The Convergence

There was only Muspelheimr, realm of primordial fire, and Niflheimr , realm of primordial ice. The Void, called Ginnungagap, separated them.

In Muspelheimr, fire giants, called Eldjotnar, roamed freely in their bright, fiery realm. Their canine-like companions, the Muspelhundar (or fire hounds), were always at their side as they walked the endless fields of molten earth, and mountain ranges that spewed flame.

On the opposite side of the Void, Niflheimr was small, and dark. The Niflungar ("Children of the Mist"), were elementals of ice that fed on the suffering of the frost giants, called Hrímthursar. When the Hrimthursar battled with the Niflungar, the frozen breath of the Children and the flesh of the frost giants melded to create the Niflhundar, the frost hounds. The Niflungar were furious that their precious icy breath had been stolen from them, and attacked the new creatures. Grateful for their creation, the Niflhundar joined forces with the Hrímthursar and battled endlessly with their common enemy.

But they were no match. Even combined, and even with the power of frost breath, the frost giants and their hounds were cast into the Void. They made their new home on Jotunnheim, realm of the mountain and storm giants. For a time, they were content in the place they had carved out for themselves, and the other giants welcomed them as brothers. The frost giants became known simply as Jotunn, and their canine companions as Jotunnhund.

It was not to last long, for the chaos of the world they left behind would cause Niflheimr to cross the Void and collide with Muspelheimr, destroying both realms, releasing a massive blast of seidr magic that caused a catastrophic portal to greedily inhale the remnants of them, and The Children and Eldjotnar... Or, at least, most of them. The surviving fire giants flew on the backs of their canine companions, the fire hounds, like unholy Valkyries. They rained down upon Midgard, the world of man. What we knew as Earth in ancient times was cast in shadow as ash rained from the skies all over the world.

Crops that did not fail from lack of sunlight were razed, untold millions died at the hands and hungry maws of the now homeless fire giants and their hounds. The anguished fiery beings wreaked havoc on humanity until, finally, the Aesir - the godly race of Asgard - descended and put a stop to the slaughter, beating the fiery creatures back and banishing them to the scorched reaches of Nidavellir, land of the dwarves, behind an impregnable prison. Embittered by being uprooted twice now, the Muspelhundar changed their names to Eldhundar in solidarity with their fire giant companions.

The minds of mortal men were wiped as well as the Aesir could with seidr magic that then permeated Midgard... but the portal that had been ripped open by the chaotic demise of Muspelheimr and Niflheimr would soon duplicate. Then duplicate again. And again, and again... Even as 500 years passed, and the frost giants themselves also attempted to take Midgard with the Casket of Winters, only to be defeated by Odin, doorways to other universes and timelines were growing in number exponentially.

The original universe was deemed Universe-Prime. For the rest of the denizens of the nine worlds and beyond, however, things would seem very much the same...

Until more beings and even planets were born of those ancient portals. Even miniature portals no bigger than the size of a person would appear just long enough for someone from another reality to hop through, before it was closed once more.

So now, Universe-Prime was becoming more and more complex by the day. Even the beaten fire giants and their canine companions did not seem as if they truly were gone for good - some dwarves tell of riots and escapees. It was a disaster seething just below the surface.

Earth’s mundane and supernatural denizens are at war in some parts of the world, while others are, at best, at an uneasy truce. Laws include registration with the government, and quad-annual check-ins with government-associated physicians. These measures are kept in place to stem the tide of those who are able to infect others with the curse of therianthropy and vampirism.

Vampires, angels, demons, mages, and other more “civilized” races are permitted to mingle with the populace, provided they register with the government and regularly check-in with the physicians mentioned above as well. Humans are by and large mistrustful of ‘supes,’ and supernaturals are equally disdainful or skittish around ‘mundies.’

Primo-fae are created from insects and the first sparks of magic on Faeheimr, specifically on the split continents of what is now called Northern and Southern Alfstadr → Primo-fae create the hoof-folk → Primo-fae evolve into igni-fae. At the same time, argi-fae and pluvi-fae emerge from underground and the seas simultaneously.

Primo-fae now extinct → Trolls/Trolkesh/"Moss-Skinned Children" emerge from above the ground and begin warring with the igni-fae → Galbikesh/”Goblins” (“Pebble-Skinned Children”) emerge from underground, staying neutral for now → Sylvi-fae emerge from the wilds.

A branch of igni-fae evolve into solalfar/"sun elves" → Trolls and goblins interbreed via magical intervention by the goblins, creating the zikesh/troblins → A branch of trolls evolve into orkkesh/orks → Dwarves are first sighted in the mountains, caves, and swamps, emerging from various elements and stone.

Hoping to accelerate their evolution into something stronger, the galbikesh/goblins craft a magical device capable of immense power, but accidentally set it off mid-production and nearly wipe out their own race (save for a few small pockets here and there), as well as splitting Alfstadr in twain → The resulting fallout that blocks the Solem (Faeheimr's sun) decimates Southern Alfstadr's populations, but sun elves, dwarves, argi-fae, sylvi-fae, and hoof-folk persevere despite mass starvation and suffering → Capitalizing on the sun elves' weakness, the argi-fae attack them in great swarms and take thousands of captives.

Argi-fae create the lunalfar/"moon elves" by interbreeding with sun elven captives → Feeling little alliance to their forebears, the moon elves team up with the sun elves and drive the argi-fae into hiding back underground → The argi-fae are assumed extinct after hundreds of years of zero sightings around the same time orkkesh/orks are first sighted above ground near the cave-mouths of their ancestors → Sun elves and moon elves separate their territories but agree to be allies → Claiming superiority over all other races, the sun elves often war with other, non-elven peoples - including fae and orkkesh.

Orkkesh begin using wargs as mounts and combat companions → Sylvi-fae begin hiding in the forests from whence they came, making a pact with the deer-folk to stay hidden, as well as creating 'bubbles' of safe zones where no orkkesh, troblins, or elves can enter. At the same time, the pluvi-fae create the pinnalfar/"fin elves" → Daemunkesh (a tribe of orkkesh) produce the wargkesh from mixing their fel blood with wargs.

Hardly anything is known about how Faeheimr converged with another world*.

What is known is that, long ago, strange dragon-like people called dracokin arrived from beyond the Emerald Sea by Faircreek. They were revered as god-like. They brought their arcane technology, dubbed magitech, that caused the people of their new home to advance beyond the dark ages and into a sort of renaissance period.

Story holds that long ago, a massive sapphire called the Star of the Dracokin was discovered in the mountains to the west. Those mountains were named the Dragon's Spine for the great dragon skeleton that two dracokin brothers found the star embedded in.

They returned with the Star to Faircreek, and found that some dragon slayers and bounty hunters were literally consumed by their greed and turned into demonic wraiths. The wraiths certainly targeted the dracokin and their Star, but then they began to attack others in Faircreek at random. The brothers somehow used the Star to summon a bright light that disintegrated the wraiths and freed the people of Faircreek from fear.

However, the blast had caused the sapphire to fracture in half, and while one brother decided to take his half, staying and living in Faircreek, the other decided to take his half and return to his homeland across the sea, never to be seen again. Years passed, and the sapphire was further split into smaller gems, which were embedded in trinkets and weapons before being handed down to the first brother's children. Many have been lost, but all the most prominent dracokin families still manage to hold on to theirs. This was the origin of the Church of the Holy Light. Dracokin began spreading their religion of the Holy Light through priests, paladins, and churches built all over the land, and humans quickly converted.

After the splitting of North and South Alfstadr, there was a war between the dark fae of the Moors and humans/anthrens beyond (including Ulfstead, Faircreek, and all the other human settlements). All but one singular dark fae girl were killed or exiled to the Nest of Origin out in the Emerald Sea. That singular girl was named Maleficent.

Her life in the Moors was lonely, so she found herself wandering and fell in love with a human boy from beyond the Everdark Forest. That love was ruined by human greed when the boy became a man and betrayed her, beginning another bitter feud that ended with the man's death and his daughter - the one Maleficent had cursed and then developed a motherly love for - was crowned queen.

Still two more centuries after this, we are in present-day, and Maleficent's great-grandson, Noctilucent, reigns over the Moors, while queen Brigid reigns over Ulfstead. A land bridge has formed between Northern and Southern Alfstadr, allowing travel north (but not south as there is a cloud of fae and elven magic preventing it). There lies a tenuous peace between supernatural and mundane folk, but it may not last forever...

*[The other world is from the Maleficent movies, which are barely developed at this time and thus ripe for world-building!]