Void and Blood

In the beginning, there was only Armok. Armok drifted through the great void and saw that it was empty. Armok was the void and Armok was not the void. The void is nothing, neverchanging and silent. The void is everywhere, but is without where.

Creation was not a task taken lightly, for the void was perfect. The unchanged void forever reamains without flaws, without fear, without knowledge, without death. Void is nothing, and cannot be changed.

Armok knew this. He knew that Void did not change, so he created time. With time, the great void stretched from the new beginning into the ceaseless future, always changing as all things do.

Armok still had thirst, but knew still that the void could not find his throat to quench him. Armok was without place, and existed nowhere. Every corner of the universe was armok, and every corner was not. Armok knew this.

It was shortly after the conception of after that Armok created place. He set himself amidst the void, which was all there was. Every there was void, every when was void, and Armok was welcomed in it, while without it.

Armok had will and wisdom, which allowed him to know himself from the void. There is no will in the void, there is only emptiness. There is wisdom in the void, but only in knowledge of perfection.

Armok used his wisdom once more to create water. His thirst had become worse with time. The water flowed through the endless void, giving substance to the emptiness. Armok noted the loss of perfection but his thirst remained unsated.

It rained and it roiled and Armok drank of the cool waters. The water did not satisfy his great need. Armok grew angry and in a fit of rage he created fire, pure and terrible. The fire cackled through the void, shedding light and hatred.

The water boiled under Armok's endless fury, and left land in its place. Small globes of earth formed from the droplets of the first water. Armok took no notice.

Armok was grieving, for his thirst only grew and with it anguish. Armok found comfort in the void, and wrapped himself in darkness. Armok slumbered, and dreamt of liquid fire to quench his thirst.

From the dreams of Armok sprung passion, hatred, love, misery, happiness, greed, lust, longing, fear, kindness, bravery, and most of all blood. The sweet nectar of Armok's dreams poured into the void.

The blood also thirsted. It thirsted for meaning. It thirsted for knowledge. It thirsted for power. And so blood rained from the dreams of Armok and coalesced in the deep pools on the earth globes. Blood became life.

This life squirmed and fought and devoured its way to the power it so desired. Only the most ambitious life grew to become more than blood. The strongest life, filled with the dreams of wealth and power and happiness became flesh.

It was then that Armok awoke. A scent filled his sleeping nostrils and Armok left the void to examine the disturbance to his sorrow. He found creatures made of meat.

These creatures were men, elves, pigs, elephants, kobolds, carp, orcs, goblins, dogs, cats, titans, dragons, giants, trolls, spiders, horses, turtles, whales, merpeople, and cats. Armok recognized them as creatures from his dreams.

The men were dreams of ambition, always warring and searching and building and destroying. Men had created monuments and kings and committed horrible acts. They also showed acts of great bravery.

The dwarves were dreams of greed. They stole away in their great citadels and hoarded their wealth. There was no secret or treaure too deep for their sturdy hands. They drove each other mad in search of more treasure.

The elves were dreams of compassion. They cared for all beasts and trees, lesser createres that did not have ambition. The elves were peaceful but weak, and did not have power to defend themselves. Armok detested them.

The Goblins were creatures born of hateful dreams. It was with this hatred that they destroyed all in their path. They fought amongst themselves, and relied on sheer numbers to survive. Armok was amused by them.

The Kobolds were dreams of fear. Cowardly creatures too small to fight, they stole from the stronger races. The cunning kobolds were more a pest to the other races than anything else. Armok was amused by them as well.

The Cats were creatures created from lusty dreams. They sought out mating pairs faster than Armok's anger filled the void. The cats were companions to men and dwarves, but dangerous for their virility.

Armok saw all this and marvled at his accidental creation. These creatures made of meat were all fighting amongst themselves for their right to live, and this briefly distracted Armok from his thirst. Armok was pleased.

Armok saw the greed of the dwarves, digging so far down that they neared the other side of the earthy globe. Armok feared the void would destroy them, and so created a barrier near the bottom of earth.

But the dwarves were too greedy. They sought to destroy the barrier. Armok grew angry at their defiance, and annihilated their bodies, then using their ghosts he created great pilliars of ghostly warning rising up from the barrier.

But the dwarves were still too greedy. Armok concentrated on his brutal command and created beasts so great and terrible that dwarves this day refuse to speak of them, often naming them as "HFS". The terror beasts pleased Armok.

But the dwarves were still too greedy, and sought to puncture the barrier despite the warnings. The beasts were loosed upon all life, and destroyed nearly the entire earth. Armok felt justified, but saddened.

His entertainment had perished, and all that was left was their blood. Armok examined this subtance, and tasted it. Armok's euphoria was so great that he rampaged through the void, devouring the bloody remains of life.

Soon Armok had annihilated what remained of matter in the void. But he had found it. Armok knew the answer to his thirst. Blood.

Armok focused his will and created anew the creatures from his very real dreams. He remade the land and the seas, mountains and sky. He wished to reward the dwarves for their ambition and bloody revelation.

So he concentrated his fury and amusement into one substance, so hot and deadly that it destroyed all it touched save for the great beasts under the barrier. Armok created magma as a gift for the dwarves.

And so Armok watched, and drank. He watched as the magma was weaponized. He watched as the humans brutally murdered each other in search of petty forbidden magic. Great beasts were felled, heroes died, and it pleased Armok.

But soon the earth grew cold. The nations of men and mer had found alliances and peace. This did not please Armok, who thirsted for more blood. Armok sought out a reason for this drought.

He found the humans, who blindly followed their leaders. Once the resources had been discovered they decided to stop warring and preserved the land they had. They realized their world was finite and inperfect, unlike the void.

Armok went to the elves, who had always been set in their peaceful ways. Armok was angry, and gave them famine. The elves remained as peaceful as they could but resorted to eating their dead. This amused Armok.

Armok went to the rest of creation, and could not find his answer. He thought about the problem for ages of peace and thirst before he found the solution. He returned to the dwarves to gift them another boon.

The dwarves were squabbling amongst themselves over mushrooms when Armok appeared and claimed all their lives. He clutched their corpses and squeezed them. When he released his grip, there was a small piece of metal in his palm.

Armok unmade and remade the world once more, and sought out the new and primative dwarves. He gifted them the greatest treasure of all time: The Anvil. With that the dwarves waged war more brutal than ever before.

Armok drank well, and was pleased. The Anvil created more anvils, before eventually breaking. Armok knew that the anvil knowledge still remained, and war waged on as usual. Until the blood stopped flowing.

Armok again sought out the source of the problem, and found only a handful of dwarves remained on the earth. They had killed or eaten nearly every other creature, and there was no more flesh to be sundered. No more blood to be spilled.

Armok rounded up the remaining dwarves and again crushed them into an anvil. He them unmade the world, remade it, and gifted the new anvil to the newer dwarves. Such is the cycle of Armok's thirst. Such is the fate of all mortals. Armok demands blood.