Glossary
Constantly under construction as I dig out several years of journals and rewrites.
World:
Aella's world is unique in that it is overflowing with an overabundance of natural energies. On a scale of 1-10 of normal energy concentration, it would most likely be a 12.
This, naturally, has pros and cons. A pro is that evolution has led to some fantastic and amazing things in a relatively short period of time, things like magic are an everyday occurrence and the amount of species is nearly triple that of earths. Their world is also a basic sentience, capable of some manner of instinct, and while not thought, something similar.
The con would be this world is likely to destroy itself if it doesn’t regulate that energy somehow. How to fix it? By creating various beings capable of refining and storing that energy on its surface. Thus, the overabundance of magic in living creatures and everyday things.
Elementals:
Elementals are a unique case of this self preservation tactic in particular: The first elementals were born from pure natural energy as a sort of self defense mechanism, and over time they came to reproduce as normal beings do and create their own societies. They are not ‘human’ but they have become something at least outwardly similar. They are also directly connected to and supported by their world’s life energies, in a sort of mother/child bond that is not really spoken of but implicitly understood.
In recent times, the elementals have turned to isolationism.
Higher elementals: Higher elementals are what the first elementals were, to be put simply. A method of self preservation by various hotspots of natural energy. They can take many forms and are called just about as many different names depending on what culture speaks of them: Some are called gods, some demons, some beasts of myth and legend, some ghosts and some guardians. They are natural places and phenomenon personified.
One example is Yumi, Aella’s mentor and long time friend. She was a lagoon on her home island, but after a vicious storm caused the lagoon to be destroyed by a landslide off the mountains, She took human form to climb, run and escape her old ‘self’. She was taken in, given a name and raised as the child of an old women in the village. This isn't exactly a common occurance, however.
Of note is that unlike normal elementals, higher elementals will never, ever appear human. Even having a humanoid form, Yumi’s features are translucent and oddly shaded, giving her a highly inhuman appearance, if pretty in a creepy way.
Other higher elementals of note would be the elder guardian of the Drakin, who is an earth elemental in the form of a dragon.
Humans: TBA when I find the damn thing
Half elementals: If an elemental and human were to have a child, the resulting product would be a half elemental. These are neigh unheard of, merely because they are seen as something taboo, and not for lack of reason. Besides the general differences of mentalities between the two races, Half elemental children very, very rarely live past their first 5 years (if they manage to be born at all), and if they do more often then not they will be sickly for the rest of their lives. They are almost always infertile, or at least deformed in some manner of speaking.
Aella is a special case, given she is supported by outside influences, but even she is prone to getting sick more often then normal, with a weak resistance to heat and cold to boot.
The difference between elementals and humans
Humans and elementals may look similar at times, but they are altogether seperated entirely by their origin of life and power.
While they are both life created by their planet, the elementals, which were the original lifeforms, are far more powerfully connected to their world through their very souls: think of it like tiny strings connecting their souls to their world that give them power and life at the same time. Without that connection, no elemental would exist, and denial of that connection, either by severing it or mentally denying it means death. That was the original meaning of their existance, afterall: to act as extensions of the planet's too massive life energy.
Humans, which came soon after elementals, are a bit different. They are, for lack of better terms, children who have left the nest. They lack the raw power of elementals or longer lifespans, but that is made up for by their freedom: They aren't bound by their powers, nor by their natures. They lack the direct connection to their world that elementals have. They generally have little in the ways of 'magic' or as elementals call it, 'calling'.
This is, in Aella’s time, a line that has been blurred and altogether unsettles people. While elementals have a very specific way of life, spiritual makeup and mentality, overall humans have become far, far too advanced in magical ways, far more then the elementals are comfortable with.
Humans are quick to learn, and those who are skilled mages can draw upon natural energies in a manner similar to elementals, if not truly the same (TBC)
World:
Aella's world is unique in that it is overflowing with an overabundance of natural energies. On a scale of 1-10 of normal energy concentration, it would most likely be a 12.
This, naturally, has pros and cons. A pro is that evolution has led to some fantastic and amazing things in a relatively short period of time, things like magic are an everyday occurrence and the amount of species is nearly triple that of earths. Their world is also a basic sentience, capable of some manner of instinct, and while not thought, something similar.
The con would be this world is likely to destroy itself if it doesn’t regulate that energy somehow. How to fix it? By creating various beings capable of refining and storing that energy on its surface. Thus, the overabundance of magic in living creatures and everyday things.
Elementals:
Elementals are a unique case of this self preservation tactic in particular: The first elementals were born from pure natural energy as a sort of self defense mechanism, and over time they came to reproduce as normal beings do and create their own societies. They are not ‘human’ but they have become something at least outwardly similar. They are also directly connected to and supported by their world’s life energies, in a sort of mother/child bond that is not really spoken of but implicitly understood.
In recent times, the elementals have turned to isolationism.
Higher elementals: Higher elementals are what the first elementals were, to be put simply. A method of self preservation by various hotspots of natural energy. They can take many forms and are called just about as many different names depending on what culture speaks of them: Some are called gods, some demons, some beasts of myth and legend, some ghosts and some guardians. They are natural places and phenomenon personified.
One example is Yumi, Aella’s mentor and long time friend. She was a lagoon on her home island, but after a vicious storm caused the lagoon to be destroyed by a landslide off the mountains, She took human form to climb, run and escape her old ‘self’. She was taken in, given a name and raised as the child of an old women in the village. This isn't exactly a common occurance, however.
Of note is that unlike normal elementals, higher elementals will never, ever appear human. Even having a humanoid form, Yumi’s features are translucent and oddly shaded, giving her a highly inhuman appearance, if pretty in a creepy way.
Other higher elementals of note would be the elder guardian of the Drakin, who is an earth elemental in the form of a dragon.
Humans: TBA when I find the damn thing
Half elementals: If an elemental and human were to have a child, the resulting product would be a half elemental. These are neigh unheard of, merely because they are seen as something taboo, and not for lack of reason. Besides the general differences of mentalities between the two races, Half elemental children very, very rarely live past their first 5 years (if they manage to be born at all), and if they do more often then not they will be sickly for the rest of their lives. They are almost always infertile, or at least deformed in some manner of speaking.
Aella is a special case, given she is supported by outside influences, but even she is prone to getting sick more often then normal, with a weak resistance to heat and cold to boot.
The difference between elementals and humans
Humans and elementals may look similar at times, but they are altogether seperated entirely by their origin of life and power.
While they are both life created by their planet, the elementals, which were the original lifeforms, are far more powerfully connected to their world through their very souls: think of it like tiny strings connecting their souls to their world that give them power and life at the same time. Without that connection, no elemental would exist, and denial of that connection, either by severing it or mentally denying it means death. That was the original meaning of their existance, afterall: to act as extensions of the planet's too massive life energy.
Humans, which came soon after elementals, are a bit different. They are, for lack of better terms, children who have left the nest. They lack the raw power of elementals or longer lifespans, but that is made up for by their freedom: They aren't bound by their powers, nor by their natures. They lack the direct connection to their world that elementals have. They generally have little in the ways of 'magic' or as elementals call it, 'calling'.
This is, in Aella’s time, a line that has been blurred and altogether unsettles people. While elementals have a very specific way of life, spiritual makeup and mentality, overall humans have become far, far too advanced in magical ways, far more then the elementals are comfortable with.
Humans are quick to learn, and those who are skilled mages can draw upon natural energies in a manner similar to elementals, if not truly the same (TBC)