In the time before creation, before the veil was drawn between the darkness and the light, there existed a single deity by the name of Alterian, who dwelled within the infinite gray of potential, where matter and luminescence were indiscernible from each other. With the desire to create and course the shape of life into its many possibilities, He brought the planets forth into existence, each one of the innumerable worlds a unique creation. First, He formed them each as a perfect circle and then sculpted the land and waters to sustain or forbid life where He deemed fit. Alterian deepened the darkness of the heavens and filled them with His many worlds, setting them turning among ribbons of stars, whose brilliance struck a stark contrast between the shadows and the light of each world they shone upon.
The brightness and shadow defined and divided the universe, and Alterian apportioned each with a measure of His own essence. As He wove essence into light and dark, these natures became forces of their own merit, volatile and ever needing to be kept in balance, but able to provide for diverse life. He reveled in His handiwork, but could not continue to focus His design upon the multitude of heavenly bodies while managing to keep the forces of light and darkness in the universe in balance. So it was that as the universe was nearing completion, Alterian began the creation of another heavenly being, a child of His own to take on the task that He could no longer manage. Alterian willingly separated the energy of light and darkness from Himself and used it to create another powerful being Who would control the balance between the two forces of the universe. Brought into existence and given the name Nychthemera, He devoted Himself to the divine role He was created for.
After two centuries of toil, all of creation was completed and the planet Stellaria was chosen as a home for mortal kind. In those days, Nychthemera and Alterian worked together in purpose, Nychthemera keeping the balance between light and dark as it befit His role, while Alterian adapted and transformed the landscapes of Stellaria and many other worlds according to His will.
As Nychthemera cloaked Stellaria in the darkness of night, He perceived that darkness itself gave rise to fear in many of the world’s denizens. He savored the fear of the mortals, knowing that they must recognize Him as the authority of that darkness and therefore would both fear and worship Him. It was then the universe became shrouded in darkness. Stars still burned but no longer did they radiate their light outward. Fire was the only source of light, allowed to mortals as a meager ration so they may see. As darkness shrouded all of creation, Nychthemera’s regard for the light diminished until He finally shed the light energy completely from His own being. With the last vestiges of light purged from His person, Nychthemera took for Himself the name Lunos, and became a new being of pure darkness who delighted in knowing that mortals feared Him. Lunos’ power increased as His darkness had become the dominant force in the universe, nearly extinguishing all light.
Alterian was dismayed and could not allow His child to continue darkening the universe they had created, so Alterian gathered to Himself the light energy Lunos had shed and channeled the vast portion of His power to create another divine being called Auroris. This came to pass without the knowledge of Lunos. Tasked with restoring light to the universe, Auroris’ work would certainly cause Lunos’ power to wane. The younger child of Alterian knew that She would have to move swiftly whilst She was still imbued with a portion of Alterian’s energy, which had been granted to Her when She was entrusted with pushing back against Lunos’ immense power. Touching first the stars themselves and once again enabling their brilliance to radiate forth, Auroris thus began to return light to the universe.
Little time passed before Lunos became aware of this incursion upon His darkness. Furious at this grievous offense to His domain, the enraged entity of darkness confronted His father and demanded an explanation for why His chosen dominion was deemed unworthy of preeminent power. Alterian was drained by the creation of Auroris, but still stood resolute against His son’s contention, for He had never intended Lunos to harness the powers He discovered within darkness, but rather to be a warden of balance. This merely provoked Lunos further, who refused to see the light as the darkness’ balanced equal, so He sent forth a scourge of dark energy in retaliation for this affront. In His weakened condition, Alterian could do little to avert Lunos’ strike and lacked both strength and will to enact retribution against His child. Lunos pressed His attack and struck once more at Alterian, weakening him even more. However, Lunos could then sense His own power quickly diminishing. He loomed over Alterian, Who wept in anguish over Lunos’ betrayal. Before the last of His strength abated, Lunos engulfed Alterian in a torrent of darkness. As the fury of His own son descended upon Alterian, His resilience ebbed away and His awareness faded with every passing moment. The burden of fatigue prevailed against Alterian until He at last acquiesced to eternal slumber.
With His father vanquished, Lunos turned His attention toward Auroris to hunt Her down before She could bring forth enough light to shatter the ascendancy of darkness. Emboldened by devotion to Her divine duty, Auroris charged through the heavens, carving light into the darkness to even the scales of power. When Lunos’ pursuit finally brought Him to Auroris, His might had already waned with the shift in balance between the two forces. At last face to face with His immortal adversary, Lunos brought forth the full bearing of His power to destroy Her. Auroris’ valor matched Lunos’ ambition just as the strength of Her light had come to rival that of His darkness. The battle thundered throughout the universe with the ferocity of a cataclysm and ensued for over half a century before Lunos determined that He could not overcome and defeat Auroris. Lunos withdrew into the shadows, wielding artifice as His recourse to plot revenge against His despised sister, quietly preparing for the day He would confront Her once again.