A brief History of Magic

Once, long ago, aeons before the earliest concept of time, there was an event. For the rest of eternity, it would be referred to, quite appropriately, as "creation".

For that is what it was. Indeed, much was created in that event. The whole of the universe, in all its majestic and timeless glory, was born in a single, all-encompassing event.

Everything that made the world what it was and is, the stars, the planets, walls that split the multiverse in dimension after dimension, the people, etc. wasn't created then, but we'll come to that later.

What was present at the time, encompassing everything there was and nothing at all, were countless energies of every type, colour and kind. All of them were born in the event, and later occupied the endless ether that was the first form of the universe.

Eons passed thus, the energies clashing, tearing, and raging. They merged to create new forms, decayed into older ones, and swirled and burned without an end. Eventually, something happened. A spark, a form of energy dying out, or a newer, more powerful one being born, it hardly matters.

What does matter is that the energies started accumulating. More and more forms consolidating into fewer and fewer ones, which grew ever more potent. Till the time came when the number of energies came to its lowest, while their powers were higher than they had ever been before.

Thus were born the first of the gods.

They were neither sentient nor intelligent, but they were the most powerful beings in the universe. And as time passed, things changed: They interacted with each other, communicated. Soon, they found that their radically different natures caused unnecessary complications in communication. Great was the destruction this caused. Eventually they created a rudimentary set of rules and symbols that everyone could follow and understand. It would favour no one, and would be understood by all.

Language was born.

It was but the first of their developments. As things continued, they evolved, gaining sentience and intelligence. Developing and harnessing their limitless powers. It was a slow process, but they had no shortage of time.

As intelligence grew among them, they channelled their powers more and more, creating worlds, dimensions and entire galaxies at whim. Moreover, they created life. Entire civilizations, vast, great and powerful were born simply as experiments for them to see what they could do, populated by all manners of creatures, both mesmerizing and foul.

But it was not to last.

As the way of the world is, the most powerful thoughts to come to these new-born gods were negative ones. It was understandable, for they were but children. And children quarrel, everyone knows this. Only, these children were capable of destroying entire worlds in their tantrums.

And they did. Where before civilizations had risen and fallen for the amusement of their gods, there had been still a cushion of their favour, however thin, but now? Now they knew suffering. As the gods warred, so did their creations. Planets, entire galaxies burned as one god raged at another, and another and another.

Still, they evolved. As every child does, they grew up. It was a long, slow process, and the infant universe suffered much during it, but it happened nonetheless.

As they evolved, they found their clashes to be bothersome. Until one day, they had enough. Their anger caused too much havoc, so they agreed that there was need for a force to exist: A new form of energy that would exist throughout the entirety of the universe, binding and linking everything within it. It would not only be their finest creation, but also their superior. It would be the ultimate force of existence, capable of stopping any of them who would seek to harm their universe. They met, pooled their power, and willed their creation into being.

The force so born was unlike anything any of them could have imagined. It was the greatest, most beautiful and terrible thing that had or would ever exist. It was far greater than the true gods that existed then, and it was greater than any that came afterwards.

Through the ages, it had many names. But the most common was the one most recent.

Indeed, magic had come into being.

And now that it had, there wasn't a power capable of undoing this in the whole universe. Many would try in the times to come. But magic would not be tamed, and any who tried to do so would suffer beyond words.

As the gods became familiar with magic, many things they had never thought of came into being. Dimensions split, laws of destiny and existence were identified, and life returned to the universe, better and freer than ever before.

The wonders that came after the creation of this arcane force were countless. Suffice to say, that the greatest of the previous civilizations were utter Neanderthals compared to the ones that came after.

And speaking of worlds and civilizations, we come now to a fireball located in a galaxy that seemed milky white when seen from afar.

It was small by the going standards, and was surrounded by other things, clouds of smoke, gas and dust that swirled upon themselves endlessly. However, one of these clouds was special. It was the third from the fireball, and so small it was practically miniscule. But it was special, so special, as magic, the greatest of forces, had finally chosen a home.

This was the planet that would be the center of the universe as far as the matters of magic were concerned. The gods had the rest of the universe. Magic and magic alone would reign supreme in this realm.

But before that happened, as a command from magic, the gods would breathe life onto this planet.

By this time, the gods had evolved considerably. No longer were they children, but knowledgeable adults.

As they united to bring life to the new-born planet, their first choice was what the world today calls animals.

Reptiles, felines, vulpines, bovines, all forms of beasts came into existence, and were let loose upon the earth, with the gods all agreeing to do naught more than watch until action became necessary.

Vigintillions of years passed thus, the beings growing ever more intelligent, more powerful. At first, they were happy to remain separate, each minding their own business. The predators hunted the prey, yes, but the amounts were small, and easily ignored. But the earth was only so big, and rising populations brought matters to a head.

By this time, something else had happened too, magic had concentrated into its new home, sinking deep and taking the form of ley lines that ran as veins and arteries in a living being. Only, it had not stayed limited to the earth or the environment.

Now, to understand this, one needs to realize that previous civilizations had used magic before, but to them it had always been something present in the world, only to be harnessed and used. Power came in terms of their sensitivity to it, not their ability to produce it.

In this case, it was different. Magic had made its way deep into these beings, shaping into cores and channels that ran like miniature leylines. So when these beings fought, the devastation was unlike anything there had been seen before, except for the time of the warring gods.

Continents burned. Oceans dried and were created anew as the poles melted again and again. This same pattern continued, until the end came. The reptile race, under the rule of the terrible Death Dragons, had won. Every other being was too terrified of them to act, and the Earth was theirs.

The Dragon age had come.

For billions of years afterwards, every being in the world bowed to the throne of Ivory Flame, from where the Death Dragons held sway. They bred and bred, multiplying hugely, while also encouraging the same for their non-magical cousins, bringing forth a time that would one day be called the Jurassic age.

Peace had come to Earth. A brutal, enforced peace, held at snout-point, but a peace all the same.

Alas, as before, it was not to last.

Ambition and avarice had been denied for too long. Now that complacence had set in, it was their time to act. Once again, the Earth burned as dragon turned on dragon, and the subordinate species took full advantage.

It eventually became so bad, that the gods, long since bored of the slaughter, decided to act.

Within days, the Earth was cleansed, mere thousands remaining where there had once been millions.

Once again, the gods conferred. Once again, a decision was reached. A new form of life was created, this time far more intelligent, in their own image. They too had the potential of magic, far greater than the previous ones. There was a reason for this, as they believed that the deeper connection would encourage magic itself to act in regards to them.

As the humans came to the Earth, they found it restored to full health. The changes the dragons had wrought remained, but the carnage did not. Again, thousands of years passed. Intelligence developed. Magic grew among them. However, if the gods thought that the results would be different, they were gravely disappointed.

Once again, wars raged as opposing settlements competed for resources. Only this time, the powers that be had no patience for such things. A meeting happened, and it was decided that this time, there would be their representatives on Earth. They would start families that would be a constant as long as the Earth existed. They would rule by union, and all would follow. Peace would be kept.

Soon, results showed. They had descended to the Earth, and had fathered families that had rapidly risen to prominence in their respective domains. Their descendants fought minor wars with each other, but their divine ancestors were remembered, and skirmishes grew fewer and fewer, until peace came via a united council.

Only, one of the gods had other ideas. He decided it should be his line that ruled. Not some council. So he did what they had all agreed never to do. He visited his children. He told them what he wanted, and received overwhelming support. So the god opened to them the doors of a realmhe had created long ago.

It was a beautiful, terrible place, where limitless powers waited for someone to come use them. But he cautioned his children to be patient, to let his rivals' warlike tendencies be blunted by aeons of peace. They understood, and bided their time.

Meanwhile, great and beautiful things happened on the Earth. Vast, mighty cities were erected. Rl'yeh, Leng, Kadath all were examples of the sheer marvels that the families could do when united.

Of course, everything paled in comparison to the wonder that was their greatest creation. The capital of Earth: Atlantis Island.

Centuries passed thus. The families meeting, laughing and busying themselves in ruling over the planet, till the time came. Everyone had almost forgotten what it was to fight, to feel the thrill that comes with mortal peril. All, except one family. And they were rewarded. The time came, the high positions had been taken over, and the men guarding the cities were theirs. The family marched into the city streets, and threw wide the gates, bringing the unending armies of never-never to the Earth for the first time in history. They succeeded totally. The reigning lords of the other families were slaughtered, their children forced into vassalage. The lord of the family had become King of all Earth. (Incidentally, this was the first ever coup d état in human history)

Such was their success that even the other gods took time to realize. They were getting their prayers, and had all but forgotten about their children. However, they did realize, and their rage was nothing short of catastrophic. It had taken the traitor god a huge part of his power to link the worlds, and he had not yet recovered. What little power he had left was spent in protecting his children. So they struck, and threw him in a sort of jail of their creation: A dimension far isolated from all others.

Then they turned towards the children he had tried to protect. They struck, having decided to ignore all other decisions they had made before, and wipe out the family.

Atlantis sank within seconds, barely any families managing to escape. Untold amount of knowledge and wealth were lost, sunken under tons of sea.

Not content with that, the gods wove a wall around the sunken continent, making it impossible for anyone to penetrate, placing a seal that would be impossible, even for the highest of the Atlantean sorcerers to break. Thousands died trying in the years to come.

Finally, they turned their attention to the remnants of the family, intending to wipe them out.

Only to pause, as their powers refused to work.

Then they understood what they had done. This was the home of magic, and even though they had created the humans, once they lived at Earth, they became Magic's children. What they had done was to try destroying a mother's children. (This was also the time that magic was confirmed as female).

All of a sudden, it didn't matter that they were the first gods. It didn't matter that there were twelve of them, facing against a primordial energy with barely any intelligence. The only thing that mattered was that they had tried to destroy a mother's children.

The pain, when it came, was excruciating. Everything they were was ripped away from them. They burned, froze, were compressed, and exploded: all in one, tiny moment. They felt their powers shrink, shrink and nearly disappear, as each and every one of their worshippers throughout the universe died in a single second.

The final punishment they got was when every single iota of magic was withdrawn from the universe, to be denied to all who were not her children.

Afterwards, empires arose again on the earth, always under the leadership of one of the thirteen, as did new gods, from a multitude of lines. They had many names, Thule, Lemur, Tir Na Nog, etc. Never did any, however, match the panache of Atlantis or the Elder gods.

Anyone watching this would have long despaired in the fate of the human race as far as magic was concerned, but there was still hope. Legends spread, of seers giving prophecies, of voices speaking from the sky. Both outrageous and credible, however they told the same thing.

There would come, one day, a wizard greater than any before or after him: The one who would lead the world into greatness unrivalled.

Legends, of the Thunder-born.

It would be approximately one hundred and seventy three million years and countless civilizations later, however, that a boy would be born with the blood of four of the thirteen running through his veins. He would be the one to bring forth an empire that would match and surpass Atlantis in both might and panache. An empire that would not only cover the globe but launch itself into the very stars, across dimensions, and so much more.

He would be the one, the Thunder-born.

Finis