The Book of the Damned claims that the First were born spontaneously from the mysterious source of life known as the Seal and began as formless motes of energy. When the Seal birthed other, lesser motes, the First became self-aware. Eons passed, and slowly the First, and the lesser motes, began exploring creation. These were the first gods. One of the First uttered the first sound, discovering the power of speech and, thus, knowledge. He named himself Ihys and his brother, Asmodeus.
Ihys and Asmodeus, together with the lesser gods, began to sculpt creation to their liking and slowly introduced the concept of order into reality, creating stars, planets, and the fundamental laws that bind them. Then Ihys forever changed their creation: he created the first mortals, discovering the concept of souls and worship, and the other gods followed his example. Amid the rampant creation and destruction of new life, Ihys felt sympathy for mortals, who as of yet were but puppets for the gods and granted them the right to forge a destiny of their own.
Ihys' gift of free will upon mortals caused the first schism of the gods. On the one side were those (like Asmodeus) who viewed mortals as mere tools and those (as himself) who desired freedom for their creations.
Asmodeus, devasted by his brother's act, showed Ihys the chaos and destruction that he had sowed, and Ihys became the first being to know regret; but the empyreal lord Sarenrae came to him and showed him that great good had also come from mortals' freedom and that other gods supported him. War tore the gods, the first conflict between order and chaos. Ihys defended the right of mortals to choose their own destiny with Sarenrae at his right hand. Finally, on a distant world, Ihys and Asmodeus met for the last time on the field of battle. Asmodeus offered his hand in brotherhood, and then performed the first act of treachery, murdering Ihys with a great spear.
In a last act of sympathy for his brother, Asmodeus allowed Ihys's dream of freedom to stand. He then created Hell as a monument to the old ways of absolute, merciless order and as a warning of what he would one day make anew. According to the Concordance of Rivals, Ihys subsequently became the first soul to be judged by Pharasma.