The beginning of all times
periodization: 55,000 - 30,000 years ago
This age is dated back to approximately 50,000 years ago and it is the period of time when all species of Gaidinia were feral. The best example are Nyanarrs, or better, the ancestors of Nyanarrs; feral canine-based creatures wandering the forests of the planet. Unbeknownst to the feral ancestors of most of the species we now know in Gaidinia, the world they inhabited held a secret, hidden within its veins. Ancient magic. A magic possessed by the most powerful entity of them all, the Grand God. Resting, watching over, waiting for what was to come.
It is believed that ancient magic was discovered around 30,000 years ago by the slowly evolving species of the land. They sought life, they sought energy to fuel their souls. The magic hidden within the land was powerful and untamed. It was leaking from the cracks at the bottom of the ocean, sleeping under the feet of the Gaidinian ancestors. But it was discovered and released into the land. The magic fueled the evolution of the species and it gave species their uniqueness. But something else happened as well, something not so expected. The magic was untamed, being released into the land freely, as the species were not capable of controlling the enormous power, the magic found vessels. Vessels in the form of living creatures.
The magic connected onto the soul, the core, of these selected creatures, its new vessels, and these vessels gained powers. They were given the power they were not supposed to possess, they suddenly acquired magic that they knew nothing about, neither how to control nor how to nurture it. These creatures, the creatures of ancient magic, became known as the Gods. Their power exceeded anything known to the land or its inhabitants. And unfortunately, great power did not come with a great sense of values or morals. The end of this era is marked by the birth of the Old Gods.
The period of Old Gods
periodization: 30,000 - 10,500 years ago
This age starts with the birth of the Old Gods. No one is completely positive about how it happened. One theory is that, once released, the ancient magic, strengthened by the unity of feral species of Gaidinia, had to escape somewhere. Untamed, uncontrollable, the magic found its new vessels. But this time, they were living creatures. And that is how Old Gods came to be. The Old Gods were given their powers rather, they did not deserve it, they were not rewarded. Because it was never intended for them, they have been misusing their power ever since.
The enormous power of the ancient magic made the Old Gods immortal as well as granted them omnipotent powers. They quickly took over the land and its barely humanoid inhabitants. The species of Gaidinia were in the process of evolving to their current form, as we all know then. The process was sped up by the release of the ancient magic, but they were not strong or capable enough to face the inevitable. Old Gods took over. They made themselves the new rules, the divinity of the land that they named... Gaidinia.
This period is also sometimes referred to as the Dark Age or the Age of Darkness, as the era was mostly in the name of war, death, suffering, and dark. The species of Gaidinia slowly approached their current form, humanoid form, fully intellectual, they adapted languages and speech to communicate with one another on a much deeper and more meaningful level. They gained the ability of community and discovered one of the strongest forces of mortal - relationships. They started forming communities, building cities, learning more about themselves and the magic they inherited from the land thousands of years ago when it was released from its underground chambers. And they started to realize themselves as individuals within the system that was established by the Old Gods. The system was full of suffering, war, and death.
At that point, two spirits, Eiros and Zana, blessed by the ancient magic, the original source - the Grand God, appeared from the shadows from which they were silently watching. They were dissatisfied with the state of the world and decided to step in. They led a handful of powerful spirits who gained their power through their discoveries, victories, and studies of ancient magic, and together they started called themselves The New Gods.
Three friends trying to find the key to end the Age of Darkness were rewarded with the power of Time and space itself. This is how the deities we now know came to be. One of two sisters, Amarlya, was granted the magic of all Art and beauty within it while the other sister, Kealeth, was granted the power of Blood. Khai found a way to tame magic and to form it into spells, inventing potions and liquid magic. Ania and Kithos, not so known to one another, both working on the same discovery. What is Life, how to tame it, is it dependent on magic? They were granted the powers of both Life and Death, together protecting the balance. Trized, Vezet, and Tainy came to be, their dedication rewarded with the magic of Prophecy, Madness, and Secrets. And then there was Vas. The one celebrating the art of War. The art that was so well known to the Old Gods and anyone suffering under their rule. With his obsession, a creature of the opposite came to be. To balance his obssession, Metla, the deity of peace, was born into life.
And that is the story of how the New Gods came into existence. Rewarded for their great action, discoveries, sacrifices. Deserved. The end of this age is marked by the birth of the New Gods.
The period of the Godly War
periodization: 10,500 - 10,000 years ago
This age starts with the birth of the New Gods' Alliance. One of the first were Eiros and Zana, the deities of the moon and sun. They were granted the powers to manipulate the day and the night to give the inhabitants of Gaidinia the cycle of the day. Until now the daylight and darkness was very irregular and dependent on the Old Gods' whims. Other deities eventually appeared as well. The Old Gods were displeased about this reality and tried to suppress the gain of powers from the New Gods. But it was too late. New Gods, led by the Sky Deities, blessed by the Grand God, united and made an alliance in order to overpower the Old Gods and change the Gaidinian history for good.
This period is rather short, it could be considered a part of the Period of the Old Gods, but historians like to separate these two ages rather than keeping them together. This 500-year long period was the period of the Godly War - war between the Old Gods and the New Gods. The period is characterized by a complex web of relationships, betrayals, plot twists, and divine wrath.
To explain this, it is necessary to dive deeper into the motives and intentions of each God involved in the war, and those that were not involved or resigned as well. Some of the Old Gods were rather passive even during the period of Old Gods rule and they were willing to resign and retreat from the spotlight - one of such Gods was for example Harmonia, one of the Old Gods who decided that it was time to pass the divine responsibilities onto the New Gods, that her age was gone and there was nothing she could do for Gaidinians anymore. Another example of the Old Gods that decided to retreat is the Goddess of Wealth, whose name has been forgotten with time. She decided to return to the deepest abyss of the ocean from where she was once born, to her chambers, to wait that one day she might return with her love to a new world.
There were more, but the story of all of those who decided to pass the divine duties onto the new generation of deities is not known. Some are legends, like the one about the Dragon Mother or the one about the Queen of Dryádas that people sometimes connect to the resigning of the Old Gods, but no one really knows if they are true or happened during the Godly War. Some of them simply gave up their divinity and transformed into spirits, perhaps endlessly wandering the land even to this day.
But just as there were those willing to give up their rulership, there were those that refused to surrender it. The New Gods had no choice but to fight. No one can imagine what divine beings battling one another might look like, the breathtaking glory of the most powerful beings Gaidinia had ever known, the enormous power of each of them, colliding in a divine conflict. As we all know, New Gods overpowered the Old Gods and dethroned them, taking their place as the rulers of Gaidinian lands. They kept their unity, their alliance, as they knew, they must maintain the balance. The Age of Darkness, the age of chaos, was finally over.
Some of the Old Gods were killed, some fled. The divine bodies of the Fallen Gods were buried in the forsaken area called Dead Gods. Gods are immortal, the only way to kill a God is if they are killed by another God. Only a God can commit deicide - a murder of another God. And those dead Old Gods rest till the end of times in the sacred place that they once built to bury the New Gods. What an irony. The oldest legend of arrogance and pride lays there, under the ancient dead trees feeding on their divine bodies for the rest of all time remaining in this world. New Gods achieved victory, they throned themselves to the position of new rulers of Gaidinia, but in order to avoid repeating the mistakes of their predecessors, they decided for monarchy rather than totalitarianism. They have aspired to become the idols, the guide for their people, rather than tyrants. They established an open kingdom, they are the rules beyond the mortal rules, and the mortals below them, their people, rules of their own establishments. And that is how the Gaidinian regional rules and aristocracy came to be.
The inhabitants of Gaidinia accepted their New Gods with gratitude and appreciation. Seeking someone to guide their souls, to guide their lives, to pray to upon life struggles. The New Gods came into general knowledge as The Deities. And yet different regions with different cultures favorite different Deities, all Deities of the Alliance were accepted and worshipped throughout the whole land of the newly established kingdom - Gaidinia.
The period of the New Gods
periodization: 10,000 - 500 years ago
This age starts with the victory of the New Gods over the Old Gods and the establishment of a new political system to Gaidinia - an open kingdom. It's based on a contract, an agreement that forbids them from attacking and fighting each other. Each one of the deities agreed, although not everyone felt satisfied with the agreement.
The period of the New Gods was mostly peaceful and Gaidinia was ready to improve. It could be also called the renaissance of the world. No wars meant peace, and peace meant lots of space for new technologies and even the discovery of uncommon Nyanarrs, since everyone was able to move mostly freely. There were, of course, small disputes between the towns, cities and villages, but nothing major happened.
That's until Vas, the deity of War, decided that the peaceful times were not interesting enough for him. He also felt like he should be higher up in the hierarchy, as he is considered to be one of the Lower Gods. The deity thought that he was worth more, and that he is stronger than the rest of Lower Deities, so he found the wandering spirits and gave them the bodies made by the Master Dollmaker and with the contract between them, he created War Kemuchiis, his loyal soldiers. Some other deities approved in secret, but they did not join his fight as they did not consider his climing through hierarchy a priority and they didn't want to fight the other gods.
Vezet, the deity of Madness, mostly enjoyed the chaos that war brought, but he did not create his Kemuchiis to fight either sides. He did, however, use the idea of his own soldiers to create madness in the heads of others.
The Peace Kemuchiis were created in order to repel the War soldiers but it was not an easy task, as Vas had the advantage of time and his persuasion skills. Many mortals joined the fight - most noticeably a young Thalemimi Neiyn. He was an amazing general, a strong warrior and he had the charm that made many join him. His goal was not to defeat Vas, though. He intended to slaughter the God. Nobody knows if he would be able to do that, but he did get close to Vas at one point - the deities who did nothing until then had to join the war, as they feared what would happen if Vas really would not survive. The world would be at imbalance, the harmony of Gaidinia would be gone.
While Eiros and Zana did not interfere, the rest were able to persuade Vas to end the chaos. Many Gaidinians had lost their lives and while the war has a simple timeline, it took hundreds of years for mortals - even though that seemed like seconds for immortals.
Neiyn became one of the Thalemimis that turned into gods - lower in hierarchy, but their lives not as easy to take anymore. Their time not counted.
The peace was brought to the world once again.
The modern period
periodization: 500 years ago till now
This age starts with the end of the last Gaidinian War. It's the times we are living in now. Deities haven't tried to fight so far - Vas is quiet and not causing trouble anymore, he's just having his little fun with Gaidinians - not hurting them (most of the time).
What danger is awaiting?