The Guide to Elementals | For Dummies

[Sey]

The Guide to Elementals | For Dummies

xd I'm just being silly. But there is a certain way to wake up an Elemental and there are various reasons as to WHY you would. This post covers all of these and more.



question What is Gaia?

question What is an Elemental?

question What are the Bloodlines?

question Why would you want to Awaken an Elemental?

question How do you Awaken an Elemental?

question What happens when the Elemental is Awake?  

[Sey]

question What is Gaia? question

Gaia is the world WoG is set on. It was created by the 6 Elemental Spirits as a seal between Light and Dark, and represents the balance they fought to attain in the universe. If Gaia is ever destroyed, or it's balance of power is disrupted, all 3 realms will feel the effects.  

[Sey]

question What is an Elemental? question

An Elemental is one of the 6 Omni-Powerful beings in the World of Gaia. These 6 Elementals came together and created Gaia as a seal between the Dark and Light. All 6 Elementals are currently resting dormant in their seperate havens in Gaia, whose locations are unknown except to the members of the Elemental Bloodlines.

There are 6 different Elementals, each of which is the embodiment of a different Element on Gaia.

These Elements are Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Light and Dark  

[Sey]

question What are the Bloodlines? question

"Bloodlines" are short for the "Elemental Bloodlines". These are the decendents of the 6 Elemental Scions that were chosen by the Elementals to wield a fraction of their power and maintain the balance of that power in Gaia during their slumber.

The Scions went out into the world and taught their craft to those whom they deemed worthy and with the help of their Elemental benefactors, established the 6 Temples as schools of magic, each becoming the center of learning for their individual element.

Aside from establishing the Temples, these families were charged with the protection of Gaia's elemental balance. Before the Elementals fell dormant, they gave each family an item corresponding to their patron element. With that item and proof of their ancestry, they could awaken the Elemental and call upon their power once more.


Because an Elemental is a being of raw, untamed power it is extremely dangerous to awaken and commune with it - and so to keep this ability from those who would use the Elemental's power for malicious means, the Bloodlines have kept these items guarded in their most sacred strongholds, passing them down generation through generation.



The 6 Families have each been established in Gaia for various reasons. It is in their blood to have the potential to be highly skilled in magic and they are typically natural born leaders. There are different houses that make up each of the Families, but the 6 main ones are as follows:

Fire: The Katsushika Clan
Water: The Suimibara Clan of Hyouto
Air: The Founders of Astraena, the esteemed merchants of the Zephyre family
Earth:
Light: The Imperial Family of Higashi: the Kaikou Clan
Dark: The Royal House of de Mournay

Most of this knowlege about the Bloodlines is known to all Gaians, however, there are more blessings that the Elementals bestowed upon these Mortals that are kept within these Families.

The Bloodlines in their entirety are the flesh and blood representation of the Elementals. Just as the various spirits that are in Gaia, are all a part of the one Spirit, are the Bloodline Families together, a representation of their Patron Elemental. They are the physical connection between the plane where the Elementals slumber and Gaia. If this connection is removed, then Gaia would weaken and the seal between the worlds would break.

The well being of one is reflected upon the other and vice versa. Generations ago, when there was a war over the Gaian Plains surrounding the City of Laburnum, 1/4 of the Kaikou family males perished in the conflicts - including the current head of the Bloodline at the time, Jung-Won Kaikou. For an entire week the sun was eclipsed by the moon and it was rumored that when the widow of Jung-Won summoned the Elemental, wherever she stepped droplets of light elemental stones formed like fallen tears.

If the Elemental is injured, the Bloodline is affected, and if the entire Bloodline is affected by something, the Elemental recieves a similar backlash.

Most Gaians who have recieved either Magical tutilage or an Intermediate Education know this information but generally keep it out of every day conversation. No matter what their ideology is, the bloodlines are key to their Magical way of life and they don't need Warriors trying to end it.

 

[Sey]

question Why would you want to Awaken an Elemental? question

There are various reasons as to why a mortal would wake an Elemental, but they basically fall within 2 categories: Good and Bad.

The ideal reason to wake an Elemental is because there is some sort of disruption in the balance of Power in Gaia and in this case, the Elemental whose balance is affected should be woken.

In another case, Elementals can be woken by members of the Bloodline for counsel. With each of the 6 Families holding positions of influence in Gaian society, they typically seek their patron element for assistance. And if they need direct intervention, they can obtain it - at the risk of their own safety of course.

History has also shown that Elementals have been roused in cases of Natural Disasters, Wars and Deaths - but they have done nothing aside from observe. Though they were woken by a member of the Bloodline, the Elementals are not under their command. They have their own free will and personalities - a member of the Bloodline must ask them for their assistance in a situation. If the Elemental deems that their reason is not worthy of their time, or has nothing to do with maintaining the Balance of Power in Gaia they will do nothing but return to their slumber.


However, there have been extremely rare cases and theories about an Elemental's will. During the 1000 years that the Elementals have been resting, Gaians have become tainted by lust for power. Greed and other sins have polluted mortal hearts, and have even encroached upon the members of the Bloodlines.

Only members of these 6 esteemed families of Gaia can summon the Elementals and in the case of Kiyhel Tao of the Line of Earth, his summoning did not go according to plan.

Kiyhel Tao, Son of the Line of Earth

Kiyhel learned of his family's responsibility when he came of age, as tradition states in the East. However, he was prideful and greedy of power. He was the 3rd son and would not inherit much of his Father's fortune and seemed as though he would forever stand in his siblings shadows. Instead of working with what he had, Kiyhel wanted more.

During a gathering of the Earth Bloodline, Kiyhel stole the Earth Elemental Item and journied to the resting place of the Earth Spirit and woke it from its slumber. He foolishly commanded the Elemental to bestow him with gifts greater then those his brothers and father were given at birth so that he might be remembered as a great man.

Not taking kindly to being commanded by a foolish boy, the Elemental became enraged and, in it's anger, buried Kiyhel under 18 stories of rock and dirt. Posessing the body of a distant cousin, the Elemental returned the item back to the head of the Bloodline and explained Kiyhel's absence to his Father.

It's an accepted fact that when waking an Elemental, you are rousing a being that is hundreds of times more powerful then a normal Gaian. You must approach it with respect and humbleness at the forefront of your mind, and beseech it to help you - as a mere Mortal should approach an Omi-Powerful God.


It is almost impossible to summon an Elemental for malicious reasoning, since they have their own free will and conciously make the choice to assist their summoner.

But there are various theories on Elemental Will.

Some theorize that if the summoner of the Elemental is strong enough in will and in magic, he or she can command the Elemental itself. If this ever happened, depending upon the summoner's actions the Balance of Power would be destroyed beyond repair and Gaia set on a path of destruction.

Thankfully, this is merely a theory and the members of the Bloodlines keep their responsibility to the Balance and to Gaia in their minds at all times.


Another reason why one would want to Awaken an Elemental is to create more Elemental Stones. The surrounding area where an Elemental was awakened is turned into Elemental Stone of varrying purity. You would be hard pressed to find a member of the Elemental Bloodlines to willingly summon an Elemental (as they could also be killed by the Elemental) and several failed attempts at kidnapping bloodline members inorder to force them into summoning an elemental have occured throughout the years.  

[Sey]

question How do you Awaken an Elemental? question

Only members of the 6 Elemental Bloodlines can even attempt to wake an Elemental, and it can only be their Patron Elemental.

They must first, obtain their coresponding Elemental Item and journey to the spirits place of rest. There they must spill their blood upon the item and call out to the Elemental, focusing their entire being on their patron spirit. The Bloodline member becomes the anchor between Gaia and the Elemental, and they must be prepared in both body and soul to accept the burden of the Elemental's touch.

If the Spirit deems their request worthy, they are graced with the Elemental's presence and, until their request is fufilled or the Summoner's death, the Elemental will not leave them.  

[Sey]

question What happens when the Elemental's Awake? question

As stated before, an Elemental is a being of raw, untamed power and is extremely dangerous to awaken; much less commune with it. To keep this ability from those who would use the Elemental's power for malicious means, the Bloodlines have kept the Elemental Items guarded in their most sacred strongholds, passing them down generation through generation and only inform the new generations when they come of age.

In all the known cases of Elemental Awakening, there is only one constant. The places in which an Elemental has been woken are quite obvious to those who would stumble across them. In the moment of Summoning, the Elemental makes a violent attachment to it's Summoner which has resulted in the various quaries of Elemental stone across Gaia. The surrounding area in which the Elemental comes back into the world bears it's mark - which are the Elemental Stones.

The Summoning under the Temple

Typically, Elementals choose their places of rest as far away from Mortal dwellings as possible, but in one such case of the Light Elemental, it took it's residence in one of the hidden cloisters beneath the Light Temple near Laburnum. The Temple's saving grace was that the Avatar of Light had awoken the Elemental and contained the spread of Lucius, but the entire cloister and all the rooms and corridors ajoining it were covered and nearly filled with Lucius. The outcropping of stone nearly faltered the Temple's foundations, but the Avatar with the assistance of the Elemental, manipulated the stone so that it strengthened the various columns and ensured the Temple's safety.

These stones are extremely precious, considering that they give the bearer power over their specific element for as long as the energy within the stone holds out and the larger and more pure the stone, the longer they last. That is IF the stone bearer can control the Elemental's power within the stone. Once the power of the stone is depelted, it can be recharged by Mages who have reached a certain level of magical competency.

However, the main use of Elemental Stones is to create Armor or Weapons bestowed with the Elemental Properties. Earth Armor for Protection or immunity of Earth Magic, a Rapier of Flame for cauterizing attacks; the Stones are very maleable in skilled Magesmiths' hands and only Magesmiths hands. Normal blacksmiths can only forge metal while it takes a Mage's skill to bend the Elemental Stones to their will.



After the initial physical shock of waking an Elemental, the summoner asks the Spirit for its aid and the Elemental decides from there whether or not to posess the Summoner or not.

If the Element chooses to reside within its Summoner then the Spirit does its Summoner's request then returns to its slumber after the request is completed. This may range from a mere second of time to a span of years depending upon the request.