Post by Clock on Jul 30, 2009 1:56:40 GMT -5
Once, long ago, magic was a very real part of the human race. Elements were channeled regularily by the average man, harnessed for difficult tasks or even battle. People lived in tribes, each with their own element. Everything was well in the world.
But then, a great arguement arose between the Fire and Wood tribes. The Fire tribe, like their element, were a voracious people, nomadic and always expanding into and devouring the surrounding lands and resources. The Wood tribe were a simpler people, living in small farming communities. When the Fire people began to encroach on their lands, the Wood tribe took up arms against them. Soon, the other elements had taken sides. The Metal tribe sided with the Fire tribe, while the Earth tribe sided with the Wood tribe. A war arose and each side was thrown into despair as hard times fell over the earth.
At last the water tribe entered this magical war. Determined to end the hardships that had befallen all people, they threw themselves into the war with the hopes that their efforts would end it. On the last battle field, each side faced eachother with the water people stnading guard over the middle ground in a last attempt to calm the angry people. In a final clash, each tribe poured their magic into a single attack. As the elemental forces of Fire, Wood, Earth and Metal hurtled towards the survivors of the water tribe, they threw up a last defence with the last of their elemental powers.
The combined forces of the five elements caused a terrible tear in the earth, exposing the Vortex below the battle-field. In that moment, each of the surviving people from the five clans were spiritually torn in two. Their powers were stored in the bodies that remained on earth, while their ability to use those powers was locked away in the earth.
The people, now stripped of their ability to use the elements, resolved their arguements. The elders of the five tribes, who still retained a small ability to use their elements, realized the possible need for the people's abilities to return in the future. So together they created a mirror. The fire heated the sand from the earth to create the glass. The wood was carved to make a frame. The Metal elder created a silvery metal with the last of his magic as the reflective surface behind the glass. Lastly, a jet of fast water was used to carve an inscription into the frame.
The mirror was cared for in turn by each tribe, until one day it's importance was forgotten and it was lost to the ages, only to be found again many years later in a lowely antique shop...
p.s. read The Story: Present Day and The Elements before creating a character and entering the roleplay.