Elusavia

(One of the Alternate Alusias)

From the Legends of the Isilwe:

In the first world, in the before time, there was the race of Silver. They were wise and fair and loved the land and the animals and the trees, and they were bound to the earth, and though the earth is great and endures this is not their story.

And some of the Silver people loved the water more than the earth, and they loved the seas and the oceans and the fish, and in time they became bound to the water, and though the seas are great and the oceans mighty this is not their story.

And some of the Silver people loved the air more than the earth or water, and they loved the winds and the clouds and the birds, and in time they became bound to the air, and this is their story for they are our kin and ancestors.

[Less interesting bits omitted]

But in time many of the people of Silver began to turn from the paths of peace and beauty and a darkness fell on them and they began to make war on themselves and to slay the animals and destroy the land and trees. Some of the people of Silver stood against the darkness and walked in Light, but they were too few and their enemies too many, and the people of the water fled to the deep places beneath and the people of air stood at a crossroads and saw that their world was doomed but could not find their path.

Then the prophets from the once and future time told the people of the air that they must leave the first world before they became tainted by the evil ones, and that a time of great war and pain was coming and that the people of Silver would be destroyed, but that the people of air might in a future time stand against the darkness, and the people of the air left the first world and they journeyed between the worlds and the heavens in search of a pure and untainted place.

[Less interesting journeys omitted]

And in time the people of the air found themselves on the edge of the beyond, and before them stretched an eternity of that which is not, and that which will be, and that which may be, and many of the people desired to journey on and find their pure world but they could not agree on the path to take and so the people argued, and though they argued long the people could not find a single path and so, though it pained them greatly, they parted then and went their separate ways.

One third of the people took the Path of Heaven, seeking to transcend the mortal, for they said that purity could only be found once the wants and desires and even the forms which bound them to the world were relinquished, and then unfettered by the frailties of flesh they might become luminous beings, pure and eternal. And they passed into the beyond and did not return.

One third of the people took the Path of Earth, seeking to return to the roots from which they had come for they said that greed and covetousness and evil were unknown to the birds of the air and beasts of the fields and the fish of the sea, and that purity was to be found in renouncing that hubris wherein the people said that they were greater than the birds and beasts and fish, and that by this they might reclaim true innocence. And they passed into the beyond and did not return.

But the last third of the people remembered those of Silver who had walked in Light, and were ashamed that they had left them to perish in the darkness, and they remembered the words of the prophets, and they said that purity was to be found in facing the darkness with courage and honour, gallantry and chivalry, unflinching in the face of death, never yielding to despair, passing unbroken every test, and bringing others to the path of Light. And they did not pass into the beyond but turned their faces away from that what might be and returned to the world of darkness and war and pain.

But in the time that the people had journeyed between the worlds the paths had become tangled and confused and the people could not find their way home to the first world, and came instead into a new world, which was much like the first world, though it was not their home, and they saw great pain and suffering there, and saw that the darkness sat heavily on the world and that they were needed. So they called the second world home and sought to bring light into the darkness.

[End of legendary accounts -- beginning of Isilwe in Elusavian history]