Chapter 5 – The Sun
Time flew by. The Primordials' assaults continued, yet their frequency and numbers had clearly dwindled.
They seemed to have learned caution, no longer charging blindly at the defenses Sulen and Shar had laid, but instead looking for chances to strike by surprise.
After each repulse, the sisters would carry the captured divinity back to the Material Plane.
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Once purified, this divinity slowly coalesced into new godhoods: from the essence of water arose the God of the Seas; from wind and lightning, the Storm God; from rivers and lakes, the River God.
More and more deities appeared in the cosmos, but these newborn gods were far weaker than the three Primal Gods. Each took a duty, maintaining the workings of the natural elements, forming a rudimentary pantheon.
On the continent of Faerûn, Chauntea observed a puzzling fact: though life-forms were varied, their development had almost stalled. Plants grew to a certain point and advanced no further; animals remained in simple shapes.
After long observation, Mother Earth discovered a key rule: near starlight, plants flourished and life bustled; under darkness, they drooped and withered.
"The light is still not enough," Chauntea concluded. "We need a body that can illuminate half the world, giving steady, powerful radiance and warmth."
She went to Sulen, explained her findings and proposal, and the Stellar Goddess agreed at once:
"Indeed, starlight is scattered and faint. One concentrated source would greatly spur life's growth."
The two goddesses then sought Shar and laid out their plan to forge a Sun.
Shar objected the moment she heard: "Create a sphere that lights up half the sky?
That would shrink my realm of darkness by half! Even at night there will still be Moon and starlight—my strength will be greatly reduced."
Sulen tried to persuade her: "Sister, this is for the sake of life. The cosmos needs balance; both light and darkness should serve life."
But Shar was adamant: "You think only of life, of light—have you ever considered darkness' worth? Without sufficient darkness many lives cannot rest and recover. I will never consent to this plan."
After repeated pleas failed, Sulen and Chauntea decided to act while Shar patrolled the Astral.
They chose a crucial point; Sulen summoned the power of every star, Chauntea offered the stabilizing might of the earth, and together the two goddesses forged a vast, blazing sphere—the Sun.
When the Sun first rose, its dazzling light instantly lit half of Faerûn. Plants grew madly under its rays; animals stirred; life-energy suffused the Material Plane as never before.
Yet at that very moment Shar sensed the violent cosmic shift. She rushed back from the Astral, saw the Sun hanging high, and her fury erupted.
"You dared do this behind my back!" Her voice seethed with betrayal, darkness condensing into a tangible storm of shadows around her.
Sulen tried to explain: "Sister, this was for the needs of life—"
But Shar would hear no more; her darkness lashed straight at Sulen. The Stellar Goddess raised starlight to defend, and the two primal forces collided, shaking the universe.
Chauntea attempted to mediate: "Stop this fight! We can talk—"
Yet the enraged Shar would not listen, her attacks growing fiercer. Sulen was forced to defend and strike back; starlight and darkness clashed violently across the heavens.
Other deities felt the earth-shaking battle and came to watch, but none dared intervene in a conflict between Primal Gods. Chauntea could only watch anxiously; her strength could not stop this sisterly war.
Both Sulen and Shar were Primal Gods—so long as the cosmos endured, they would not die.
Their strength was limitless; the fight went on for untold ages. Starlight and darkness collided, interwove, parted, and collided again.
Amid the long struggle an unexpected thing happened: the fierce clash of starlight and darkness began to merge, producing an entirely new form of energy.
Neither wholly light nor wholly dark, it was neutral and malleable. As the goddesses fought it accumulated and strengthened, gradually forming a hazy energetic core.
Both Sulen and Shar noticed, yet lost in fury and battle they did not stop.
As the fight continued the core grew ever stronger, autonomously absorbing various energies from the cosmos.
At last, when the gathered power reached its peak, it burst in a brilliant flash and condensed into a new divine consciousness.
It was a neutral divine being—the nascent Mystryl, goddess of primal magic.
The combat between Sulen and Shar shook the whole cosmos. The energy ripples from the violent collision of starlight and darkness spread to the Outer Planes, even piercing the barriers of the Elemental Planes.
In the deepest Abyss, those chaotic Primordials sensed the fluctuations of this primordial war and instinctively knew a rare opportunity had come