The OOC
Five hundred years ago an evil god crashed into the planet, in the land of Seraya, leaving a canyon in his wake. The Sorcerer Atmar lead an army of warriors, mages, and priests against the evil god from the sky and the twisted copies of beasts that came from the canyon, possibly from his Sky Palace itself. After a battle which lasted several days Atmar slew the evil god, though he knew that the god would eventually return.
To insure that the evil god would not fully arise again, upon his death from wounds sustained in battle, this army was split into three parts. The warriors founded a city at the end of the canyon furthest from the Sky Palace, naming it Atmara, after the Sorcerer-hero. The city brought law to the region, and it soon became a stop on the caravan routes moving through the prairie. The Mages founded a school at the edge of the canyon, in order to teach the ways of magic to the coming generation. The priests founded a monastery on the canyon floor, beside a crystal cave where the crystals teem with magical power due to the battle which occurred here 500 years ago.
Those who graduate the mage academy receive an amulet crafted with the form of an animal upon it, the animal that represents their personality. When they find someone whom they deem worthy of receiving training in magic, someone with great will and strength of spirit, they give their amulet to that person, who returns it to the college as proof that they are worthy to train there. Once seven students have been assembled, they begin their training.
Magic requires a person to focus their energy, their Ki, and to turn it into an element. For all but a master of that element, this conversion requires a crystal attuned to the element. The crystal absorbs the elemental energy, and releases it, converting some of the person's Ki into the element. The better they are, the more efficiently the Ki is converted, and the less of the crystal's elemental energy that is used.
The elements are:
1. Fire
2. Ice
3. Lightning
4. Light
5. Dark
6. Life
7. Death
There are also other, rarer and harder to use, crystals, such as spirit, mind (Telepathy), and movement (Telekinesis). These are generally only seen in places where the gods, good, neutral, or evil, have done powerful works.
Magic is taught at the college through the use of Gauntlets, gloves which contain magical devices to channel the element into the crystal when a suitable source is found, and to limit the output so that those in training don't lose control and deplete the source crystal. In a pinch, a person's Ki can also be used to recharge the crystal by holding the effect of the magic in their palm for a few minutes, though this weakens further uses of it due to the energy being impure. The crystal must be depleted and recharged from a pure source to remove this weakening. Gauntlets are also designed to be specific to an element, so switching the crystal out to a different element doesn't work.
Long ago, the gods also walked among men, befriending them, ruling over them, even marrying them or breeding with them. It has been a long time since they were seen, though, and the bloodlines of the god-born have grown quite weak. Many even believe that the gods have abandoned us to our own devices.
We are the students at the Mages College. We come from different backgrounds, but the seven of us must come together to train. They teach us in groups of seven because of the inherent power in the number, one each for the elements. Once we join the college, the mages will give us tuning crystals, which will teach us to tap into our Ki to enhance our bodies, both physically and mentally, and will send us to the Monks at the bottom of the canyon. Once we have finished their tests, they will give us a second crystal, an elemental one, to teach us to balance our lives. These elements will teach us about ourselves, by being our opposites.
