Eclipse Sovereign
Minstrel
Decided to put a spin on the idea of four elements and nations. So, common features:
There are four nations, each with a differing ideal and magic.
The fuel of all magic is Self, Blood and Nature. Self is your inborn talent and practice, the ‘math of the music’, if you will. This is relatively weak, but serves as a reliable and unyielding foundation. Blood, or more accurately, death, is the main fuel. Think of it as the meat of your dinner. And Nature is the conjunction of certain natural features and raw element that can focus magic to extreme precision, like a magnifying glass frying ants.
Magic is a rare and precious gift, and few have it. There are some royal lineages with a second expression of elemental power, even rarer than the average mage. They can become a monstrous being that essentially is their element given form as flesh.
The Four Nations:
The Sand Nomads (just a placeholder name) embody Earth. Their magics reshape the ground and represent the brutal endurance and treachery of stone. Most of them rely upon elaborate motions and highly physical displays to mould rock and warp the sands. The Nomads dwell in stone cities burrowed out from the earth, hidden from all foes and riddled with traps for the unwary. Their culture involves reaving and raiding, striking from the deep deserts and fading away with the dawn. Little is known for certain about them, save that their dead are entombed in the earth itself. They are the greatest miners and craftsmen, second only to the Blackstone Triumvirate for artistry. Their royals can become titanic, lionlike monsters capable of tearing through the ground and burrowing with ease.
The Blackstone Triumvirate is an empire built on blood and fire. The fiercest of all magics, they burn bright and savage, embodying the sacrifice and fury of flames. They rule from the Seven Furies, a series of volcanoes that are tamed with the power of the infernomancers and used as fuel for the art of melting stone and shaping it like clay. The infernomancers can set a man aflame with a sharp look, and commune over miles through the flames. Some say they can summon the dead who’ve been burned to give wisdom (a most abominable art), or create shadows to ward locations. They can even heal, reforming entire lost limbs into functional, albeit blackened and scorched, replacements. The Dragonlords are feared throughout the world, soaring on winds of ash to ensure their rule from above.
The Thassalian People are exiles, wandering the outer seas after losing a war to the Blackstone Dragonlords in ancient days. Their wild, unpredictable magic relies upon the Moon and tides, whipping up storms and drawing fish from the sea. Watermasters and Stormsingers conceal them from the vengeful dragonlords with storms and mists, never staying by any island for long. To survive, they draw forth fresh water from the salt and use their magics to take control of fish and marine animals. They can even control other living things, anything with water in its body. Their royals assume the shapes of the Old Men of the Sea, serpentine and reflective-scaled creatures that can grow to dwarf dragonlords.
The Sky Peoples are the most abominable of all nations. Cold, empty, soulless and dead, their magi practiced necromancy and created unbreakable armies of dead men to fight their wars. Eventually, they gave up all humanity in exchange for ultimate power, the greatest single payment in all of magic. They were broken by the Blackstone Dragonlords, the Lion Kings of the West, and the Thassalian Sealords in a colossal battle that waged for an entire year. Their royals assumed the shape of Rocs, big enough to carry an elephant in each claw and not be hindered in the slightest. All are dead and gone... at least, their necromancy appears to have failed to keep them around.
There are four nations, each with a differing ideal and magic.
The fuel of all magic is Self, Blood and Nature. Self is your inborn talent and practice, the ‘math of the music’, if you will. This is relatively weak, but serves as a reliable and unyielding foundation. Blood, or more accurately, death, is the main fuel. Think of it as the meat of your dinner. And Nature is the conjunction of certain natural features and raw element that can focus magic to extreme precision, like a magnifying glass frying ants.
Magic is a rare and precious gift, and few have it. There are some royal lineages with a second expression of elemental power, even rarer than the average mage. They can become a monstrous being that essentially is their element given form as flesh.
The Four Nations:
The Sand Nomads (just a placeholder name) embody Earth. Their magics reshape the ground and represent the brutal endurance and treachery of stone. Most of them rely upon elaborate motions and highly physical displays to mould rock and warp the sands. The Nomads dwell in stone cities burrowed out from the earth, hidden from all foes and riddled with traps for the unwary. Their culture involves reaving and raiding, striking from the deep deserts and fading away with the dawn. Little is known for certain about them, save that their dead are entombed in the earth itself. They are the greatest miners and craftsmen, second only to the Blackstone Triumvirate for artistry. Their royals can become titanic, lionlike monsters capable of tearing through the ground and burrowing with ease.
The Blackstone Triumvirate is an empire built on blood and fire. The fiercest of all magics, they burn bright and savage, embodying the sacrifice and fury of flames. They rule from the Seven Furies, a series of volcanoes that are tamed with the power of the infernomancers and used as fuel for the art of melting stone and shaping it like clay. The infernomancers can set a man aflame with a sharp look, and commune over miles through the flames. Some say they can summon the dead who’ve been burned to give wisdom (a most abominable art), or create shadows to ward locations. They can even heal, reforming entire lost limbs into functional, albeit blackened and scorched, replacements. The Dragonlords are feared throughout the world, soaring on winds of ash to ensure their rule from above.
The Thassalian People are exiles, wandering the outer seas after losing a war to the Blackstone Dragonlords in ancient days. Their wild, unpredictable magic relies upon the Moon and tides, whipping up storms and drawing fish from the sea. Watermasters and Stormsingers conceal them from the vengeful dragonlords with storms and mists, never staying by any island for long. To survive, they draw forth fresh water from the salt and use their magics to take control of fish and marine animals. They can even control other living things, anything with water in its body. Their royals assume the shapes of the Old Men of the Sea, serpentine and reflective-scaled creatures that can grow to dwarf dragonlords.
The Sky Peoples are the most abominable of all nations. Cold, empty, soulless and dead, their magi practiced necromancy and created unbreakable armies of dead men to fight their wars. Eventually, they gave up all humanity in exchange for ultimate power, the greatest single payment in all of magic. They were broken by the Blackstone Dragonlords, the Lion Kings of the West, and the Thassalian Sealords in a colossal battle that waged for an entire year. Their royals assumed the shape of Rocs, big enough to carry an elephant in each claw and not be hindered in the slightest. All are dead and gone... at least, their necromancy appears to have failed to keep them around.
Istar
