Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Hriston" data-source="post: 6595747" data-attributes="member: 6787503">It seems like they're continuing to use some version of the &quot;Dawn War&quot; (what I called Nentir Vale up-thread, and some call Points of Light, but which is really a creation myth/backstory for any setting you like) as the origin story for the default 5E cosmology. @<a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=42582" target="_blank">pemerton</a> was correct in comparing this to the Titanomachy, the ancient Greek myth of the war fought between the gods and the titans before the present order of the world was established. The titans (or primordials in the Dawn War) were the original rulers of the world, in that they represent the chaotic forces of raw, elemental creation, whereas the gods usurped their power to establish order. It can also be seen as a dramatization of the triumph of civilization over barbarism. Of course, in D&amp;D, it is best thought of as the original conflict of Law vs. Chaos.Now the period of time mentioned is probably before or during the Dawn War, when the gods already exist, but have not yet defeated the primordials. The prime material plane is considered to have already been created at this time, first in a disordered state, and then to have had order and organization imposed upon it by the gods, who then populate it with the various races. But it doesn't happen all at once. Some of the races are created by the primordials in imitation of the work of the gods. And the gods are not yet in control. In fact, the primordials decide that the order that the gods are trying to establish is too constraining to their creativity, and they rebel, beginning the Dawn War.So, I'd say that when the texts refer to a time &quot;before the gods,&quot; that it isn't a time before the gods actually existed, but rather before the gods held absolute rulership over the multiverse, which would be before the end of the Dawn War, when most, if not all, of the primordials were either killed or imprisoned.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hriston, post: 6595747, member: 6787503"] It seems like they're continuing to use some version of the "Dawn War" (what I called Nentir Vale up-thread, and some call Points of Light, but which is really a creation myth/backstory for any setting you like) as the origin story for the default 5E cosmology. @[I][B][U][URL="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=42582"]pemerton[/URL][/U][/B][/I] was correct in comparing this to the Titanomachy, the ancient Greek myth of the war fought between the gods and the titans before the present order of the world was established. The titans (or primordials in the Dawn War) were the original rulers of the world, in that they represent the chaotic forces of raw, elemental creation, whereas the gods usurped their power to establish order. It can also be seen as a dramatization of the triumph of civilization over barbarism. Of course, in D&D, it is best thought of as the original conflict of Law vs. Chaos. Now the period of time mentioned is probably before or during the Dawn War, when the gods already exist, but have not yet defeated the primordials. The prime material plane is considered to have already been created at this time, first in a disordered state, and then to have had order and organization imposed upon it by the gods, who then populate it with the various races. But it doesn't happen all at once. Some of the races are created by the primordials in imitation of the work of the gods. And the gods are not yet in control. In fact, the primordials decide that the order that the gods are trying to establish is too constraining to their creativity, and they rebel, beginning the Dawn War. So, I'd say that when the texts refer to a time "before the gods," that it isn't a time before the gods actually existed, but rather before the gods held absolute rulership over the multiverse, which would be before the end of the Dawn War, when most, if not all, of the primordials were either killed or imprisoned. [/QUOTE]

Verification