Keedrah

Keedrah is the name of a realm in the multiverse created and cared for by Netar, the Over God. Sentient life has existed on Keedrah for approximately 60,000 years, though it is unclear how long the gods existed before that time.

Creation

In the beginning there was a shapeless mass of swirling energies. Over eons, the chaos swirled and mixed and pieces started break away and form ordered paterns. The formless chaos is known as Choma, the ordered structures as Kocha. From the balance of these two entities came Netar, the Over God. Netar, essentially alone, created two consorts. First, from the chaos he formed Keedrah, followed by Zeilta, whom he imbued with traces of the order. Keedrah had two children, Veltmon and Pyros, Lord of Earth and Fire. With Netar, Zeilta also had two, Kahzea and Hydria, Lady of Wind and Water. The next god to be born flashed to existence on it's own as did each of that followed. There was once one entity that formed from the interactions of the elemental lords, and embodied the cycles of creation and destruction that they went through (Veltmon would create a high mountain, Kahzea would lay it low. Pyros would rage with divine fire, and Hydria would quench it). Netar split that single being into two - Simestra, Lady of Creation, and Zul, Lord of Destruction. Quickly following, were Light (Shealon) and Darkness (Morden). Keeedrah and Zeilta were in a constant competition for Netar's attention, and began creating creatures to further their agendas. As a result Life (Jelia) and Death (Necrosaro) came into being. As those creatures gained the ability to think, Knowledge (Kenkou) and Ignorance (Byouki)) were born, as were the concepts of Good (Arinori) and Evil (Jinhea). Keedrah created dragons, and imbued them with a large portion of her power, and Zeilta created Modrons, doing the same. These two forces warred across the lands that the elemental gods had created, but the dragons proved too powerful. What followed was a 10,000 year period known as The Time of the Dragons. It was during this time the rest of the gods formed, corresponding to the ideals and patterns of the sentient beings of the world. Civilization (Bûhna) and Barbarism (Dralth) came to being as the creatures formed communities, that were wiped out by nomadic tribes. Peace (Chinsara) and War (Morlander) came about as a result of these conflicts as well. Soon to follow were, Love (Lanaré) and Hate (Kesselmorn), Logic (Satoria) and Emotions (Kandah), Pleasure (Kaikan) and Pain (Itameni), Truth (Lucretia) and Lies (Samael), Law (Lykora) and Anarchy (Deitrick).

Keedrah's creations reigned supreme, and named the world in her honor. It was the dragons that first created the lesser races - humans, dragonborn, elves, dwarves, etc. Unfortunately for the dragons, however, their time in the sun was to end. They grew arrogant and began to challenge the gods with their power. It all changed in one night, when a powerful dragon, who had a scales of swirling colors, appeared, calling himself Bahamut. Bahamut punished the dragons for their arrogance and killed most of them. Though never plainly stated, Bahamut is believed to be an avatar of Netar, which would be the only time the Neutral God has intervened directly in the world. The dragons, their great civilization in ruins, went into decline, and the lesser races started to take their place.

The Balance

After the Fall of the Dragons, an entity known as The Ancient Monk, a deva who serves as Netar's only known "recognized" follower world first appeared. First, he tasked Keegan with protecting the valley that would one day become Danberg. He then traveled the land, spreading the word of Netar's Promise, the basis of The Balance. The Balance is a covenant between Netar and the mortal beings of Keedrah - Netar would keep them safe from the destruction the dragons experienced and maintain a balance between the gods, and in return, the people would always pay respect to the gods. This covenant was sealed with the building of the Great Temple of the Balance, which is located on the strip of land that connects Aeg and Windman to the south of the elven lands. It is a massive complex built by the sentient races of the Windman and Aeg continent, devoted to the gods of the balance. The day the capstone stone was placed upon the temple's dome is now known as Netar's Day. On the day that followed, a great feast took place, and is celebrated each year as the Day of Thanks. The laborers whose blood and sweat went into the building of the temple were gifted special powers by their gods that day, that pass down to the first born child, and thus they became the first Paladins.

Cosmology

Netar controls access to the realm of Keedrah, and is but one of several realms that exist in the multiverse, which are all connected together by a great tower that rests in the middle of a misty valley known as the World Valley. The tower is the surest way to access other realms and planes in the multiverse. If one were to scale the tower, they would eventually reach Sigil, the city of doors. Men have spent their entire lives looking for this valley and failed. It is said that to find the World Valley, one has merely to be able to get to the valley. While cryptic sounding, scholars explain that it simply isn't a place in the physical sense, but perhaps a state of being or of existence. Magical portals and doorways to other areas of the multiverse do exist in Keedrah, however - the tower is just the surest way to travel the multiverse. The World Valley is also said to be the location of Svandir, the World Tree and Sorrow's River, the body of water it is said the dead must cross to pass into the nether world. In addition to the prime material plane of Keedrah, two other planes exist in parallel to them, created by the residual magics ancient competitions between the gods. These planes are The Feywild, home of the Continental-Elves, and the Shadowfel. The Feywild looks the same as Keedrah, it is just a version more closely related to the goddess Keedrah's vision of the world - an ardent, undending forest. In some places the two worlds converge to be the same. One of these large world falls exists within The Great Forest of the Continental Elves The Shadowfel exists for much of the same reasons as the Feywild, but more closely resembles the vision of the world Zeilta sees - dark, decaying and filled with entropy. Sometimes, spirits that are unable to make their final trip to the after-world, and will end up in the Shadowfel. The shadowfel is also the primary location of shadar-kai. Places that are tainted with the touch of the shadowfel also exist, such as the ruins of Riverkeil, and Windfall Valley.