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Elementals
Origin
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It Begins in Darkness…
No one knows for certain how they came about. Elven legends tell
of a Power that created the world, and all life connected to it,
that such a Will brought sentience to the components that make up
the very land…
Before the dawn of the lesser races, and even before the birth
of all life itself, the world was just beginning to form. Earth,
the very soil and foundation for which all life would grow was the
first to be created. A balance had to be retained, however, thus
Air was next. The breath of all living things, and counterpart to
Earth, Air would ensure that the ground would stay in its given
form by slowly wearing away parts where it outgrew.
A great thirst befell the dry, harsh land, and signaled the next
creation. A clear liquid which would cover most of the world, and
was said that would sustain all life. Water would quell the thirst
of the world, yet a fear of it consuming the planet prepared the
next component. This was the deadliest of all the elements, and
by far the most volatile. Deep within the world, a spark ignited
the fourth element, a raging inferno that would become known as
Fire. Unstable, and unprejudiced at what it consumed, Fire kept
Water within the balance as it slowly spread across the land.
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It is stated among studiers of the Elementals,
as well as this legend, that the First Elementals created the
Prime Elemental Planes with the ritual at the legend's end.
Whether this is fact or not, is hard to say. However, this legend
has lead to many curious sorts to seek out the Planes in search
for answers.
~ Isymir
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Now the New World was complete, all the elements within harmony,
and ready for new life to grow upon its surface. However, this is
where this historian deviates from others, as the first creation
to be placed upon the world is not what other legends tell. It is
said among certain cultures that the Power which created the world
placed a sentience within each of the Elements, we truly do not
know why - perhaps it felt the world needed Guardians to protect
the balance. Thus, the First Elementals were formed.
The First Elementals rose up from their collective facets, gazing
at the New World with intrigue. The sentience instilled within these
beings was of great wisdom and knowledge of the New World's balance,
and their purpose henceforth. However, all the First knew was their
element. Fire raged against the land, creating numerous volcanoes.
Earth split the ground asunder, forming vast chasms and tall mountains.
Water simply expanded itself, causing many new oceans and lakes
to form, and Wind… Wind slowly refined the shape of the land
as Earth grew. Like most things, however, the First Elementals grew
tired of sculpting the world on their own. Each of the First Elementals
started creating lesser kin, and establishing a hierarchy of things
to come. These lesser kin Elementals would not be as knowledgeable,
or powerful, as they were created by the First.
Colonies, often referred to in an insect-like nature as hives,
began to form within localized areas across the planet, some say
each contained hundreds and others say thousands of Elemental types.
It is here that the hierarchy established was put to use, the lesser
forms of the ladder were put to laboring the New World and foraging
for new habitats to live in while those on the higher end simply
took to command and inserted orders underneath the First. The First
Elementals, however, didn't care, they knew they could still control
the lesser kin when needed, and simply watched as the New World
teemed with their creation.
It wasn't long, however, until the lesser kin of each Element discovered
each other, and these meetings were never a light occasion especially
when between those of opposing forces. While the First Elementals
knew and tolerated one another, the same thing cannot be said about
their lesser kin. Battles often broke out between those of opposing
Elements, and only ended when either side was extinguished or one
of the First intervened. The New World, however, suffered greatly
from these fights which often created vast craters, valleys and
broke off parts of land masses forming new islands. The power the
First held over their lesser creations was faltering, and what next
occurred confirmed this thought.
Without warning or provocation, another battle befell the New World,
between the lesser kin of Fire and Water. Certain cultures tell
legends of this battle, the one that could have brought the New
World to an end before it even started. Although no legend tells
how it supposedly began, it encompassed all of the Elements. The
lesser kin of Earth sided with Fire, and the lesser kin of Wind
sided with Water. Volcanoes spewed forth minions of the Flame, the
lakes and seas swelled with tidal waves that crashed upon the land,
the earth violently shook, causing fissures to snake along the surface,
and the winds formed fierce tornados that wreaked havoc upon the
ground below. Some say the battles raged on for millennia, many
of the lesser Elementals became extinguished, and the New World
was torn asunder. Great mountains formed where none were before,
possibly for barriers, and valleys turned into lakes that housed
thousands of the lesser kin of Water for strategic attacks.
The First tried to intervene, to regain their throne over the lesser
kin and cease the tearing of the New World, but none would listen.
All they knew was their Element, and those of the opposing Element
must be annihilated. It was during this battle that the First Elementals,
having lost utter control of their lower minions, finally understood
reasoning for their creation. The New World was not for them, for
while the First remained in harmony, the lesser kin were unable
to fully comprehend the harmony of balance, instead becoming embodiments
of its constantly-shifting scales.
As the ground continued to shake, the winds howled with the ferocity
of dire-wolves, and the clash of Fire against Water raged on, the
First began their plan. Perhaps a small bit of knowledge implanted
by the Power that gave them sentience, they knew their goal on the
New World had come to an end. The First Elementals walked together
into the battlefield, amongst the battling lesser kin. They watched
for a moment at the harsh damage they were bringing to each other,
and the planet. Ultimately, they knew what they had decided was
best, for both their kin and the New World.
Within the center of destruction, the First Elementals formed a
circle and in unison spoke aloud in a voice only understandable
to their kind. As they continued to speak, their forms glowed bright
which caused the raging lesser kin to halt in their actions and
gaze at their creators. The First Elementals' forms flickered as
small motes began to unravel from their image and drift toward the
heavens. Clouds slowly started circling above the First, forming
four small whirlpool-like vortexes. As the First Elementals raised
their unified voices, the motes began streaming with energy of the
intoning Elementals.
Slowly, a lesser Fire elemental was drawn to its creator, and as
it neared the First it began to unravel and spiraled up towards
the whirlpools in the sky. One by one, the lesser kin began to gather
around their creator, oblivious to the battle that was occurring
just a few moments ago, and one by one they too unraveled and ascended
towards the heavens. As the last of the lesser kin ascended into
the sky, the First Elementals continued their intoning to keep the
pathway open as they gazed at the world their kind had sculpted.
At last, the First Elementals themselves ascended into the skies,
their forms pulsating brightly and unraveling into the motes of
energy as they neared the vortexes. Their voices still rung outward
into the skies until they fully enter within the whirlpools, and
were gone. A stillness overcame the New World as the whirlpools
simply vanished upon the wind, and it held a proverbial breath for
what was to come.
And the One smiled far above the New World, for Those Who Would
Build had completed their work. The world teemed with Potential,
thus a balance was needed - it needed Life to fill the Potential.
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