While few if any Ferellans believe that there is such thing as a god, some in the remote human village of Askile have come to believe in them after witnessing miracles and inexplicable phenomena. One such phenomenon is he appearance of a lightning formation they dubbed the “antlers of the gods.” The lighning appears in the shape of one of two antlers, arcing up towards the sky.
Every time the lightning appears in this formation, one item from the town will go missing. Sometimes, a intricately carved pot disappears from a craftsman’s basement. Other times, a statue or monument will disappear from a prominent location. Many believe a god is coming and taking the most precious items humanity can make. his is consistent will the town of Askile’s reputation as some of the most skilled craftspeople in the world, regardless of the medium.
Most planets have an aurora, and Ferella is no exception. It is said that people born under the aurora have enhanced magical abilities. Some even believe that non-elves born under aurora can use elven magic as if they were elves.
This statue was found in a cave near where some of the oldest archaeological sites on ‘El’ were location. It is believes to be a great leader or deity that was worshiped. The cave may have been a crude temple from when humans first arrived on ‘El’ and began to establish themselves.
This drawing was found against an upper portion of a wall during excavation of the upper floor of a house in the archaeological site designated Settlement Alpha. It is believed to be artwork depicting a form of transportation. Archaeologists speculate that the transportation style was reserved for the wealthy or for performers and scientists, as the method appears to be an unstable travel method, but was deemed worthy of display.
Artifact Details: Site: ALPHA-10363-01 Item: Framed Drawing 001 Date: Mittelsommer 06, 10363 Location: EB 02 E90 S12 D118 Description: Framed Drawing of an orb with a basket underneath (30cm wide, 20cm tall) JM, FL
It is said that the moontouched can transform into their komorebi, whether that’s water for one and fire for another. Many do not believe such rumors, but the moontouched all know it to be true. They treat these abilities with the greatest reverence and borderline terror.
There is a ghost story amongst the moontouched. It tells of a girl named Maia Running-Candle who came to a school for moontouched to learn how to use her light komorebi. She was one of the most skilled students who had ever come to the school, mastering high-level techniques during her first year and quickly advancing beyond what her peers could do.
Maia’s master was content to let her learn each new ability as she mastered the previous one, but the dean began to worry that she was learning too fast. Many moontouched skills can have dangerous and long-lasting consequences.
Two years into Maia’s studies, her master came before the dean and told him Maia was ready to learn the most advanced and dangerous technique a moontouched could learn. This would be the capstone lesson to make Maia a true master; transforming into her element. While Maia’s studies showed that she had mastered every other ability, the school had strict ethical guidelines. The dean determined that she could not learn the new ability until she had been at the school long enough to understand the dangers and implications of the ability. She would have to complete twelve full years with the college.
The dean generously offered her employment as a teaching assistant, believing that this would give her the chance to see and experience all levels of komorebi and understand why it could be dangerous, but instead, it gave her the chance to gain sympathy among her peers. Less than a year later, her master finally agreed to teach her the capstone ability without the dean’s consent.
Soon after, the pair snuck into the training grounds together. The lesson began with a demonstration in which the light master flawlessly shifted, her form disappearing into a beam of light that zipped around the room. Excited, the apprentice began to mimic her instructor’s movements.
Realizing what her pupil intended to do, the master began to shift back, her form coalescing and becoming more solid as a warning left her lips, “wait-!”
The student’s form dissolved, bright light filling the room as she streaked around it, bouncing haphazardly against the walls. The beam of light struck her master’s incomplete form, causing a bright explosion. The form flickered and dimmed, finally settling into a single humanoid shape made of light.
Now, that humanoid shape travels the world, roaming at the speed of light. At any point, you may look over your shoulder and see her. She will have something to tell you, but she will be unable to speak.
Nobody is certain whether the event killed the apprentice and left the master stuck in a half-light, half-human form, or whether it merged the two into a single being made of light. To this day, the story is told as a cautionary tale to impatient moontouched and to each new student who prepares to learn this potentially deadly ability.
In the Helsinki Forest, also known as the Winter-Runner Forest, contains a rare breed of magical snake. Some believe they have a connection to the famous snake-bonded people who fought in the Second Demonic War. Unlike those snakes, their venom is a powerful healing agent.
Many Ferellan natives are known to have control of lightning and electricity, but few have mastered it. Some of these rare individuals, called lightning moontouched, are selected to be trained at a school for moontouched, while others are found by a traveling lightning komorebi master.
One such student was Jaina Scholar-Field, an unusually powerful elven woman. Jaine was born during times when schools were rare, but Carin Elf-Song discovered her abilities when passing through the tiny village she lived in.
During the master’s visit, a lightning storm came through the town, marked by a lack of rain or warning clouds. The lightning flashed a brilliant purple color, marking the beginning of the storm. Clouds began to coalesce, pulling in around it until the lightning could barely be seen as a purple tinge to the clouds. The lightning steadied and no longer came in flashes, instead forming a steady stream just above the cloud ceiling before striking the ground in one massive blow that shook the village.
Carin elected to stay in the village to investigate the strange event, and soon discovered that the event heralded the birth of a powerful infant, Jaina Scholar-Field. As she grew up, her talents became too challenging for her family to handle, and at the age of nine, she was given fully into Carin’s custody.
By adulthood, Jaina had mastered every technique her master taught her, but was known for out-of-control outbursts. Stories were shared about the time she lost control of her magic during an argument and destroyed an entire village in a lightning storm.
Another village considered her a heroine as she liberated them from a tyrannical mayor. The mayor was abusing a servant, and the tales say that Jaina looked up from her drink and stared the mayor down as he berated the young man. Suddenly, the mayor’s eyes rolled back in his head and he began to shake uncontrollably, falling to the floor. They claim that purple lightning flashed overhead for the days he lay sick, seizing uncontrollably until his death three days later.
Some time after her twentieth birthday, Jaina set out with a group of adventurers and never returned. Some believed she perished fighting a great threat while others claim that her own abilities became too strong and destroyed her.
In the great city of Atlantis, there is an exclusive training school for the smoke dancers. This elite entertainment group travels the world from the first day of autumn to the last day of winter. You can find them in theaters with crowds of hundreds or in the streets putting on a complete show for a single small child, though each smoke dancer chooses where they perform. They may tour with a large group of up to ten dancers, or an individual may travel alone.
The winter cold is said to enhance their mystical powers. In the depths of the cold months, they can produce nearly endless amounts of smoke. Their control increases, allowing them to form the smoke into intricate shapes that they can never create in the warmer months.
There are many theories about the unusual nature of smoke dancers’ talents. Some people assume that the heat from the smoke creates fog, much like one’s breath on the cold winter’s morning, while others believe there is a more mystical explanation. Upon interrogation, no smoke dancer has revealed the source of their ability to control smoke. However, some people theorize that it is related to the air, water, or fire komorebi.
This portrait was found on a piece of large paper in the walls of a house in an abandoned human settlement titled Settlement Alpha. It was packed into the walls with other, unreadable pages. The writing below the image was indecipherable, but scholars’ best guess is that it’s a wanted poster for this individual. Further excavations may reveal more information.
Ferellan World 