War of Essence

X Worldbuilders:

GM James R

The War of Essence
Date	650-651 BR
Place	Realm-Wide, mostly contained to areas of most extreme weather/temperature
Outcome	Creation of the 4-Year Seasonal Cycle
Also known as	The War of Primordial Chaos
Combatants
Quelmar, Feywild Eladrin
Elemental Chaos Creatures

The War of Essence (other names: Essence War, War of the Essence, War of Primordial Chaos) occurred during the years 650-651 BR, when the realm was infiltrated by refugee elementals from the Elemental Chaos which surrounded Quelmar. The war's conclusion transformed the realm when the sundering of the Elemental Chaos into four distinct elemental planes introduced the sixteen-year seasonal cycle that would persist through Quelmar's PR era.

About

The War of the Essence involved large battles against massive plumes of fire, waves the size of mountains, storms, and other natural phenomenon. In short, the “elemental chaos” it was a battle of attrition against the slowly-but-surely eroding elemental leakage into the prime material plane.

As the chaos increased, huge swaths of elemental creatures, including armies of Genies and Mephits entering the realm from the Border Ethereal, and needed to be fought back from overwhelming the realm, at the same time. The elementals believed they were escaping the chaos (which had gotten bad even for them) and Quelmar seemed safer than the elemental planes, but with the mass migrations, the material plane was also now at risk of collapsing under all the chaos.

To assist in fixing the leak, the Sealie Courts of the Feywild sent elemental defenders, hundreds of elves that represented the four corners of the feywild---”Summer, Winter, Autumn, Spring”. The court's goal was to model Quelmar in the same idyllic balance. And it was these Eladrin sent to Quelmar from the Feywild that would become commanders and leaders in the war against the "Essence".

But To complicate things, the sudden influx of these “celestial sylvans” led many in the realm to fight back against the feywild intruders, whose goals were simply to stabilize the madness. While the realm tried to fight the Eladrin, the Eladrin were focused on controlling the chaos of the elemental planes. The seasons and the elements had always been one and the same, but the high Sealie Courts believed it could be possible to “Sunder” the elemental chaos into its four parts.

To do so, the Eladrin hunted down and tapped into the power of those Prime Elemental Entities themselves: Kossuth, Istishia, Grumbar, and Akadi. They had left the realm artifacts that channeled the power of these Ancients, and the Eladrin forces (while under attack) scoured the realm and eventually found them all.

Here is how they found the four artifacts:

• Mahabuta whipped up a hell of a storm.
• Otaerhyin and a small army landed on Meregrund Island and fought the Nagas for the wand.
• Ghilanna (and X) stormed the Howling Crag, killed the Staff’s defender, a rakshasa named Distant Thunder.
• The crown was lent to them by the Calfenris Clan, Ewerers who supplied hot water to the citizens of the large town.

Using the Tools of the Ancients, and wielding the same power that is said in legend to have split the realm apart, the elemental chaos was sundered and bound, creating the four elemental planes as they exist today, and finally stabilizing the weather in Quelmar to follow the familiar pattern of 4-year seasons.

At the end of the War of Essence, the great hero X (The Paladin) channeled the four elements, standing on Levinkan ground, and using an godly amount of power, pulled all the elements from each other in the chaos.

That great hero died on that day, they say. But as later learned by ancient eyewitnesses such as Tenorixion, X did not physically die, he only showed his true colors as he attempted to destroy the elements themselves, a "permanent solution" that he was not asked to take. His fellow Eladrin managed to take him down at the last second, but he would be disowned by the courts and the Feywild for his dangerous actions.

Notable Participants

Elemental Chaos

• Genies
• Efreet
• Mephits

Quelmar

• Eladrin Elites from the Feywild
  • Mahabhuta
  • Nahtar (slayer)
  • Maerondil (artist lover)
  • Hravandawine (child of the wilderness)
  • Amluguilos (mountain of everlasting whiteness)
  • X (The Paladin)