View source for The Exodus of the Children

The Exodus of the Children is the common name given to the banishment of the various offspring of the Eleven Eternal from the heavenly plane of Celestia.

The Exodus of the the Children cannot be rightfully explained without an understanding of the many events that transpired before the Exodus.

From eternal nothingness sprouted the heavenly plane of Celestia, a place of unparalleled beauty where many scholars believe life itself began. Be it noted here that sorcerer-priests of Xyn, the Dragon, however, attest that from nothing came Xyn, and His mighty breath gave birth to Celestia and all the life within. No matter what the specifics of the origins of creation may be, one thing is certain: from Celestia came the Eleven Eternal, and from their various couplings came the Children.

The Eleven Eternal knew all too well that they were the masters of all creation; their whims shaped reality, a power too great to be entrusted into the hands of their children. Thus, the Eleven asked themselves if the practice of their divine magic was to be bestowed upon the Children. The Eleven convened at the First Council, and put the matter to a vote. With six votes against, it was decided that this power would not be bestowed upon their offspring. All of the existing religious texts agree, those that voted in favor of the Children being taught this power were Voxos, Nelroth, Fangor, Sybil, and Ursus. Despite this agreement, Voxos the Conniving had other plans.

From the time he was a young boy, Voxos had bestowed upon Her son, Prigden, the power of creation that had expressly been forbidden. For a time, she had him keep it secret, for Her cunning knows no bounds. She knew that Prigden would one day show off to one of the other children, and eventually share with them the gift, and so he did. One by one, the Children began practicing the powers of creation, touching the divine in ways they had never imagined, weaving into existence creatures the likes of which not even their parents had dreamed.

The power they were given was so immense that they could not stop the magic from flowing through them. Their very thoughts began to take shape, sometimes unbidden, sometimes even whilst they slept. Beings began spawning that had unspeakable features, hideous tentacles, claws, eyes, and undefinable appendages. From their nightmares,the Children had given birth to aberrant horrors. Even Voxos had not foreseen that the Children would create creatures that so wholly offend the very nature of existence, though she still sought to use them to her own ends.

The aberrant horde began destroying Celestia, devouring all in their path. Horror beyond comprehension had come to paradise itself, and the realm was being torn asunder by madness. From the ashes that the horde left behind, Voxos would build the planes anew, with Her as the Prime Eternal, as She always should have been. While She would not directly destroy anything herself, in private counsels, She would encourage the Children - now desperate for guidance - to keep trying to reason with their creations, going so far as to name the aberrations Her "Grandchildren" and "Great Nephews."

In other secret councils, She met with Fangor, the father of Her son, and Nelroth, patron saint of sadists. She told them of Her many machinations, and promised them places of power if they help Her rid the realm of the others. Fangor could deny Her nothing, for His desire for Voxos is as eternal as the Eleven themselves. Nelroth wanted the sport of slaughtering the Eleven, and required little incentive. She told them that she had the sight -- the same gift that Aurelia and other gods used to see into the future, and that she saw that these three would rule all of Celestia to themselves.

This was not to be. Unbeknownst to the wicked three, it is said someone spied upon them. Though scholars have several arguments over who this spy was, recent theories put forth by the Temple of Ezra suggest that it was Olim, the Hidden One. This appears to have been the first introduction of the god of rogues to the rest of the eternals, as she had previously remained hidden. Olim reported this conversation to Aurelia, Zanna, and Apotheos. They in turn convened the Second Council, where all the truth was revealed. 

For their transgressions, the wicked three and the children were banished from Celestia. The rest of the Eternals could not agree upon where to send them, until finally the only conclusion that could be reached was to split Celestia in two. In doing so, they created what they called "the wall", but what we know today as the material plane, Arnessia. This became the barrier between Celestia, and its darker half, Infandus. To Infandus went the wicked three, and to Arnessia went the children.