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01-10-2014, 08:08 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-10-2014, 08:30 PM by Catillatio.)
Enari Island
At least 250 miles off of Helovia's southwestern coast. an island exists in a shrouded mist that protected it from the outside world as well as isolated it's inhabitants. The dominant race were Equines, although Unicorns and Pegasi were not unheard of, they were so rare that racism against them seemed like a waste of time. A strange magic runs rampant in this place- it's in the food you eat, the water you drink, the air you breath. It's not uncommon for outsiders to be shipwrecked here and even those who had never known magic were soon altered by the environment to control an element of their choice.
Below is a list of the elements which were able to be bent, and the last known gods and goddesses to embody that element:
Water - Medusa & Zaphira (both mares)
Fire - Phoebes(Stallion)
Earth - Autuño (Stallion)
Air - Epithymia (Mare)
Metal - Hephaestus (Originally a stallion, cursed to be a hermaphrodite)
Space - Ashur & Kismet. (Stallion and Filly)
The gods of this land were not any different from their mortal subjects. They were horses without wings, or horns. Horses who could control their elements in a way that mortals could not, and they walked among mortals, ruling them directly as kings and queens of their separate kingdoms, falling prey to petty rivalry, and often calling for war on each other.
However, they were immortal, and when they fought, the landscape was often change for centuries afterwards. Aside from the obvious, there were ways to determine you were in the presence of an elemental god. The most obvious was the fact that those who were gods were marked in special ways- glowing markings covered their bodies. Some larger than others, but they were always there. Some were larger and more extensive than others. It had nothing to do with power as all gods were equal in ability and skill, what it came down to was ego. The gods who wanted to flaunt their powers, showing off and generally being conceited in their immortality, had larger, more extensive markings. and the more humble gods who felt the showiness of the markings were unnecessary had smaller, more subtle markings.
As for the Hierarchy, you already know the kingdoms were ruled directly by the gods themselves, however, there were other officials necessary. Directly under the immortal gods were the Emperors and Empresses of the land. They acted as Mediators between the gods and the mortal subjects, and were often granted immortality by their gods and goddesses because they became friends or romantic interests with their superiors. Gods did not want to lose their most reliable servants so quickly, so they granted immortality to the emperors/empresses in order to ensure their position would last for several decades longer than it was meant to naturally.
Beneath the immortal Emperor, the land was split into territories that were ruled by lead stallions and mares. Many of the leads were also immortal, but it was more uncommon than immortal emperors. As you can imagine, This kind of set up could either be really good, where everyone is treated fairly and the rules are lax enough to give people the feeling of freedom, OR it could be really bad- where leads could get away with intense acts of cruelty and every day felt like the mortals were living in hell. The only thing that could tip the balance between the two of these situations was the temperament of the god in power. Gods are immortal, so good or bad, a god will often stay in power for several centuries at a time. This was perfectly fine if the god in question was kind-hearted and ruled his or her subjects fairly, but other gods- the cruel-minded ones- made life for their subjects a living hell. In such kingdoms, cruelty and evil festered everywhere.
A middle-ground between the two DID exist, but it was rare and only the metal god, Hephaestus, managed it. True, s/he was known to be quite grumpy, but s/he was also capable of fair judgement and while life in his/her lands was tough, at no point was s/he outright cruel to those who swore their fealty to his/her service. There was a point in time where s/he was one of the cruel gods, but s/he calmed down over time. S/he made an alliance with the water goddesses and later attempted to backstab them.
Hephaestus was cursed to exist as a hermaphrodite from that point on. Eventually, s/he saw the error of his/her ways and s/he decided to live a life firmly planted in the neutral ground between light and dark. S/he was the eldest and the longest lived of the gods and her maturity, while slow in coming, was absolute when it finally did.
The youngest of the gods was probably Kismet by far- the Filly-goddess of space was too young to know more than what she was directly involved in, and her power was more often than not used to play games with others than actually utilizing her role as a goddess. She was often treated as a princess by others and her Empress was also her best friend and her caretaker. In contrast, Ashur was the elder of the two and he often allowed her to continue her own antics. He took care of everything important so that Kismet did not have to be bothered.
That's not to say Kismet didn't know she was a goddess- she sometimes did utilize her power as a goddess to pass fair judgement on her subjects and it was apparent that in time she would mature into a compassionate, fun-loving ruler.
Now, As for Element Bending, there were levels of study for each element, and their practitioners.
Beginner, Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Master.
As a horse wandered the island, they found things called Spirit Crystals that they could give to crystal collectors in order to study and master the next highest level than their previous. Most all horses started at the beginner level, although some gifted practitioners were born with higher level ability.
If you were very lucky, you could also find things called Soul Gems. Soul Gems were collected as a means to obtain immortality. Once a mortal had the correct amount, he or she would present the soul gems to one of the gods and if they deemed the horse worthy, they would take the soul gems and would grant the mortal eternal life. Soul Gems were VERY rare, and were difficult to come by, so a horse could spend his or her entire life collecting soul gems and never find enough to impress a god or goddess before they died.
However...
The island itself was doomed not to last forever.
The Heart of Gods became unstable with it's constant use and the pieces ripped themselves away from those who were deemed as gods. The instability continued, even when the pieces of the Heart were reunited as one whole, and a second great cataclysm ripped through the land. With the gods now powerless to save themselves or their subjects, a tsunami rose out of the sky, risen by wild magic and the destructive force of the Heart of Gods swallowed the island in sea water. Only a few managed to escape, swimming to places of safety, and mourning the loss of their home.
With their forced Exodus, the survivors realized something- the magic that was bred into their DNA, that was responsible for both altering them and granting them intelligence, was unable to bend the elements if they were not in their homeland. Yes, they had the ability, but the elements would not bend to their will without the control of the Heart of Gods, and without it, the elements were unruly and best left alone to dictate themselves. Any attempts to bend the wild elements was often met with backlash, and so the survivors eventually gave up.
Characters to Survive the Island's Destruction:
Catillatio
Tharos
At least 250 miles off of Helovia's southwestern coast. an island exists in a shrouded mist that protected it from the outside world as well as isolated it's inhabitants. The dominant race were Equines, although Unicorns and Pegasi were not unheard of, they were so rare that racism against them seemed like a waste of time. A strange magic runs rampant in this place- it's in the food you eat, the water you drink, the air you breath. It's not uncommon for outsiders to be shipwrecked here and even those who had never known magic were soon altered by the environment to control an element of their choice.
Below is a list of the elements which were able to be bent, and the last known gods and goddesses to embody that element:
Water - Medusa & Zaphira (both mares)
Fire - Phoebes(Stallion)
Earth - Autuño (Stallion)
Air - Epithymia (Mare)
Metal - Hephaestus (Originally a stallion, cursed to be a hermaphrodite)
Space - Ashur & Kismet. (Stallion and Filly)
The gods of this land were not any different from their mortal subjects. They were horses without wings, or horns. Horses who could control their elements in a way that mortals could not, and they walked among mortals, ruling them directly as kings and queens of their separate kingdoms, falling prey to petty rivalry, and often calling for war on each other.
However, they were immortal, and when they fought, the landscape was often change for centuries afterwards. Aside from the obvious, there were ways to determine you were in the presence of an elemental god. The most obvious was the fact that those who were gods were marked in special ways- glowing markings covered their bodies. Some larger than others, but they were always there. Some were larger and more extensive than others. It had nothing to do with power as all gods were equal in ability and skill, what it came down to was ego. The gods who wanted to flaunt their powers, showing off and generally being conceited in their immortality, had larger, more extensive markings. and the more humble gods who felt the showiness of the markings were unnecessary had smaller, more subtle markings.
As for the Hierarchy, you already know the kingdoms were ruled directly by the gods themselves, however, there were other officials necessary. Directly under the immortal gods were the Emperors and Empresses of the land. They acted as Mediators between the gods and the mortal subjects, and were often granted immortality by their gods and goddesses because they became friends or romantic interests with their superiors. Gods did not want to lose their most reliable servants so quickly, so they granted immortality to the emperors/empresses in order to ensure their position would last for several decades longer than it was meant to naturally.
Beneath the immortal Emperor, the land was split into territories that were ruled by lead stallions and mares. Many of the leads were also immortal, but it was more uncommon than immortal emperors. As you can imagine, This kind of set up could either be really good, where everyone is treated fairly and the rules are lax enough to give people the feeling of freedom, OR it could be really bad- where leads could get away with intense acts of cruelty and every day felt like the mortals were living in hell. The only thing that could tip the balance between the two of these situations was the temperament of the god in power. Gods are immortal, so good or bad, a god will often stay in power for several centuries at a time. This was perfectly fine if the god in question was kind-hearted and ruled his or her subjects fairly, but other gods- the cruel-minded ones- made life for their subjects a living hell. In such kingdoms, cruelty and evil festered everywhere.
A middle-ground between the two DID exist, but it was rare and only the metal god, Hephaestus, managed it. True, s/he was known to be quite grumpy, but s/he was also capable of fair judgement and while life in his/her lands was tough, at no point was s/he outright cruel to those who swore their fealty to his/her service. There was a point in time where s/he was one of the cruel gods, but s/he calmed down over time. S/he made an alliance with the water goddesses and later attempted to backstab them.
Hephaestus was cursed to exist as a hermaphrodite from that point on. Eventually, s/he saw the error of his/her ways and s/he decided to live a life firmly planted in the neutral ground between light and dark. S/he was the eldest and the longest lived of the gods and her maturity, while slow in coming, was absolute when it finally did.
The youngest of the gods was probably Kismet by far- the Filly-goddess of space was too young to know more than what she was directly involved in, and her power was more often than not used to play games with others than actually utilizing her role as a goddess. She was often treated as a princess by others and her Empress was also her best friend and her caretaker. In contrast, Ashur was the elder of the two and he often allowed her to continue her own antics. He took care of everything important so that Kismet did not have to be bothered.
That's not to say Kismet didn't know she was a goddess- she sometimes did utilize her power as a goddess to pass fair judgement on her subjects and it was apparent that in time she would mature into a compassionate, fun-loving ruler.
Now, As for Element Bending, there were levels of study for each element, and their practitioners.
Beginner, Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Master.
As a horse wandered the island, they found things called Spirit Crystals that they could give to crystal collectors in order to study and master the next highest level than their previous. Most all horses started at the beginner level, although some gifted practitioners were born with higher level ability.
If you were very lucky, you could also find things called Soul Gems. Soul Gems were collected as a means to obtain immortality. Once a mortal had the correct amount, he or she would present the soul gems to one of the gods and if they deemed the horse worthy, they would take the soul gems and would grant the mortal eternal life. Soul Gems were VERY rare, and were difficult to come by, so a horse could spend his or her entire life collecting soul gems and never find enough to impress a god or goddess before they died.
However...
The island itself was doomed not to last forever.
The Heart of Gods became unstable with it's constant use and the pieces ripped themselves away from those who were deemed as gods. The instability continued, even when the pieces of the Heart were reunited as one whole, and a second great cataclysm ripped through the land. With the gods now powerless to save themselves or their subjects, a tsunami rose out of the sky, risen by wild magic and the destructive force of the Heart of Gods swallowed the island in sea water. Only a few managed to escape, swimming to places of safety, and mourning the loss of their home.
With their forced Exodus, the survivors realized something- the magic that was bred into their DNA, that was responsible for both altering them and granting them intelligence, was unable to bend the elements if they were not in their homeland. Yes, they had the ability, but the elements would not bend to their will without the control of the Heart of Gods, and without it, the elements were unruly and best left alone to dictate themselves. Any attempts to bend the wild elements was often met with backlash, and so the survivors eventually gave up.
Characters to Survive the Island's Destruction:
Catillatio
Tharos
