You asked for some info for the marketing team that they could use to start promoting our game. Just wanted to let you know that we are still in the development stage, and features have not been nailed down completely.
As per my last email, you will find that I believe that doing any kind of marketing already, is not an appropriate strategy that will generate value on a long term basis. As for launching an ARG, it seems like it would take a lot of time from either our end or if the marketing people are determined to run these themselves, then it would likely result in a miscommunication between the consumer and Weird World Computing, as the marketing team will be unable to create a satisfying ARG based on our current gameplay loops, as these loops are yet to be defined.
However, as you have been so helpful as to loop in Mr Willson, I am sure I can provide some information on the game that is likely not to change. As such, I have attached some of the creation myth, though I cannot stress enough that this is not something the players are likely to engage with.
??Attachment 1
This text was written by Johannes Krell, in his ongoing effort to take the role as The Scribe by compiling all known knowledge into a single book. It is worth noting that most of this book consists of the authors own works.
Johannes Krell has added several notes to this work. These are denoted with two of the following: Large blobs of text(here outlined on clear background) or footnotes. These text are the authors own interpretation of the text and does not reflect Imperial doctrine.
This version of the Creation Myth was written by The Empire.
It is in clear contrast to the creation myth which was published by the Council of Grandmasters.
It is worth comparing the two texts, as both have many things in common, but also many things that are completely left out or simply contradictory. Based on my reading of these texts, the most accurate version of these texts are the one written by The Empire, though it should be noted that they have chosen to completely forego any mention of Armandos and simply notes the entity as the "Balance of the world".
During the text you will see plenty of footnotes, as I note some of the differences between the two texts. This is unique to the creation myth, as we are able to see many difference not only between various text, but also between the myths and the observable universe.
The legend says, that before time and the world was created, there were only two things in the great nothing. Two energies, called Kallean and Misrush. They existed and yet they didn't. Kallean was goodness and Misrush was evil. When the the two energies collided they created a new entity. A balance.
This entity was testing its limits, and it did so by creating time. To observe time it created the mortal sphere, which is also known as the physical sphere. Once done, the entity looked upon its work and slowly, without notice it changed the way time flowed and life formed, all according to its own will. The entity created, destroyed, fortified and annihiliated, all to create a balance in all things. It did so both within and outside time and space. Once done it faded, and was forgotten by the world itself [1].
Kalish formed. The seas foamed, mountains emerged, flora and fauna thrived, all to create life within and upon this new fresh earth.
The first elf who was created had no name. Rather, she stepped from the tree which had settled at the top of a lonely mountain, within the mightiest forest in the middle of Kalish. She named the mountain Azken Kanpe, or in the human tongue, The Greatest Gift [2].
Soon her comrades grew from the surrounding trees, and the elven race was born. The trees and the land they grew in, the elves called Mek. The elves that grew from the trees on the mountain called themselves High Elves, and those that grew from the trees in the forest called themselves Wood Elves [3].
For many years, the elves lived only to study the world. They studied Nature, and everything that was within it. Their quest for knowledge, and their curiosity meant that they started to investigate things that was outside of the mortal sphere.
Misrush, the great evil, saw that the elves were greedy for the knowledge that they did not posses. He whispered in their ears. Whispered, tempted, and offered them knowledge within his pressence. He offered them knowledge and power beyond anything that they could ever have imagined.
The elven woman, Daikia, listened to his sweet words. And when she accepted his words, he poured into her mind and claimed it as his own. Misrush darkened her thoughts. Her skin took upon the color of Mishrus' dark bidding and the darkness that he had planted in her heart[4]. Misrush commanded Daikia to become his mate, and together they had multiple children known as the Ilsher [5].
Other elves saw the might that Daikia had achieved, and they followed her. Each and every one of them was changed, as their minds rotted away by Misrush's evil. The drow were created. They pulled away from the other elves, and built their homes deep within the earth. Within years, they had created a network of tunnels from caves to cliffs that would span the entirety of Kalish.
As the drow were created, and through her union with Misrush, Daikia achieved a whole new state of being. She became the goddess of the Drow.
However, in the mountains south of Mek, other creatures emerged. They appeared from within the mountains themselves, and they were like the rock they had been birthed from. Compact and hard. They were smaller than the elves? but had magnificent beards. These were the dwarves [6].
The dwarves build their homes beneath the earth, in the mountains they had been born from. Further and further within the mountains they built mighty halls and towns. When the mountains had been hollowed out, they started to dig down, where they hit the many tunnels created by the drow. It did not take long before the war between the two races escalated to the point where no mediation was possible.
For the dwarves, though, the war was a catastrophe. They could barely withstand the drows as it was, but with the addition of a goddess and her children, the Ilsher, the war was as good as lost.
Carmenor, a dwarf with a heart pure and good, fought with all his might, and made sure to keep the morale up among his people. He was Thane, a dwarven king, and respected among all the dwarves. Any dwarf would follow him beyond the veil, such were their love for him.
It was at this point that the great balance saw Carmenor's potential as opposition to Daikia. And the great balance decided to raise Carmenor to godhood. He was placed within his own sphere so that he may not fight the battles of his people, but rather fight through his people. The dwarves started to show resistance to the drow, and the fight under the ground was now more even, for both sides had a god they could pull power from. The drows, however, still had the Ilsher.
Daikia was raging. She was not willing to share her status as a god with another creature, especially a hated enemy and one who had not had to sacrifice like she had. Carmenor did not fear her, as he had his own sphere and believed himself to be safe. And despite knowing that Daikia wished him harm, Carmenor believed in the might of the powers that had elevated him to a god. However, Daikia showed no mercy. She sent her children to Carmenor and slaughtered him [7].
The drows triumphed, and the dwarves mourned. The war was once more about to force the dwarves out of the mountains, and the lack of balance could be felt, and it had to be fixed. It was then, that the mighty powers, raised another Thane to godhood. A Thane by the name: Kelllwan. In contrast to Carmenor, Kelllwan was wise and knew that Daikia was ruthless and beyond morality, so he let a giant fortress build within his new realm, which he called The Iron Heart.
Kelllwan saw this and knew that his defences were strong, for he was the mightiest of any dwarven warrior, and his heart was pure, so he could see that these defenses could never be conqoured.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
The war was once more even, though they did not stop.?
In Mek the elves knew what had happened. They noted that gods existed, and that both the dwarves and the drow had gained power from such being through worship. However, the elves did not interfere with the war. They did not consider it their burden to aid in meaningless fighting, and they believed that the drows would be occupied by the dwarves, so that the elves could focus on their true passion: Collecting knowledge.
This did not amuse the dwarves.
The dwarves reached out to the elves, and tried to talk them to their senses. However, the dwarves spent years of petitioning the elves for aid against the drow. The dwarves felt that the elves left them to the fate that would exterminate them, but the elves still had friends and family among the drows. Neither elves nor dwarves could see why the other group could not understand their problem, and the distrust between the two races grew.[8].
It was then that the dwarves adopted the use of runes. Where they had them from they would not be willing to share[9]. The power of the runes finally gave the dwarves the upper hand in the war, and the drows were finally pushed back, though it was slow. The supernatural power of the runes was so powerful that it could even hurt the Ilsher, and it was through this that the first Ilsher had to be killed.
There was great celebration among the dwarves, but the elves were raging. They demanded that the dwarves shared the secret of the runes with them. They had through many years collected knowledge about everything mysterious and mystical in a land they called Leltho, and they said they had a right to know what these runes were and how they were created. But the dwarves did not agree.
Now it was the elves who tried to talk some sense to the dwarves. The power of the runes had to be written down and be used to create a better world for everyone. However, the dwarves had not forgotten the lack of aid the elves had provided during the war with the drow, and they had no interest in allowing the elves to know their greatest secret so it could be shared with the drows.
Despite this, the elves noticed another hidden power in the land where they had collected the greatest amount of knowledge. In Leltho. It was a power that the elves called magic.
Magic was a natural part of Kalish, and therefor had its pressence gone unnoticed as it was simply considered a part of life. However, the magic was strongest in Leltho, and the elves started to notice it when they studied each others scrolls.
The elf Ewen Uwle was fascinated by these new discoveries. He studied and collected magic and its essence. He was consumed by the many nuances and through his studies he was acknowledge by the great balance, which saw his potential. Through this Ewen was elevated to god of magic and knowledge[10].
To become closer with magic, Ewen reshaped himself and took on the shape of a spirit [11]. He created the Sphere of Magic to contain the magic and set it into a system. It was to use its power and to make it easier to study for himself. He believed that none other than him should be able to access the magic, and he destroyed all the knowledge that had been collected by the elves [12].
However, Ewen was paranoid. He feared that Daikia and her drow would get the knowledge that he hoarded for himself. He especially feared that they should attain knowledge of magic and how to cast it [13]. To prevent this, he created a group of High Elves who would become the Grandmasters and guard magic [14]. They alone would have access to the Sphere of Magic. They were elevated to a point where each of them would be able to go toe to toe with an Ilsher.
And the Grandmasters guarded magic with their life. Until one of them betrayed the others.
The betrayer thought that magic should be shared among the mortals. He thought that Ewen was wrong to keep the magic to himself. He believed that magic was a natural part of Kalish and he brought it back to the world [15]. And through this belief, he shared magic with every race.
Ewen raged. He cursed the grandmaster to eternal life without taste, feeling or substance. He was cursed with a life of emptiness.
However, the damage was already done. The drow knew about magic, and they used it to fight against the dwarves. The two races were now even, and it became a war of attrition. They knew that they were now so even that anyone who made a push would mean mutual annihilation. However, the war never stopped.
?More races started to show themselves around Kalish. Races of light and darkness. In the south, where the dwarves were many, in what they had called Life's End, because they believed that they would die in their mountains, a new race of creatures appeared. The elves saw them, and called them halflings. To the west, on the infinite plains, greenskins appeared. Orks, Trolls and goblins.
The halflings slowly moved out of Life's End. They were a joyful people and did not harmonize with the serious dwarves. They did not have a need to mix with significant events in the land, and as such, they found themselves often avoiding anyone who might signify trouble. Even so, they believed that trading was the lifeblood of their species, and so they became exceptional traders, though with the lack of greed inherent to their species, none of them found themselves rising to greatness.
With the war between the dwarves and the drows they had decided to spread across Kalish, living a life ease and comfort.
The Greenskins on the other hand, used the vast expanses of the plains to slaughter each other. They used whatever ruthless techniques they could think of, creating a horde of killing machines. Some of them created the way to other countries, crossing into them with glee. And it was in this way they entered Mek.
However, the elves had spent centuries studying and they had learned from the war between the dwarfs and the drow. So the Orks had no chance against the magically enhanced elves. With these spells and with Ewen as their god, the elves had no problem holding the orks at bay.
However, the wood elf Alman felt that magic was being misused. He had felt this for many years, and he thought that too many high elves focused on studying magic, forgetting where it came from. He had been with the elves when magic was first discovered, and he knew its original source: Nature.
He petitioned the Council of Grandmasters to pardon the Grandmaster Ewen had condemned, and Alman publicly honored the traitor among his people, as he told his followers that the Grandmaster had returned magic to its source.
Alman and a group of wood elves pulled back from the main center of Mek, isolating themselves deep in the southern parts of forest that made up Mek. They did this to study nature. They wished to become one with nature, and they built their own culture and as they did, more wood elves joined them. Their movement grew rapidly to the point where only a handful of wood elves believed that Ewen's actions were justified.
With Alman as their leader, they worshiped nature, its creatures and plants. They did not discern between good and evil [16]. They believed that anything should be in the service of maintaining the balance of nature. And with Alman guiding them, the wood elves returned to the nature they had once been born from.
From the north, a new race appeared. It was sudden and extremely fast. They possessed a haste that none of the other races possessed. The elves named them Humans, but this new species had settled across all of the northern Kalish before the elves even realized that the humans were there. The humans had the lifespans of orks, but without the need to slaughter each other without reason, and so they spread far faster than the orks.
Kelllwan saw the humans as a source of new believers, and he appealed to them by changing his appearance. He made himself taller, and he changed his features to become that of a human. He kept his mighty beard, knowing that the dwarves would rather worship Ewen than a dwarf with no beard. He put on his crown and announced himself to be king of everything.
After doing this, any worshiper of Kelllwan saw him as the king of both gods and all the other races [17], despite only humans, halflings and dwarves seeing Kelllwan as their patron god.
The humans created multiple kingdoms, and in one of these Raffael Moordet was born. He was an evil and cunning person, inhabiting all the worst aspects of humanity. He had nothing but power on his mind. He conquered multiple thrones. With this position of power he started to study magic from the Demon of Hatred itself [18].
He became the first Demonologist, and this angered the old powers.
The Wanderer stepped forward from nothingness [19]. He was sent out to end the life of Raffael Moordet [20]. However, the Demon of Hatred was not interested in its apprentice being killed, and he pulled him back to the sphere of demons and here the Wanderer held no power. Raffael Moordet stayed within this sphere for many years.
In the meantime, had Alman and many of his followers achieved an unusual bond with nature. They entwined themselves with the trees in Mek. These trees had been the trees were the first elves had emerged, and Alman and his followers protected them like a treasure. Even though Ewen had categorized magic, Alman set everyone know that magic and nature was just two sides of the same coin.
It was at this point, Alman was then elevated to become a god.
The myth of creation by The Empire stops here, since everything beyond this point is considered modern history.
For anyone of my acolytes who wish to go beyond this point and study on their own, please note that history of the empire at this point is more concerned about who has power in what regions and at what time.
I have chosen not to include this in the creation myth, as I fear that I might otherwise bore my readers to death.