I haven’t been as active recently due to starting both a new job and a PhD this fall, but my plan is to return to more regularly scheduled programming soon, at least until next semester gets busier. There are several posts planned of the same style and similar subject matter as my last several posts (minus the short story I posted last time, though more of those may come as well), but for this one I’m going to do something new.
This is something I’ve never actually shared in any length apart from with a small number of friends: a portion of my literary world’s deep lore. Specifically, we’ll be looking at the very basics of angels or angelic-equivalents today. We begin with the very act of creation:
In the beginning, there was naught but silence and the long dark
till the Light shone from the nothing and a whisper sounded from the deep.
Thus spake the Voice, "Be," and all flourished at the Word of Arvolei;
a thousand eyes sparked from the expanse, and all was still in His presence.Those thousand eyes belonged to the Great Ones, the Priosi, the witnesses of creation. As the firstborn of all creation, they stood in the presence of their Creator as He shaped the cosmos with His hands, yet they could not perceives His ends.
Next came the Mighty Ones, the Exair, whose thunderous song echoed in harmony with the Voice of Creation as all was put to order. They heard the melody of all creation, yet they could not discern it depths.
From the warmth of His Light emerged the Holy Ones, the Allyxe, the ministers and servants of the realms of creation. In their glory, they esteemed all of creation as higher than themselves, and they sought only to spread the warmth that had birthed them.
The Priosi were raised up to be members of the divine council, stewarding all of creation according to the will of Arvolei, who knows Himself as Iolan. Serving beneath them as guardians and priests of the divine will were the Exair who maintained the eternal chorus of the heavenly realms of Vinori. As the highest orders of the celestial court, they ruled over the universe, each one declared as prince over the mortal nations and tasked with guiding them through the eras. In service to these greater orders were the Allyxe who were carried on the winds of the cosmos, fulfilling the Will of Arvolei in the furthest reaches of existence.
Together, the Children of Light, va Kern ux Sior (or Sioric Kern) in their own language, spread across the cosmos in service to creation. They presided over the physical and mortal realms, including the world home to ev Annari, or the Others as the humans would later call them. In certain realms such as that of the Others, the Children of Light took special interest and governed directly as princes with authority delegated to them from Arvolei. In these early physical realms, the denizens held tight to the spark of life, Prin Iskra, and thus never knew the true sting or power of death.
The gift of death was reserved for the children of Tsalem, known after his rebellion as Demut, who lived in the world of Roth. The race of humans, referred to as the Children of Dust by the Others, enjoyed special communion with Arvolei even in spite of their fallen state. That story is for another post, however, so we will return to the Children of Light. In such realms as that of the Others, cosmic governance was given to the Children of Light. They were not to be worshipped, but were revered as servants of the Most High who guided the well-being and flourishing of the realms.
Among the Priosi, those who witnessed the birth of all else, came Auctros who stood preeminent among his brethren in glory and might, but not in wisdom. Observing the beauty and wonder of creation, the power of the Voice which whispered and moved the stars, Auctros sought greater virtue and glory in honor of his Creator. In pursuit of greater esteem, his desire to be good led to disappointment and obsession as he could never ascend the heights of the transcendent Good possessed solely by Arvolei. As he turned inward to pursue his own glory, Auctros collapsed, becoming a wound in the cosmos. It was not enough to have glory of his own, he desired to have glory independent of Arvolei, glory and virtue equal to his Creator.
The shadow cast by his collapse became known as Kaanos, or the Eternal Night, and all that looked with longing at the autonomy of Auctros fell with him. Within that abyss, he became known as Myrkar, named after the darkness he had become, ev azik Sathair, the First Calamity. Those who fell with him were ev Azik Vathosi ux Sioric Kern, the First Fallen of the Children of Light, or simply as the Vathosi, the Fallen.
Those who remained loyal to Arvolei defended the physical realms from the influence of Myrkar and the Vathosi. The abyssal powers often sought influence over the affairs of what they perceived as lesser creations such as humanity, seeking to corrupt them and draw them into the Eternal Night in continuation of their blasphemy. Within the human world of Roth, the Vinoric Cycle dawned when societies began to call upon the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars for guidance, grasping for the Children of Light to become their gods as they had long forgotten the Voice of Arvolei.
The wars in the heavenly places spread beyond even the conflict between those who remained loyal to Arvolei and the Vathosi, consuming countless with the desire for power and status. Wars between the nations became proxy wars between the celestial powers. These days of disorder continued for an age until the emergence of va Myrk Annar, the Other Darkness, which is a topic for another post.
I may take time to write out lore basics for other subjects, maybe focusing on the abyssal powers in another post. I may also talk directly about the fantasy novel/duology I have already drafted, and maybe about my current project as well. Otherwise, I will return to posts closer to my previous work on this Substack and keep that the primary focus.