Cosmology of Adaris
Introduction
The cosmology of Adaris describes the origin and structure of Adaris. Adaris arose from Napadéh, an infinite expanse of chaotic energy called Ákyar. Two Primordial Spirits, Umalyu and Pavkanai, gave Ákyar form. Seven further Primordial Spirits emerged from their interaction and created the realms. Conflict among those spirits produced the present world.
Napadéh
Before Adaris there was only Napadéh, which was filled with Ákyar. Ákyar had no form, but could become anything.
Umalyu and Pavkanai
Umalyu, consciousness, was the first spirit to emerge from Ákyar. It became aware of its own existence and named itself. In its solitude Umalyu began to dream, and from its dreams came Pavkanai, the spirit of imagination. The interaction between Umalyu's thought and Pavkanai's imagination gave Ákyar form.
Primordial Spirits
Umalyu and Pavkanai are the first two Primordial Spirits. Seven more emerged from their interaction, making nine in all. Four of the seven, Yairan, Metihi, Yavi, and Aahi, embody the Primordial Elements of earth, fire, air, and water. The seven emerged in the following order.
| Order | Spirit | Element | Realm |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Náiluv | Darkness | Woncu |
| 2 | Tñarilu | Light | Qaaniguaq |
| 3 | Yairan | Earth | Dalel |
| 4 | Metihi | Fire | Píñáku |
| 5 | Yavi | Air | Zayam |
| 6 | Aahi | Water | Aasila |
| 7 | Konmai | Time | Q'ommer |
Yairan was the first of the spirits of the physical elements. Konmai emerged much later than the others, near the end of the Great Erosion.
Structure of the realms
Dalel, the realm of earth, is a flat plane. Aasila, the realm of water, surrounds it. Zayam, the realm of air, lies above it, and Píñáku, the realm of fire, lies below it. Qaaniguaq, the realm of light, and Woncu, the realm of darkness, lie on either side. The conflict between them, the Dawn Wars, produces day and night on Dalel.
Q'ommer, the realm of time, encompasses all of these realms. Gueroeq, the realm of imagination, lies outside time.
Formation of the realms
Gueroeq, the realm of imagination, came into being with Pavkanai and is the oldest realm. Yairan formed Dalel as an unbroken and unbounded expanse of stone. Light and darkness fell on it but had no place of their own. The period in which Dalel stood alone and unchanged is the Era of Isolation. It ended when Tñarilu and Náiluv drew light and darkness apart into Qaaniguaq and Woncu, on either side of Dalel. Metihi then formed Píñáku beneath Dalel, and Yavi formed Zayam above it. Aahi had no realm of her own.
Great Erosion
The Great Erosion (c. 63,000–55,000 BME) began soon after the realms of fire and air had formed. Aahi forced her way into Dalel, and Yavi and Metihi followed. Each of the four spirits created a race of warriors to fight for it. These races are known as the Wardens. Aahi formed Aasila during the conflict.
Konmai emerged near the end of the Great Erosion. His emergence is usually attributed to the consciousness of Umalyu. With time, events occurred in sequence and the changes to Dalel became permanent.
Umalyu created the Enarei, who stopped the fighting. The four spirits then agreed that each element would keep its own nature while continuing to act on the others. Yairan, who had lost almost all of Dalel, withdrew to the Domain of Yairan.
Dawn Wars
The Dawn Wars between Tñarilu and Náiluv began with the emergence of time, near the end of the Great Erosion, after the boundaries between the realms had collapsed. They are an endless conflict for control of space, and their ebb and flow produces day and night on Dalel. Each spirit created beings to fight on its behalf. The Dawn Wars are not fought in Dalel, and they have not ended.
Ascendant Spirits
After the Great Erosion, new spirits arose from the interactions of the Primordial Spirits. These Ascendant Spirits embody landscapes and concepts, such as deserts, swamps, memory, and desire. During the Age of Ascendance (c. 55,000–0 BME) they settled in the regions of Dalel, shaped them, and created their native peoples.
Humans
Pavkanai created humans in Gueroeq. After the realms had stabilized following the Great Erosion, she placed them on Haberria, an island of Dalel, where they lived during the Age of Ascendance. They left Haberria in the Great Migration (0 – c. 60 ME), and their first landings on the other shores of Dalel mark year 0. The peoples who settled in each region changed under the influence of its spirits and became the human races of the present day.
Other spirits
Spirits continue to form in Adaris. A Nascent Spirit is a simple spirit of a minor phenomenon. A Mature Spirit is self-aware and embodies a lasting place or idea. An Ancestral Spirit arises when a Mature Spirit becomes established in the beliefs of a people over generations.
Osia
Osia is the practice of influencing spirits through attunement. Its practitioners are called Osiari.