On the Avatars of the Sacred Elements

“Attention! Pen and slate ready for notes, I expect everyone to have an ink on paper record in seven days! I’ll start the lecture…”

When the settlers started to explore the land of the Elements, called “Mitraspera” in its own ancient language, and made it their own, they quickly realized that there were by far not the first to declare this continent their home. Instead, in times long ago, mighty societies of mortals, maybe even demigods, must have existed here. Some traces did remain, among them a few beings of those forgotten cultures, who lived scattered as primitive aboriginal “people of the Elements” across the lands. There were tumbledown ruins, too, and mysterious plates of stone, whispering stories of long forgotten days… and of course there are the Forsaken, which lied in wait as sleeping horrors deep under the land. Most of all the settlers had to learn that Mitraspera is the land of the Elements. No foreign gods, no idols, and no demons, in short: no entity out of some kind of Elysium or Inferno could reach Mitraspera directly till this day or even set foot on it. Because on Mitraspera there are no gods except the Sacred Elements, which are both body and soul of this world. They created and sustained Mitraspera, and their supreme creatures, the Quihen Assil, also called the Eternal Ones, who once shaped the land, still watch over their creation, and do not grant entry to any alien being of transcendent nature. Good for us!

No mortal can pretend to ever understand these beings, but they sometimes communicate their will to us. This is usually done through beings called the “Avatars”. Each of the five Sacred Elements only sends out one such herald at a time, and this usually only in the prospect of major events, military campaigns, or the like. More than five Avatars have never been seen at the same time. The nature of being of these Avatars poses many a mystery. It seems certain that some of the Avatars, before they came into what they are now, were mortal beings, some even hailing from the old days, but some also originating from the ranks of the settlers. How a mortal can become an Avatar is not known. In the fight against the Forsaken the Avatars led the settlers as role models, advisors and comrades-in-arms and taught them what it meant to follow the path of the Elements.

The Avatars hold great power and wisdom, but they are not immortal and not infallible, both of which we have already experienced first-hand. Thus, in the actions of each Avatar, there is sometimes a strong emotional tone corresponding to their Element. In addition, it has happened several times that an Avatar was killed in a shameful way or simply disappeared. Sometimes they returned in the same form, but sometimes it was a different body with different memories and a different personality that held the “rank” of herold of the Quihen Assil. From time to time this has caused confusion between the settlers, but the Quihen Assil will certainly have their reasons. The history of the Avatars has been shrouded in mystery for a long time, and there are still some mysteries undiscovered till this day.

But what we do know is how everything began: the Avatars were sent for the very first time when the Quihen Assil realized with horror that the Black Ice, which some Ancient Ruler had created in his madness, had gotten out of control, and had risen to become a new Element. To remind the ancestors of their place in the world and the true Elements, the Quihen Assil sent heralds to whom they had passed parts of their power. But they should soon regret that decision. The Masters and Rulers of the Forsaken, who wanted nothing more than to put an end to the old Elements and their First Creation, had secretly worked on malicious seals to completely break the power of the Children of the World and thus make the victory of the Second Creation inevitable. Of course, when this plan became known, the Avatars immediately declared a just war on them. But they fell victim to the half-finished constructions that, while unable to imprison the Elements, worked to imprison the Avatars. With that, the Elements were severely weakened, and worse still, the mortal’s connection to the Quihen Assil was broken and such the Eternal Ones could no longer speak to and guide their creatures. It was also not possible to choose new Avatars, since the old ones never died, and were still unreachable. However, when the victory of the Forsaken was almost complete, countless battles later, and the world was already staring in the face of annihilation, the Avatars were freed once more. No legend tells us about who did this, whether it was heroism, cunning, betrayal or sheer luck, nobody knows. But even the heralds of the Quihen Assil, in the face of the vast power of the now grown Forsaken, only had one option left: together with the last loyal Ancient Rulers they summoned the Eternal Ones themselves, who could now hear their desperate calls for help again and mercifully followed suit. They brought with them both the burning and the healing of the world at the same, but this is another story.

So now as mortals once more settle in Mitraspera, and the fight against the Forsaken has broken out again, the heralds of the Quihen Assil, the Avatars, have returned to save us from making the same mistakes as our ancestors did… but already the first of us have joined the Forsaken, Fileas Strongbow, known today as “Argus” dared to build another seal and once again Terra’s Avatar was captured within it. Even if the Avatar can soon be set free again by settlers loyal to the Elements, the concern remains what may happen to us all if we should fail in the eyes of the Quihen Assil…

“… and woe to anyone who doesn’t hand me in a full protocol in seven days without being asked! And I don’t want to see anyone writing texts in coloured ink. Such foul things are only for mages and other madmen…”

- The notorious schoolmaster Lampelos to his pupils, Ardor, modern day