The Chaos

At the foundation of the world, the Chaos churns like an ever-changing tempest of clashing elements – fire and lightning, earth and water, whirlwinds and living thunder. Just as the gods are believed to have originated in the Silver Heavens, the first inhabitants of the Chaos were the primordials, creatures of raw elemental power. They shaped the world from the raw material of the Chaos, and if they had it their way, the world would be torn back down and returned to raw materials. Æsëa is an island of permanence utterly alien to the primordials’ nature.

As one nears the bottom or the Chaos, it turns into a swirling maelstrom that grows darker and deadlier as it descends. At the bottom of that maelstrom is the Abyss, the home of demons. None truly know from whence came the Abyss, but some sages believe that long ago, an ancient and mighty being planted a shard of pure evil in the heart of the Chaos before the world was finished, and the gods imprisoned him for this act of blasphemy. The Abyss is as entropic as the Chaos where it was planted, but it is actively malevolent, whereas the rest of the Chaos is simply untamed. Some of the wilder theories on the Abyss speculate that the Abyss is growing and will eventually consume the Chaos, and the whole of reality along with it.