S&P Core Guide Preview: Before | 1

Before recording events, there once were beings whose names had been lost, forgotten, or perhaps secreted away. No one knows for sure. What little is known about them tells first that they believed themselves to be the earliest self-aware form of life that ever lived. Second, they had a keen understanding of and interest in their world. They observed its inner workings with an insatiable scientific curiosity, a curiosity that came with an equal measure of respect as if it were a work of art. Whenever they trod upon its pathways did so carefully, trying not to disrupt any delicate harmonies that might be underfoot.

For all the rational methods they employed to know and comprehend, however, at the same time, they believed they were part of, or connected to, something greater than themselves that had yet to be fully realized. Such a connection was a pathway to that more excellent thing and the full realization thereof. They looked to the sky, bathed in the radiance of their home star, and the feeling of light and warmth it provided momentarily satiated their desire. But that light and warmth was not never-ending—when the face of their world turned away from that light, they grew fearful and lonely, bewildered beneath the night sky and the twinkling of more distant stars. Somrak-uzal (SOHM rakk oo ZAHL), one of the few linguistic fragments of their beyond- ancient language that somehow survived the ages, expressed this metaphysical phenomenon succinctly. By day they performed their tasks with love for the light; by night, they hid in fear of what they could not see, uttering prayers for the light to return. The dilemma this presented confused them and filled them with dread. It was apparent that darkness and light were enemies of each other, locked in a stalemate where neither side ever seemed to gain any ground from the other.

There were a few that saw things differently. The minority realized that the object of their wonder and awe simply had two faces and that the duality perceived by many was false.

Darkness did not mean that the light went away forever. Unfortunately, the voices of these few aware individuals were drowned out by the overwhelming volume of the majority. The Light was superior, and all they needed to do was figure out a way to help it defeat the darkness once and for all. But the minority wouldn’t allow themselves to be marginalized or their viewpoint dismissed. They needed different methods to get the majority to understand what they were missing. They would need to craft half-truths. One must step into the shadows to maintain the delicate balance between darkness and light. The majority hated the dark, so the minority convinced the majority that they could defeat it; the only question, then, became how.

Another word that survived was the name Elnsaorde (ehn SAHR deh). From what is understood, Elnsaorde is the one who crafted a premise that convinced the leaders of these progenitors to undertake a Grand Experiment. They turned the fear and determination of the progenitors into opportunity, gambling on planting a seed of an idea of such an undertaking into the collective ear of their people would be the necessary impetus to make them see that you could not have light without darkness. Perhaps, for them to truly understand the lesson, they needed to reassess their worldview until such a time came when they could truly understand it. A new world would have to be fashioned, out of the ashes of the old, to bring about the right frame of mind.

In the struggle that was somrak-uzal, the weapon wielded by these self-appointed champions of light was knowledge. A vast effort was undertaken to collect and interpret all knowledge and information that existed—to know and comprehend all that was, is, or could be. Believing that if they were to accomplish this, no darkness could ever obscure their vision—they would be omniscient, and dusk would be forever slain by dawn. They spent an untold number of years researching the underlying mechanics of existence; forces, both natural and supernatural; the behaviors of all manner of creatures and the environments where they lived; and the interaction between creatures and the supernatural.

After undertaking this extensive project, these beings endeavored to turn theoretical research into practical action. Complex formulas were composed. Elaborate geometric diagrams were plotted. Based on their analysis and calculations, the solution would impress obedience upon the darkness, bringing it under heel. The exact details of the resulting ritual were lost, for its completion resulted in catastrophe: in an instant, these beings were no more.

The minority who rejected silence convinced the strident majority to combat the darkness, and at that moment, there became duality where no duality previously existed. It was as if the cataclysmic events, this metaphorical conflict between darkness and light, produced physical forms. As a result of the Grand Experiment, two groups found themselves standing across from each other across a vast plain. Each member of these groups stood as vaguely humanoid shapes: on one side were the sholukt—radiant motes of bright light—and on the other, the shuloun—shrouded figures of utter blackness. Knowing without a doubt who they were and who the other group was, an aversion to the other was almost immediate, and a battle ensued.

The period when the sholukt and shuloun warred was brief and violent. The two groups hurled themselves, to a man, upon each other in such a way that no shred of them in these forms remained unchanged. On the contrary—after the conflict, what emerged rather than remained was three, rather than two, groups of beings, three new self-aware species of life-form: the shedaux, the shiruul, and the shaleth.

To anyone’s knowledge, none of these progenitors—the beings whose names were lost— exist in the present day.