This is how humankind came to be.

In the beginning, there is Ama. She is the Flames. She comes first. She comes last. Her Flames can never go out. They have always burned; they will always burn.

From her came the stars, ever expanding from her unceasing Flames. From her came the two worlds, Jord and Minze. From her came the gods—Ceria, Va’ashtara, and Naðreil—creatures from the Flames that dwell in the Flame and with the Flame and by the Flame.

Her children were created in her image. To Ceria, she gave the Flame of Creation. To Va’ashtara, she gave the Flame of Life. To Naðreil, she gave the Flame of Death. For where there is birth, there must be life, and where there is life, there must be death.

This is the Order.

Together, the gods bestowed the Order on the two worlds.

Ceria created the plants that feed from the Great Star. She created the beasts that crawl in the dust; she designed the ones that soar above. All life on the worlds was created by her, and she loved the work of her hands.

Va’ashtara took Ceria’s creation and thrived on its life. She reveled in the thrill of the hunt, the peace of the night, the joy of play, and the affections between the mother, the father, and the offspring. She loved the work of her hands.

Naðreil gathered the dead. The plants that withered. The prey that was caught. The predator that starved. He carried them to the Space With No Time, Vahara. He gave them all rest. He loved the work of his hands.

But the gods, though with a beginning, have no end. They live inside time because they were born, but outside time because they cannot die. So, they became restless. They grew bored.

They began to argue amongst themselves about which of them was the greatest.

“Surely, I am,” Ceria proclaimed, “because without me nothing would exist that lives.”

“But without me, what is life?” Va’ashtara said.

“Everything must die, and I then rule them for Eternity, I am the greatest,” argued Naðreil.

And there was no one who could settle their dispute.

Thus, Ceria created for herself a new creature, a wise creature, one fashioned in her likeness.

Now, the gods do not have a physical form like humans. They are made of their Flame, and their form can shift as they see fit.

This new creature, though, bore Ceria’s image. It could create, it could reason, and it could communicate with the gods.

In her pride, Ceria showed her creation to Va’ashtara and Naðreil, who demanded she make one for each of them.

Ceria refused. “My people will worship me. They will know me, their Creator.”

She set her creation on Jord, the more bountiful world, and she claimed that Jord was hers, for it belonged to her children.

Furious, Va’ashtara and Naðreil determined to create their own children to worship them. But, alas, they did not have the Flame of Creation.

Va’ashtara, in her envy, stole four of Ceria’s children, two men and two women, and insisted Naðreil take Ceria’s Flame from them. Once the Flames were gone, Va’ashtara placed her own Flame inside two. “Look, brother,” she said, “I have brought you children as well. Place your Flame in them, and they shall be yours.”

But when Naðreil, placed his flame within them, they withered, for the physical body cannot hold Death and still live. So, they shriveled, until there was nothing left but the blackness. Naðreil took this blackness and said, “Ceria refuses to give me a living child. See what I have created? My child is Death itself; everything it touches is consumed.”

They brought their children to show Ceria. “Look, sister. See what we have done? You would not give us children, but we have made our own.”

The Eldest, Ceria, was enraged, and she said to her brother and sister, “You have stolen mine and refashioned them for your own desires. Because you have sinned against me, know this: my children will destroy yours. It will be like they never existed. For everything—all creation—comes only from me.”

Fearful for their children, Va’ashtara and Naðreil placed them on Minze, the world of rock and metal.

Va’ashtara gifted her children, the Secondborn, with the ability to move metal—the Control—so they could protect themselves and survive.

Naðreil placed his, the Thirdborn, under the ground, to keep them from the Secondborn, and he commanded them to stay in the shadows.

So, the children of the gods were separated until the Bridge was formed.