There once was an insignificant island in the middle of an insignificant ocean, on an insignificant planet in an insignificant solar system located at the far edge of an insignificant galaxy. And one day, in this insignificant place, something significant happened — the gods got bored.

The gods in question were named Anar, Ulum and Qini. Anar and Ulum were fraternal twin brothers, and usually argued about who was right. When things got particularly heated, they turned to their younger sister, Qini, and demanded that she make the decision. Somehow, she usually found a path that mostly satisfied both of her brothers without actually requiring her to choose a side. She preferred it that way.

After centuries of nothing changing, even Qini had gotten tired of the routine, and together all three of them looked down on this world they had been assigned to watch over — and they decided they were going to trigger the development of Life.

The life that the gods encouraged on this planet was mostly simple species — some plant life, and a lot of marine life, but remarkably few land-based animals. Since the entire world was a series of archipelagos, with mostly small or medium-small islands, there wasn't much room for things that lived solely on land. The only exception was one large island that had several medium islands very close to it and a few smaller ones just a little further out, and then a wide expanse of empty ocean for hundreds of miles in all directions.

On this one large island, the gods placed three humanoid races. One race was placed in a thick forest, with plant and animal life abundantly around them. The next race was placed on the side of the tall mountains, among the riches of the earth. Finally, the third race was placed on the shores, by and in the teeming waters where the largest stream of the island met the ocean.

The gods gave each of these races the gift of language. Anar and Ulum couldn't agree on what language to give, so Qini stepped in and gave all three races the language that Anar, Ulum, and Qini used to speak amongst themselves. After the gift of language, though, the gods allowed each of these races to develop distinct cultures, intervening only rarely, mostly to make sure that they remained peaceful, and that disputes were handled by reason, not by force.

Each race initially called themselves "The People." Once they met and began to establish trade, however, they all became "The People" and the individual races were named the Forestborn, the Stoneforged, and the Wavecalled.