When players in your game or readers of your stories ask questions about the world, it’s often tempting to answer using cold hard facts. I am always excited when I finally get the chance to share some obscure lore about my world with my players. However, I think that sprinkling in some myths along with (or instead of) the facts can go a long way to making your world feel older and more real.
A creation myth is one such story that comes up surprisingly frequently in my games. I tend to have gods play a more active role in the world/game, so I get plenty of opportunities to drop hints as to how the gods and the world came to be. The world of my current D&D 5e campaign, Cordia, is no different. I’ve been slowly sprinkling bits of the creation myth throughout my year-long game in an attempt to set up some late-game plot points that my players may or may not end up having to deal with. I’ve provided the creation myth of Cordia below for inspiration. As always, feel free to steal take inspiration from this and use it in your own games!
It’s important to note that this version of Cordia’s creation myth is probably far more detailed than anything I would reveal in-game. Most campfire tellings of this myth would be far less detailed and would likely have variations or changes depending on the culture of the person telling it. For example, a version of this myth told by a giant would likely sound very different than the version told by a dwarf. I would also note that, while this story lines up fairly well with actual historic events in my world, there are important inaccuracies that will set up some big plot twists if/when they come up in one of my games.
Thanks for reading!
Chaos
Before Cordia existed there was only chaos. The five primal forces (earth, water, air, fire, and magic) raged and battled in a storm of formless energy. From this chaos the two true gods were born: Ira and Ilune. Although the gods generally appear as two separate entities, they are effectively two sides of the same coin. One could not exist without the other any more than a shadow could exist without light. Ira is generally associated with light, life, and positive energy while Ilune represents darkness, death, and negative energy. Together, the Twin Gods embody balance and neutrality, attributes that they wished to impart upon their newfound surroundings.
The Twin Gods began taming the chaos that created them, seeking to bring balance to their new existence. As the primal forces calmed, the gods gave form to their wild energies, thus creating the great Primal Wyrms. The Primal Wyrms are the physical avatars through which the primal forces of earth, water, air, fire, and magic are channeled. Although they are sometimes referred to as elemental dragons, the Primal Wyrms resemble dragons like a mountain resembles a rock. With the Primal Wyrms at their side, Ira and Ilune set about creating a home for themselves.
Like sculptors with clay, the Twin Gods guided the Primal Wyrms into new forms. Tectus and Sekona, the Wyrms of earth and sea, took their places as the pillars of the world. They wove earth and water together to create what would become the cradle for a new world to thrive. Ashka surrounded the new planet, cradling it in her wings and becoming the great Wyrm of the wind and sky. Finally, Solis and Rhega took up their watch as guardians. The sun and moon, ever watching, protected this newly formed plane with fire and magic. After eons of work, Ira and Ilune looked with pride upon their new home: Cordia.
Creation
With the Primal Wyrms in harmony, life soon began to flourish on Cordia. Tectus, Sekona, and Ashka gave life to all manner of beasts and plants that soon roamed the land, sea, and sky. Ira and Ilune were fascinated by these creatures and were inspired to create something more. They wanted to create something in their own image, a being that could appreciate the world they’d created and even change it themselves. Taking inspiration from the process of their own creation, the Twin Gods used the essence of each of the five Primal Wyrms to create a third divine creature. From Tectus and Sekona they created the flesh and blood of the body. Ashka gifted them wind that became the breath of life. Solis granted them his gifts of creativity and emotion. Finally, Rhega gave a piece of her magic that would become the first soul. Gathering these gifts, Ira and Ilune created the first sentient creature born on Cordia and the third true god, Hela.
Satisfied with their work, Ira and Ilune watched Hela explore the world. Hela spent many years traveling Cordia among the beautiful plants and animals that the Wyrms had created. They wandered the pristine, wild landscapes and, for a time, Hela was happy. However, they soon grew lonely. Hela returned to Ira and Ilune and begged the gods to create other creatures so they could have someone to share this world with. Such a beautiful creation deserved to be used and appreciated by creatures with the capacity to do so. The Twin Gods were wary of introducing more intelligent life to Cordia. They feared that too much change would disrupt the perfectly balanced world they had created. Hela’s pleas were denied. Thinking the matter settled, the two exhausted gods turned their attention away from Cordia and began to slumber.
Sad and frustrated, Hela returned to their beautiful, solitary world. One night, the Primal Wyrm of the moon, Rhega, saw Hela’s sadness and took pity on the creature she had helped create. Rhega flew down to Hela and told them the story of Hela’s own creation in an attempt to cheer them up. Hela was inspired by this story - whether or not this was Rhega’s true intention is unknown - and set off on a quest to visit each of the Primal Wyrms. They either tricked or persuaded each one into giving them the gifts necessary to make new life and, with these gifts in hand, Hela created the first mortals.
Unlike Ira and Ilune, Hela did not seek to create beings in their own image. Instead, they created races inspired by the beautiful diversity of Cordia itself. They created dwarves and aarakocra to inhabit the mountains, they filled the lush forests with centaurs and goblins, the rolling hills became home to halflings and humans, the vast plains given to orcs and tabaxi, in the frozen reaches they created the goliath, the seas became home to triton. Hela traveled far and wide creating these races and many more. They taught these first mortals all they knew of Cordia and how to make it their home. Thanks to a millennium of Hela’s guidance, dozens of advanced civilizations flourished across the land, sea, and skies. Finally, for the first time in their life, Hela was not lonely.
War
When the true gods woke from their thousand-year rest, they looked upon Cordia and were enraged by what Hela had done. The pristine landscape they had created was now scarred by the advancing civilizations of mortals. They saw dwarves burrowing like ants into the great mountains, humans clearing swaths of ancient forests for farmland and timber, orcs and goliaths hunting wild beasts older than the first mortals. They saw these creatures spread across Cordia like a plague, changing it as they did. The Twin Gods confronted Hela and demanded they take back the gifts of the Primal Wyrms and return Cordia to its harmonic state. Hela refused, trying to convince Ira and Ilune that Cordia was a place meant to be lived in and experienced, not to be admired from afar. Once again, Hela’s pleas were denied.
Ira and Ilune set about creating the weapons with which they would cleanse Cordia. Borrowing gifts from the Primal Wyrms one final time, the Twin Gods created dragons and giants. The first dragons were savage and bestial, lacking the intelligence of their modern kin. They functioned as weapons of mass destruction capable of decimating entire cities. The first giants were the loyal foot soldiers of the gods’ armies and adhered to a strict hierarchy known as the Ordning. With their newly created armies at their back, Ira and Ilune prepared to wipe mortals from the face of their world in what would become known simply as the First War.
Dragons and giants wiped out countless mortals, but Hela did not stand idly by as their creations burned. They quickly rallied all of the mortal kingdoms and cultures under their banner. United, mortals made a valiant stand, holding their ground against the advance of the dragons and giants. The First War raged on for years. The years became decades and decades soon approached a century. An entire generation of mortals were born, lived, and died knowing nothing but an endless war for survival. Hela and their armies kept the onslaught at bay for a time, but the loss of mortal life was happening at an unsustainable rate. This war needed to end.
Hela devised a plan. Gathering a cohort of the strongest mortal mages and warriors, they launched a desperate attack at the seat of the gods themselves, Mount Jaikon. A great battle ensued on the mountain’s summit, culminating with Hela beaten within an inch of their divine life and only one of their mortal allies remaining, a human woman named Andra Umbershield. Ira and Ilune could not bring themselves to destroy their own child. Instead, Hela’s punishment would be to watch as their menial creations were destroyed, beginning with Andra Umbershield. As the gods swung a killing blow, Hela threw themselves in front of Andra to protect her, sacrificing their own life in the process.
Grief overcame the two gods as they looked upon the lifeless body of their child. They could not understand why Hela would sacrifice their life for one of these fleeting creatures, these parasites that ruined paradise. It was then that the gods looked at the carnage inflicted on Cordia by the war they had begun. They saw humans planting new forests among the ashes of dragonfire, dwarves building cities from leveled mountains, and new life springing from all corners of the world. Ira and Ilune now saw what Hela saw in these creatures. They had as much capability for creation and love as they did for destruction and hate. In this moment they also saw the destruction they had caused in the name of balance and were filled with regret. They gave a message to Andra Umbershield to take to the rest of the mortal races: the war was over.
Peace
The message delivered by Andra Umbershield became known as the Divine Covenant. The Twin Gods vowed to leave Cordia and to never again meddle directly in the affairs of mortals. However, they still didn’t entirely trust mortals not to destroy the world they had created. The gods used much of their remaining power to create the reincarnation cycle and three new planes of existence: Halcyon, the Abyss, and Axis.
Halcyon was created as an eternal paradise, a place where the souls of mortals who achieve perfect harmony with the world may go to find everlasting peace and happiness. The Abyss was created to punish those souls who were deemed too vile and evil to be allowed back into the world. Souls who enter the Abyss are damned to an eternity of pain and misery. Axis is the realm between realms. It links the material plane, Halcyon, and the Abyss together and serves as the seat of the gods. It is in Axis that Ira and Ilune rest and watch over Cordia, judging souls as they flow through the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.
Before they departed to Axis, the Twin Gods left one last measure in place against mortals to ensure they didn’t grow unchecked. The dragons and giants were released from their divine bond and set free to roam the world. Dragons were given a cunning intelligence that could rival any mortal, ensuring their continued survival. The giants were freed from the Ordning and given liberty to choose their own paths. To this day, dragons and giants both still remain in the ancient and wild places of the world, ensuring that Cordia’s first citizens, the beasts and plants created by the Primal Wyrms, continue to flourish and survive.
These changes to the very structure of Cordia did not happen quietly. Ira and Ilune labored at the top of Mount Jaikon for four days and four nights as they unleashed a torrent of divine power that altered the fabric of reality. The ripples of their efforts could be felt across the entire planet. These four days would be remembered as holy days by most cultures, eventually becoming known as the Lost Days in modern Cordia. When the gods finally finished, much of their power was drained. They took one last look at the world they created and the mortals that now inhabited it. With sadness and a glimmer of hope for the future, Ira and Ilune left Cordia for good and sealed the gate behind them.
Rebirth
Following the destruction of the First War and the death of Hela, most mortal civilizations were left decimated. Entire cultures were wiped out or quickly dissolved and centuries of technological and arcane advancements were lost in the ashes. For the first time in history, the mortal races of Cordia were left with no divine being to guide them. The few societies that remained were now at the mercy of the harsh elements and wildlife as well as the now independent dragons and giants that roamed the land. Despite winning the war, mortals were dangerously close to extinction.
However, the creations of Hela persisted, proving that they had every right to survive in this world. The Twin Gods may have seen them as parasites, but each and every race was created from the same primal forces that make up the pillars of Cordia itself. Dwarves didn’t just mine the mountains, they were a part of them. Humans and halflings didn’t conquer the land, they cultivated it. Goliaths and orcs weren’t mindless killers, they were a part of the land just as a wolf hunts but is still a part of the forest. All across Cordia mortals picked themselves up from the brink of death and took their first steps towards rebirth.
Over the following centuries, the mortal races of Cordia slowly began to recover. Many great civilizations had been lost to the fires of the First War. Others were reduced to refugee societies that more resembled simple tribes than the vast nations they had once been. However, those societies adapted to their new world and began not only to survive, but to thrive. Over the following centuries, wandering tribes created towns, towns became cities, and cities grew into nations and empires that began to resemble, and even surpass, the heights of civilization that were achieved under Hela’s guidance. The mortal races of Cordia showed the gods that they weren’t going anywhere - Cordia was and forever will be their home.