The Jailing of the Elementals

## The Immortals

Hephastus *(Hefa-stas),* son of Promethus *(Prom-a-thus)*, is a lesser Immortal being hailing from the Higher Planes of Asgal. Hephastus was called upon by his father when Pangaia suffered from the rise of great titan Archonidas *(Arc-on-eye-das)* and his oceans of elemental minions tearing the planet apart from the inside out.

Known for his unrivaled blacksmithing abilities, Hephastus was able to forge three great guardians to help crowd control the raging forces that swept the lands below. Hephastus was to be accompanied by the Immortal Demios *(Dem-eye-us),* second son of Mars the Conqueror and Apollas, youngest son of Mars and Demios' younger brother.

## Archonidas & The Rise of the Elementals

After Archonidas was smited by the gods of Asgal, the three immortals and their guardians were sent down to the surface of Pangaia amidst the thick dust cloud that choked the fractured mountains of Adamah. Archonidas' body was shattered, but still he lived. The six hacked away at his animated rubble until the once great titan was nothing more than a mountain of sand and dust.

The elementals, risen from the debris, grew enraged and too numerous to deal with. Where one fell, a dozen rose. Some too large to hold back, others too small to strike. The immortals where being overrun, and so they retreated into the deep scars of the shattered land left by the smiting.

From within the depths, they regained their strength. The three guardians and Hephastus were hard at work to forge minions of their own, small enough to deal with the lesser elementals. These mechanical drones were nimble and equipped with earth-shattering tools. Drills, hammers, chisels and pickaxes to deconstruct the earthern; water cannons and mist sprayers to extinguish the fire elements and flame throwers to evaporate the waters elements.

## The Elemental Lords

Meanwhile, from the heart of Archonidas' chaotic rest, a new foe rose to power. The molten rock formed by the dense population of earth and fire elementals was rapidly cooled by the invading water elementals, creating the gargantuan stone behemoth Teramagor.

Teramagor's birth broke open a pocket of arcane energy absorbed by the land, which he himself consumed, giving him a higher level of sentience . The earthern hailed him as their leader without question, but earth was viewed as inferior to the rest of the elements and so others rose to power to lead their own kind by consuming copious amounts of arcane energy just as Teramagor did. Ra-dun the Purifier, Achelous the Tidewaker and Aeolus the Thundering Prince all equaled each other in strength and wit.

The four elementals went to war, each spreading to far corners of the continent to claim their own domain. After the initial power struggle that took place during the rise of the elemental lords, the earthern of adamah were in a weakened state and distracted just enough for the Immortals, the Guardians and the Mechaean soldiers to launch an assault.

## Jailing of the Elements

Teramagor was caught off guard and easily restrained. The guardians and their minions began building a prison the contain him and the rest of the earthern. Which the situation seemingly under control, one guardian was left in Adamah to finish their work while the other two accompanied the immortals across the land to claim the others.

First was Achelous and the water elementals. The immortals called upon the powers from above to part the sea, allowing them to walk directly to their capital; Fathomus. Without the tides to command, Achelous was rendered useless. The underwater city of Fathomus, now exposed to the air, was sealed and locked. Once back on land, the parted ocean came crashing down upon Fathomus, pushing it beneath the sea bed.

Defeating Aeolus would not be as easy. His sky kingdom of Aetherus could not be reached by normal means. For this, the immortals called upon Asgal once again. Promethus reached down with his platinum skinned arm and clasped Aetherus within his grasp. He drew the thunder and lightning from it's charged, darkened towers and expelled it all in one, great, thundering detonation that burst the clouds and shattered it's spires. Aeolus, clinging onto life, was chained beneath the last tower in the sky kingdom that stood. One of the remaining two guardians left to stand watch on the coastline beneath the Aetherus and over looking Fathomus.

Finally, Ra-dun, who was fighting a war of his own against the prime elves of Gehennok. While distracted, Hephastus and the last guardian build a prison within a mountain named Aggramar, from where they defeated and imprisoned Ra-dun and his minions, but not before the last guardian was destroyed in the struggle. Without a guardian, Demios offered himself to watch over Ra-dun and his fiery elemental minions while Hephastus returned to his workshop to create a new Guardian.

## Demios' Betrayal

In Hephastus' absence, Demios grew impatient and angry while he stood guard over Aggramar.

One day, he was visited an elf named S'un (*S-oon).* This was the first peaceful contact Demios had with other sentient life since his arrival on Cimmera. The elf was inquisitive as to the immortals presence and politely questioned his decent from Asgal. At first, Demios was brash and rude toward the elf and ordered her to respect her masters and not interfere in divine works, but she was not threatened by the towering titan and she eventually wore him down.

Demios and S'un conversed for hours. Everyday following this she would return to talk to the demigod. The two became close friends and for a short while Demios forgot he was a powerful demigod keeping watch over an elemental lord's prison.

Unknown to the immortal however was that S'un was in fact no an elf at all, but a dark and twisted malevolent being wearing a cunning disguise. Saur'un, the actor behind the mask, was playing the long con with the immortal.

One day, S'un was late to arrive. Distracted with worry and confusion, Demios strayed from the gates of Aggramar to search the nearby woods for his one and only comfort. In his absence, Saur'un's lackeys penetrated the prison and released the elemental lord, Ra-dun. Demios was outraged by his mishap and was quick to strike the beast. After a long winded fight, Demios emerged victorious and began to re-apply the enchanted bindings to Ra-dun's broken and defeated body. Just as he was doing so, S'un appeared.

She persuaded Demios not to lock away the elemental lord, but instead to kill him and absorb his power. By doing so, Demios would become the new ruler of the fire elementals. He could control them himself, there would be no need for a prison nor a guard. He agreed, and thrust his clenched fist into the lord's molten chest, ripping out it's arcane infused fiery heart and consuming it whole. An initial surge of power piqued obsessive tendencies and the immortal began the thirst for more. He tore Ra-dun's smoldering corpse apart and bathed in his fires.