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Volume II – Escape from CelestialGrizz Grindstone - Dwarf. 28 years old. 5’4” 170 lbs. His brown eyes match his dark-brown skin. Bald with tattoos on scalp. Long, black beard. Fights with a custom-built weapon that is half-axe, half-hammer. Wears brown-and-black armor. He is a loving husband to Juliana and father of Nash and Liam.Commander Krause – Human. 40 years old. Commander of Serendale. His time as commander was marked by failure and cowardice. Fights with a glaive. Wears dark and light green armor.Willis Wheeler – Elf. 22 years old. Willis is a freckle-faced, red-headed warrior who is intelligent and mature for his young age. He was born and raised in Serendale and seeks to aid the heroes however possible. Fights with a greatsword. Wears silver armor.

The World of Element and its InhabitantsCreation:
Element was created by two gods, Alazar (the god of Light) and Zebulon (the god of Darkness). Alazar filled the world with his four races: Humans, Elves, Giants, and Dwarves. Zebulon filled the world with two types of monsters: Anthropomorphic Monsters and Animal Monsters.Zebulon’s Monsters:
Anthropomorphic Monsters - consist of Ogres (similar to Giants), Orcs (similar to Humans), Day and Dusk Trolls (similar to Dwarves), Drow (similar to Elves). Drow and Dusk Trolls cannot be exposed to sunlight for long periods of times, so they live in caverns or underground. There are three main areas in the world where the bulk of them live (Evernight, Underdeep, and Deletion’s Abyss). Goblins were an error made in an attempt to copy Alazar’s creations. Minotaurs, Lycans, and Saurians are Anthropomorphic Monsters that are based on Bulls, Wolves, and Alligators/Lizards. There may be other Anthropomorphic Monsters based on animals that are less common.Animal Monsters - Larger and more twisted versions of common animals. Spiders, Pythons, Diremonsters (Direrat, Direboar, Direcat/Sabertooth, Direwolf, Direfox). Animal Monsters also include Dragons, Gryphons, and Phoenixes, who are the only species of Animal Monsters that can speak. There are many more types of Animal Monsters, some of which are rare. Ex. Kraken.*For both Anthropomorphic and Animal Monsters, many of them have a color in their skin, scales, feathers, or blood that signifies the element(s) they have control over).The Accursed - Zebulon also created The Accursed, which are undead skeletons. They are referred to by some as The Breathless. Any blade a skeleton wields is cursed. If the metal cuts a living creature, it infects it. When cut by an Accursed blade, the injured person, monster, or animal will have a black substance spread through its veins to its brain whether or not they died from wound made when cut. When the curse reaches the brain, the creature becomes Accursed. The speed at which someone turns undead depends on the location and severity of the cut. Once a skeleton, they will have no memories of their previous life and can only use elemental powers if they were a monster who had them during their life. All skeletons that are in the vicinity of the Accursed’s leader can be telepathically commanded by that leader. Otherwise, the mindless, default mode of Accursed around the world is to try and kill whatever living beings they can to add to their army. The skeleton leader’s powers always switch to whichever member of their army has the most kills upon the death of the leader. Zebulon sometimes gives control of the Skeleton King or Queen to one of his loyal worshipers. The greater the number of Accursed, the greater reach the Skeleton leader will have over his or her army. The Accursed blades have a black, swirling, smoke-like substance on their surface that is still visible even when an element is employed. The only way to prevent turning undead is to cut off the limb to prevent infection from spreading, having a cleric anoint the infected with holy water, or decapitating the creature so the brain never becomes infected.Elements:
Some Anthropomorphic and Animal Monsters are born with one or more of the five elements: fire, electricity, wind, water, and earth. Having the powers is dependent on genetics. Animal Monsters can attack with one element at a time from their mouth and defend with a separate element through turning their feathers or scales into that element. Anthropomorphic Monsters can change each piece of their armor into an element, but with a weapon, since it’s a singular piece of metal, they can only employ one element for each weapon they wield. Here are some of the properties and characteristics of the elements:-The element encases the metal of the weapon. The user is not affected by the weight of the weapon if any is added.-Elemental armor can only be used to defend with. No attacks can be emitted from it.-The earth element does not have any ranged attacks that can be summoned from weapons. This is because summoned fire, wind, water, and electricity all evaporate on their own after time, but summoning rocks or stone would be permanent.-Anyone who controls an element can control that element if it is present in the surrounding nature without needing their element activated on their armor or weapons.-All elemental abilities have limitations in range, output, and duration.-Using an element requires the stamina of the user. This is so dragons and other monsters cannot have an unlimited amount of attack.-The skin and clothes of the elemental user are immune to being affected unless the user wills them to be affected. Example. A monster controlling fire can only burn what it wills it to, allowing its rider to be unharmed.-Even if a monster has the ability to control an element, they can still be harmed by an attack of that element if it is not being used to cover their body. Ex. A fire phoenix must have their feathers activated and on fire to avoid being injured from a fire attack.-If two users have the same element, whoever the element is closer to can control it. Example: A monster with the fire element can push a fire plume attack away from itself before the attack impacts.-Any metal can be encased in an element, even coins.-Drow skin cannot be burned or frozen. They have immunity to temperatures.-The elements are what the planet of Element is created out of. This is symbolized by the fact there is a red, blue, green, yellow, and brown moon. There are also rare and valuable gemstones that correlate to each element. Ruby for Fire, Sapphire for Water, Emerald for Wind, Topaz for Electricity, and Jasper for Earth.Morality:
Monsters are not inherently evil or good. Since Alazar and Zebulon created the world and everything in it, both good and evil exist in the framework of it and each are inside all creations (including animals, which each god created different ones). Nature, nurture, past life events, and current life circumstances all effect where a creation falls on the spectrum between good and evil. For monsters, much of their time is spent in a survival of the fittest, cutthroat world because of oppression caused by the four races. The four races, in their selfishness, use their power to unnecessarily take more resources for the world than they need. Fewer resources push monsters even farther down into a survival of the fittest world, creating a need for them to resort to immoral tactics like lying, stealing, murdering, etc. to survive. The four races should be using their power and privilege to support and lift monsters up, showing them that through working together and not being selfish, that is the way to foster peace, harmony, and freedom.Alazar’s Elect:
At creation, Alazar created five elemental spirits which were given to people so that they could help protect the world against monsters. Alazar has a mostly hands-off approach to influencing events in his world, but he does use his elect to give them visions which serve to inspire or educate them. These visions can be from the past, present, or future timelines, both what has or hasn’t transpired or could transpire. There is one at the onset of obtaining your first element and some people see a second vision when their element is leaving them. Each of Alazar’s elect elemental recipients has the option of voluntarily giving up their element, at which point it is passed on to the next person Alazar chooses. Alazar sometimes takes an element from a person once they’ve served their purpose with it.

The KingdomAt the time the events in The Story of Evil begin it is the year 998. There is one kingdom on Element, made up of 12 provinces. Each province is connected to each other and is made up of villages, towns, and a Primary City. The Primary Cities are: Al Kabar, Almiria, Bogmire, Casanovia, Celestial (capital), Elmwood, Misengard, Oceanside, Serendale, Stonegate, Triland, and Twin Peaks.City Colors:
Celestial – red and blue
Serendale – green and dark green
Almiria – blue and white
Casanovia – yellow and sky blue
Twin Peaks – gray and black
Misengard – purple and light purple
Al Kabar – brown and tan
Bogmire – Tree City - brown and light green
Stonegate – gray and brown
Oceanside- blue and orange
Elmwood - pink and white
Triland - sky-blue and dark greenCultures:
Alazar favors no race, skin color, sexual orientation, or gender over any other. Every life has the same inherent value. However because of Zebulon’s evil influence on the world, some people believe certain groups are better than others. In some places, gender roles are different than others. In some places, the numbers of a certain race or skin color are higher or lower because that group either chose to or were forced to go to that location in large numbers due to wars or other events.One of the differences between the Primary Cities is culture. There are four types of cultures: Desert, Seacoast, Typical, and Unique.
Desert – Al Kabar and Stonegate. The civilians often use an apostrophe in their name. Examples: A’ryn, K’lar. Many buildings are made of clay, stone, or brick and have a brown or tan color. Vibrant art on the walls distract from the dull color palette. This art is often abstract paintings, statues, and sculptures. Desert culture refers to castles as fortresses. They take pride in their handcrafted goods like pottery, basket weaves, etc. They tend to use crossbows more than bows. They use catacombs instead of graveyards. Camels and mules are more prominent than horses and the clothing style often includes turbans or some sort of head-covering to help with the heat.Seacoast – Oceanside and Elmwood. The civilians often use a hyphen in their name. Example: Jun-Lei, Ca-talia. Many buildings are one-story with sliding doors, except for pagodas, which are tall, tiered buildings with ornate designs. Pagodas are the seacoast province’s form of castles or fortresses. Fishing, plants, and flowers are very popular, as are precisely laid stone pathways that often include stone or wooden arches. Houses commonly have zen gardens, fountains, and windchimes. Their art is an impressionist style focusing on calmness and the beauty of the natural. Katanas are a popular weapon. Mausoleums are used instead of graveyards or catacombs.Typical – Celestial, Almiria, Serendale, Misengard, Triland, Casanovia. These cities focus on realism as their art form, depicting actual events and moments. Castles are common, although many are ruined or crumbling because they were built long ago by rich civilians or out of necessity for the city.Unique – Bogmire and Twin Peaks. Bogmire is a city of huts built into the treetops and connected through wooden bridges. It sits over a giant swamp. Twin Peaks is a city inside of a mountain that has two peaks. While the bulk of buildings is clustered inside, there are buildings peppering the mountainside plateaus. A complex, but highly advanced system of carts and rails are used to travel around the city.Power Structure:
The kingdom has three groups who all hold each other in check. Clerics, Warriors, and Lawmakers.
Clerics – Each province has many temples, where civilians can go to worship Alazar. These temples care for the poor and needy. If the temple has an attached infirmary they care for the sick (both physical and mental health). The many clerics serve the head cleric of their temple, who follows the orders of the cleric overseer of the province. The high cleric, or which there is only one, advises all cleric overseers.Warriors – A warrior’s main job is to protect and serve the civilians of their province. They are stationed in the villages, towns, and cities and make sure the law is not being broken. Warriors have to pass Admittance Tests to be considered, which test their psychological, emotional, intellectual, and physical states. Warriors then go through one-year of intense Boot Camp, after which they have four years to pass a variety of classes so that they can begin working. The ranks of Warriors are: Warrior, Captain, and General/Commander. Each province has a different hierarchy. Some have only one Commander, some have one for each race, some have one to oversee each of the distinctions: Land, Sea, or Naval. (A group of warrior ships is called an armada. A group of aerial monsters is called a squadron).
Over their years of service, warriors can earn the right to paint the pieces of their armor through acts of valor or other achievements. The highest rank of Warrior is a knight. There are twelve knights who are hand-picked by the king. Their job is to protect the royalty. One of these twelve knights is the Supreme Commander, who advises all commanders throughout the kingdom.Lawmakers - Civilians of each province elect a Mayor/Councilor to run their town’s politics. This person has judges, lawmakers, and representatives who work for them that are made up of members of the community. There is one Head Councilor who oversees all in the kingdom. He or she offers autonomy to the elected leaders, provides guidance for the provinces, and works with the king to offer proposals for societal and cultural improvements.These three groups in power all serve the citizens of the kingdom. Children come-of-age on their sixteenth nameday. They finish their schooling for that year and are free to begin an apprenticeship under the master of a trade until they are deemed qualified. This usually takes four to five years of training, during which the apprentice receives a stipend. Squires are any children who are interested in a certain profession. They can help out or shadow a trademaster. It is usually done after school or on weekend and is usually only paid in meals or enough coins to buy a meal. Oftentimes, children who don’t attend school will squire if they can find a trademaster who accepts them.Currency:
Bronze, Silver, and Gold coins are the type of money used throughout the kingdom. 10 bronze coins equals 1 silver coin, 10 silver coins equals one gold coin. All coins feature faces of Heroes of Legend (Famous and influential warriors, lawmakers, and clerics).Religion:
Alazar inspired a select few of his Four Races to write three Holy Books. He gave them the words to write The Book of the Past, which details creation and history of the world, The Book of the Present, which is a guide to help those that believe in him live a life that will help them to embody his traits of goodness and love, and the Book of the Future, which is full of prophecies that are very difficult to interpret accurately.There are some people who hold to a different worldview in which a god named All-Mother created everything. Some live in the kingdom, but there are others who self-profess as barbarians and choose or were forced to live in the wilderness and away from society. Other people believe there is no life after death, so they live as freely and openly as they want during their time on Element. There are lesser known gods and religions. Sometimes a cult will arise where a person claims to be working for one of the gods or they interpret one of Alazar’s books wrongly. These groups can be very dangerous.Armor:
There are a variety of types of armor that each serve different purposes for either usage or aesthic: Padded, Ringmail, Splintmail, Banded Mail, Leather, Brigandine, Hide or Pelt, and Plate Armor.
Plate Armor is the most popularly used in battle and includes:Gauntlets – protects that hands, forearms, and sometimes elbow.Spaulders – shoulder coverings that protect both shoulder and upper armPlate –a piece of metal that is the breastplate and covers the abdomenCuisses – armor for thighs. This may or may not include greaves, which is a form of shin guards.Boots – come in low and high cut options.Chainmail is sometimes worn underneath different types of armor.*For all metal armor there are three levels of quality: bronze, silver, and gold.Weapons:
Like armor, weapons come in three levels of quality: bronze, silver, and gold. Silver is synonymous with the term steel. Gold weapons are difficult to make because adding a gold ignot to a molten mix of silver increases the strength of it, but makes it very temperamental in the crafting process. Only the most skilled of blacksmiths can forge golden weapons and armor.Although there are a lot of unique weapons, the most commonly used are:Sword - Falchion, Shortsword, Longsword/Greatsword, Gladius, Cutlass, Rapier, Broadsword, Scimitar, Katana, and Saber. Some of these are optional to use one-or-two-handed.GreatAxe (two-handed) or Axes (single hand)Pole Weapon - Ahlspeiss, Bardiche, Corseque, Glaive, Halberd, Lance, Pike, Ranseur, Scythe, SpearMace – a heavy ball or block on the end of a shaft. Usually spiked. Sometimes these are called Morning Stars. They are a bludgeoning weaponFlail - a Mace with a Spiked Ball on a chainBow – fires arrowsCrossbow – fires boltsMiscellaneous Notes:
-On Element, the sun rises in the north and sets in the south.-Monster Species are not capitalized (unless talking about them as a species as a whole) because their distinctions of Anthropomorphic Monster or Animal Monster is already capitalized.-The terms birthday and nameday are interchangeable phrases.-Heaven, Heavens, and Paradise are all interchangeable terms.-Pirate and raiders are interchangeable terms.-Fleet and Armada are interchangeable terms.-Halfling is an acceptable term for anyone of mixed race, but Halfbreed is offensive.-Halfman is a socially acceptable term for Dwarves.