The Steward, the name given to the Pilgrim who presides over this galaxy, one day long ago began the work that would culminate in the world we know today.
Drawing on the natural laws of this sphere, the Steward allowed the new galaxy to form over time with little interference. It did not wish to place and plan everything as some of its peers did, instead marveling at the grandeur of the forms this sphere created out of itself. This changed once the planets had formed and the turbulence of galactic birth subsided. This was when the elves and dwarves appeared and began to embody the Steward's vision of creation across the galaxy.
At this time, the Steward created the substance known to mortals as tralaticon, a unique metal that could contain and conduct element energy. The first elves and dwarves to discover their purpose on each planet were those that transformed into the Element Guardians. Their function was to act as a link between the physical and element planes, regulating with their bodies the flow of elements in and out of the world. As such their massive forms were made almost entirely of tralaticon. It was through them that the Roots of the World grew and Primal Currents formed on each world and provided a stream of raw elements for their fellow elves and dwarves to use.
With the Guardians in place, a relative few saw that they were meant to combine their essence with the existing substances on the planet: things like water and stone. This injection of their essence allowed them to link with the Guardians and the bones of the whole world were now part of one interconnected ecosystem. From here there was an explosion of activity as many elves and dwarves embodied different aspects of creation. All plants and animals have their progenitor who animates their spirits and guides their behavior. However, the elves and dwarves do not control any evolutionary paths. This was another process that the Steward wished to let play out once it began.
Each Pilgrim constructs their galaxy towards a particular end: producing through the natural laws of the sphere a creature with the requisite conscious awareness to become one of them. It could be construed as a form of reproduction on a massive scale. When humans evolved, the Steward knew the time had come and imbued them with souls. These souls were Fire and akin to the spark of life, though with more nuance: they produced a longing for something more, growth beyond the physical and beyond the simple need to survive and reproduce given by the spark. The Steward dared push no harder, for the Long Road was one few were equipped to trod.
It was here that things began to unravel. The exact reasons for the ensuing events are unclear and may not be known even to the Steward. What is known, however, is that the humans did not act as intended and followed their own paths. The Steward fell into cruelty and the denizens of this galaxy began to suffer needlessly at the hands of a power they not only couldn't fight, but who most did not even know existed. Other Pilgrims eventually noticed this and the Conclave dispatched two of their number to investigate and reason with the Steward.
The details of this meeting or whether it even took place are lost to time. What is clear is that the Steward attacked unexpectedly and through what it thought was its own cunning defeated both of the Pilgrims. Their battle destroyed the entire galaxy as they unleashed the Primal Force in efforts of offense and defense. The continent where our story takes place is the only one left. It is also the only place where elves, dwarves, and mortals can name the the event: the Annihilating Light.
The Steward absorbed the power of the two defeated Pilgrims, but this had an unexpected result. The Steward took in not only their power, but also their essence. It saw itself from their viewpoint for a moment, saw the extent of the suffering it had caused and the crime it had just committed. A large part of its victory stemmed not from cunning, but from the disbelief and horror felt by its opponents. Its spirit recoiled, instinctively partitioning itself and burying the parts it did not want to see in a sealed dungeon on the last remaining planet. It has no true name, but in time it become known as the Shadow Vault to those few who needed to name it.
When the Conclave of Pilgrims arrived, they saw all that had transpired. The self-maimed victor would have been powerless against them, so many were they and all whole, but they stayed their hands. They saw in their wisdom that the two who were thought lost lived on in the one who perpetrated the crime. They decreed that this Pilgrim must walk a new road, one none of them had trod before: a road of healing and reuniting its being. The stipulation was that this one remaining planet was the only ground allowed for the task.
There was more, however, and it was somehow even more alarming. The two Pilgrims sent had sealed their galaxies and left slivers of their essence behind to caretake, but not rule. The Conclave feared Chaos would eventually find a foothold in these galaxies without a Pilgrim to watch over them. The Still feared the consequences of forcing their way through the wards: it was possible the counterstrokes left behind were lethal to the interloper, the inhabitants, both, or the sphere itself. It was soon discovered that portals to the galaxy could be opened, but any being enhanced directly by the power of another Pilgrim was unable to pass through. Many unaugmented champions were sent and all so far have failed to reopen the galaxies. This engendered a secret atonement taken on by the Steward: that beings it has guided would be the ones to open the way and redeem it in the eyes of its peers.