The Goddess Ashling laid on soft grassy ground on an empty planet and slept, and dreamed She dreamed of grasslands, and forests, and mountains, and swamps, and seas, And she dreamed of all the peoples who lived in these places. Ashling dreamed of high mountains and steep hills, and the people who built giant holds out of rock and stone, And these peoples became short and strong folk, the dwarves and the halflings. And she dreamed of snowy tundra’s and frozen steppe, and people who hunt and turn the pelts into clothes and houses, And these people became hardy and enduring folk, the orcs and the goliaths and the goblins. And she dreamed of enchanting forests and warm jungles, and foraging peoples living under the trees, And these people became the elves and the gnomes and the firbolg. And she dreamed of great imposing creatures, dragons and devils and angels, and the people influenced by them, And these people became the dragonborn and the tieflings and the aasimar. And finally, she dreamed of infinite grasslands, and the people who herd their cattle along them, And these people became the humans.
And when Ashling had dreamed of all these things, she found her dreams turn to nightmare. The nightmare darkened the land, and made the people grow apart. All the peoples became isolationist and the world entered a dark age, And it was in a dark age for hundreds of years, until Ashling dreamed again. She dreamed of a champion among the humans, and he became, and his name was Usen. And she dreamed of a bright Lantern that could bring her enlightenment to the people, and it became. And she dreamed of a great army that Usen would lead, and it became. And after Usen had spread the Lantern’s light to the people, Ashling dreamed of a final stand against darkness, And she and Usen left to fight the nightmare and slay it forever, And Usen founded the church of the Lantern to speak for him while he was gone, And Usen let the church keep the Lantern to provide enlightenment to the people, And Usen and Ashling went away.
And so the world became, and it became good and united.