Dawn of Legends

And the Architect beheld the place of the dead, where those who had fallen in wickedness were cast away.

And He saw that death alone was not a punishment, for in death there was an end, and in an end, there was silence.

And He spake, saying, "Let there be a place where the wicked shall not find rest, nor shall they fade into nothingness. Let them suffer according to their misdeeds, and let their punishment be greater than death itself."

And He stretched forth His hand, and from the depths of the void, He shaped a realm unlike any other, a place of eternal consequence.

The land trembled, and the earth split asunder. From its deepest abyss, rivers of black fire flowed, and from its skies, no light could reach.

And He named this place the Abyss, the prison of the wicked, the torment of the damned.

And to each soul cast within, He decreed a punishment befitting their sins, that they would suffer not by death, but by the weight of their own deeds.

Some were bound in chains of their own making, forged from their greed and cruelty. Others wandered as wraiths, forever seeking what they could never again possess.

And among them were those whose hatred was unquenched, and they became as beasts, with hunger that no feast could satisfy, nor drink could quench.

And the Architect spake again, saying, "Let those who are cast into the Abyss dwell here until the end of days. But for those whose souls yet bear the seed of redemption, let them be given a new beginning."

And He turned His gaze upon Yggdrasil, the World Mother, and He said, "O Mother of the Living, let thy womb be the path of rebirth. Those who are worthy shall pass through thee and be born anew."

And Yggdrasil, though bound to life, trembled at His words. And she answered, "If this is Thy will, let it be done. But shall they not remember what they were?"

And the Architect said, "Nay, for a soul that remembers only its past cannot change. They shall be given new flesh, new life, and new fate. Only through living may they prove their worth once more."

Thus, the Abyss became not only a place of punishment but also a place of judgment, where the most wretched could either perish in suffering or be granted the mercy of rebirth.

But the Architect saw that punishment without keepers was without order, and thus He spake, saying, "Let there be those who shall carry out justice within this realm. Let them be born from its depths, unyielding and merciless, to be the hand that punishes the damned."

And from the very fires of the Abyss, the first demons arose.

Their flesh was hardened by torment, their eyes burned with the sight of every sin, and their hands were heavy with the burden of retribution.

And the Architect called them the Keepers of Judgment, the Enforcers of the Abyss, and He set them over the wicked, saying, "Ye shall be the watchers of this realm, the bringers of punishment, and the scourge of all who defy the laws of righteousness."

And they bowed before Him, swearing to fulfill their purpose.

But though they were formed from the Abyss, they were not without mind nor heart.

For the flames of their birth had granted them not only strength but also will, and as they grew in number, they began to see themselves not as mere enforcers, but as a people.

Among them, the strong rose above the weak, and they came to know power, and with power came bloodlines, and with bloodlines came hierarchy.

And though the Architect had given them purpose, He had not foreseen their growth, nor did He speak of their order, for in their hearts, they had carved their own path.

And so it was that in the depths of the Abyss, unknown even to the heavens, a new order was formed—one not dictated by divine will, but by the nature of the demons themselves.

And thus, the Abyss was complete, a place of suffering, of judgment, and of new creation, where even the damned could find purpose, even if not redemption.