The First

One of the Shattered looking upon a visage of a few of the lost First.

The **First**, sometimes referred to as the **First Folk**, are the race that once inhabited Pandaemonium before it collapsed. Most of the First were lost in this catastrophic event, however they still live on in two forms - the Shattered, who broke their souls into pieces and sent them to Rosenwelt to escape the apocalypse, and the gnomes, the remnants of a lost expedition from the First onto Rosenwelt.

## Description

The First were similar in appearance to humans, however stood far taller - usually around 7 to 8 feet - and were much lighter in build. The First were naturally adept at manipulating Focus, and even the least talented among their population were capable of feats that the races of Rosenwelt would see as astounding with relative ease. The most powerful and adept of the First were capable of acts of magic even more powerful than those of the First Brood. These magics are ancient, and since the extinction of the First, only remain in possession of the Shattered, who are unlikely to share it. However, this also implies that the First required immense amounts of Focus to cast these spells. Scholars and statements from the Shattered imply that their magic is so powerful due to their ability to manipulate some form of "tertiary elements" that scholars of Rosenwelt do not understand.

## Society

### A Percieved Utopia

The First ran their society as what they saw as a utopia. Everyone contributed the best way they could, and due to the First's powerful magics, were never wanting for anything. Death of old age had been eliminated, food could simply be magicked into existence, clothes created in mere moments. There was a certain hubris that permeated their society, as they had entirely conquered their world - nothing could threaten them. However, this hubris would end up being their downfall.

### The Twelve Councils

The First ran their society based on twelve different councils. These councils were all democratically elected, and the head of each council was given a name based on the constellations in the sky. This leader was granted a special mask, that held the memories of all previous leaders in their position. Upon taking this position, the leader adopted the name of the position as well. These leaders held powerful political leadership positions, and acted to guide the First. Each First were assigned a mask that was passed down to them when they took the position, which held the memories, experiences, and knowledge of all past holders of their position.

The twelve councils and their leaders were:

* The First Council, which oversaw all other councils and acted as the executive branch of the government, and was lead by **Virgo**.
	+ The first Virgo possessed extreme adeptitude with the manipulation of umbral Focus, and as such the position became closely tied to this element.
* The Second Council, which oversaw legal matters and acted as a judicial branch, and was lead by **Libra**.
* The Third Council, which oversaw matters of defending the utopia from internal threats, and was lead by **Scorpio**.
* The Fourth Council, which oversaw the creation of necessary resources like food, and was lead by **Sagittarius**.
* The Fifth Council, which oversaw matters of lawmaking, and was lead by **Capricorn**.
* The Sixth Council, which oversaw the vast oceans and seas of the world, and was lead by **Aquarius**.
* The Seventh Council, which oversaw the caves of the world, and was lead by **Pisces**.
* The Eigth Council, which oversaw matters of defending the utopia from outside threats, and was lead by **Aries**.
* The Ninth Council, which oversaw matters of construction and building, and was lead by **Taurus**.
* The Tenth Council, which oversaw demographics and population matters, and was lead by **Gemini**.
* The Eleventh Council, which oversaw the rest of the councils to prevent corruption, and was lead by **Cancer**.
* The Twelfth Council, which oversaw the land of the world, and was lead by **Leo**.
	+ Similar to the first Virgo, the first Leo was highly talented in manipulating aetherial Focus, and the position became closely tied to this element.

### The Fall of the First

The hubris of the First lead to their destruction. They attempted to harness the power of their plane's astral currents, but in doing so, caused a catastrophic destabilization of their plane's focus currents, and caused a slow yet agonizing destruction of their home. Chaos spread through the streets, and the utopia of the First had fallen - Pandaemonium had been brought to their lands. The first chance the First took was to gather the Focus from another plane - now known as The Bleak - and use it to rectify their mistake. However, this massive project failed, and only sped up the collapse of their plane. The First realized that they were doomed. However, some groups recognized there were methods for them to escape.

### The Gnomes and the Shattered

#### The Gnomes

The gnomes were a group of First who had managed to procure a voidship and travel to the plane of Rosenwelt in an attempt to escape the chaos of their apocalypse. They did manage to escape to Rosenwelt, however, their journey was slow and eventually their voidship crashed and they were unable to escape it. This was no matter to the surviving First, however - they had enough supplies to last for generations. Over milennia, they lived in this ruined voidship, slowly adapting to its small, cramped hallways. Inevitably, the dwarves would find this ship, and upon excavating it and freeing the survivors, they found the gnomes - a short and stout race, that had long forgotten their history or connection to the First.

#### The Shattered

Before the end of the world, a group of five of the most influential and powerful First gathered together, with the plan to split each of their souls into ten parts each and send them to Rosenwelt. There, they would be able to reconstruct themselves over time, and enact a great plan to make Pandaemonium livable once more and correct their mistake, despite bulding themselves back up having to take thousands of years. The five that shattered themselves and managed to do this were Virgo, Cancer, Leo, Aries, and Libra, and ever since have slowly began to sew chaos and enact their plans.

## Combat

The First were rarely required to fight. However, when a situation that could not be solved through normal means occured, most First would simply run in their decadence. The rare few First who would stand and fight, however, typically were quite powerful indeed. The immense amount of Focus they possessed allowed them to cause immense destruction and chaos on the battlefield, and even harness magic that would allow them to transform their bodies into more efficient forms for combat.