The cycles of light and dark danced around each other for ages. The stars of Stell'Arya marked the turning of the two forces, and the coming and going of Thana'Tomos. One day, as the being shaped the movements of the celestial bodies, she noticed that they danced without focus. they would move and collide into each other. She called for her mother, Aes'Thera, and she responded.
"I shall teach you how to weave order into your work. You shall need an anchor by which to tether the stars and their movements. A great shape that will serve you to divine the heavenly movements."
And so, Aes'Thera and her daughter made firm the vast aether of the primordial and gave it a shape unlike any other. It was not like the endless expanse, or grand like the stars, or the discs of Solis'Rei and Nissa'Lune. It was made of compact aether, tightly bound and made firm, solid, it took the shape with no beginning and end, yet it was finite and weighed heavy with the concentration of aether which made it.
Stell'Arya was pleased with this new shape, and immediately descended upon its firm surface to gaze at her work. She tethered the stars to it and marked their movements with more precision. She invited her two siblings to do the same, which they delighted to do. The three beings of Light stood upon the firm shape and gazed into the vast expanse, both Solis'Rei and Nissa'Lune tethered their discs to the new shape and saw that this was good.
When again Thana'Tomos came to be, he saw that the vast expanse was empty, safe for his lover, Aes'Thera. Fear grew in him as he searched for his children, and Aes'Thera sought to comfort him.
"Worry not, my beloved, for our children are upon the Great Shape, they delight in its form and how they may tether themselves to its firm surface, an anchor in the vastness."
Thana'Tomos responded with fear in his voice. "My love, you know not what you do, but this is not a fault of your own, for you are curious and bare no fear of consequence for your actions, such is your nature. You have made a shape with no beginning and no end, and yet it turns and must turn, as I do. Because our children have tethered themselves to such a shape, we have doomed them to die and be reborn, for they are untethered from the endless expanse."
This brought tears to Aes'Thera, who descended with her lover to the firm shape to save their children.
Upon the firm shape, the three siblings did revel in their work. Soon, however, over mere moments as opposed to eons, the three began to tire and grow weary. Solis'Rei was the first to speak.
"Though I am vast and fill the expanse, I feel my essence dampen with every passing moment upon this shape. I hunger, as our mother did before us, and yet I can do nothing to satisfy my desire for I am untethered from the endless."
Stell'Arya, seeing the agony of her brother, devised a solution. The firm shape was made from her work, and so she drew from her stars, soaked in the aether of the endless expanse and brought forth a new shape. This shape was unlike any before, as vast and unpredictable as she was, filled with her will. This shape flourished and covered the firm shape, the aether of the stars took form as fruits filled with the life-giving substance that Solis'Rei desired. He picked from these fruits and ate from them, feeling his hunger sate. Solis'Rei was pleased with his sister and said,
"I shall call this new shape upon the great one, the Land, and it will flourish with the life-giving aether of the endless expanse, so that we may nourish ourselves. It shall be carried in fruits that grow high, low, and below. All over, these life-giving crops will flourish and be plenty by my life-giving light."
Nissa'Lune was pleased with this, but while her hunger was satisfied, she still felt weak. She felt that her form was tired and spent, and said,
"Though I am vast and may control how often I fill the expanse, I can feel my essence fade from my constant changing. I cannot stop, for it is my very nature to change, rising and falling, but since I am untethered, I cannot rest within the boundless expanse to restore my essence."
Stell'Arya, seeing the pain of her sister, devised a solution. The Land, now covered in flourishing life, was reshaped once more. She drew from her stars, soaked in the aether of the endless expanse and made rise and fall the firm shape. She made vessels for that essence-replenishing aether that her sister would dip into as she fell in the expanse. She carved ways across the land so that the aether may flow freely, without constraint, and made it fluid, like her father. A new shape, unlike any other, began to pour down and collect itself within these great vessels upon the great shape. As soon as one vessel filled, the replenishing aether began to take to the carved paths that ran across the lands and connected with other vessels across great distances. Nissa'Lune dipped her feet into these great vast vessels of aether and felt her weariness fade. She was pleased with her sister and said,
"I shall call the new shapes upon the great one, the Seas, and they will flow through the firm shape, so that we may drink and nourish ourselves, and find rest within its cool depths. All over will this essence circle the great shape and swell and dip with my changing nature, so that it may flow."
Stell'Arya was pleased with this, and seeing how pleased and grateful her siblings were, she said,
"This great shape shall have the name Lumis, for we three beings of light have given it shape, life and essence."
The three siblings agreed to this and rejoiced in their great work. From the expanse above did come Thana'Tomos and Aes'Thera, who sought their children out. They came at the call of their parents, and the two beings rejoiced in their reunion. Thana'Tomos, in awe of the work of his children, said,
"I came in fear that I have lost those made from my very essence, and yet what do I find if not a shape so great and so vast, filled with life and essence, made by the very hands I presumed would perish."
Aes'Thera responded and said, "My love, look how our children flourish and yet I cannot help but fear that one day they may expire, as they are still bound to this great shape, so rightly called Lumis, made of light everlasting and yet bound to end."
To this, Thana'Tomos issue an ultimatum, as was his nature,
"My children, though you have made something so beautiful and have quenched your needs as is your right and ability, you are still tethered to this new limited expanse, which I shall call the Material, for it is made of firm aether, given shapes unlike any other in the endless expanse, which I shall call the Astral, where all came from. For this reason, I issue you this choice, stay here and know eventual demise, my domain and burden which I carry alone, or come with us and leave the great shape called Lumis be, where it will remain until it ends."
The three siblings were wrought with pain at this idea, to abandon that which they worked so hard to make for themselves. Aes'Thera saw this pain within them and used her sharp mind to placate her lover.
"My beloved, would it not be wiser, kinder even, to make compromise? Our children have poured their very essences into this great shape, would it not be within our power to grant them dominion over it, that they may come and go in cycles, as all things are yours of that nature?"
Thana'Tomos thought this over, contemplating the words of his wise lover, cunning as she was with knowledge. He agreed, and issued a decree, the first amongst these beings.
"The great shape, known as Lumis, shall be under the dominion of our children and their creations. However, to ensure that they should not succumb to its limited existence, I will create a new shape that encircles the land known as Lumis. A thin veil through which we may observe the happenings of this expanse known as the Material. I shall call it the Heavens, from there may you shepherd your creation and tether you essences, so that you may stay true to your duties."
The siblings were pleased with this, and so it was that the great shape, our Lumis, was shaped. Stell'Arya marked this day in the movement of the stars.
