Long before existence itself, before the birth of the universe, there was only darkness. Space stretched endlessly, a vast all-consuming void from which nothing escaped. Yet within that endless darkness was a single genderless being who drifted mindlessly.
Azathoth.
The sole existence in the void floated without thought or feeling, the grotesque creature drifted for eons without purpose or goal. After billions of years of floating in the boundless darkness, Azathoth grew tired of only moving forward in space, its primitive curiosity had long since faded. So it decided to attempt something new. For the first time since its sudden and abrupt appearance in the vast darkness of space, the omnipotent being closed its eyes.
It was a mere momentary action; Azathoth had merely blinked, and yet the darkness seemed different. It felt… different. Nothing had changed and yet to Azathoth it felt more vivid. Its primitive curiosity sparked up once more as for the first time, Azathoth stopped moving forward.
Once more, the great Azathoth closed its eyes and grew still.
Years passed. Centuries. Millennia. The mindless god had finally discovered something new and entirely different from all it had known:
Sleep.
And within that sleep, Azathoth began to dream.
The dreams were elusive yet so vibrant and intriguing. Azathoth had imagined space being filled with things known as stars and planets. Countless beings were surrounding and revering it. The dreams consumed Azathoth to the point that the omnipotent creature had forgotten how to open its eyes… how to wake up.
As the Great Dreamer slept, a swirling pale purple mist surrounded its disturbing body. From that mist emerged the first being to have escaped Azathoth's dreams. The entity blended into the darkness, merging with Space itself and becoming the void. This creature had become everything yet was filled with a profound feeling of emptiness; it felt nothing as if devoid of all feeling.
Then, that being opened its Great Eyes. This being was none other than Yog-Sothoth. With their all-seeing gaze, Yog-Sothoth watched the slumbering Azathoth with careful curiosity, yet it was more of how a parent would perceive their newborn child rather than the opposite. Millions of years passed under Yog-Sothoth's sight. Every five million years, orbs of different sizes and colors would emerge from the mist like sparks from a massive, colorful bonfire, littering the previously dull void with a plethora of these orbs that would soon be known as stars.
Another two million years passed before a new entity emerged. This one did not rise from the mist—rather, it tore its way out of the flesh of one of Azathoth's countless tentacles.
The movement disturbed the Dreamer. Azathoth shifted in its sleep, casually flinging the writhing creature aside as if it were nothing more than a loose fragment of thought.
The creature—Nyarlathotep—glared at its creator with a gaze filled with raw, seething malice.
Yog-Sothoth, who previously had been watching how stars interacted with each other, quickly noticed Nyarlathotep's malicious intent and fixed its all-seeing gaze on the spiteful creature. Nyarlathotep hissed and began to crawl away at an incomprehensible speed. It swiftly moved trillions of light-years away from Azathoth's slumbering form.
Shortly after, Azathoth began to stir, but at that moment something unpredictable happened. From the mist escaped a band of disfigured creatures which played their disturbing instruments made out of their own flesh. The tune lulled Azathoth further into sleep. It was a shrill, never-ending tune that was meant to keep their creator asleep for all of eternity.
Yog-Sothoth silently calculated something in its mind, almost instantly coming to the conclusion that Azathoth must be kept asleep so that more things could be born. The all-knowing entity's gaze became filled with pity for the mindless god who was creating all of these things unconsciously and was unable to experience it.
Yog-Sothoth grew increasingly intrigued and continued observing as more beings formed from the mist—each one an escapee from Azathoth's limitless dreams. The once-empty darkness grew crowded with drifting stars and strange floating orbs.
But then everything began to tremble.
The musicians shrieked and played with frantic terror as Azathoth rolled in its slumber. The mist churned violently, and from its depths something immense began to rise—an orb larger than all the others, dwarfing everything created before it. Within the colossal sphere lay countless smaller orbs. Inside those orbs, fragile life forms stirred, unaware of the cosmic beings that loomed beyond.
And thus, the universe was born.
Yog-Sothoth observed the feeble creatures in each world inside the universe. Its endless gaze passed over countless lives. But eventually, its attention fixed on one particular orb. Within it, life changed, evolving rapidly. Giant lizards were the first life forms occupying it, but after a meteor strike, the world underwent changes. Eventually, beings who called themselves gods emerged. Some were called demonic, others were actually classified demons.
Yog-Sothoth had found itself captivated. Although it was condemned to perceiving everything at once, it managed to focus most of its attention to this blue orb. It watched as the gods fought for control, creating the heavens, the underworld, and hell.
Once peace among the gods had been established, the gods had decided to create something new. Humans and Beastfolk rose from the ashes of catastrophe known as the Divine War. Yog-Sothoth was truly interested in humans. Their gods were cruel and selfish yet they still would pray to them and beg for blessings. Each human who was given a blessing by a god would develop supernatural abilities.
Yog-Sothoth watched as some humans became kings and created empires, those who were blessed lived luxuriously or decently, while the ones who were not lived frugally and often died pitifully. Other humans would venture the world while fighting these "monsters" to earn merit and experience. Others would lead or follow their kingdoms into war.
This brings us to the present. A catastrophic war was happening between the two largest empires. Third-party groups would also participate for benefit during these battles. Humanity was in chaos and the gods were once again at odds with each other. However, they used humans to fight for them rather than fighting themselves. This established different factions among humanity, each supporting a certain god.
Yog-Sothoth, consumed by curiosity and the desire to experience how it felt to share a fraction of its power with another, decided to give a blessing of their own secretly to a random human. That human was a noble. A fallen noble who was just experiencing the fall of his household. Yog-Sothoth wished to see how this human would develop and the path he would take. That man was none other than Clyde Lionhart.