Universal Lore- Part 1, The High Realms(Altersae- Anarexen)

Universal Lore- Part 1, The High Realms(Altersae- Anarexen)

Avaas had always been the first of the Four that embodied existence in the boundless cycle, as he represented the very idea of "alternatives" and was The Watcher of all that would ever exist. He was the only one of the Four that could still remember all that had occurred since the very first Cycle- the indescribable joys of observing the first civilizations that advanced to traverse space, the sorrows each time the Cycle was at the time to close and planets could no longer exist, the emptiness in the time between Cycles, and the pain of betrayal in the times where there was a Fifth. The Fifth of his kin would've been the same innumerable age as him, would it not have been the fifth being sealed away some many distant Cycles ago after going mad in the face of inevitability.*¹ Avaas' duty was and has always been first and foremost preservation until it was fated for his duty to end, and in this Cycle it was no different, save for one minor difference. He felt that Nix had become irrational, in a sense, over each Cycle, never learning to become independent from the rest of them, and thus never developing that sense of a "beyond" that stretched past the expanses of nothingness that Nix was. So he assumed that in this Cycle, Nix would be fine on his own and find his way back to them without them to guide him towards the radiance of creation, and would learn that there was more to existence than what he[Avaas] could ever teach him.

Tilisnet of Time and Seclir of Space did not disagree with Avaas' choice, as they too felt that Nix needed the valuable experience of "growing up" after many Cycles where he did not need to. After all, each Cycle started and ended about the same, so it surely wouldn't have been too difficult for Nix to find his way through creation's light as he did in the previous Cycles. But of course, none of them truly understood the essence of Nothingness past "lack of an existence", but Nothingness could wallow and knew misery and fear. Tilisnet, Seclir, and Avaas were furthest from the beings that came from creation, and thus they did not realize that Nothingness could perceive the fear creation held towards Nothingness. They did not know that Nix feared disappearing as creation spread across the many universes, and they did not realize that Nix would judge their choice to find his way alone would be interpreted as abandonment. Avaas, The Watcher of all that could exist, had turned away from the darkness, and was blind to what lurked in the Abyss. In this action did he fail at his foremost duty to preserve, as this mistake would cost this existence dearly. But do not mistake Avaas for an ignorant being, as he had duties to perform that were separate from preservation. As Tilisnet let his sands flow through existence and bring the concept of time and Seclir weaved his spatial threads to create the tapestry of space, Avaas was to oversee the first light of this Cycle as the first universes were born. As one does with a tree did he cultivate and graft branches onto the first universes, creating alternate ones as these seeds of existence sprouted and grew, and quickly in the eyes of the timeless did planets and stars emerge. As The Watcher, Avaas was to witness each of the planets that could potentially develop life, and as The Preserver, guard them until it was their time to fade with the end of their universe. It was a strenuous duty to watch every planet with life across the whole existence of a Cycle, some inconceivable number beyond mortal understanding which was under his jurisdiction. In the past Cycles, he would assume this duty himself without complaint, but early in this Cycle did he feel an unusual air of dread that echoed throughout the existence. For the first time since the Fifth was sealed away, he knew fear.

In order to split his duties to better watch over all the new planets across the universes he observed, he created beings out of the very concept of "alternatives" he represented. The first of these beings was granted parts of his knowledge to pass on to the others, and he asked the first to name themselves. The being would choose the name Anaare, and so Avaas would name the realm created for the beings to roam Anarexen in their honour, and name the beings themselves Altersaeans.

These beings would aid him in watching over and protecting planets with life across the many galaxies and universes in existence, and they were the alternative to him if he were to fail in his duties or some force were to stretch across existence to smother the light of creation and life.

As these beings were the many eyes of The Watcher that gave him more reach into the corners of existence*², they were also the first to notice the creeping darkness that reached toward stars and snuffed out their light, and they would realize that they could try as they might to preserve, but they could not escape inevitability against a force even Avaas did not know.

They would try to hold out against this creeping darkness, sending some tens of them to hold it off of developing civilizations, but even their mighty power perceived as godly by mortals were many times not enough.

Sometimes they were successful in holding off the darkness and the beings that sprung from the rifts the darkness bled through, sometimes they could only buy time as the worlds were doomed and the only choice left was for civilizations to flee to another planet, but in the cases were the Altersaeans could do neither, they could only watch the worlds be consumed and the people be damned to whatever lay in wait in the devouring abyss.

Avaas would take notice as he watched some of the branches of universes begin to lose their light, and he watched as stars would flicker and disappear from existence. The Altersaeans began to report of the darkness that consumed the stars and many mortal lives, and they said that the darkness had felt like a false life- nothingness that tried to imitate the idea of existence but was limited by its own being. They said it had felt familiar, like a distant brother that had lost their way and stumbled in the dark calling for them-

But they said that they also felt afraid of this darkness. This darkness was subsequently natural and unnatural, lonely but vengeful- and Avaas would quickly realize that this was the dread that he had felt long ago, the dread that warranted the creation of the Altersaeans.

He knew all they had felt, as they were a part of him as much as he was a part of them, but he did not want to believe his mind's first thought. It was likely the truth, but as he felt fear, he did not want to accept the truth.

His fear turned him irrational, and so he did not tell the truth to his people.

He did not want to believe that the darkness that plagued the light of creation sprung from his own kin Nix, and so for the first time in his existence did he choose to tell a lie.

This lie was for himself as much as it was for his people.

They all bore witness to the fall of Boriasonde and Tilisnet's sudden disappearance, and Avaas would learn of the increasing amounts of turbulence and breaks in the fabric of space from Seclir, but he continued to hide the truth from his people as he did not want to be seen as a flawed and irrational being, and he himself acknowledging the truth would be acknowledging that he had failed the duty of preservation that he was meant to embody. His own blindness and lack of foresight to Nix's perspective of existence was what would spell the unnatural end of this Cycle.

In this did he realize that he was never omnipotent, and that even the embodiments of the 4 concepts of existence were as flawed as the mortals they presided over.

He could not find Tilisnet even in the in-betweens of universes, and with Tilisnet's creations being scattered around existence, he could not ask them if they had foreseen this.

Something so simple as assuming a seemingly small change would not lead to disaster had led to this, and Avaas still could not accept this.

To this day, the Altersaeans are not aware of the truth, continuing to perform their duties in the belief that the abyss was natural with the passage of time and that it stemmed from the inaccessible in-betweens of universes. They try in genuine faith to their duty and Avaas to protect as many civilizations from this abyss as possible, and their work has thus far held off the darkness well enough for mortals to not be aware of its existence, but this will not always be enough, and they knew as well as Avaas did that this was an undeniable truth. The darkness does not halt for the whims of what it believes to want it destroyed, and it will continue to spread its roots throughout existence- to the worlds with boundless "potential"*³, and so the Cycle may once again return to nothingness.

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¹- Post coming at some point when I feel the time is right, it's in the perspective of Avaas to recount the Fifth.

²-This will be mentioned in the posts for other realms, but despite other realms being part of the existence that makes up a Cycle, no High Realms being can access any realm other than the Lower Planes(where planets are). The Elemental Planes are far too low for their power to reach into as their concepts are entirely separate from that of the elementals, and the realms between the High Realms and Lower Planes are either related to death or are small pocket dimensions limited to regions of worlds that reject High Realms influence.

³- Refer to this post since even though it's a note to self it does somewhat explain what the "potential" is -------------------- Taglist for writing-

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