Damarkan

Article by Keith Robinson
Posted June 1 2013 in Zinedoms Vol 5

“In the beginning there was Hoth, the Great Void without time or age, and all was dark, for there was nothing to bring light to the dark and Hoth was saddened.”

So it is told in the first chapter of the great histories of The Kyngdoms, where Hoth brings into the void both Veradu, who was water and earth, and Ergon, who was fire and air, and from them the universe was created and Hoth was no more.

Damarkan is the First Land, the fairest and most beautiful of the worlds in the whole universe created at the very beginning of time, which begins with the demise of Hoth, the Great Void. Many scholars believe that Damarkan was the essence of Veradu and Ergon incarnate, whose forces of water, earth, fire and air came together to form the beauty that was Damarkan. In the beginning, the land was covered with amazing forests of trees that lit up the star-filled night sky, of lakes that shimmered under the blanket of the cosmos, of mountains that reached majestically into the skies, and landscapes of such beauty and wonder that we, mere mortals, can only speculate upon. It was a new world in a new universe and everything there was good and great.

As well as the land itself, there also came nine beings of great power, the Aslah, who would later be called Gods. They used their power and knowledge to create wonderful things and they made Damarkan even more beautiful. These nine lords of the cosmos – Desdemar, Onnus, Gort, Kavak, Themex, Shylar, Voln, Olmus, and Pittok – built great palaces for themselves and forged the land around them to their own liking. Themex chose the waters of Damarkan for his domain, Kavak the mountains, while Shylar chose the wonderful forests. Each chose that which suited their nature best. Shylar was the first to create elves and gnomes, who would help in the forests, and all the Aslah made for themselves powerful servants to aid them. Together they also built Paradorn, a wonderful palace that served them all, where they would meet and spend time together.

Although everything seemed perfect in Damarkan, Gort’s heart was slowly blackened as he watched with envy the love grow between Desdemar, who he loved deeply, and Onnus, who he began to loathe. This darkening of his heart he kept to himself and it went unnoticed amongst the rest of the Aslah, who were too busy making Damarkan even more beautiful and even more perfect. Gort began to spend more time by himself, away from the others, watching Desdemar and Onnus with dark thoughts. He no longer tended the land around his citadel, which was called Herophet, and the life there withered and the land became barren. He also dug deep under his citadel, forging dark dungeons, and filled them with his own creations, horrid and dreadful ones filled with the hatred of his heart. Voln noticed his unhappiness and found joy in it and encouraged his hatred of the others. She and Gort became lovers and together their darkness slowly spoilled the joy and wonder of Damarkan and never again would there only be good in the world.

The final end of the peace of Damarkan came with the most joyous news that Desdemar and Onnus were to have a child. Everyone in Damarkan was thrilled with the news, for the child would be the first Aslah to be born and all the Aslah celebrated. All, that is, except for Gort and Voln. Gort was outraged and his heart blackened even further and Herophet was now a place filled with darkness and sorrow. Gort, aided by Voln, hatched a plan so he could have his revenge and on the day of the Birth Ceremony, when the child, a boy named Dayn, was presented to the others, Gort grazed the child with a poisoned needle. Later, the child fell ill and despite the best efforts of all the Aslah, Gorts poison could not be undone and Dayn, the first child born to the Aslah, died.

Gort retreated to his citadel in Herophet and the other Aslah, realizing he was to blame, followed to accuse him of murder. But what they found in Herophet was a bleak, dark world, not the one they remembered, and when they reached the gates of his palace and challenged him to come out, the gates opened and out poured the terrible, devilish servants of his own making. But the Aslah were too powerful even for Gorts terrible servants and were on the verge of victory when Gort unleashed his final surprise. The earth opened and fire and lava belched out. The air turned to sulpher and the whole of Herophet burnt. The Aslah retreated. They summoned Gort and Voln to Paradorn, but they did not come. In their absence, the Aslah agreed that Herophet – and Gort – should no longer be allowed to live in Damarkan and using their immense power, they split the world into two. Herophet was sundered from the rest of Damarkan and now floated in the cosmos alone, a world unto itself. Themex, however, used his power to forge a river between the worlds of Damarkan and Herophet, which he called the River Mothex.

No longer was there just the one world of Damarkan. Damarkan and Herophet now sat opposed to one another, one filled with goodness and light, the other with evil and dark. Gort began to forge many new worlds in Herophet and Damarkan, diminished, would be further split and divided throughout history, until there were many worlds and only Kavak remained on the Nine who first walked on Damarkan. It was also Kavak who first discovered the world of Arrasia and there created the dwarves, but that is another story…