Bard

"Gaia is our Supreme Goddess, and she is the very ground walked upon, that which the ocean rests, and she who holds the flame. Although Our Mother Gaia is eternal, and we must care for her so she may care for us, even she was born of someone.

Long before Zephyr and their brother Animas, and even before her brother, Flucas- Gaia was born to The Matriarch. A dark and otherworldly thing, it bore Gaia from a thought and she crawled from the void to rest in the cold darkness, where even now she lay. Unfortunately for Mother Gaia, The Matriarch was anything but nurturing.

In the cold void of The Matriarch's home, Gaia wept for she was alone. She wept and wailed until her tears filled the secret places of the world. The Matriarch could not understand the emotion Gaia felt in her loneliness, but brought the same life it gave Gaia to the tears she'd shed: calling him Flucas.

For a time, Flucas and Gaia played amongst themselves, and peace was had in their darkened home. Until the novel of light came to visit.

Astride his steed Lumio and wielding the coveted iron of the cosmos in the form of Fabri, Animas arrived along with his sibling, Zephyr. The two were at first painful to look upon, drawing the ire of The Matriarch and its children, but Animas arrived to their home in peace. He'd grown lonely in the vast universe, and grew tired of the same tasks of bringing light to the removed places; similar to Gaia's role as the lone confidant to The Matriarch and Flucas.

Animas and Gaia soon were wed, and she yet blushes with green from the ceremony. Flucas and Zephyr even were entangled, and we still see the result in the clouds. Eventually, Gaia and Animas had children together- two daughters called Stella and June- and the rage of The Matriarch was felt throughout the cosmos. Gaia herself trembled at the sight, but Animas was capable, he was bold, and he'd had visions of this moment.

Animas was swift to mount his steed and ride to battle against his bride's mother. He knew that her death would result in his greatest creation: one that would impress upon Gaia his need for change without the sacrifice of divinity. He'd had visions of The Prime Element, and nothing would stand in the way of progress.

The Matriarch fought him well, nearly snuffing out Lumio and leaving Gaia in darkness once more, but the nebulous Matriarch was no match for the dense and powerful Fabri. With each strike of Animas' hammer, he revealed the truth hidden by the Matriarch: that this realm was a realm of light! of good! The evidence is above your heads in the night sky, when Lumio goes to stable and the stars yet show the true-world: behind The Matriarch's walls."

The story of The Prime Element and the arrival of Mortals will be told another day. The creation myth is something I like to tell in the character of an old storyteller lol.

Having depression and whatever else I have makes having a consistent writing schedule difficult. If anyone wants to send me asks about my fantasy setting and all its people, feel free! I think they're open now!
My plan is to use asks as a reminder to actually write the things I'm working on. I have been building private lore for so long that the world is basically ready for talking about. So please! Ask away!

Double posting this so that people are awake for it 😬

Magic- howdy, that one's a doozy.

Before Hominids were made, Gaia had two moons. The one that remains, the Goddess of Beauty, Art, and Love: June; and her sister, the Goddess of Magic, Mystery, and The Stars: Stella.

During the time of the Empires of Vetur and Eldur, magic was exclusive to those that beseech the Gods. None could simply learn magic, so those that were lucky enough to be granted power shaped the world for themselves with great cruelty. In response to the world becoming more tyrannical and dark, Solomon, the head servitor of The Gods and primary paramour of Stella, descended.

Eventually, Zephyr shifted the wind so that Mortals could fight back against the perfection of Solomon- and the new Empire of Elementa was born. The great servitor was defeated, and the first spell outside of divinity was cast by The Great Elemental on the body of Solomon. The first necromancy.

Stella was wrathful to say the least, but unable to directly harm the mortals that slayed and dined upon the essence of her beloved Solomon. She saw their crude necromancy, and showed them what true darkness looks like. Reanimating her love, Solomon was changed into the first Devil, and went on to curse the Primordials back into submission. Gaia and Animas were forced to intervene, ending the mystery of The Gods and changing the course of mortal progress forever.

This exposition, I know, doesn't explain where magic comes from at all. Yet. Animas is not only a God of flame, craft, and strength; but is also a God of revelation. One that can divine the future. In response to a vision, Animas convinced Gaia that other vessels for the mortal spirit should be made, and she preoccupied herself with the creation of hominids whilst he drafted the Dragons.

What happened next is a matter of debate, but one thing is certain. Stella was destroyed by Animas- her own father. In a great event called The Red Sky Days the world was engulfed in the calamity of Gaia's second moon breaking into countless pieces and plummeting to the planet's surface. Gaia forevermore would be wrapped in the dark violet ring of Stella's Sundering, a permanent fixture in the sky even now called Stella.

After the Sundering, the hierarchy of The Gods was thrown into disarray. Animas was imprisoned within the roiling rage of Gaia's core, Zephyr was sent on a never-ending journey to observe mortals, and Stella was slain. Gaia was left to clean up the pieces as Flucas was a God of Knowledge, not creation. After her reorganization of the world, she considered how she would never see the Magic of Stella again; and in her grief she left Stella's essence untouched- free for the taking for all Mortals.

In the beginning, magic was wild and uncontrollable. Stellan temples were built from the stones of the moon, and the oracles in a frenzy wrote the arcane formulae for their flock before experiencing the most sublime form of Spell-Burn (a condition where the magic coursing through the body is more than the body can handle.) where they cease to exist in a gout of violet flame. These frantically scrawled scrolls would go on to become the basis for all formulaic magic in the future, and the sacrifice of the First Sages would become legend.

Once the Stellan temples' magical charge was consumed to safer levels and the Sages' Scrolls became archaic, many of the first Wizards began teaching in said temples. Equipped with dense books full of formulae that have been used, recorded, and improved upon; the Wizards were well prepared to begin writing instructions on magic- even full textbooks of magical theory and study. It was an enlightening period for the Arcane, and the wizards were the ones holding the torch. That is, until the repercussions of magic consumption came back from centuries before.

Wizards had spent hundreds of years learning and perfecting arcane magic across all cultures, learning of the nature of the worlds and learning what to expect from them. What they did not expect, however, was that The Sages left them more to ruminate on. Sorcerers were beginning to appear: people from all backgrounds which descend from any numerous people that were involved in the building of the Arcane, or even folk who got too close to a Stella Stone or another place of incredible Arcane Resonance.

So, to finally answer your question:
You can be born with magic, or even stumble into it! People of Gaia are definitely aware of magic, but there are places that outright fear it. You can learn magic formally from the Wizards of established schools, or from your parents/village smarties if magic is culturally relevant to your heritage. Humans of some cultures have restrictions on who can learn magic, and who has to learn magic to protect themselves; but like humans of our world, that philosophy on The Arcane is not etched in stone.

Money's involvement in magical education has less to do with your prowess and more to do with your style if you know what I mean. Formally taught wizards usually spend some coin to take their classes, and Hedge Mages of the same style can build a spellbook of their own design from a hodgepodge of acquired scrolls and research. While these legendary approaches can be pricey, or even scandalous in some human communities; there are avenues which cost nothing! You are still able to beseech power from The Gods, be granted magic as an Oracle to them, or even simply through understanding the way magic courses through the natural world as a Druid or an Alchemist.

When all is said and done, magic is simply a part of Gaia's past, present, and future. People from all walks find countless ways to access the mysterious essence of magic, and the obstacles that prevent folk from using it are few. Luckily for the mundane, arcane folk of genuine power are quite rare, as the aptitude for magic is highly reliant on keenness of mind and force of will. Many communities are yet agrarian, and place more value in a strong back than a strong mind.

I hope this wasn't too much! I felt like answering only one thing on this would have spawned many more questions (that I got answers to) so I thought maybe I could give a little background history.

Deep in the heart of Galardia: The Heart of Gaia, there lives an unassuming Elf. They wield a spear and have no home per se; as there is no place on Gaia they are not perfectly accustomed to.

It is impossible for an elf to die of old age, and given enough luck/skill, an Elf can literally live forever. That is what has happened to Sylvja. During the beginning of the second era, Hominids were made alongside Draconids; but only Elves and Dragons were made to last forever. (The Dragon Gods for another post. Not people, unfortunately.) Elves were carved from a fallen Avatar of Gaia herself- the Alvwood: a tree which grows forever unless killed. The beginning of Elvenkind is known as The First Splintering, and like all other hominids they've established themselves from there.

Sylvja being one of the first Elves comes with a lot of baggage. They remember the first time hominids were hunted, and they remember the first time they did the hunting. They remember the cities of The Primordials still standing with pride as the first civilization, and they remember outlasting each and every one. They remember much, but others of the homeland they established (Filarwynn) have been cursed to forget. They have seen much of the world, and simply take it for what it is, now. Sylvja had tried (and succeeded multiple times) to save the world from itself, but the weariness that came with it disillusioned them. Eventually, they vanished, becoming a traveler.

Over the course of decades, an Elf will adjust to their environment. For example, the Elves of Tidas, the Sunken Continent, have adapted to become amphibious; and the elves of Astrylvia, the Spring Court atop the canopy of Filarwynn, have adapted to the high altitude and harsh terrain to require less air and move with ease along thin branches. Sylvja has taken the required time over the course of all the ages to exist with ease anywhere on the planet; earning the title Alva Prynn or The Prime Elf in their tongue.

As easy as it could be to hate the people that cursed the Elves of Filarwynn, they could not bring themselves to hate. Sylvja built the philosophies of their people to value life above all else; but the multiple schisms of their court and reinterpretations of their stewardship over Life have left Sylvja's old dream of an Elven Empire deceased. When not even their own people could grow in only one direction, how could they hate another people for touching the branches of their tree?

The ennui of being ancient beyond comprehension has left Sylvja alone in the jungles of Galardia to reflect on all they've seen. They do not speak anymore, preferring to observe and never interfere with the beautiful Summer Court of Elves with whom they share forest. Alva Prynn yet considers what they will pursue next, and the world waits with bated breath on their decision- for in the immeasurable time they've had to improve, they have no equal in experience.