Elementalists

Introduction

Elementalist's are those with the ability to use elemental magick. They are born with this ability, and are able to control one element better than the other three. This would be their main element.

History

Elementalists come from the Daviskas Empire.

Centuries ago there was no Empire, only five separate countries. They were eternally plagued with war that seemed doomed to lead their five nations to complete ruin. One man called for peace, even in the face of the death of his family. It was then their Goddess, Proteia, appeared above a grueling battle. She laid on the Lord the gift to control the elements, and shared this gift with his most trusted soldiers, family, and friends.

This gift manifested immediately, giving each person exceptional ability to control a single element.

Earth, the ability to control the very ground, causing it to rise and swell.

Fire, the ability to control flames, including shooting fireballs.

Wind, the ability to control the very air around them, causing it to do their bidding, even turning sharp as a razor.

Water, the ability to manifest and control water, eventually even taming full rivers.

These gifted became known as Elementalists.

While the Elementalists had stronger control over one element and the others remained weaker, they could still control the other three elements at will. It simply required more focus, and more essence to manifest.

With this new Goddess blessed gift, the Lord was able to take control of the warring countries. Most of them saw his power and gave themselves up freely, while, regrettably, others fought against the power of the Elementalists and lost.

They learned of their gifts highs and lows. It's power as well as it's limits. Most importantly they learned that using this newly gifted power drained them of their very essence. While this essence would renew itself over time, that did nothing in the heat of battle. Early on, a number of Elementalist's drained themselves into unconsciousness.

They did discover a way to bolster their essence, pulling on a source of power from within the planet itself. But this wasn't possible to do during combat. It required focus, concentration, and time, all things that being in a life-or-death situation didn't allow for. They did, however, quickly discover they could store up this essence. It would overflow from them and drain over time, but for days after a lengthy channeling session, they'd be abundant with extra essence.

In the end, the man who'd been blessed by their Goddess was crowned Emperor over the five Kingdoms, now collectively known as the Daviskas Empire. The Elementalists were praised for their deeds. While some sought to use this praise to their advantage, the new Emperor forbade it. Instead he founded an Order that all Elementalists had to belong to.

There were three oaths that they took, and breaking them was punishable by death.

In exchange for their past and future service, these first Elementalists were gifted titles and land, becoming Lords over various parts of the Empire. A select few became rulers of one of the entire of the five countries, subject only to the whims of the Emperor himself.

With these Elementalists in place, and the Oaths preventing them from doing any harm, the Empire settled into a peaceful time that hadn't been seen in hundreds of years. Outside forces heard of the Elementalists power and dared not invade, and the Empire never sought to expand beyond it's own boundaries.

At least, not until the ley-lines began to dry up.

Ley lines were those sources of power that the Elementalist could pull on to not only refill their own strength, but to exceed their normal levels. It came with an unknown side effect, however, and when the ley-lines and the pools they formed into were drained after decades of misuse, the plant life and the very planet itself began dying in those areas. The ley-lines provided life to the plants and ground, and so when they were drained there was nothing left to give the trees and plants.

As the local ley-lines became drained, the Elementalists started looking elsewhere.

This led them to an island, which for an unknown reason was filled with an abundance of essence. They traveled to this island, called Vilkas, seeking to take it over with the new Emperor's - now many generations past the original Emperor - blessing. They battled for mere days until the island's own God took exception and blessed it's people. The Elementalist had a hard time against those new blessed who healed quickly and were eventually forced to retreat.

Time went on, and as Elementalists mingled, those outside of the Noble families were born with the ability to control the Elements. While it was still rare, almost any person could now be an Elementalist. While they were still required to take the Oaths, they no longer were strictly fighters. They lived normal lives, only using their gift when it was needed or as ordered by the Emperor. The increasing numbers only further drained the planet, keeping it from being unable to regenerate what was taken.

Two hundred years passed and, while the Elementalists had learned better to control what they drew from the ley-lines, the power was slow to refill from it's previous abuses. The new Emperor, many generations younger than the first, once again sought the essence of Vilkas island, as well as opening trade for their abundant food supply. But, unlike his forefather, this Emperor decided to seek peace with the inhabitants. The various Elementalists were all too happy to assist, seeking to see what it was like to be in a land filled with essence.

Playing an Elementalist

Elementalists are able to control four elements: Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water. Each Elementalist has exceptional control over only one of the four elements. The other three elements are much weaker, harder to use, take longer to manifest, and drain more essence than their main element. The same applies to any healing spells an Elementalist may learn.

Essence is the very life of a person. Using elemental magicks drains this essence based on the power and level of the magick itself. The higher the level, the more it drains. Too many high level spells can easily kill an unprepared Elementalist. Elementalists regenerate their essence naturally over time. If they burn themselves low it can take a few nights to be fully restored without the aid of ley-lines. Channeling ley energy, however, they can restore themselves within hours.

Playing an Elementalist means portraying the drain of magicks on the person. Using multiple magicks of your magick level will drain your essence quickly, and should be played as tiring you out and making you slower. Using lower level magicks takes less essence than higher level ones. As your magick level increases, your body produces more of this essence, making you able to sustain higher level magicks for longer.

Channeling ley energy, or preparing high end magicks, requires moderate focus on the task. This is not to say you can't RP while your characters are doing these tasks, but you definitely can't do anything intensive, like using other magicks.

Magicks must be learned before they can be used. The higher level the magick, the longer it takes to study, practice, and master. But, the higher the magick level of the character, the faster they learn. Additionally, the higher the magick level, the less time and effort it takes to cast lower level magicks.

For elements that aren't your main element, you can currently learn any, but understand that using them is very hard. About four times as much time and essence is spent. If it's one at your level then it pretty much will drain you with only a few casts. The only exception is level zero magick. They use an insignificant amount of essence.