things gave way to more violent emotions as Karu stain or Karuth pulsed within some humes, which eventually divided the peaceful humes. Sub clans broke off and moved into different parts of the land forming there own societies away from the great crystal Orburu.

The separation temporarily solved the issue but as Karuth pulsed in the land more strife came and with time... war. Hume turned against hume for the first time and a bloody war tore the land. Divided into four nations now the humes fought for power and control over each other.

Some hums turned to the creation crystal in their greed for more power to destroy each other and at the same time a well meaning clan wanted to posses it in hopes of ending the war. In the battle they shattered it scattering the shards in all directions. Orburu shards took on a dark red color as they spread throughout the land causing varying amounts of damage, altering everything it touched. Some humes were endowed with increased strength while others shrunk in height. Skin, eyes, hair, of humes and animals were randomly changed and the most hateful of the waring peoples with souls stained red by Karuth became more violent and deadly beyond the already cruel acts of war. Immediately Buru recognized her brothers trademark color and cried out in anguish as she watched her people use the perverted power in a war against one another.

With the great crystal broken they could no longer hear Buru and her tears didn't reach Altheria. The very atmosphere was stained preventing them from entering the land and they crystallized in the atmosphere. Horrified at this turn of events Buru ran to the King in tears telling him of her brothers trick and begged for permission to go to her people. Moved by the tears of a goddess he had come to love , he consented, but made her promise that she would become one of his wives upon her return. She agreed in haste and made preparation to go to her people. While she was occupied with thoughts of her people the King had Karu imprisoned, his sentence to be determined by the fate of the humes of Altheria.

War raged on in Altheria, until the day the sky shattered. All creation watched in awe as Buru, goddess of light, descended upon the land. The glow of her amber eyes filled with sadness and anger blinded many of those stained deeply with Karuth.

With her own blood and pure crystals of creation she formed another race, a stronger race untainted by Karuth. They were able to wield the powers within the new crystals she gave to them and summon the power of Aether from the atmosphere and ground. Buru called them the Valice, a pure race with the blood of a god. Islands of land were created in the skies so the Valice would not be corrupted by the stain of Karuth while they rested and prepared. Valice swept down from the skies using their ability to manipulate aether and entered the war drastically changing the tide. After destroying or purifying the humes and their stained weapons they had built to destroy each other the final stain of Karuth was wiped from the land.

The small remnant of humes left were now at rest, though some had been forever changed in appearance and nature. Buru still blessed these new races sealing the purification. On occasion tainted items or patches of land were discovered and were destroyed upon sight by Valice flame, the sacred light Valice yield by summoning the power of their crystal before it had an opportunity to take root in the living world again. The Valice remained in Altheria to protect a people that were now very afraid of magic and power.

Buru who was greatly weakened from the loss of blood ascended with the help of the King of gods. He was tired of waiting and found her frail form resting on the upper islands guarded by three Valice. Angered by her brother's part in all this he stripped him of his power and sent him to Altheria. Powerless and in the form of a hume, his very life was attached to the few remaining Karuth left in the world and when they were found and destroyed he would die.

Over time the Valice, no longer needed for battle, mingled with the humes and formed a new race. With time the War of the Valices was only known in legend. Each race on the five different continents has a different telling of the war as passed down from generation to generation. Though the names are changed depending on the language of the race, it is known in any history of all humes as the day Buru descended and healed the land.

The words of Anashuru, daughter of the King of gods and Buru, the blessed goddess of light.

 

[ze_kraken]

"Son, the time in life has come for a choice. You can be a farmer and live long and laborious years yet never you nor your family will starve. You can be a weapon smith and create the tools needed for others to do great deeds, yet accomplish none yourself. Or you can be a warrior and take these things the men have created and make something of yourself....It is better to go before Raelel with sword in hand." The father spoke, his voice firm yet gentle, seemingly a blend of the two.

His son, a young lad of thirteen years, gave him a raised eyebrow. "We fight for Raelel and the others, but how did we come here?"

The lad's father bellowed with laughter and sat back down in his recently vacated chair with a steady sigh of relief. "You best sit down yourself lad, this is no short tale..."

"Years ago, long before you or I, or even the fierce dragons, there existed a race of creatures known as the giants. Tall, proud beings, they spun their own flesh to create worlds and scattered them like tops across the cold expanse of the universe. Then came gods from far and wide to claim these worlds. Some, like our gods, were powerful. Raelel battled the dragon Varnarion for sixteen days to make a place for his people, and by the end of the grueling affair the two had come to respect one another. In her death throes, Varnarion spread the bones of her race across our world, creating the first dragons from the ashes of their mother. His task completed, Raelel asked the bravest and most intelligent of the dragons to watch over her own kind so that men might have a peaceful existence-"

"Is that how Ebrired became immortal?" The boy chirped, staring wide eyed at his father.

"Yes, it is how the dragon goddess came to be." The boy's father paused for a moment, then went on. "Now, there had been one race to come to the worlds before the gods. The Fae...." The boy riled in disgust: all knew Fae to be dark creatures of sorcery. All a warrior needed to make his fortune was his sword and shield, not the twilight-tale words of magic. "Men and Fae at first lived on equal terms. Neither side wished to see the other, and so peace went on for years and years until humans spread to more corners of the world. As the Fae lost their lands, they retaliated in the first war. At first the contest was in their favor, for the giants sided with the Fae. Their skin, being stuff of magic, regrew at a terrible pace, and so not even the bravest or strongest warrior could slay such a monster....Then the gods intervened. Raelel cursed the giants to lose their fabled regenerative powers, making them both moral and unable to create worlds. As the war ended, Raelel had lost his eye to an enemy god and Alil had been slain along with our ability to heal grievous wounds in the name of the goddess."

His son paused, then asked. "But now? Our crops are withering, our streams drying, the sun remaining an angry glare above us..."

"War has come to heaven, son." The father spoke, voice becoming dreadfully somber. "We may yet lose our watchers in the universe, leaving us alone. That is why you must fight. For as our wyrd is snapped, so it the gods. As the god's wyrd snaps, so does the wyrd of men. We are joined at the hip, and so we must fight the war they cannot, and we must win."

 

[Sheridan]

Note: This is not how my world's universe was actually created, it's just one of the fun theories the people of the world have. Also, I wrote this in the middle of the night when I was half asleep and bored because the internet was off

Until The Stars Burn Out​

"Everyone argues on how the universe was made. No one really agrees on it. I'm here to tell you the truth, how it all started." A woman with long black hair stands before you, her pale blue eyes showing her ancient soul, older than anything else. She holds a book in her hands, it is a dark blue, like the night sky. The covers and spine are old and withered, showing it had been written long ago. It looked ancient in comparison to the woman holding it who looked no older than her twenties. "Sit with me and listen my dear, for this is how your universe came to be."

Long before our own universe, there was another. A universe of war and hate where no one knew how to love. A universe of immortals. They never aged past their twenties and only magic could kill one. But one day, on separate sides of the world, to different sides of a great war, a girl and a boy were born to the generals of their sides When they started to grow it was obvious they were different. They were hard to anger, smiled often, and never hurt anything, not even plants.
Their races fed on hate and anger, not any actual foods. But these two children, the two anomalies, they fed on love and happiness. But that meant when they were constantly weak, only getting energy on the battle field from happiness of killing an enemy from others. They never joined the fight, they ran and hid, staying near the strongest fighters. It made them miserable, seeing all the death. Until they found eachother. Well, realistically, the boy found the girl.

She was being attacked by one of the soldiers from his side and he was going to kill her. He knew she was special, that he couldn't let her die. When the man kicked the girl again when she tried to stand the boy was overwhelmed by hate, by anger. The man lifted his head from kicking the girl as he was swamped in power from unparalleled amounts of hate. He turned his head and saw the son of the war general and barely had time to open his mouth before the boy, only half his size, sprang forward and ripped the man's throat out before they both collapsed to the ground, both out cold. The girl took the boy from the battle field despite her weakness and hid
him in the forest. When he awoke he was so happy to see the girl okay. Feeling his happiness made her happy. They soon found they were the same and over the years they hid from the wars together and fell in love, staying away from their past.

One day the girl came back from a day of adventuring their forest home only to return to her love in tears. He had ventured to the edge of the territory and had seen a horror. Magical bombs had been set off all over the battle fields, killing everyone. Just being within view distance of the magical grave yard made him weaker than he had ever been so he hurried back into the forest. So many dead, people from every side. When he told his love what he saw she forced herself to be happy to give him energy. They left their home and traveled to find a new one but all they found was the same all over the world. No one had been unhit but them because they hadn't
been fighting. After hundreds of years of traveling they never found another person and finally accepted they were the last ones alive. Not even animals remained. In that time the magic had faded and the plants had taken over the world but now they started to die out. Overgrowth leached the life from the soil causing the plants to die. The oceans dried and the land grew barren over centuries, but they remained together, never leaving eachother's sides for fear of
weakness.

The world had broken off bit by bit, to become no bigger than a small state. Then the stars started to die. One by one, each star burnt out before their eyes but new ones were also born. So the woman made a promise to the man, using magic to seal it. She knew he didn't need the promise but she wanted something sentimental to make him happy. This is what she said


Love of mine in this broken world
Alone now while the universe is uncurled
The stars die off day by day
But you're always there to guide my way
Even after all these years
You never let me shed my tears
So to you my love, this I say
in this cycle of night and day
I will be here, I tell no lies
Until the stars burn out and the universe dies
We love eachother on a world of hate
And together we weave the ties of fate
Even after the universe has gone
When nothing else remains
Even if some day we lose eachother
Our love lives on and burns like new
For you my love are my heart and soul
And you my love are my universe as a whole.

As she said in her spell, they stayed side by side until the last star burned out and everything went black. It happened while he slept. But when he awoke she was no longer at his side. When she was nowhere nearby he panicked and ran across their world, never stopping as he grew weaker and weaker. Without her love he had no life, he had no energy. She was gone. So to the empty universe where he alone remained, he called out a spell with the last of his energy.

When I woke the stars burnt out
The whole of reality was cast in black
You were nowhere to be found
Without you a will to live I lack
So in the void of darkness and fear
I call out for none to hear
Let this universe of hate of despair
Die with me, it's only fair
Let the stars burn anew
Once my life here is through
Restart the worlds, restart all life
Make a place of beauty, not a place of strife
Make it sweet and fill it with love
From the smallest flower to the sweetest dove
Take my fear and take my hate
Take my love in this hour so late
And make a place where love rules long
Make it as beautiful as my love was strong.
Goodbye~

When his spell was cast magic coursed from his body and out into the air around him before diving back into his chest and dragging out his soul. By the light of the magic, while his eyes grew dark. He saw three words carved into the stone a few feet away where he had been sleeping. I love you. He then knew why the one woman he ever loved was gone. The last of the stars burnt out...her spell killed her when her promise was fulfilled. Had she known it would
happen? As he took his final breath the magic fused with his soul and burst outwards in every direction with a blinding light and stars began to burn, planets started to form, the rock he lied on shook before starting to grow around him and the spot he was on started to burn like the core of a planet. His body was absorbed in the stone but a hand print was left by him just under the words, engraved into the core where they remain to this day while the world spins.

(this is an extra bit that I added kinda like a happy ending. It doesn't fit with my world and I wrote the story for my world but this bit doesn't count. If you're going to associate this post with my other posts about my world, disregard from this point on)

"Because of those two people and their ageless love we are here today. Now I really must be going, my husband needs me around if he's going to have the energy to go bowling in the morning." The woman winks at you, a mischievous look in her eyes, before she snaps her fingers and vanishes into thin air. Once she is gone a poem echos through your head, sounding like her voice.

Once the stars burned anew
When the worlds came back to life
People appeared across the world
Including a man and a woman
From a universe of strife
They had no memory of their past
They knew not what they'd done
But the fates they wove reached them one day
And they set out to find their one
Months of searching came to an end
When on a grassy hill
Two sets of eyes met and two hearts began to mend
The memories were back, the two found their love
And they stayed together under the stars above
To this day those two are together
Wandering the world
Seeing what their love had done
And what in their wake unfurled