Elemental Water Origin Myth

by **Gwain von Griswald** 2015-06-27, 11:38

Long ago, four genie queens settled in the material plane and declared themselves The Elemental Sovereigns. Water, Earth, Fire, Air: each element was beholden to a different ruler. For many years, The Sovereigns preserved the natural order and the four elements coexisted in harmony.

Then came The Lord of Discord. He whispered in Fire's ear, "You are the most beautiful element, you must burn away the world's impurities." And Fire responded, "You speak the truth wise one, I will do as you say."

So Discord turned to Air and said, "You are the loftiest element, you must make sure you are never subjugated." And Air responded, "You speak the truth wise one, I will do as you say."
Then to Water, Discord muttered, "You of all elements are the most vast, you must cover every corner of the world." And Water responded, "You speak the truth wise one, I will do as you say."
Finally, Discord said to Earth, "You are the strongest element, you must prove it to all." And Earth responded, "You speak the truth wise one, I will do as you say."
So came devastation as The Sovereigns laid war amongst each other. For an eon, the world trembled. Then came the grey dragons. Dragons are as ancient as the elements themselves and the first bore the names Balance and Unity.

They bowed before Earth and supplicated, "Discord has lied, you are not the element of power, you are stability." And Earth responded, "I have been deceived, I must be a house of tranquility."
Then they said to Water, "You are not the element of expansion, you are life." And Water responded, "I have been deceived, I must be a well of vitality." Balance and Unity came also to Fire and Air, but they would not be swayed, for they were too proud.

Thus war raged anew. As Earth and Water allied, so Air and Fire followed in their own alliance. Earth despised Air, for no matter how tall Earth's mountains grew, Air was always above her reach. So too did Water despise Fire, for Fire brought civilization to her shores where it disfigured and maimed. So the four Sovereigns bequeathed to the world the eternal rectangle.

And enteral would the war have raged, if Balance and Unity had not swung the tide of battle against Discord. At long last, the forces of Air and Fire surrendered and Discord was cornered. However, even in defeat Discord left his mark, for in the final battle he stuck a mortal blow against Unity. As she fell, grey dragon eggs spilled from her and each became a different color, thus spawning countless breeds of dragons.

Seeing his mate perish, Balance pleaded to the mighty Sovereigns that they might silence Discord forever. The genies granted his wish, on the condition that all grey dragons until the end of time would be servants of balance so that such a terrible war could never afflict the world again. So the great dragon accepted the terms, and his wish was granted. However, even all four Elemental Sovereigns combined could not destroy The Lord of Discord. Even as they obliterated his body, some of his spirit took refuge inside the crown atop his head.

With order restored to the world, Balance requested a memorial to commemorate the great struggle. The Sovereigns granted that four temples be built at the sight of Discord's fall in defiance of his reign and in honor of the elementals. At the heart of each, the genies placed a portal into their home plane, so that the temples might be a place of worship for their kind as well.

Now everywhere, throughout all time and space shall be known the true name of the mighty grey dragons who stayed the hand of Discord. She who sacrificed her life, whom we called Unity, bears the true name text unreadable. And He who sacrificed his freedom, whom we called Ballance, bears the true name text unreadable. So shall it be told for eternity.

Only here, in the temple of Water shall the true name of her sovereign be spoken: Marid. As the final blow to the Lord of Discord, we have erased his name from history. Let it never be spoken again.