Further Worldbuilding
At the dawn of time, the mortal world was brought into being, shaped by the Eight Gods of the Elements—the Slizers. Scuba, the Water Slizer, covered the planet in water to soothe and sustain all mortal life. Granite, the Rock Slizer, created the land for mortals to live safely on. Torch, the Fire Slizer, gave mortals fire to keep themselves warm and to destroy that which stood in their way. Ski, the Ice Slizer, provided ice to keep Torch’s flame in check, bringing the world into greater balance. Turbo, the Metal Slizer, filled the earth with valuable ore and taught mortals how to forge it into weapons, armor, and building material. Amazon, the Jungle Slizer, gave mortals plants they could use for food, shelter, and healing. Electro, the Lightning Slizer, taught mortals to harness the raw power of electricity. And Jet, the Sun Slizer, hung the sun, moon, and stars to help all life in the mortal world to grow.
Mortals lived happily in their world, while the Slizers watched from the City of Legends where the gods reside. But soon, violence broke out amongst mortals, and the mortal world sank into anarchy. To restore order, the Slizers selected leaders for each Tribe, granting them a piece of their Elemental Power and naming them Coronets. The Coronets brought peace to the world, and impressed the Slizers with their ability to control the Elements. To further observe this, and to teach mortals greater respect for the Elements, they created Riders to live in symbiosis with mortals, governing the Elements and granting their power to those they deemed worthy—transforming villager into Toa. The Riders were also given the task of gathering up the souls of mortals who had died and bringing them to the City of Legends, either to work under the oversight of the gods, or to be turned over to Karzahni for punishment for their wicked deeds.
This is the world of Olkir.
The Water Tribe does not have an island to call home, for the endless ocean that covers the world is their domain. As such, they handle a great deal of trade and transport for the Islands, and are well-liked everywhere for how honorably they uphold these duties. Some of their most famed ships are the Gali, home of the Water Coronet, and the Lhikan II, named in honor of a Toa of Fire who helped the Water Tribe slay the Shark Demon Pridak long ago. However, there are a few crews who have broken off from the Tribe and roam the sea as pirates; the worst among these is the Irnakk, an ancient vessel whose crew has harnessed dark magic to torment the people of the world with nightmares from the relative safety of their decrepit barge. Toa of Water are the most common of all Toa, valued highly for their ability to insure safe passage for vessels with important cargo and passengers.
The Island of Fire is somewhat isolated from other islands, and purely by choice. The Fire Tribe is an arrogant bunch who believe they have little if anything to gain from fraternizing with the other Tribes, trading only when necessary, and traveling only when they go in search of challenge. They were the first Tribe to discover minerals infused with Elemental Power, and after learning how to forge weapons made from volcanore, they began to slowly refine a martial arts style now renowned worldwide as the School of the Blazing Soul, or Kardata. Most Fire Tribe villagers seen in other parts of the world are practitioners of this style who are seeking to test their skills against foreign warriors. While hotheaded and drawn to violence, students of the School are taught astounding discipline and have learned to control these volatile emotions remarkably well, so they are well tolerated in most places. There are rumors of a Kardata Master who once tried to overthrow the Fire Coronet, but the Tribe refuses to verify them. At best, they have assured that if such a thing did happen, they would have been sure to purge that dishonor before it spread to the outside world.
Those of the Island of Ice can be equally abrasive as their fiery kin, thinking themselves the pinnacle of mortal wisdom, but they are open enough to share that wisdom with nearly anyone. Due to the culture’s obsession with knowledge and understanding, Ice villagers are quite frequently selected to fulfill the role of the Priest of Time. Despite the Island’s harsh climate and the reclusiveness of the Ice Tribe, this land does see quite a bit of traffic, with people from all Islands coming to investigate the Great Library in which the Ice Coronet lives. The laboratories on the Island of Ice have produced a great deal of technology that has helped many people, though lately they have taken on some more controversial projects such as attempting to synthesize the same living metal that villagers’ bodies are made of. After enough people bothered them about it, the scientists have mostly backed off of these projects in order to earn more peace and quiet. Though, there is talk that even worse projects still continue quietly, and that the Ice Tribe is seeking some sort of forbidden knowledge that the public eye would most certainly disapprove of. The Ice Tribe firmly insists this is not the case.
The Island of Metal was once the most feared Island of all. As of late, it has become the most loved. Since all villagers are made of metal, the idea of Toa who could control the substance was a source of great horror to many, leading to a general sense of wariness when dealing with this Island. Eventually, pressure was put on them to sign an agreement stating that the Metal Coronet would at no time prompt the creation of nor tolerate the existence of any Toa of Metal, and from that point on the wariness began to slowly subside. The Rider of Metal, deprived of their connection to the people, has grown weaker as time has gone on, and a great number of ghosts now roam the Island of Metal—whether these are the result of the Rider’s power waning or a spiteful refusal of their duty is a topic that is debated intensely. Recently, however, a villager named Makuro presented something spectacular: wanting to give the Island protectors to replace the absent Toa, he had devised the most ingenious artificial robot design the world had ever seen, automata who could think for themselves and fight off anything that could threaten the peace of the Metal Tribe. These automata, Hagah, were so good at what they did that other Islands began to request units. As production increased, Makuro built a great factory to better accommodate the process, and watched over his business with great care until his eventual passing. Now, two generations later, the Hagah have become a commonplace sight on every Island, greatly reducing the need for Toa. It is perhaps no coincidence that now, ghosts are also a much more common sight on every Island.
The Island of Jungle is a land of paradox, more colloquially referred to as “the Island of Life and Death”. Nature reigns supreme on this Island, making it home to countless species of flora that exist nowhere else in the world, and the Jungle Tribe has learned all there is to know about each and every one of them. One of the outcomes of this is that the Island of Jungle is home to the greatest of all physicians, unparalleled healers who utilize herbal medicines that work what most consider miracles, thus granting the Island its claim to Life. Its claim to Death, however, comes from its other industry: many of the plants found here can also be made into lethal poisons, and those who have learned how to concoct these brews have trained to use them and other techniques to become expert assassins feared across the globe as the Umarak Clan. Those who seek to hire the assassins of the Jungle Tribe are usually able to find them, but those who wish them harm—including even the Jungle Coronet—have rarely had any success. Luckily, this shadow has done nothing to impact the use of the Island’s healers, and the Water Tribe has gifted them a special ship named the Ignika to make it easier for doctors and patients to be ferried back and forth.
The Lightning Tribe is generally a friendly bunch, even if their impulsive natures can make them difficult to predict. Thankfully, the Lightning Coronets have consistently been those who have grown out of that wild nature, preventing the Island from doing anything too out of the ordinary. The Island of Lightning is also famed for its Morcian Swords, named after the town of Morcia where they are forged from ionalloy to grant their signature ability of hurling lightning bolts from their tips. Throughout all of recorded history, terrible storms have plagued the Island and caused great devastation. To their credit, this has done little to discourage the Lightning Tribe, and they have taken on a very defiant attitude when it comes to facing the will of nature, though this attitude is thought to have a hand in the relative rarity of Lightning Toa. Recently the Tribe has begun developing weather control technology (with some assistance from other Tribes), and the results are beginning to show real promise.
Though the Rock Tribe is blessed with great physical prowess, they are some of the kindest souls in this world, and have long enjoyed favorable relations with all Tribes. Matching their pacifistic nature, the weapon they are most known for are their Skrall Shields—they prioritize defense and will always seek to solve things peacefully, fighting back only when absolutely necessary. Since no one has any quarrels with them, seeing them actually fight is quite rare. The only notable time the Island of Rock came under attack was during the rampage of Shark Demon Pridak, when the monster bit a chunk out of the Island’s coastline. While this wound, now named the Shark Gulf, went mostly ignored for some time, recently the Rock Coronet has posted guards in the hopes of catching a deranged cult who uses it to pay tribute to the slain demon. While there has been some concern over this development, the people of the world still love the Rock Tribe and welcome them with open arms…or at least, they would if the Rock Tribe wasn’t terrified of crossing the ocean.
Finally, there is the Island of Sun, a seat of great power that has now inherited the fear shed by the Metal Tribe. The Element of Sun naturally gives those who wield it power over sunlight, but they are not left defenseless at night: they also possess the ability to bend moonlight and starlight, which are less powerful but have more versatile uses. Because of this, the Sun Tribe has always been considered one of the strongest powers in the world, and was treated with great respect for wielding such a tremendous Element. This all changed a decade ago, during the last Day of Foresight. When Krakua appeared to tell of the future, he spoke of a time when an endless eclipse would darken the sky, and of a Sun Coronet who would use it to amplify their power and rain devastation upon the world. No longer was the Island of Sun held in such high regard. While the Sun Coronet assured all that the prophecy would not come to pass, the other Islands could only distrust them, building up their militaries to prepare for this prophesied eclipse. Some Tribes have even taken aggressive action against the Island of Sun, including a Kardata user killing the only Sun Toa and threatening that worse would happen were they to create more. Even the Island of Metal has become hesitant to send Hagah to the Island. The Sun Coronet has done all they can to remain non-threatening, but the atmosphere has grown very tense on their Island. The Ice Tribe has studied the sky and predicted when the next eclipse will occur, and the world waits anxiously to see if it will pass without incident.
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