A Brief History of the Minecraft Universe

In the beginning, there was the End, and the End was everything. There was nothing in the world but a scarce few floating islands, each seperated by many leagues of empty space. There was but one form of life, and they called themselves the Endermen. They stood on average three metres tall and had jet black hides. They had disconcertingly long limbs which had no joints but instead curved gracefully. Though their bodies would appear strange to the later races, their minds were filled with curiosity and intrigue at the world around them. They explored their islands and found a mysterious substance suspending them in mid-air. This substance, dubbed "gravitite", became the basis of the Enderman civilisation.

They crafted tools, picks and axes using its remarkable properties. The Endermen used this mineral to create great flying machines to allow them to cross the voids between the islands. Their species united, their sciences advanced to heights that no later civilisation would reach for millenia. They became masters of alchemy and transmuted the pale stone that surrounded them into different substances, including the obsidian that they so commonly used as a building material. Great cities of black glass stretched across the floating islands, and towers of darkness scraped the infinite abyss.

The Endermen explored far and wide across their world, yet found little but endless isolated islands and many more scattered tribes of Endermen. However, in the centre of a great sphere of the white stone on the borders of their world, they discovered a humanoid figure. It was enormous, over three times their height. At the same time, on the other side of the End, a similar figure was discovered. Though both were like them, their limbs were shorter and their skin was pale. One titan had eyes of shadow, the other of ivory. Both slumbered and could not be awakened.

The Endermen were, for all intents and purposes, immortal. They had an eternity to research the giants, and so they were studied for many years. Over this time, the secrets of interdimensional travel were slowly unlocked. The titans, several decades later, had been determined to be from some alternate universe, and the Endermen's High Council deemed it best to transport a titan to an empty reality, so as to try to awaken it with the shock of transportation. The dark-eyed giant was chosen.

The experiment was a success. Probes in the universe observed as the creature rumbled and woke. "I AM NOTCH," it bellowed. After observing the probes for a time, this "Notch" began to speak to the Endermen. It learned much of their universe and used the information it gathered in its latest project. This entity could summon matter into existence by sheer force of will, and there seemed no limits to its power.

Notch stood in the Void and crafted a new world. The new world, which was called the Aether, was a place of wonder. As soon as possible, Endermen were sent through an experimental interdimensional portal. There were many floating landmasses, similar to the End, but there was light instead of darkness. A great light shone in the dark skies, and thousands of smaller lights filled the blackness. The ground was covered with a bizarre organic turquoise substance and taller green and gold living structures carpeted the hills. A race of Pigmen constructed towns on the islands and were hospitable towards their visitors. These things fascinated the explorers; however, it was soon discovered that Endermen could not survive this dimension for long. A terrible sphere of fire would rise every day, and though it caused the Pigmen no harm, its rays burned the visitors. A blue liquid flowed in streams over the hills, the merest drop of which would dissolve Enderman flesh. Even despite the loss of every Enderman sent through the portal, the experiment was deemed a success. Notch moved on to create other dimensions under observation of the unmanned probes.

In secrecy, the second titan was awakened. A sibilant voice whispered "I am Herobrine, brother of Notch," into the minds of all observers. Video feeds from the probes were greatly disrupted by its very presence. Recovered footage showed a flaming network of massive caverns and oceans of molten rock being constructed. Glowing stalactites grew from the ceiling and tortured, rotting imitations of Pigmen built gothic cities and temples in tribute to their malevolent overlord. After creating this Nether, the Brother of Notch immediately moved on to create another corrupted world, and another. Horrified by these atrocities, the Endermen alerted the only being they felt could stop this monster: Notch.

In one world, Notch and Herobrine met. Their battleground was named the Overworld, and it combined features of all other creations of the titans. It was a place of underground cave networks and vast mountain ranges, of oceans of water and tundras of snow. Their war has lasted for aeons, and placed this new world in a constant state of flux. Swamp, rivers and deserts spring into existence overnight. These waves of change are called the Cataclysms by the many sentient species that live in this realm. Some of these races, like the Humans, Dwarves or Testificates, were originally intended by Notch to be the inhabitants of the Overworld; others, like the Creepers, Spiders or Slimes, were created by Herobrine as weapons of war. He resurrected the corpses of other races to serve him as the Zombies, Skeletons, Wraiths and other undead monstrosities.

The Endermen, with the aid of the Pigmen of the Aether, sent through vast armies of both races to aid Notch in the war through Ender Portals. Underground strongholds were constructed around these Portals to protect them from attack, and loyal Silverfish sentries were placed nearby. The combined might of both races came near to turning the tide in the war. In anger, the Brother of Notch devastated both of the allied races. The Pigmen were burnt to cinders when he fixed their sun in place in the sky, and he left flaming guardians, the Sun Spirits, in place to prevent his work from being undone.

Into the End, he unleashed his deadliest weapon. The Enderdragon rampaged through the cities, causing thousands of deaths and destroying the Enderman civilisation. Its very touch was anathema to life, and its breath smouldered with the fury of a god. Some Endermen were trapped in the Overworld when the dragon destroyed the Portal network, and there they remain, searching desperately for an active Portal. As a final insult, Herobrine cursed them to be compelled to kill any sentient being that looks directly at them, ostracising them from civilisation.

In this calamity, Herobrine had pushed himself too far. He exhausted his power and lapsed into a slumber, leaving Notch victorious. But Notch too had overexerted himself, and he too fell into a deep sleep. There both Brothers slept for over three thousand years, leaving their worlds to fend for themselves while they replenished their powers. The different worlds began to forget about each other as the scars of the war between gods slowly healed.

But now the Brothers are reawakening, and the walls between worlds are torn asunder as their war begins anew. Heroes and villains will struggle valiantly, not just for the fate of one world, but for the Minecraft universe.