Day 2 of the World Building blog hop hosted by Sharon Bayliss.
History
The human Chikaran calendar starts at 0 EE (Elemental Epoch). Elementals have no use for calendars or other time telling devices. Elementals are eternal and have existed long before the humans ran ashore on the hot desert sands in the Embrathael province.
Humans had set sail across the great waters to escape the destruction of their homeland, a now sunken continent called Telthane. The few survivors landed on Chikara and faced a new challenge: finding food and fresh water in the fire province. They spent days struggling to find resources. Unknowing to them, they were being watched by elementals in the Realm.
The five elemental clan leaders, the Teymir, discussed among themselves what to do with the new invaders. Rin Lumenor of the void clan decided he would investigate, his curiosity getting the better of him. He stepped out of the Realm and immersed himself with the humans.
Initial human reaction was wary and since neither spoke the other’s language, it took time to tear down the communication barrier. Rin discovered the humans sought nourishment and bartered with the mortal domain beastkin to share the land. The beastkin–called the Oazmir–rejected the idea at first, but after Rin’s intervention, came to tolerate the new inhabitants as long as rules were obeyed.
Rin spent days learning human customs, educating himself in their Miasho worships, and studying their behavior. The human leader’s daughter, Fiona Trent, took an interest in him, and he chose to reciprocate, wanting to explore all differences between the two cultures. He discovered the human woman had developed a sexual addiction, and he continued the relationship at her insistence. The union eventually resulted in a half-breed boy, Julvan.
A few annuals later, a second boy, Faener, was born. As the child breathed his first breath, his mother died and Rin, one of the oldest and most powerful elementals, lost his power. He could no longer manipulate the void element nor could he use peithura, the unique talent gifted to male elementals. He could no longer return to his home in the Realm. Faener was dubbed a jesper, named after the jesper metal used to counter elemental power.
He searched for an answer and after many annuals, discovered he could still enter the mines where the crafters live, where the lifeblood of Chikara flowed as a silver metal. Rin took some of the metal and spent his time fashioning gateways to channel the Drethamir’s power into his body. He had finally succeeded in creating the niniers. The elements and the niners were intertwined, since both relied on Chikara’s lifeblood.
Julvan was an intelligent but greedy child and saw the potential behind the niniers. Before Rin could return to the Realm, Julvan stole the niniers, modifying them to require a balanced vessel, half-elemental and half-human, a Thanmir in the Drethamir’s tongue. If the niniers fell out of balance, the elements suffered.
Furious he could no longer use the niniers without endangering the elements, Rin divided the niniers between the clans. The other Teymir were tasked with bearing a Thanmir to host the ninier, and in the meantime had to bind themselves to a human to satisfy the balance requirements. The binding forced them to remain in the mortal domain since humans cannot survive the Realm mists.
Rin imprisoned Julvan in the mines for his crime and took his other son and a couple human families to the Lumenor province. He and the other Teymir sealed off the province, knowing how dangerous a jesper child could be. And then Rin disappeared.
The other four Teymir set to the task of bearing a child. It was easier for a male elemental to impregnate a human woman than it was for a human male to impregnate an elemental woman. Harim Aerwether was the first, born to Wes. Suuri Embrathael came centuries later, born to Evi.
Another few centuries later, Teymir Ira Geotellus discovered she was pregnant with twins. Knowing any child past the first would render her in the same condition as Rin, she sought to take the niniers, first trying to barter with the Thanmir.
Both Harim and Suuri refused to hand over the niniers, knowing that for Ira to use the ninier, she would risk throwing the elements out of balance. Ira turned to Teymir Soi, the only other remaining Teymir in the mortal domain, but Soi refused.
Ira weighed her options and decided Suuri would be the easiest to kill and take the ninier. She acted, murdering Suuri. Suuri didn’t have the ninier. Puzzled and infuriated by this, Ira continued killing fire clan members, attacking them from the mortal domain and destroying them in their homes, thinking one of them had taken the ninier and hidden it. She continued killing until only Evi was left, and she could not kill Evi since the element needed her.
After the twins, Aito and Kaio, were born, Ira lost her power and spent her days trying to figure out the location of the fire ninier.
Within an annual later, the last of the Thanmir was born, MaTisha Halqua.
That’s the history, as recorded in the history books available in public record. It’s actually missing a few details, which were purposefully and painstakingly removed.
Politics
Since every layer of Chikara affects the others, the elementals deemed it necessary to enforce an elemental government to mediate the human interaction with the environment. The Thanmir were chosen to be the sovereign ruler over the mortal domain (and humans) in their respective provinces. Each province is divided into districts, which is governed by a human, titled the Rhasar. Each town has its own governing human, titled the Vhisar. Domestic disputes are first brought to the Vhisar and escalated up to the Rhasar. If a simple solution cannot be reached, the issue is then escalated to the Thanmir for final and absolute decision.
The exception is Embrathael. Since Thanmir Suuri is dead, Teymir Evi makes herself available for consultation, but most of the power resides with Ambassador Anya Ridhal. Due to the weakened environment caused by the fire clan’s slaughter, the land cannot support districts and instead is inhabited by nomads.
Miasho Extremists, humans intent on sticking to the old ways, don’t much like elemental rule and often find reason to protest against decisions made by the Thanmir. They refuse to bend knee to anyone but their old deities.
And that’s where I’ll stop. Sorry for the long post. I don’t have any decent pictures to go with this, but if I find something, I’ll be sure to add it.
I love how crazy Ira is in all this. A real catalyst of so much chaos.
I also think I know what the public history books have left out. ^_^
And this post was not long at all. My post almost reaches 3k, that’s long.
Ah, but see, poor Ira is the victim in all of this. She never wanted anything to do with the humans, let alone to bear a half-human child. And the Thanmir could have given over the niniers, but they were being greedy and spiteful like that first nasty little half-human mongrel, Julvan…
How do you manage to get this in without infodumps?
Much of the early history is only mentioned in passing and without great detail, since it’s not pertinent to the immediate plot. The rest of the details are relayed mostly through the POV of Kaio Geotellus–a politically-savvy jesper, brother to a Thanmir, and despised son of a murdering Teymir.
Fascinating! This was a very entertaining read.