Second Day

Second Day - The Day of Form
Slèibhtean watches the perplexing Acts of other deities, drifting through wayward stars, streams of water, and the spherical Dwarves.

Slèibhtean selects a stabler galaxy and focuses on a single star, plucking colorless Fire from its edges and attempting to infuse the color of cold, Blue.

''The Dark Matter pushes its hands forward, offering a galaxy that had somehow avoided ever being slapped away by Anti-Matter. In this, the galaxy is the most stable of all galaxies. Though the galaxy is brimming with swirling Suns, Planets, Forcematter, and Rock Matter, Slèibhtean's attention is on one tiny orb of Fire and Light.''

The Sun turns color from blank light, to rich blue.

And Cold is, henceforth, Blue.

'''Wendigo creates atoms. Atoms, consisting of the most basic bits of electric information, have the ability to become whatever they are coded to become, and like the universe, atoms can be created and coded to create specific elements or materials. Once created, they cannot be destroyed or changed except by gods or extreme heat such as found in the hottest of fire. Due to their incredibly tiny microscopic size, atoms are effectively invisible until massed together in large groups (trillions of them, by this measure could be found in the very tip top of a human's wiggly appendage). Atoms can become almost anything with the right coding (arrangement of their inner-parts). The inner workings of the atoms consist of electrons that orbit around a core of protons and neutrons. The amount of these inner-parts determines the nature of the atom.'''

And so it comes to pass that atoms are created.

Karidan creates a form for herself using the Creations she has chosen to define herself by, seeing the form Force has taken and conceptualizing a similar one made of her Light and 'clothed' in grids of her Order, the wings that had previously defined her gracing her back.

''And so Karidan glows white with Light, crisscrossed with square grids. Her wings arch upwards, into eternity.''

Uuu reaches in a direction not Of Time, and now touches all things Of Space, that are, were, and will be, so that they may know Uuu

''At first, only things not Of Space knew Uuu. Now, even things Of Space- which is currently only Space itself- knows Uuu. All things now know Uuu, forever, so long as they have sentience.''

'''Uuu creates patterns - a language that unites all Things in Space and in Time. a not-always apparent manner of linking all things great and minute, before and after - fractal rhythms and hopeful symmetry cascades shall subtly grace every Thing.'''

''Patterns are defined, and it comes to pass that all things that have sentience have the capability of recognizing Patterns, and the Dwarves begin to sway and dance and sing with maddening plodding regularity, unused to this new concept. Though their language is jabbering, syllables begin to form, and the concepts that they can convey to one another grow more complex.''

'''Uuu creates a rule that All Things - notably not gods - will know to be true - While they may travel in any direction Space has to offer, they will only be able to travel one direction through time, and only for a given distance. All Things will be finite, and all Things can and will end.'''

So it is that beings can only travel forward in Time.

Additionally, Uuu reinforces Caethair's Act: "Caethair creates transience. Nothing can remain static. Nothing can exist indefinitely. Everything in the world must have an eventual end no matter how down along the line."

'''Wendigo creates Okanogan in Its own image. Okanogan is bestowed the power to create all forms of atoms from the most simple to the most complex. It can create them in endlessly large amounts forever and ever for as long as Okanogan exists or is allowed to act by Nagysten. It can also organize these atoms into groupings from which any god can draw for creation.'''

And Okanogan comes into being, a black oval just like Wendigo, with an ego as large as Wendigo's.

Okanogan glances around with glowing red eyes.

Okanogan creates Ombitodentodus, worshipper of Okanogan, manipulator of life.

''Ombitodentodus wails great praise for the almighty and intelligent Okanogan, spreading its dark and holy name among the Dwarves, who clutch their Human Being deity in fear. A Pattern begins to form in their language, one speaking of the genius and powerful Okanogan.''

Okanogan changes his form to be spherical.

Okanogan snaps into view in Space as well as Time, causing the Dwarves to recoil in wonder and terror at the giant twisted version of themselves.

Okanogan creates Vankrax, Planet-that-absorbs-Planets, from Second Gravity and Cold.

Vankrax begins to move in slow sweeps across the Universe, absorbing any Planets it touches into itself, growing larger, bluer, and ever more Perverted.

'''Slèibhtean finally turns to grasp a smattering of Rock and Gairacht's precious Dirt and attempts to pat them into new Planets. Tugging Order in a circle 'round the Blue star, she flings the results of coupling Rock and Dirt into the pull, seeking Orbit.'''

''And a new form of Planet, one made of Rock and Dirt instead of Light and Fire, is created. Slèibhtean's divine aim is true, and an "Orbit"- a circular Pattern around another object- is created.''

Karidan creates Purity to act in opposition to Perversion, feeling compelled to give Creation a way to resist Perversion's influence.

And Purity is created, which is in opposition to Perversion, though Perversion is not defined.

'''Gairacht creates a new type of rock matter that is weaker than normal rock matter but still stronger than dirt. He calls this new matter 'gem'. He makes many different colored versions of it for every color, both visible and invisible. He scatters the gems across a planet that Slèibhtean had formed.'''

And beautiful, multi-hued gems form, and Gairacht gifts them upon one of Slèibhtean's worlds, jewels in a celestial crown.

Gastcempa and Slèibhtean have a daughter, and her name is Aungwey.

And so Aungwey is first of the Sedivinae, the second Pantheon.

'''Gairacht gathered water from one near by tributaries and casts it upon the planet, covering it parts of it. Hoping to bring the thing called life to his gems.'''

And some of the gems become self-aware, though they resemble lifeless gems in all ways.

'''Slèibhtean, too, mimics the shape of Force, but only on a basic level. She slips into a body, four limbs, and a head, but the extremities lengthen beneath a longitudinal torso. Her head, as well, stretches into a long, tapering shape, opening to form the first Mouth. A Tail extends from the posterior of her body, an elongated extremity that lashes and ripples with the motions of Water. Eyes take the Blue of Cold, the rest of her form nearly lost in the lack of Light: Black.'''

''And Slèibhtean suddenly broils into form, Black and Blue and Tail and Mouth. Force looks between Karidan and Slèibhtean with great interest.''

'''Skraav collects motes of shadow nearby, crafting for himself a body suitable for his accomplishments. His face elongated and filled with sharp fangs, sealed almost perfectly until it opens impossibly wide, signifying the constant hunger He feels. Six deep blue pupil-less eyes dot His face in two rows, forever surveying His creations and those that compete for their space. Sharp, jagged spines pierce randomly from his back, forming the shoulders of his inconceivably long cloak of Shadows. It sweeps forward, gathering what it can while hiding the horrid atrociousness of the rest of his body. billions of starving, quietly snapping maws randomly cover His body, unseen by most until just before being devoured.'''

And Skraav's cloaked form rises up against the backdrop of the cosmos, and when he smiles it is a mirror of the voracious whirlpool at the center of creation, but much, much grimmer.

'''There's a bassy thrumm as Aungwey sends out sound to interact with what she sees. An invisible ripple rolling from not-space into space. It passes through light and colour alike, solids, liquids, gasses. It rattles the newly created atoms against one another.'''

''With a thunderous clap, Sound comes into being, where merely vibrations were before. The Gods would be able to hear the sound of each object, every Mote and Rock and Sun and Planet and Order and Chaos and even the other Gods, all gave a unique Sound, which when combined, became a dizzyingly complex and depthless Song.''

Karidan creates Rhythm, applying Order to the Song.

Rhythm is cousin to Pattern, but works for Sound alone.

''The Dwarves begin dancing to the incredible celestial symphony, and the Universe falls into a fascinating Rhythm, and all things have Patterns, and some things have better Rhythm than others. Perversion alters rhythm in places, making for dischordant, unpleasant sounds wherever it touches.''

'''Caethair creates for herself a form. Her form mimics that of Karidan's though she does not have wings. No. Instead behind Caethair there shall always be followed a large circle of light. The rays of light extend from the circle like the wiggly lines of the Human Being.'''

''And Caethair takes form, and the Dwarves speak excitedly- for surely this is a celestial avatar of their god, Human Being, she carries its symbol behind her! Those who have not been swayed by Ombitodentodus' words turn away from Okanogan, raising many golden lines to wave happily to their god's avatar.''

Caethair and Wendigo have a child, a son named Al'estyr.

Karidan and Muthab have a child as well, a son named Tя'werйyo.

And so Al'estyr and Tя'werйyo are born simultaneously into a noisy, complex Universe, and they are the second and third of the Sedivinae.

'''Wendigo creates a mouth for Okanogan. The mouth is small and circular and is filled with the void. The mouth can open and close at Okanogan's discretion as it is part of the creation. Okanogan can use it to swallow and destroy any Dwarf or creature (except for gods and their children) it sees fit so long as these creatures do not worship Wendigo and/or Okanogan. Okanogan can then use the body of any swallowed creature to create atoms, which are then redistributed in the universe, again, as it sees fit.'''

And Okanogan's mouth opens, circular and terrible, and it sounds like shrieking, and the Dwarves cower in horror at the noise.

'''Caethair creates for the dwarves a guardian to protect them from Okanogan. He has a form similar to that of Force. He wields two large disks of light that can cut through all save the gods. She dubs him Maru.'''

''And the being Maru lifts his disks between Okanogan and the Dwarves, and the two beings stare at one another, Okanogan's clashing maw combining with Maru's humming sounds, and from the clashing, something new drips. An ichor spills down into its own stream, different from Water, splattering across the cosmos, and it carries both sounds within it, blended into a new liquid sound that mutes all other sound if it is touching it. It is called Silence.''

Ombitodentodus tries to scream as the ichor washes over him, but he is carried away in the silent tide.

'''Seeking to thank the Goddess of Light and Order, Aungwey creates Music: A collaboration between Vibration, Sound, Order, Rhythm and containing a special addition : Life. Music can be created where there is Life, Life will grow stronger with Music.'''

And the Dwarves and Gems start to make Music, except for when there is Silence, though some creatures discover by blending Music and Silence in different Rhythms, they can make individual Notes.

The Gems can finally communicate to one another, using Music, and an understanding slowly forms through it.

Gastcempa creates Ice, which is Cold and blue, and formed from Water when it has been exposed to Cold for too long, but will become Water once again when exposed to Warmth.

''And Water, when it carries Cold inside of it for too long, atrophies to blue shadows, called Ice, and the Ice sweeps through the Universe in hungering waves. The Dwarves who are swept into these currents take on a new form, Cold Form, which is dark, blue, and Perverted. When Ice touches Warmth, it turns back into Water, and the Dwarves become their normal form once more.''

'''Gastcempa chooses a form for himself, that of a creature with single torso with four long, powerful legs, a slender neck ending in a pointed head, with a mouth of sharpened teeth, and from the top of his head a pair of branching horns. Lastly, a tail made of interwoven Fire and Ice which never melts.'''

''And Gastcempa erupts into being, like Slèibhtean with his four legs, but different, too. His tail is made of rippling Ice and invisible Fire.''

'''Using this so-called 'dirt' [Muthab] makes ominous floating spheres from this and places them along side the tributaries. If water and dirt shall touch, these both shall combine and become something he defines as 'mud'. In this mud, his first created life shall grow, his first created life he defines as a 'plant', which uses roots to suck water from this 'mud' to change the mud back into dirt once more. He also makes most of these plants editable, that way other life shall thrive from it and not turn upon one another.'''

''Orbs of Dirt, both regular and Red, swirl alongside the tributaries of Water. The Dwarves wave their tendrils excitedly as they flow past.''

''Where the Water splashes onto the balls of dirt, Mud is formed. In this Mud, Plants spring into being, using hose-like vacuums called Roots to suck the water from the mud. When too much water is removed and the Plants are no longer touching Mud, the Plants atrophy away.''

''These Plants are "editable", and some Dwarves reach out to alter their appearance and structure as they pass with playful wiggles. Life does not require editability currently, though Force and Okanogan suddenly turn to look at Plants with great interest...''

'''Muthab then gives himself a form; using his creation 'water' he makes many water droplets come together into one, forming a sphere of water with the center glowing and giving off light. From this sphere, water would begin to form under it making a body taking the shape of an oval. From this oval body, water-like-tentacles would then shoot out from it's sides, perhaps to be used as arms and legs.'''

The Dwarves chatter excitedly as Muthab forms into an oval of Water, and many are pulled into his form, splashing about in wonder.

'''Aungwey's form cannot be seen at first. But she 'tunes in' and the sound flares against her not-flesh from all angles, creating vast clouds of colour that shift in hue and intensity, a visual representation of the sound around her. A constantly shifting rainbow with a silhouette in the center where there is no colour, but void. The outline being that of Aungwey's form. She takes the shape of an upright creature with four limbs. She moves in strange ways as a reaction to music.'''

And Aungwey dances into Form, causing a great visual hullabaloo.

'''Gastcempa will create living things of his own, beings similar to a Cold-Form Dwarf, but larger and with sharp teeth that prey on Dwarves for nourishment. He will call these beings Trolls.'''

And Trolls, fuzzy blue spheres with mouths like Okanogan and thick, sticky black tendrils, begin to hunt the Dwarves through the Universe, though some are swayed away from doing so when they come across Plants, which they begin to edit alongside the Dwarves in harmony.

Force defines Second Creation further, creating with it a new reality that he calls the Eleverse, and it is laid out with grids of Forcematter.

''And the Eleverse comes into being, a flat square of Second Creation. Everything that is made inside of the Eleverse is considered Second Creation, and First Creation is everything leading up to, and including, the creation of the Trolls, and anything made in the Universe.''

Force declares a boundary between Second Creation and First Creation, one that nothing but Force may pass through.

And so it is, though Okanogan can still pass through, as he is of the same power as Force, and the Gods may still pass through, as they are of higher power than Force.

'''Al'estyr creates Dumplings. Small, green spherical life forms that are half the size of a dwarf. They have no thoughts, feelings, or senses and they can only live in water. They can make duplicates of themselves to increase their numbers.'''

''Dumplings, living but not sentient, bob in the water and flow with the currents. After some time, the Dumplings multiply into more Dumplings, clogging some of the rivers. The Dwarves push them out of the streams to pass through, and the Dumplings wither and die as they tumble through Space.''

Some Trolls turn and begin eating the Dumplings, as well as the Dwarves, and they find it very nourishing.

Tя'werйyo flails wildly and Creates Speech, The ability of living things to express their thoughts and emotions by organized sounds and gesture.

''There is Pattern, and Sound, and Music, but this is new. It requires Sound and Gesture, but can be made of either, in which it is called Sound-Speech or Gesture-Speech.''

''"Rrrrrrrrwon't have to edit this plant much longer, it seems perfect." The Troll closes its mouth suddenly in horror and surprise, and the Dwarf it was speaking to waves its tendrils frantically.''

''[What was that?!] "By the Gods, you're doing it too!" [Oh dear!]''

'''Caethair creates rings. Rings are defined as follows: They are circles with a large circular hole punched through the middle. The rings float about outside the water in empty space. Beings that fall into a ring exit through another random ring. Like very unpredictable traveling portals.'''

''And Rings are formed, and they twirl slowly through Space. When a sentient lifeform falls through a ring, it comes out of another ring, somewhere else in the Universe. Some Trolls and Dwarves have taken to leaping through the Rings as a game.''

'''Tя'werйyo Creates Death, the end of life; the total and permanent cessation of all the vital functions of any living thing. Death haunts all life and waits for the appropriate time for when it must cease to be living.'''

And Death rushes Atrophy for Life, and all Living things begin to die off, and those creatures that are sentient feel a deep and terrible fear as their loved ones are permanently removed from the Universe; even though new beings are formed later on, they are not the same individuals as their friends.

...The Gods begin to feel a great weariness flow over them, and a great sleepiness in their minds, though what these feelings portend is as of yet unknown...

'''Gairacht took rock matter and molded it into bodies. Each one with two legs and four arms. He gave them four eyes, two with which to see all that which is visible, and two to see that which is invisible. He hollowed them out and placed a living gem inside each one. Then he filled the bodies with water and sealed them closed. When he was done he called his creations “Myrth”.'''

''And the Myrth were finally unique from Gems, and they are the first living creatures who see the world. They marvel at the colors and shapes and distances above them, and they thank their god Gairacht for blessing them so. The Myrth touch one another and look at one another, and embrace one another using their four arms.''

Though they can see Red Dirt, Fire, and other invisible things, they cannot see Wendigo.

''The Myrth are enamored with the Red Dirt, which is special from normal Dirt. They begin to collect the Red Dirt and Gems into piles.''

Al'estyr bestows the gift of sentience on his dumplings.

''And the swiftly multiplying Dumplings know that they are alive, and begin to gesture to eachother, learning about the other Dumplings. Sometimes, they multiply too quickly, and are shoved out of the water, and Death takes them. They call this "The Dark Fall". Sometimes the Dwarves or Trolls shove them out of the water while trying to push by, or the Trolls eat them, and Dumplings call this "Murder"- the intentional killing of another sentient being.''

''The Dwarves are torn, as they have experienced Death before and they know how terrible it is, but sometimes to avoid their own Death they must push through the swarms of Dumplings to escape Trolls. Because of this, an uneasy ecosystem of mistrust begins to form between the three types of water sentients.''

'''Skraav imbues the motes of shadow near the water and the Ice with Life. They mutate, becoming amorphous as mouths cover their forms, similar to Skraav's own body. They seek to feed on any Dwarves, Dumplings, or (in particular) Trolls that venture too near themselves. If they were to die, their life would be given to lifeless Motes of Shadow nearby. They were to be called Vampires.'''

''Little mewling blobs of gnawing, Skraav-like maws erupt out of the Motes of Shadow near the Water and Ice. These black creatures dart close to feed from the herds of Trolls below them, though they also eat Dwarves and Dumplings as they desire them.''

''When they die, their Life is immediately given to the next nearest Mote of Shadow, which morphs into a new Vampire. The water beings wail in fear and agony at the new animal that plagues them.''

Caethair and Karidan have a son, and his name is Kaernwyr.

And the Sedivinae grows to Four.

'''Kaernwyr drew in a breath, and created Wind to give clouds motion. No more would they hang stagnant, but would now drift as aimlessly as the winds that blew them.'''

''And the Clouds and Gas-Form Dwarves tumble; first very slowly, then quickly and wildly, until the Clouds atrophy into Water and begin the cycle anew. The Gas-Form Dwarves send of shrieks of alarm which quickly become shouts of giddy thrill, and the Water-Form and Cold-Form Dwarves look on with approval- they always had their fast currents, but the Gas-Form Dwarves were stationary until now. Where the Clouds move at a similar pace and closely to Water, the Water-Form Dwarves race along with them playfully.''

''The tremulous weariness came back again in a flood over the Gods as the third day came, and they would find that their powers had dropped partially away into Nagysten. This gray, draining force did not seem to affect the Creators, who watched on in concern (in Force's case) and smug superiority (in Okanogan's case).''