Primordial Gods

The Primordial Gods, otherwise known as the Prime, are four archaic entities known to be the first overruling beings of Zael. Each one of them is the living and sentient manifestation of a singular founding element of the planet. They are known to have battled each other for what seems to be an eternity, eversince the birth of Zael - they are also known as the four-faced incarnation of wilderness, and have constantly gotten in the way of mortals who tried to tame the surrounding nature. As such, they have been major antagonists throughout history as it is recalled by the mortal races. Though they are believed to be fundamentally chaotic, the puzzling pattern of alliances they made and wars they waged seems to point out some sense of greater plan or finality might have something to do with their constant hostility to the living. Little evidence seems to support the "historical facts" of some Primordial Gods allying with mortals.

The Primes are also known as the undisputed rulers of the elementals, and lords of the Elemental Plane, where they all built their own kingdom. They are known to be the mightiest of all beings, and essentially immortal since their fate and that of Zael, are entertwined.

Although they once all had different names in the many cultures which aknowledged their existence, the four Primordial Gods are commonly known as Oghuron the Flame, Rogosh the petrified, Hayadrass Wave-Scream and Syleh - the very names they were given in Ata-Athek's Analok, a central literay work of the Ataïst culture.

Birth and Primordial war


The Prime were born out of a great inner-conflict which was tormenting Zael in its early days. After the elements had been created by channeling the power of the star-planet through the spirit link, it seemed the world couldn't flourish in idleness - perpetual movement was needed, in order to give the planet its first breath. It was through conflict that this state of constant movement was finally reached. The Prime were a manifestation of the original elements, in order to allow their friction - first Oghuron, forged with hate and fury; second, Rogosh the insatiable; then, Syleh the enigmatic and cold manipulator; finally Hayadrass, the scornful. For they were greedy and violent, war was inevitable as soon as they met.

Though it is believed the Primordial Gods battled each other in person for eras, most consider they gave birth to their elemental progeny early on, in order to expand quickly. They shaped them out of their own essence, passing on their hate and dreams to every single one of them, thus birthing entire legions of servants loyal to their cause. The creation of the Inciferas, the Gaos, the Saaris and the Hydrass resulted in a full scale war over the newly born planet - the Primordial War reshaped the world the Architects had left behind, giving it the aspect it has today. Oceans expanded and dried out, continents sunk and other rose... Zael's landscape was to bear the scars of war forever.

It was during this great conflict that some elementals rose to power, as lieutenants of the Primes, and became prominent figures of history, later to be seen in the Divine War, or much more recent events, such as the Fall or the Sethi crisis. The Primordial War lasted for milleniums, and would still be going on if the Prime had



stayed unopposed, in all their might and glory. Over this relatively short period of time, the elementals built their kingdoms in the airs, oceans, desert and mainlands, hoping one day to topple their despised brothers, and claim the world for their one and only master. It is said that, at some point during the war, Syleh was close to break the perpetual stalemate and invade the seas, having won several battle with his revered and feared lieutenant, Aiur the greater Wind, in command. If it wasn't for Oghuron's dramatic offensive on the High-Skies and the Kingdom over the moutain, the war might have ended on a victory for the Prime Wind. Soon after, the war was interrupted when the Elemental plane was breached repeatedly by forms of life elementals had ignored until then : the Svarts.

Divine War
The intrusion of the Svarts in the primordial realm provoked a great anger in the Prime's heart, who felt their pride damaged, since they were successfuly assaulted by lesser beings of flesh. Never had the Elemental plane been visited by entities others than that of fire, earth, water and air - it felt as if the most sacred of all sanctuary had been defiled. "The stench of flesh" became a recurring obsession for the Primes and their progeny, who felt compelled to right the wrong in blood. Seeing a change in priorities, the elementals ceased battling amongst themselves, and started to appear in the concrete, to punish the Svarts. However, where they expected to find creatures defined by weakness and inferiority, the elementals found mighty sorcerers whose ability to twist the flow of the spirit-link outmatched theirs.