Elemental lord

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Ymeri, elemental lord of fire.

An elemental lord is a divine being birthed from, and made of the substance of, one of the elemental planes. As demigods they have worshipers amongst creatures of their element. For most of history, there was no balance between good and evil among the elemental lords, unlike elsewhere in the Great Beyond, as the evil elemental lords had defeated and sealed away their good rivals long ago, the good elemental lords were only recently freed from imprisonment, and elemental lords of metal and wood only recently reappeared alongside their respective planes. The evil elemental lords seem to embody the worst qualities of fire, water, wind, and earth, and are fickle and dangerous.

History

Many believe that the elemental planes were already ancient when the Universe first came into existence. Ruling the remaining four planes were eight beings who were masters of elemental creation and destruction, balanced into a volatile equilibrium of opposing agendas and created to embody their element's potential: the elemental lords. The four lords Ayrzul, Hshurha, Kelizandri, and Ymeri were each opposed by Sairazul, Ranginori, Lysianassa, and Atreia. Their abilities were designed to be so evenly matched that none could overcome the other. This all changed when the deities created the Universe and mortal life.

Deities fashioned the Universe using the substance of the elemental planes. At first this was a one-sided transaction, but soon the elemental planes began receiving something in return: souls passing through them on their way to the Outer Planes. Where once the elemental planes had been unchanging, if mutable, foundational realms, they began to be imbued with mortal imagination, thought, and motive. Mortals assigned moral interpretations to elements, designating some as evil and others as good, and the corresponding elemental beings began to shift from their inherent neutrality—none more so than the elemental lords.

Ranginori, elemental lord of air.

According to the elementals, when the Universe was young, the good elemental lords combined their powers to create stars, planets, oceans, and life, while their evil rivals were too disunited to effectively resist. However, as mortals began to define and use the elements for evil, the good elemental lords started blaming each other. The evil elemental lord Kelizandri formed a temporary pact known as Kelizandri's Conspiracy with the three others, and together they defeated and imprisoned their good rivals in four artifacts: the Moaning Diamond, the Gasping Pearl, the Untouchable Opal, and the Garnet Brand.

As the lords of the Conspiracy grew in power, the lords of metal and wood faded and shrunk in influence and presence until their realms seemingly vanished between the cracks of the Inner Sphere, and the good elemental lords were consigned to obscurity and legend. Only the Concordance of Elements, an extraplanar organization devoted to understanding and preserving the Great Beyond's structure, learned of these secrets, and only in recent years. The Concordance joined with the Pathfinder Society, a mortal organization on Golarion that attempted to free the imprisoned lord of air Ranginori, in response to undue interference against the effort by Hshurha.

In 4718 AR, the Society and Concordance freed Ranginori and returned him to his old realm, and the other imprisoned elemental lords were freed in the subsequent five years. This restoration of ancient balance also revived the Planes of Wood and Metal, restoring them and their lords to the multiverse.

Elemental lords

Kelizandri's Conspiracy

The names and the titles of the elemental lords often associated with evil, who imprisoned their rivals and long reigned over their realms, are:

• Ayrzul, the Fossilized King (Plane of Earth)
• Hshurha, Duchess of All Winds (Plane of Air)
• Kelizandri, the Brackish Emperor (Plane of Water)
• Ymeri, Queen of the Inferno (Plane of Fire)

Imprisoned lords

The names and the titles of the long-ago defeated and recently freed elemental lords, often associated with good, are:

• Atreia, The Lambent Prince (Plane of Fire)
• Lysianassa, Empress of the Torrent (Plane of Water)
• Ranginori, Duke of Thunder (Plane of Air)
• Sairazul, the Crystalline Queen (Plane of Earth)

Returned lords

The elemental lords of metal and wood who recently rejoined the Great Beyond along with their planes are:

• Ferrumnestra, Lady of Rust (Plane of Metal)
• Laudinmio, The Sovereign of Alchemy (Plane of Metal)
• Shumunue, Carved Lady of Mimicry (Plane of Wood)
• Verilorn, Custodian of Oak and Ash (Plane of Wood)

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.