"In the beginning, ignorance ruled the land, and magic was practiced by 
a select few.  Mages, known as Creators back then, were relatively  
scarce, and the study of magicks was an unknown art.  Men fought like 
beasts, and the world was harsh and unforgiving. 

Over time, the elite group of Creators began to flourish. 
They began to explore the extent of their powers over Welstar.  Some
were content to study in peace, others brought kingdoms to their knees,
and still others were driven by a wanderlust to explore the universe.
Of the original, most powerful Creators, only one remains, and it his
story that is handed down to us.  He is known as The Creator, for there
are no others like him.

The Creator sought peace where there was violence, sought solutions
rather than destruction.  His way was that of enlightenment, and he
sought to bring about true understanding among man.  He very nearly 
succeeded.  He taught the mages the magical arts, helped them create
artifacts of unimaginable power, and brought about the dawn of 
civilization where previously men simply hacked at each other with
swords.  The Age of Magic flourished.

The Creator's powers continued to grow.  He sent tendrils of thought
beyond his world, and found others, beckoning, daring to be explored.
He could not leave, however, because his people needed him.

The Creator knew humanity well, for he was just as human as they once
were.  He watched as they built shrines to him, and worshipped him like
a God.  But he knew better.  He was no God.  He realized that he could
not stay among them, for so long as he stayed they would worship and
adore him, and so he withdrew.  The Creator moved on through a Rift
in the universe which he had discovered, and left to explore new worlds.

And thus the Time of Mourning began.  Upon the Creator's departure,
the remaining mages created a Magicracy, tightening their grip on the
political powers and forcing them to bend to their will.  THEY were Gods,
they assured their followers, and those who defied them would suffer
banishment to the nether realms.  Those who dared to face their wrath,
as well as mages who did not agree with their practices, were banished
into the Rift, the very rift through which The Creator had passed
centuries before.

No mage had dared enter the Rift, for pulsing darkness awaited any who
stepped through.  Most mages went screaming through it when they were
thrown in.  Those on Welstar forgot about their banished foes.

But they did not die.  They found themselves on Perdow, a dead world
that never saw the light of day.  The mages there used their magicks
to survive and flourish.  This band of so called criminals created their
own empire amongst the chaos, creating some of the strongest and most
powerful mages in the universe.  They did not forget what the Welstarian
mages had done to them.

Centuries later, the Perdowans mounted a counterstrike of massive
proportions.  The various Welstarian nations, who had fallen into bickering
and infighting during the interim since they had banished their brethren,
united and fought them off.  Three years later, a massive retaliation
was staged by their own troops through the very same portal.  The corpses
piled up on both sides.

The Creator returned, after centuries of travel, to find that his people
had once again become naught but vicious animals.  Outraged, he watched
as forces from both sides would cross through the Rift and attack,
counterattack, strike and counterstrike.  His anger grew and grew until
he felt he could no longer restrain himself.  As both armies gathered
once again for a massive war on either side of the Rift, The Creator
sundered the Rift, creating a massive dispersion of teleportation magic 
that ravaged the entire universe.

The Time of Madness began.  The world was thrown into oblivion.  Cities
disappeared and reappeared, people were flung to the four corners of 
the universe.  Portals opened and closed at key points of worship to
The Creator, who was known throughout the system and on many worlds.
Humanity found itself no longer alone, and was humbled.  

The tear had more of an effect than anyone, even The Creator, had
anticipated.  Beings flocked to it like a swarm of bees to honey.  
Invaders from different planes of existence from a thousand different
worlds showed up.  The Creator grieved over what damage he had caused,
for in attempting to fix the madness, he only caused more.  Knowing
that he too, was just as fallible as weaker counterparts, he sealed
off the Rift to the outside realms permanently.  Things would be, he
swore, as they once were, and humanity would become the pinnacle of 
enlightenment once again.  Thus, The Creator closed the universe
permanently, trapping all manner of beings there and keeping humanity
from ever tampering with the powers of the Rift.  He called this universe
RetroMUD - for it would become that which it once was.

Or so he thought.  Other beings, far more powerful beings, were also
trapped within the universe, more powerful than The Creator but unable
to escape his magical bindings.  Angered, they trapped him there as well.

The Gods made contact with the lesser beings, and led them.  The name
Creator was forgotten, he was relegated to legend and old history books.
The Gods made sure of that.  They began building their own followers on
the remaining six worlds, and waged war on each other.  Thus the Godswar
began.

The Gods always attempt to escape in one way or another.  Armagg-Odhin
attempts to forever destroy it, but the fabric is too strong for even
him, and it rebuilds itself repeatedly.  Sikkar attempts to wage war
on the other Gods, in the belief that this is a punishment inflicted
upon him by yet some greater deity.  And there is also some God that
has no true name, although he has taken many forms.  This being seems
content to simply stay within its hedged universe and prey upon them
all, feeding on the sacrifices its followers empty into their swords.
Each sword they wield, it is said, is a part of that dark God.  Some
say it is a black hole with pure sentience.  Others are sure it is
the collective sins of humanity.

The worlds have changed much through the eons.  A new hope for escape
has dawned on Gods.  Just as The Creator, who was less powerful than
they, could had somehow enough power to trap them, perhaps the lesser
mortals could provide an escape route where divine powers could not.
The art of telemancy arose, giving mages control over the scarred
and warped fabric of the universe.  Despite this, individuals and 
entire areas still disappear and reappear at random, sometimes
disappearing forever, perhaps sacrificed to the Dark God, perhaps
escaping the universal prison.

The most powerful mages have duplicated to a lesser extent
The Creator's power.  They interfere with creation on occasion but
dare not meddle too much lest the Gods retaliate.  These lesser
beings, known as Wizards, have followed in the Creator's footsteps,
restoring, rekindling, and reuniting the sundered pieces of the
universe to make it whole once more."

SEE ALSO:  planets, gifted ones, guilds, worlds, magic, immortals, gods