Originally, the power of magic and the elements belonged solely to the Marked. Those born with an animal-shaped mark on them could harness the power of one of the six elements. The Marked were both revered and feared.
It wasn’t long, though, before the Marks began to divide people. Different elements began to split apart, even though it was the unity of the elements that created our fair world. Jealousy sprung out between elements, and it was not long before the world fell into chaos and fighting, each element fighting for total control, seeking to demonstrate that they were superior to all.
However, there could be no victor, as there is no superior element. Regardless, the fighting continued on for nearly a hundred years before they figured out a way to stop the fighting: They would divide the continent into several territories so that each element might have a home. The division of the elements went against the principles the world was founded upon, but the people were tired of fighting and ready for peace, so they were glad to find a way out of war.
The people of light took to the eastern side of the continent, where the sun rose. Traditionally, they were devout followers of Corinthas, the god of light, so they set up an empire governed by the worship of their god. There were four light marks in particular that were said to be closest to their god, so there would be one chosen from each of the four marks and the four would jointly rule.
The people of darkness took to the west—the land where the sun set and darkness began. It was not long before a powerful leader during the war rose to power, and after that the land was always controlled by whatever dictator could fight into power. As a result, the Empire of Darkness was often in discord, but it never fell apart.
The people of earth went to the mountain range located near the center of the continent. A monarchy was set up in the mountains. Also, a smaller portion of the people of the earth went to the mountains in the north.
The people of air did not set up a country in the same manner as the other elements. They set up four outposts—one in the north, one in the east, one in the west, and one in the south. At each one resided one of the four Winds—the most powerful of the Air Marked, and chosen to be a Wind at birth. The people of air, for the most part, wandered like the wind and were generally accepted through the continent.
The people of water went to an archipelago of islands off the southwest coast of the mainland, and they also set up some colonies on the mainland as well as taking some of the southern islands. An aristocracy was set up with a council of elders that met often to govern the land.
The people of fire went to the northeastern plains. They could not agree on a leader, so they split into several tribes based on the different Marks. A chieftain rules each tribe, and, even when the tribes are warring, the chieftains will still meet on a yearly basis to discuss matters.
The dividing of the people seemed to ease the tensions for some time. Of course, nothing can stay perfect, and the countries grew jealous of the lands of others, and wars began anew, though nothing to the scale of the First War. New discoveries were also made—such as the power of Crystalline Magic. It was found that a certain type of crystal could store magical energy to be used later… and not only this, but one did not need a Mark to use the power stored within. Though still not everyone was capable of using the stored magic (if one’s mind was not strong enough, it would be destroyed), suddenly the gap between the Marked and the ordinary citizens diminished. The Earth Marked, due to their connection with the earth, became the primary miners of the crystal, and developed into a wealthy merchant nation.
Crystalline magic was heavily limited, though. A non-Marked could only use the spell that was put into the crystal, while a Marked could simply draw pure magic from the crystal. The only advantaged that non Marked had was that they could use every element. A Marked was able to use other elements’ crystalline magic except for their opposite element.
More power, however, means more likelihood for chaos. The Empires of Dark and Light have never really forgiven each other, and even though they reside on opposite sides of the continent, they are always at war. A strange group of people bearing Dark Marks on the northeastern peninsula have suddenly appeared. Rumors travel along the continent of ambitious Marked wanting the country for their own. The common border skirmishes seem only inches away from erupting into yet another continental war...
And what can we do to stop it?
Okay, so, that was really long, I think my RP intros are just getting longer and longer, but I had a bunch to explain and wanted to get it all out. Alright is ridiculously late and I should be getting to bed but I had to get this RP out before RP week ends.
So... you know the drill, create a character. Here's the template:
Name:
Gender:
Age:
Element: (Even if you do not wish to play a Marked, you're gonna be affiliated with an element)
Mark: (The type of Mark. All Marks are in the shape of animals. Again, even if you do not wish to play a Marked, you are probably associated with a certain animal, but that depends on the society you want to live in. However, if you are not a Marked and simply affiliated with a certain Mark, please specify)
Personality:
Appearance:
Background:
Text color:
I'll get mine up tomorrow at a more sane hour.
Here is a ROUGH DRAFT of the map of... continent that needs a name... I'm pretty sure you can figure out the countries by color... as a note, the general area of The North Wind is left white because no country has claimed it A) because those peaks are the highest in the world and no one's really interested in them, and 2) because the meeting place of the Winds is generally at the North Wind's place because it's the highest point on the continent... other Winds may lie in other countries, but they aren't really ruled by them... just kinda there. I should have made a key for the map... I'll explain the geographical features laterrrr...
And I forgot to color in water. Go me.
Feel free to ask questions... I'm writing this all wicked late at night, so I'm sure I skipped something. Oh, magic isn't really strictly limited to your element... like, a Fire Marked wouldn't be limited to Azuri FireCrafting (way to make a reference to your own RP, Saber SHUT IT)... I mean, all elements can do some basic stuff like levitating objects.
Oh, yes, I forgot to mention this and it got brought up in the OOC thread... the world a little more advanced than Azuri... It's still pretty medieval, but kind of got some steam punk elements... comparable to the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Mostly medieval, but with some stuff like zepplins, and such.













