Here’s a little something we thought those who are celebrating their First Realms Night would find interesting. Special thanks to Meira Maynard for putting this together for the 2016 Realms Night Celebration!
The War of the Realms: A Tale of Realms Night
By: Clarissa Golan
A long time ago, before Adraveth stood, Viralee created two types of creatures. She created celestials from stars in the sky, beings of purity and light. She also created infernals from the fires of the earth, fearsome creatures filled with fury. She loved both of her creations, but realized that they could not live in peace together.
Viralee created two realms, one slightly greater than the other. She asked her brother, Ethali, and her sister, Elantrai, for advice on how to divide the power among her creations. Ethali insisted that the infernals deserved to have the greater realm and the most power, but Viralee was unsure of his advice. Elantrai proposed that Viralee take two marbles, one white and one black, and place them in a bag. She told Viralee to have an infernal and a celestial each pull a marble out of the bag. Whoever took out the white marble would have the greater realm. They would then place the marbles back in the bag and each draw out a marble again. This time the white marble would determine who would have more power. Viralee liked this game of chance to decide the fate of her creatures so she followed Elantrai’s advice. The celestials drew the white marble first and gained the greater realm. The Infernals drew the white marble the second time and gained more power. There are rumors that Ethali tampered with the marbles in order to gain more power for the infernals.
Even with each of Viralee’s creations designated certain realms, they still warred. Their war overflowed onto the mortal realms, and the people of this world suffered greatly. Eventually Viralee knew she must do something to protect the mortal realms so she created the Nether between the realms. The Nether was made of everything that was or wasn’t. It was nothing and it was everything. And it provided the perfect barrier to divide all the realms and stop the war.
Every four years on Realms Night we celebrate the creation of the two realms and of the protective Nether. Everyone chooses a team, celestial or infernal. The celestial colors are white and silver. The infernal colors are red and gold. It is not considered specifically “good” to be on the celestial team or “bad” to be on the infernal team. Many people simply switch teams every Realms Night. Others will flip a coin to choose their team, in homage to Elantrai and her advice to Viralee. There are games and festivities between the two teams and a tally of points is kept. Sometimes infernals and celestials will come visit to see the games and support their team. Whichever team wins dictates whether the infernals or the celestials will be more powerful for the next four years. Four years ago, the celestials won. Eight years ago, the infernals won. It is the result of our belief in them, that we give them more power.