Elemental Upheavals and a Hidden Artist Colony

All was quiet, yet all was amiss, when the Manifestations disappeared. Unnoticed, they slinked away, out of perception, not a trace of their disappearance left behind. That is, until they started to feed. One by one, the creatures of the elemental planes began to disappear.

First to notice were the citizens of Hallifax, the life sucked from the critters that wandered Air. These stirrings would soon alert Magnagora, whose own creatures began to crumble and shrivel into dust. Not long after, Shedrin, of Hallifax, would confirm that the creatures of Fire, who burst into flame, and the creatures of Water, who dissolved into the waves beneath them, would too fade at his presence. Unsure of what could be happening, many wandered the planes, yet it was Magnagora who first reached out to their Earth Lords. Gravynia, Lady of the Cracked Stone sensed something was wrong, but with the newness of the situation, she was not sure what could be transpiring.

Many speculated at what was unfolding, but Marcella, of Magnagora, sought action, and with the recent transgressions her city had with the Maeve, placed the blame on the forests. Maeve and her consort Laeroc dismissed the accusations, yet a battle quickly unfolded in the Faethorn. Many others sought information elsewhere as the battle was underway, questioning any with ties to the Elemental planes.

Magnagora, not willing to settle with not knowing, returned to Gravynia, who turned their questioning elsewhere. Perhaps the foe was not something that could be known? Perhaps something stirred outside of perception? Many pondered and turned their attention to the Dreaming, a place with many ties to the Elemental Planes. After questioning a few notable dreamweavers, including Ladantine himself, they all settled in, awaiting what would happen next.

Days later, a blasting wind washed over the First World, followed by an enormous wave that crashed into the Inner Sea. Quickly, attention turned to the Elemental Planes, for it was surely no coincidence that these natural disasters were occuring so shortly after the elemental creatures had disappeared. Once again, Magnagora took the lead on securing information, and it was their Earth Lord that first reached out to them, alerting them to the actions of something deep within the Dreaming… something that was draining the planes of their power. The Magnagorans darted about once more, unsure of who to question, but answers would soon come.

Bhalegu cried out in pain, alerting the Geomancers to an attack upon him. Rushing to investigate, Xaldrin quickly alerted the city to the attack, and many gathered to question him. So too did the Lords of Air, Fire, and Water reach out, though others were far slower on the uptake. Each city was tasked with bringing in power to the Lords and Ladies to help strengthen them against this invisible foe… though a familiar foe it was, for it was shortly after that many discovered the Manifestations had gone missing.

Many darted to the Ethereal planes, while others raced to Xion, and slowly gathered what essence was available to them. The Lords and Ladies, slowly regaining their strength, provided a distraction for the Manifestations, allowing some of the creatures that wandered the planes to return, providing yet another source of power for them to work with. It wasn’t long before Magnagora would be the first to fully empower their Lords and Lady, who then pummeled the sky with a barrage of boulders.

Weakened, the first of the Manifestations appeared: the Manifestation of Broken Earth. Many died in the battle with the ferocious foe, yet Magnagora prevailed, slaying the beast long before any would even weaken theirs. With their plane now quiet, they returned to Gravynia, who warned that though they were safe, she could not guarantee that safety would remain until the other Elemental Planes were secured.

Hallifax, led by Shedrin, Phoebus, Maligorn, Pejat, and Eiriu, trailed after Magnagora, but with the help of Xenthos and Salome, of Glomdoring, would be the second to empower their Lords and Ladies, who pummeled the Manifestation of Stoppered Air with a blasting wind. Taken down far more quickly than the first, Hallifax and Glomdoring soon aided the Celestians with their endeavour, summoning the wrath of their Lords and Lady to drown the Manifestation of Parched Oceans. Far more fell to this, the third beast, but it too soon fell, leaving the last, and hardest foe.

The city of Gaudiguch struggled, only Malarious and Romaan gathering essence at first, but with the help of the other cities and commune, they too eventually succeeded, bringing out the final foe: the Manifestation of Snuffed Flames. Death after death came upon the Gaudiguchians and their assistants, yet once gathered, the foe quickly fell and the air grew silent.

Back on Prime, the elements calmed, the disasters slowly fading away into silence. High in the sky, mysterious figures appeared, their gaze turned to the Basin of Life. In anger, with a final push of the elemental energies upon the Basin, they rocked the earth, sending stone crashing down the Razine Mountains. They quickly turned and faded away without a word, yet their appearance was quickly forgotten as something was knocked loose in the Razines.

Eritheyl, of Magnagora, stumbled into a quaint community, tucked into a lush valley between the Estengare and the mountain range, inhabited by a community of trill and tae’dae who worked together to create wonderful pieces of art in a sustainable community long forgotten by the Basin of Life. Hidden long ago by a mudslide from the Razines, the trill and tae’dae learned to survive on their own, and saw no need to travel outside of their community, which they called Irshaw Heights.

The tae’dae and trill told the story of the founding of Irshaw Heights, how Grandfather Irshaw settled within the valley, and how the trill, refugees from Hallifax in the time of the Taint Wars, came to live together. The trill, sent away by their masters in the city, after generations passing without their masters, lost knowledge of who they truly were, yet were told they would return for them in time. The tae’dae, stumbling across the trill one day, quickly filled this place, and being nice tae’dae, they could not turn them away. Giving them a home in the Heights, the trill quickly proved useful, and the tae’dae became inspired to create wonderful works of art, much like trills’ former masters in Hallifax.

Piera Blackpaw, daughter of Rumberry Irshaw, was the only one who told the story differently. Afraid of ill-doing on the trills’ part, she sent many after Sorresh, who worked in secret. In whispers, Sorresh bid many to help him inspire his masters, and Shedrin would be the first to offer his help, providing much assistance to the trill along the way with the help of his comrade, Luce. Salome, Xenthos and Siam of Glomdoring, however, felt pity for the tae’dae and turned their attention towards them.

The Glomdoring assisted Piera in finishing her analysis, distracting the other tae’dae with the promise of food. However, Shedrin and Luce worked secretly against them, still working to help Sorresh fulfill his duty to his masters. In the end, Glomdoring succeeded in helping the tae’dae, Siam ultimately assisting Piera in her research, which she quickly took to her father. Rumberry, doubting his daughter’s revelations, sent her away, and she stormed off, eager to start again in finding the proof her father would need.

What stirred the Manifestations of Dreaming to attack the Elemental Planes? What need would they have for the energy they stole? What did these attacks have to do with the figures in the sky, or with the newly revealed Irshaw Heights? What were the trill doing to the tae’dae that required these drugs?