The World of Elements (Name Pending)

[Zaleramancer]

I created a world with beings organized along elemental lines. The elements included the classical four (Fire, Air, Earth Water), which are refered to as the inner elements, as well as four additional elements (Metal, Electricity, Ice, Dream).

The creation of the world was fairly elaborate. Essentially, the universe began as nothing more than raw elemental energies dancing through the cosmos. Eventually, the energies began to separate. First into each individual element, but then also in positive and negative aspects of the element. (Such as Fire in a positive aspect can mean Transformation or Creation, while in a negative aspect it can mean Pain or Destruction.)

The positive aspects of each element merged into a single entity- the eight elemental gods.

While the negative split into many different entities- the myriad elemental demons.

They did not get along well, which sparked an almost instant war between them. The demons soon lost to the gods, who were unified in their power and purpose, while the demons squabbled among themselves.

After defeating the demons, the gods decided to bind them. The Earth God took some stone from their battle and shaped it into a sphere, with the demons trapped within.

The other gods added their blessings to the sphere. They covered it with water, shaped mountains and sparked lights in the sky. Once they finished, it was a thing of breath-taking beauty- but utterly lifeless.

Until the youngest of the gods, the goddess of Dream bestowed her blessing. With power lent by the others and ideas sparked from her divine dreams, she covered the world with life.

Wondrous forests, windswept plains, fish filled oceans, birds in the sky. And one final creation was made.

The First, the Godborn, the Alwyn. The first race to walk to world.

They were all but perfect, each containing a balance of the eight elements. They were lovely, powerful and beloved by the gods. However, they contained flaws that the Gods never intended.

The Alwyn, for all their power, were not like the people of now. Their souls were mortal and soon expired after their bodies. The gods discovered this tragedy all to late, and many were lost forever. Despite their love of the Alwyn, the gods could not grant them immortal souls- not without altering everything that the Alwyn were. So they took the other path, and gave them immortal bodies at a terrible price. For not a single child have the Alwyn bore since that day.

As the years passed, the gods watched as the Alwyn slowly disappeared. Their immortality wore at them, and slowly they submitted to despair. Those that desired life no longer, the gods placed in a sanctuary, where they might sleep for eternity. For centuries this continued, until one of the Alwyn decided to place blame upon his makers. This infamous one used his great power to break through the walls of the demon-prison, creating a crack in the world that gouged half the contenting in half.

So began the second demon war. Chaos and death spread across the beautiful world. Unlike the first, the demons were organized, ready.. The battles were brutal and nearly ripped the world apart. By the time the demons were once again sealed, it was scarcely recognizable and only a handful of the Alwyn remained.

The gods wept for their creation. For their children. In their despair, they almost destroyed the world to start anew. Only the protests of the few Alwyn remaining stalled their hands. The war had changed the immortals. The destruction of their world had given them what the gods never had- A purpose.

Less than a hundred remained, but all wished to see their world grow beautiful again. To pay for the foolishness their sibling had wrought. But they were so few, so they asked the weeping gods to once again make peoples to walk the earth.

Much discussion drifted between the mighty gods as they decided what to do. Each wished to once again have children to walk the world, but there was also fear. What if their creations once again broke the demons free? They could create none so powerful as the Alwyn again.

So each god raised their hand to make their own children. Each would contain within them the power of a single element.

These would be Elder races. The Primordials.

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This is the first era or so of that world.

There is much, much more to come.

[Zaleramancer]

Well, since I don't plan on continuing the story right now, I may just detail the Primordials..

Primordials are very powerful. They have near total control over their element, and many of them possess abilities and talents besides that.

The Primordials usually live for thousands of years, with a few exceptions.


Let's start with Fire.

The Primordials of Fire are the Cherub.

They represent the Promethean aspect of fire. Knowledge, Learning, Discovery, Creation: They embody all of these and more. Cherubs love to learn. Love to discover. Most of them have a particular area that they cherish above all else, and they will often know virtually anything there is to know about it. For the most part, they are fairly peaceful. Most of them are far to busy in their own pursuits to bother with anything else.

During the Second Age, when the world was wrecked, the Cherubs supplied the knowledge of what had been. The Gods had imprinted this information into them. Their plans and thoughts directed the construction of the new world.

Despite the image their name conjures, Cherubs are far from small babish creatures. Your average Cherub towers over trees and castles, they are giants with metal skin and an aura of flame. Many of them have vestigial wings, but a flying Cherub is quite impossible.

Cherubs are primarily scholars and savants. They know much, but are generally poor fighters, despite their natural ability. They have enormous strength and durability, as well as control over flame. Some of them master the art of controlling fire to a fine degree, while others do not.

[Zaleramancer]

So, the next would probably be Water.

The primordials of water are the Selkies.

They represent the primal aspect of water. They are like the newly made ocean. Wild, Untamed, and somewhat Barbaric. They are skilled in the arts of survival. They understand the sea, the ocean. In their ears echo the endless crash of the waves, the thousands of cycles of tide and moon.

Selkies are rather.. tribal. The live in isolated groups, often in conditions that some, most the Cherub and Huldra, would argue are primitive and barbaric. But the Selkies embrace this way of life, the closeness to nature and the world. While they do prefer this life-style, the aren't ignorant. Most of them know plenty about the more cultured and advanced cities- they just don't care for it. Most people find them to be insular and ritualistic. Religion is very important to them- as is the sea.

Unlike their name sake in our world, Selkies neither look like nor turn into seals. Most would think you simple or insane for suggesting such a thing. The Selkies generally look very.. fit. Sinewy and slim, rather than strong. They look like someone who could compete as an Olympic swimmer. All Selkies bear the complex tribal tattoos that indicate what clan the come from, as well as where that clan was last located. It's rare for them to wear much in the way of clothing, since their bodies are highly resistant to temperature and weather.

The Selkie were made to fix the seas of the world. During the second age, demon-spawned abominations infested the waters and often wrecked havoc on the deep currents. Each and everyone of those beings died at the hands of the Selkie, many more than once. Once the waters were free, the Selkies began the long process of guiding the ocean currents back to their natural state. Even now, thousands of years later, they still practice the rituals to insure the ocean remains pristine.


It's not wise to fight a Selkie. They are immensely strong, and exceedingly fast. On land, most carry huge long-bows made from the bones of sea serpents. Many underestimate the range of a Selkie Bow. None live to do so twice. The most outstanding trait of the Selkies is really their will to live. They just keep going, no matter how injured or weak they are. In water, a Selkie's main method of attack is the manipulation of water in conjunction with dagger and short-swords. Some of the more mystical of them can even transform into sea creatures, often perpetuating the rumors that Selkies transform into sea serpents when enraged.

 

[Zaleramancer]

And after that comes Earth.

The primordials of earth are the Deava.

They represent the nurturing aspect of earth. Maternal, Healing, Kind, Gentle. They are quite possibly some of the nicest beings to walk the earth, and are easily the most popular and well liked of all the Primordials. The Deava heal the sick, tend to wounds, invigorate crops, take in orphaned children...

Of course, they can be a touch overprotective and slightly defensive. The Deava are typically wanderers. They go around the world, stopping in towns of all sizes. Most will settle in a particular area or town only when they feel that they are needed there. It's not entirely usual for people to try to persuade them to remain there, and rather rare for a Deava to ever go without a place to stay or sustenance.

The Deava were made to fix the world. So to speak. The demonic war left the ground unstable, and the animals sickly. So they were set loose on the world to wander and fix things. Repairing chasms, calming earthquakes, healing animals and encouraging plant growth- to nurture life wherever they found it.

Deava generally look like large humanoids made from stone. Most of them sport multiple limbs or even heads, and all speak with the same gravely voice regardless of gender. They tend to dress in durable materials, often in green or brown. Some can confuse an immobile Deava for a statue at times.

Deava have control over the earth, as well as healing powers. Their very presence encourages plant growth, speeds the healing of wounds and banishes illness. All Deava are amazingly durable, able to withstand even staggering blows without harm, though most would be reluctant to fight back. Some can move through earth and stone like a fish through water or even shift mountains. Others can make forests march and flowers sprout in their foot steps.

[Zaleramancer]

Y'know, I wouldn't mind feedback.

[Mik_Hael]

What feedback do you want.

[Zaleramancer]

What do you think about it?

Any flaws?

[Mik_Hael]

...it's an idea...what flaws could there be?

[Zaleramancer]

Well, what do you think about it?

Basically, I don't want there to be some gaping plot hole in it.

[Mik_Hael]

I can't find one at this point.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Well, what was the thought process behind the 4 additional elements (Dream, ice, electricity, and metal)? Why those 4 things, in addition to the classical 4? The only one of those I really have a problem with, though, is ice, and only because Ice and water are the same thing in different forms. It's the same as having steam as one of the elements.

[Zaleramancer]

Well, the reasoning has roots in the original conception of this world.

It was made when I started to attach elemental affinities to some of my characters. Since the group had more than four people, I had to find additional elements.

Electricity was for a hyperactive and rather speedy fellow.

Ice was for the twin sister of the water girl, she was hard and cold compare to her warm and kind sister.

Metal was for the guy with near invulnerability, more from default than anything else.

Dream was there simply to have an even number. I like even, balanced numbers.

[Zaleramancer]

Eventually, I moved away from them being the main focus of the world, but the elements.. stuck.

And now they're so wrapped up in the idea of it that there's no way to change it without altering everything.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Understandable.

[Zaleramancer]

I try to attach various.. emotions/concepts/variations/ideas to particular Elements.

I have mental differences between, say, Ice and Water. Water tends to be more mutable, more changable. Ice is more unchanging. It holds things in stasis until the time comes for them to move again.

Like the Primordals of Ice. Exquisitely polite, heavily traditional- they try to pretend that they never change. If you told them that they looked exactly the same as they did a few hundred years ago, they'd take it as the height of complement.  

People tend to leave them alone, since they could probably lift and throw a small castle- if they didn't find the idea of doing so to be uncivil and undignified.