ELEMENTS AND ELEMENTALS

THE ELEMENTS

In the beginning reigned the Darkness and the Darkness reigned supreme. But in the dark the world was desolate; filled with sadness, anger, hate, depression, anxiety, fear, envy, greed, lust, famine, war, death, and disaster.

So, the Great Eternal thought is wise to bring light to the world and the Light and the Dark would reign over the world in harmony.

In the light the world flourished. There was peace and happiness. Life prospered and awoke kindness, forgiveness, courage, love, and sincerity.

And for a time, all that was, were light and dark.  In time the two core elements gave rise to the four primal elements to assist them in their reign. 

The Earth – rose from its depth’s gigantic mountains and beautiful valleys.

The Water – pooled into lakes, rivers, and oceans to wet and nourish The Earth.

The Air – carried across the land the seeds of the greenery and decorated the world.

The Fire – brought warmth and balance.

These four became known as the primal elements.

As the world evolved so did the elements.  Light and Dark and all that came with them became ingrained and intertwined into all living things.

As the world grew, one more stage of evolution was needed in the hierarchy.  

Fire and Air united and created THUNDER

Fire and Earth brought forth METAL

Water and Earth banded together and generated WOOD

And Water and Air brought the cold and awaken ICE

The last four became known as the secondary elements completing the balance of power between Light and Dark.

THE DARK – FIRE, METAL, THUNDER, AIR

THE LIGHT – EARTH, WATER, WOOD, ICE

THE ELEMENTALS

As intelligent life forms evolved there was a differential division of the people and those with an innate knowledge of the elements became known as Mages and sought the power that they governed.  Mortals on the other hand were content with their limited understanding of the primal elements and came to service of the mages. 

Although the science behind the ignition of the Mages’ ability to innately harness magic, why some are born with magic and why some are not.

Some of the mythologies suggest that the first humans were given a choice. Some chose the magic and others content in their ignorance rejected the power.

Others theorised that certain bloodlines were favoured by the elements and so received the gift of magic and the immortality that come with it.

Lastly there is the belief that everyone in the first generation was born as mages, but some found peace in giving up their powers and chose to live as mortals.

As there is always balance nothing can ever truly be immortal. Mages would have a longer lifespan and be nearly impossible to kill whereas mortals lived shorter, more fragile lives.

As the population of the mortals and mages became plentiful it as the light grew stronger in some, the darkness grew stronger in others and wars started in the name of unknown deities. Cruel and vile acts were committed in the name of some sense of justice. And thus discord, disharmony and chaos reigned once more. 

The Elements as the governing bodies of the universe was charged with restoring the balance. And so, they chose the ten most powerful of all the mages and gifted them with the primal power of the elements themselves. These mages became known as the Elemental Mages i.e., the Elementals. 

Working in concert they restored the peace and once more there was harmony.

Peace comes at a cost.  Before the discord the people all lived as one people.  But as Light and Dark existed in all living things the only way to ensure a sense of peace was to separate the people.  The lands were divided, and the elemental mages crowned as kings and mortals and mages alike migrated to wherever they found a common vision, a common goal, and a home.  Thus, came to be the structure of the world of Edaine as we know it today.

SUCCESSION

As no one can live forever, no one can reign forever. And although the first kings still reign, the Elements have all been passed on to the new generations that followed.

As the strain of governing the people and performing the duties of an Elemental Mage became too much to bear at one time a succession hierarchy was decided.   It was decided that the Elemental power would be passed down to a new mage in the bloodline every one hundred years. Should there be no suitable successor the current Elemental Mage would have the option to serve another hundred years or the Element would go dormant until a successor is born.

And should this new Elemental mage desire the throne, it would be theirs to claim. But to date, ten thousand years since the first succession, no Elemental descendent ever challenged a reigning king.  They were content with their power and responsibility as Elementals.  

The status quo for the crown inheritance was for the most part direct succession from eldest to youngest. And so, it has been in the light kingdoms since the inception of the Elemental reign.

And then there was the darkness. Equal in power to the light but a complete opposite. Where the light brought life and had an uplifting aura the darkness was destructive and brought death. Holding on to the worst parts of existence.   Some have considered that perhaps it was always a power that was never meant for anyone to control. For the last ten thousand years every mage to whom it was bestowed became consumed by the essence of its nature. 

The very core of their being became corrupted. In one Mage would rage the entirety of all that the world was before there was light.  And before the end their one-hundred-year reign, be lost. Either their minds lost to the shadows and the mage a shell of their former self. Or a destructive force of nature hell bent on war and devastation.

Five thousand year of this cycle lead to the Elemental mages banding together and make a covenant with the Element of darkness.  The Dark Elemental succession line was bound and made dormant until such a time as a mage was born that would be able to stand against the nature of the Dark.

Darkness itself gave them a prophecy as a sign of agreement.  This for told that another representative would not be chosen until the prophecy was fulfilled.