Long, long ago, before the first villages were settled, while the world was still new and growing, all of Tellus was ruled over by three immense and mighty gods. Aias, the cloud shepherd, oversaw the endless sky which blankets everything. They were a peaceful and nurturing god, casting gentle sunbeams across the land and sending rainfall to the parched deserts of the equator."

"Next was Titan, the guardian of the deeps, who presided over all the world's boundless oceans. From them sprang all the sea's churning fury, and like the sea they were obtuse and mercurial, building fertile reefs then tearing them away to begin anew elsewhere."

"Finally came Ouros, the mountain-raiser, who ruled the land from vast continents to tiny islands. They were slow and meticulous, shaping their domain into mountain ranges and sweeping valleys over incredible timescales so it would be exactly how they envisioned it."

"At this time, on the soaring grasslands of a forgotten steppe, lived a devout nomadic people. They worshipped Aias, for the land was below them and the sea far away, yet the sky lay all around in every direction, and won them with its majesty. In its rising and setting, they gave offerings to the sun; under torrential downpours they rejoiced, for their generous god was blessing them with life-giving water. The steppe people revered the sky and credited it with all their fortune."

"Before long, the other gods took note of this. They began to resent these followers of Aias who cared not for the land or the sea, and turned their thoughts upwards away from them. Titan and Ouros are said to have met in secret in the crushing depths of a thalassic trench and discussed a plan of action."

"Titan, pacing back and forth, was alternately furious and despairing in the face of the pious steppe people: how could they possibly dare deny the might of the seas to which all things flowed, from which their ancestors had first crawled? And yet, perhaps they were right, and the sky really did render the two other gods' domains lesser - what hope was there to compete against such power, and what else to do but accept a fate of insignificance?"

"Ouros thought in silence for three long flights as Titan raged and wept before them. Titan, they decided, was right on both counts: Aias really was first among the three, and the faith they inspired was both unique and concerning. The steppe people had clearly forsaken the other two gods, and although so small and gradual as to be almost imperceptible, ponderous Ouros had felt their power begin to wane."

"Thus, in the very deepest, darkest recesses of both earth and sea, after one hundred and eight days of deliberation, both gods simultaneously arrived at a terrible conclusion. Titan roared, and Ouros rumbled, 'We must end the sky god.'"

"The pair concocted a plan of brutal simplicity. They would lure Aias, by way of deception, out into the very furthest reaches of the ocean, far from the power of their followers, and there set upon them. You must remember that this was a time before the violence and murder of the present, wherein the very thought of one god bearing force against another was nigh-inconceivable. Therefore, when the two gods approached Aias among the clouds and asked to meet at a certain spot a day hence, the sky god naively agreed."

"And so the three met, in the midst of the Far Seas, the sky god characteristically beaming and the others laden with grim purpose. Upon their simultaneous arrival, there was no pause for pleasantries."

"'I am so sorry, sibling... but this must be done!', cried Titan, summoning to them their gleaming trident."

"'It is time,' stated Ouros, drawing out their hammer from the depths."

"In an overwhelming surge of shock and dismay, the magnitude of which has never since been seen upon the face of Tellus, Aias cried out to their followers at the far end of the world, 'My people, I am betrayed! Come to me!'"

"Smile gone from their face, the sky god raised their shepherd's staff in defence, and the young world's three mighty caretakers began to battle above the waves. Far, far away on their continent, the scryers of the steppe people heard a whisper on the wind, and felt the clouds stir. They spread the sky god's message among them, and soon began to lead a long, determined march. Down from the steppe Aias' people came in an enormous line, all their belongings on their backs, to wind through choking forest and fetid swamp, until after travelling the breadth of the land they came to the sea. Though the waves stood in the way of their march, they were not for a second cowed. Setting down walking-poles and picking up tools, they began to gather wood from far around, and on the languid beach carve it into canoes. Though their task was slow and laborious, the steppe people never faltered, and eventually came the day when every one of them, again with everything they owned on their backs, boarded their canoes and set sail."

"For three hundred and thirty-three days are they said to have sailed, across waters which churned and foamed with enormous waves as the battle of the gods raged, until everything of the world they once knew seemed like nought but a memory. At last, as the devout steppe people approached the origin of Aias' cry, the seas began to calm and the wind died down. The scryers, most attuned to the divine, are said to have witnessed three titanic figures fall in unison, and crash down into the sea. All present, however, beheld what sprung from the felled gods' remains. From Ouros' wounds there spilled a long chain of islands, which spattered and grew like stone weeds from the ocean's depths. From the dissolving body of Titan were dispersed all the bounties of the sea, and the islands' shores became thronged with coral, pearls, and teeming schools of fish. And, from Aias' last breath, there billowed a mighty storm, which poured life-giving rain along the archipelago's length, sprouting a lush green carpet across its surface."

"Having already come so far, and loath to abandon their god, the steppe people - now the first Vatheians - disembarked from their boats on the shore of the largest island. There they remained, and thrived upon the fruits of the First Gods' corpses, and thus the Isles of Vatheia both came to be and were settled."