First Creators, Great Spirits, and the Things Below

The deep cosmology of the World's End is intentionally vague — these are the load-bearing pieces, and the rest is for your table to decide.

The first minds to know themselves, the first beings to give themselves names. Born of the cosmic void, of light and possibility and the churning chaos of nothingness. They spoke reality into being, set down its fundamental laws, made the world, and bound The Things Below.

They are unlikely to feature directly in your game. Some may linger as what we now call gods, but as a rule they no longer actively shape the world. Perhaps they have forgotten it entirely.

Beings of darkness, chaos, and corruption — older even than the First Creators, who bound them in the depths of the earth. Jealous, hateful, full of infinite malice. Though imprisoned, they still touch the world: The Green Lords called on them when The Fae rebelled, The Stone Lords' servants succumbed to their whispers and ushered in the Time of Cataclysm, The Barrow Builders worshipped them as gods. Their influence has lessened in the current age but lingers still.

Impossibly potent entities — numinous and grand. Some were made by the First Creators as experiments, companions, or stewards; others arose spontaneously from the cosmos or the beliefs of mortals. Many are aloof, alien, disinterested in this world. Others shape it in subtle ways. Their number may well include the Lady of Crows and some or all of the major gods.

If a great spirit becomes active in your game, write it up as a threat (a magical entity). Even benevolent beings of such cosmic power can't help but cause trouble.

• How mythic is your cosmos? Does Helior drive a chariot across the sky, or is the sun a star?
• Do other worlds float in the void, reachable via the spirit world or portals?
• What lies beyond the Last Door? Is the afterlife the same for all?
• Where did humanity come from — before the Makers, or made by them?