Welcome to the Elemental Academy IC
The academy is defined as the pinnacle of harmony and peace to those who have come and gone from this world. Those taught speak of it as a shining example of tolerance and understanding, a home for the soul. Your thoughts carry on in the famed halls long after you have graduated. The laughter of children and adults alike are the music that follows you down every hall. Branching from this school is a small city, the labor of thousands turned to beauty. Styles and architecture from around the world are scattered through its bustling streets.
Every last soul can feel the undeniable thrum of power and energy released from their neighbors, from the river flowing through the city, from the rustle of the wind billowing through the forest canopy, and the sun peaking over the tip of the mountain, as it has done every day.
The city has no name. Nobody has tried to name something so unique, and thus it has always been referred to as 'the academy'. All who have the gift or respect the ways of nature are welcome to this home with open arms. Those who prefer seclusion have found homes on and around the mountain, some even claim the cave systems as their home with a bustling community thriving even there.
Technology has been limited but not by a wide margin. People own computers, television sets, cellphones. Electricity is readily available thanks to the contributions of the Techmentals. Generators made from the modern methods have been fitted with a powerful core, a secret refinement technique developed by the first generation of Techmentals nearly five decades ago that triggered an explosive burst of growth to the community as the way of life reached another plateau in their way of life.
From that point on the march of progress from the outside worlds influence, experienced builders, craftsmen, anything under the sun, changed the wooden thatch-roofed homes into concrete buildings of beauty. Every aspect of life changed to better suit the modern ages.
But at its core is the keen respect for our mother earth and her beauty. Many aspects of life, like plumbing and running water, have been developed in the same harmonious way the town was constructed. Elementals made way for the march of man willingly, content to become part of something greater. To allow growth of those who praise every grain of sand and every blade of grass.
It is at this town the students are settled. Temporary housing was given to new arrivals from the lands far away and fed with kindness and affection, ever eager to aid the next generation in their new adventure through the academy. These Men and Women offer to the first years bits of advice over etiquette, attire, healthy eating, and the ever constant reminder to feel the pulse of their new home and join it. To be in synch with that feeling of connection to the mountain rising high into the sky.
The rules of the village are simple to understand and mirror the outside world similarily.
Theft or vandalism is treated as an exileable offence.
You are not to wander far from the city without someone of authority knowing. For your own safety.
The mountain is home to wild life just like the forest. Be respectful to its denizens.
Use of elemental powers is prohibited in excessive levels outside of the school grounds. (accidents happen)
The first day of the academy begins with the third strike of the bell echoing down the mountainside at 9am sharp. All students are told to be dressed and presentable in whatever clothes they find comfortable, and make their way to the first floor of the academy. This will be for only the new first year students.
Second years and above attend classes later in the evening as a larger group.
Kano Hargor
The academy houses every teacher in a separate wing of its grounds. Privacy was held as a distinctly important aspect of personal life and was treated as such, with accommodations made to teachers to optimize comfort. Some teachers raised their families on school grounds as well, creating a tiny community separated from the township. Though teachers often visited outside the grounds for food or entertainment, or just to enjoy the ambiance.
It is in one such room we find one of the two Headmasters of the academy.
Miles below the chambers that had been crafted into tunnels and caverns for the students sits a door molded from stone and crystal. The shining gleam of the polished stone reflect the faintest of light and multiply it, making it easy to spot even in pitch black. The smooth stone features depictions of a great serpentine dragon bowing to the image of a sparkling lake made of crystals, the dragons great body spiraling around it over the entirety of the door. A single eye of the beast is open, with a deep ocean blue color to the stones. The other eye is closed save for a tiny sliver. Within it lays a patch of darkness so thick it is often rumored to be a window into the abyss.
Beyond those doors is not a cathedral to the gods, not a shrine to the elements, nor even a furnished office. It is a small room with no furniture or natural light. The ceiling is raised high with a natural waterfall flowing in from every corner and wall to cascade down into a shallow pit with just enough space for the water to flow out into the underground rivers without overflowing onto the rocky walkway that dominates the room. The floor is uneven, jagged, and unnatural.
Kano stood on the uneven ground staring into the nothingness of the room. The only sound was the flowing water in its endless cycle. It is in this chamber that the memories of the past find their way back into his mind after being forgotten for so long. Kano raised his right hand and offered it to the darkness as one would offer it to a dance partner.
The change in atmosphere was subtle at first. The water no longer drained out of the room as quickly, a trickle of the water flowing up steadily until it many minutes later as it crested the jagged walkway. Higher it rose, flooding the rooms floor until it reached the right level. Kanos will struck the water like a hammer, freezing the walkway in an instant. The water was perfectly smooth and level, the excess water returned to the shallow pools at both sides of the room as always to continue the cycle.
His left hand shot up into the air above his head and a series of torches set in sconces along the walkway burst into flaming life at his command. One of the few ways of fire he had ever been able to learn, and with great assistance of his life long friend.
Left hand resting at his side and right hand still extended, Kano waited. "Care to have one more dance?" He whispered to the empty room.
The waters flowed of their own accord onto the shimmering ice floor, the black unworked stones meshed perfectly with the crystal blue ice to create a breathtaking scene of natural beauty. The rushing water coalesced at the will of an unknown force, shaping itself to the image of a woman Kano remembered fondly. This phenomenon was the work of a spirit of elemental water that had bonded with Kanos soul thousands of years ago, learning his every thought and feeling. When the water settled, it had taken the replicated body and face of his wife.
Kano had witnessed this every day for a decade now. But the image of his wife never failed to break his heart. The lips moved as the water sprite moved to take his hand, but no words escaped its form. But Kano knew that she had accepted his offer. Hand in hand they moved together in tandom, the floor was their stage as the two moved about the room in a slow but intimate waltz. Kano lost himself in the memories that the sprite imparted to him as they danced in the fading light of the torches. In his mind he stood with the flesh and blood wife he had loved in life even as his body repeated the swings and strides with the manifestation of his thoughts.
At the crescendo of his silent dance he leaned forward and placed his lips upon the elemental.
As it had done a thousand times before, the moment his tranced ended, the image ceased to be. The image of her faded away into a dripping puddle on the cold floor.
Kanos roar of anger shattered the ice at his feet in a shower of explosive shards, showering the walls with jagged fragments to tear and chip the walls as they had done so many times. On his knees, face buried in his hands, Kano could shed no tears. No matter how many times he tried there was no way for him to do something so basic and human anymore. Outraged, he slams both hands into the sharpened stone floor only to have them explode in a shower of water and reform moments later as they had been mere seconds ago.
"Why must I relive this.. Why do you make me remember."
The spirits in the room as they always did, never bothered to reply. In a mood as black as the room had become, Kano stood and left the room. The great serpentine door slamming shut behind him to await his inevitable return.
High atop the roof of the Academy Kano watched the town come to life with the rise of the sun. His mood vanished at the sight of prosperity his home had come by. Yet it felt empty to him. Raising both his hands into the air he called out with his will to the flowing streams and rivers that criss-crossed the town, creating long flowing strands of water to rise into the air at his command. Like snakes they flowed high into the sky into a giant ball of water over the academy grounds for all to see. Even from the edge of the village you could see the water twist and turn until finally it took a recognizable shape.
In his hands was a rose made of ice, the exact details of the rose were perfect from top to bottom as Kano observed it. Above him was a colossal replica of the rose he held in full bloom.
"I make this again for you, beloved. Even in death you are everything to me. You were more than anyone could have asked for.." Kano took a deep breath and gently blew on the frozen rose, its features breaking off into flakes that carried on the wind. High above, the colossal rose likewise crumbled and the tiny glittering fragments carried far off on the wind. "Until next time, my Sky Flower."
As the fleeting image of the rose faded into the daylight sun, Kano proceeded down the stairs. It was time to greet the new arrivals.
