A New World, Metaphysics

In the beginning, there was.

And that was all. Time and its passage existed, independent of all else. Time is the universal constant, the underlying truth behind all things. Time and its passage, its regulation, its expression. Time exists. But more importantly, it facilitates, it allows. Nothing can occur in an instant; it must progress, evolve, adapt. And so came to be the Firstborn. Yin and yang, light and dark, growth and entropy. Balti and Peria.

Gods are omniscient, but they are not omnipotent. They exist as part of time, and therefore are trapped by the glacial pace of its passage. To effect their will, they rely upon their tools. Their Servants. Each crafted with purpose, which they bear as both name and calling.

The Servants of Balti are quiet things. The do not move so much as they grow; flowing light surrounding a core of stone, wading through this physical realm. Woe betide those who attempt to crack that stone; woe betide the Servant if indeed it is fractured. The Servants of Peria are the opposite. Flaming light, extinguished by hard ash. An eternal, sentient bonfire, wreathed in its own refuse. A Servant of Peria can do many things, but they cannot grow. They cannot learn. But they can be taught. The fire may be fed by human hands, human thoughts. Human souls.

There once was a sevent of Peria named Decomposer of Thorns. He was among the oldest of his kind, his name having only one verb, one noun, and one connector. One day, a man convinced him to partake in a wager. Decomposer of Thorns lost, and the man gave him a slip of paper to eat. Upon that slip of paper was a single word. Desire. And so Decomposer of Thorns became Desire, and lo, he desired much. Above all things, he desired a realm of his own, to populate and rule over, and thereby own creation in its entirety. Balti and Peria, seeing this change, gave Desire a separate thread in the tapestry of time to lord over. This is the world of the Rift.