Origin of the Universe

Whittington's Light
Before there were the planes, before there were the gods, and before there were time and space, there was only Master Whittington. Whittington was a master in the greatest sense of the word, holding power too immense for the highest and oldest cosmic beings to comprehend. Despite his ultimate power, even he was not able to exist as the whole of reality for more than a handful of eternities. Eventually, Whittington manifested an endless void in which he could exist, for being everything was a little too snug for his liking. Finding the void a bit bland after a time, he then began to erect great structures of all conceivable materials and geometries to demarcate the various locales of his never-ending expanse. One day, while occupying a corner of this area which was furnished not unlike the parlor of a lord, he decided to manifest another conscious entity to discuss his creations with, and so Quincy came into being.

Because he was created directly by Whittington, Quincy was of course still more powerful than the gods, but did not nearly match his master. Quincy, despite centuries of effort, was not able to cope with existing as a disembodied intelligence, and so Whittington manifested himself and his new servant each a physical form. The two walked for an immeasurable time through the endless expanse together with Quincy acting as Whittington's faithful servant and companion, as he would for the remainder of his existence. None can fathom the nature of the interactions between these beings during this epic stroll.

At the end of this walk, in a sitting room at the eastern edge of infinity, Whittington sat his body in one of his more favorite chairs he had made in the past. Curiously, he felt a sensation of comfort that had been created by his body. Intrigued by this connection between his body and his mind, he began to experiment with its senses, and on this day he created music, fine cuisine, and tea, among other things.

During this luxurious period, Whittington eventually brought into being a pipe and a small kerosene lighter. What it was that he intended to smoke in that pipe, no mortals may know. What is known is that while reveling in the wondrous things that he had made that day, Whittington made mistakes in the assembly of that lighter, creating the most powerful artifact in existence, Whittington's Light.

Upon ignition by Quincy while lighting his master's pipe, it was the flame of Whittington's Light that formed the universe. Rather than fire, it was space, time, and energy that flared out into a vast inferno of creation. This pollution that had spilled into Whittington's reality expanded to fill a large part of it, and eventually lingered to become the universe.

Formation of the Universe
Observing this new infinity growing within his home one, Whittington saw that this was no ordinary creation. It expanded and exploded and reorganized itself independently of his will. Stars formed, matter condensed, and the elemental energies crackled throughout. This was fascinating to Whittington for a time, but its raw Chaotic energy was beginning to seep outwards. To counteract this, he and Quincy ventured into the universe to begin organizing its components.

They moved all neutrally aligned matter toward the center, laying the foundation for what would become the Material Plane and its coexisting Ethereal and Shadow planes. This was then ringed with the neutrally charged elemental energies, which were separated from each other and would become the elemental planes. They then placed the remaining substance in a ring around the outside with the forces of Good, Evil, Law, and Chaos each representing about a quarter of the ring. And thus, the planes began to take shape from this organization and the Great Wheel was formed.



Emergence of Life and the Gods
As the planes took shape and formed into their distinct landscapes, the energies unique to each one began to form something that astonished Quincy and Whittington more than the material world they had just brought into being: life. In all corners of the Wheel, from the golden fields of Elysium to the searing canyons of the Elemental Plane of Fire, to the dark and screaming tunnels of Pandemonium, tiny organisms began to come forth. Whittington watched them feed on their surroundings and begin to grow and adapt. For many eons, Whittington and Quincy spent their days watching these minute squirming particles grow into increasingly complex forms.

Perhaps the most revolutionary moment in this evolution was the emergence of carnivory. Whittington observed that those creatures that preyed on others became larger, faster, and stronger at a much quicker rate, developing new skills at an alarming pace. He concluded that when one life form defeated another, it must absorb some sort of energy. With this development, it was not long before beasts and monsters of every sort began to appear, prowling through jungles and soaring through the skies.

As these lineages of beasts became more sophisticated, eventually they came to develop culture and societies, some of them becoming what are known as "races ," inhabiting the worlds. They were remarkably intelligent, learning to mold the environment as they wished either through magical energies or physical efforts. But of course, though they were brave, intelligent, and strong, they all needed leadership, and came to be led by various champions that would go on to become the Greater Gods. These gods would rise to govern the universe, many bringing their own races into existence and guiding the growth of their chosen peoples and champions, watching over the their development as Whittington watched over them.



The Spreading Chaos
While Master Whittington and Quincy continued to explore their newly created realms, the chaotic energies given off by the Great Wheel began to seep into the space around it and out into Whittington's realm. The energy began to coalesce into a great and horrible form, being fed by the forces emanating from the physical world. This swirling mass eventually developed a form and became a horrible, twisted monster that is known now as Cthulu. Cthulu used his body as a pathway to accelerate the same process in which he had formed, absorbing chaos and spawning more beasts of his own kind. These creatures became known as the Outer Gods, due to being formed outside the edges of the universe.

When Whittington and Quincy returned to their home realm, they were ambushed by a vast horde of Outer Gods. Individually they stood no match against Master Whittington and his loyal servant, but in large numbers their powers combined to create a formidable challenge. In order to fight off this many adversaries at once, Master Whittington drew upon the lawful energy of the universe to create a set of three champions. Thus, Tyrone, Tiberius, and Barnabus were formed. However, during the formation of Barnabus, Quincy received a wound from one of the Outer Gods and the distraction was enough to distort Barnabus' creation, leaving him much weaker than his brothers and deranged.

Despite this unfortunate occurrence, Quincy recovered easily and the newly formed group of five resumed the battle. Tyrone was of an unmatchable physical strength, and tore through the Outer Gods' lines faster than Whittington could erase them from reality. Tiberius' cunning and tactics led to many of the Outer Gods destroying their own kind in the confusion that he created. Barnubus struggled against one opponent at a time. Whittington continued to cut swathes of the beasts' lines out of reality. Quincy ensured all four were able to continue fighting with masterful wound treatment and healing techniques, and also offered a well-placed rifle shot when he was able.

Finally, over the course of several years, the five reached the last lines of the Outer God defense, and Cthulu himself was visible. Cthulu, rather than continuing to form more chaotic creatures as he had been, began to imitate Whittington and created three of his own champions. From this, Trent, Keith, and Darius were formed. However, just as Barnabus' creation had been disrupted, so was Darius' when Cthulu took a rifle shot from Quincy. Because of this, Darius was formed equally distorted. Additionally, to further match Whittington's strength, Cthulu's first and most loyal creation, Oorn, stood by his side just as Quincy stood at Whittington's.

The "Final Battle"
The true nature of the ultimate confrontation between these ten immortals can never be known, but what is known is that it lasted for several centuries and nearly tore reality apart at the seams. Master Whittington recalled later that his duel with Cthulu was the only time in his life he felt he had been in danger. Ordinarily, he should have been able to smite Cthulu and his servants out of reality, but the chaotic energy in the monster caused the very essence of reality in its space to change every second, faster than Whittington could adjust to in the heat of combat.

What is very understood due to recent events, however, is that this was most certainly not the Final Battle that cosmic historians had been describing it as for hundreds of years. Recently, sightings of all ten of the combatants have been confirmed, leading many to wild speculation. Some propose a theory in which a deal was struck between the forces of law and chaos, some say that one side is secretly a puppet being controlled by the other, and some say that their emergence indicates their strength is nearly regained and that the real battle may occur at any time.

Aftermath
Master Whittington and Quincy would go on to found The Guild and oversee its affairs, which they still do to this day. As for the three champions,  in gratitude for their service, Whittington would reward them with normal lives. He reverted them back to children and erased their memories, leaving them to grow up in an orphanage as the McJacktinson siblings, and each would live a long and strange life, eventually re-ascending to nearly the same power that they had originally been granted.

Cthulu ended up being similarly rendered young and powerless again and imprisoned in a slumber in an obsidian tomb lost in a cavern deep under the ground. However, this tomb was accidentally located and breached by The Iron Helix Syndicate and the young Cthulu was released upon the Material Plane. Creatures resembling the Outer Gods have been spotted by the city of Neuschwanstein.

Oorn, along with a small handful of other outer gods, fled the battle in the last days and were chased down and imprisoned, as Master Whittington was not able to kill them in cold blood. Each member of Whittington's force was tasked with imprisoning one of these monsters, but Barnabus botched his job of imprisoning Oorn. She has assumed a humanoid form, after many millennia of regaining strength, and has been overseeing an organization known as the Trang Muuc Brotherhood, the Iron Helix Syndicate's archrivals.

Keith, Trent, and Darius were imprisoned in different locations throughout the planes, but have recently been freed, likely by Oorn or Cthulu. They have formed a criminal group known as "Variable X," and have terrorized areas of the Great Wheel.