TTS Information

[Aura]

About the Roleplay:

The Ten Spheres is a fantasy story taking place in a universe where every creature possesses magical abilities. Magic, in these worlds, comes from each creature’s connection to the ten Elemental Lords, deities who created and govern the worlds. The deities of TTS are not omniscient and serene, but much more human in personality, often arguing with one another. Their conflicts are reflected in the mirror disputes that occur among the mortal races.

The Elemental Lords, despite their vast powers, found their influence on the worlds because more and more limited as time went by. Though they had shaped the worlds and their inhabitants, it was becoming clear that the mortals were beginning to shape their own destinies, and to change their own worlds. Kings, emperors; rulers of all sorts were beginning to spring up, some even regarded as mortal incarnations of gods, and this further weakened the Lords powers. So the Lords decided that they would fight fire with fire: renew their influence by each choosing a mortal to be their Avatar, in a sense their mortal incarnation.

So each Elemental Lord chose their Avatar from one of the many races. The Avatars became known very quickly, for their magical powers blossomed under the blessings of the gods. Many of them did become rulers, while others influenced the worlds in a more subtle way.

But the gods were not serene, and they did quarrel, and their fights were reflected again among their chosen. So the time of the first Avatars was short, though many argued that overall, the worlds had been changed for the better. Even so, after this ‘disaster’, the Lords did not choose new Avatars. For a time they withdrew from the worlds, for it was clear that the mortals could prosper without their help.

But there had been another unexpected side effect from the Avatars. No god could be defined as ‘good’ or ‘evil’; they were outside of those labels. But their mortal representations could, and the god-like evils in the hearts of the Avatars created a force as strong as any of the Lords: Corruption. The Lords paid no heed to this evil, and over time it slowly spread, taking complete control of the Lord of Poison.

Many thousands of years had passed since the original Avatars. The Lords had begun to notice the presence of Corruption, but they knew there was nothing they could do. Despite their god-like powers, they had relinquished their ability to interfere with the universe, and could themselves do nothing. So they turned once again to the mortals, and each chose their second champion from among the race of humans.

And that is where our story begins, with ten humans discovering their abilities, and their roles in this world.

[Aura]

(If anyone would like to do a better version of the elemental chart, that would be appreciated. >>)

The Elements:
There are ten elements, all strongly connected. The elements are normally displayed in the form of two circles, one inside the other, to demonstrate these connections. The outer elements were the first five formed, and are also called the ‘pure’ elements. In order, the top one, Water, was created first, with the others following in clockwise order. The inner elements, or ‘synthesis’ elements, were the latter five formed. Each one was formed by the conjoining of two of the outer elements; thus, in the circles each one finds its place between two of the outer elements. In order, the bottom element, Shadow, was first created, with the others following in clockwise order.

Elements in Beings:
All creatures, with the exception of humans, are born with some affinity for at least one element. The majority of creatures are born with affinity for two elements, with one being stronger than the other. Some are also born with affinity for three elements, again usually with one dominant and two weaker. A few creatures are born with affinity for only one element, and these normally have the strongest, if most limited, mastery of their magic.

Humans, on the other hand, are born with no magical affinity, but possess the capacity for magic of any element. Therefore if somehow granted the abilities, humans may employ elemental magic of any type. As per usual, the fewer elemental types, the stronger each individual one will be. Technically humans can gain an affinity for four or more elements, and this has led to some occasional kidnapping of humans by the inhabitants of The World for experimenting.

[Aura]

The Worlds:

The universe of TTS contains five distinct worlds. These worlds actually exist in the same space as one another, but on separate planes. Thus, some may never interact, while others may be as close as moving through a doorway. These five worlds are the human world, The World, the Half-World, the Void, and the Halo.

The human world is the place all of us are living right now. It is exactly the same as our modern world – magic is unknown here. Humans are the only humanoid creatures, and regular animals are the only other inhabitants. The human world is the most isolated, having no magic nor any knowledge of the other worlds. However, despite the fact that normal humans and animals don’t have magic, every creature possesses the capacity for magic, thus allowing the Avatars to be human.

The World is in a way the opposite of the human world: it is populated by no humans and regular animals, but rather fantastical creatures of all shapes and sizes. Pretty much any species imaginable lives somewhere in The World. Technology is sometimes used here but generally magic is relied on instead, as magic is commonplace. The inhabitants of The World, being extremely varied, bring many different cultures and beliefs.

The Half-World is all that’s preventing the human world from getting obliterated by the Void. Sounds nice, doesn’t it? Anyway, the Half-World is literally a cross between the human world and the Void, and has very strong connections to both of those worlds. It is the very incarnation of desolation: absolutely no life is born here, and the surroundings are as if you’ve been thrust into an old black and white movie: there’s no color to be seen, and the landscape of barren plains filled with nothing more lively than thin reeds and the skeletons of trees is not much to look at. There also seems to be a constant light wind. Pretty much no one ever goes here, and portals can only be created by the Avatars of Shadow, Light, or Dark (though rumor has it there are some opened portals somewhere), so little is known about this world.

The Void is the last place you want to be. Resting uncomfortably close to the human world, the Void is a place devoid of any life except for the mindless and very aggressive Void Creatures. The Void, as the name implies, is pretty much a nothingness: the plasma-like Void Creatures are the most solid thing in it. Also, all magical energies are cut off while within the Void. No one goes into the Void unless they have an extremely, extremely good reason to visit. On occasion, Void Creatures have been known to escape – this is bad news. Luckily, this does not happen very often.

Apart from the Half-World, the Halo is the hardest world to reach – and apart from the Void, it is the most dangerous. The Halo is the world of the Guardians. It is difficult to reach because it is literally haloing the other worlds: instead of overlapping directly, the Halo is a ring around the other worlds. This also means that the ground is not always there, so one must be careful not to accidentally walk right off the edge of the world. The Halo exists on the same plane as the Void, so to fall would mean being instantly pulled into the Void. The Halo can be divided up into eleven zones, arranged in a long chain with lots of empty land between each one. Ten of these zones each belong to one of the Guardians. For the Guardian and anyone with them, their zone acts as a haven, and it increases their powers while they are within it. In another zone, however, their powers are weakened and the world itself is likely to be hostile to the intruders. The eleventh zone, in the center of the chain, belongs to no one and is hostile to everyone and everything. The chain is arranged like this, from one end to the other: Water, Ice, Earth, Poison, Darkness, Center, Light, Shadow, Wind, Lightning, Fire

[ashiko]

Um, just what are Guardians?

[Aura]

...I knew there was something I forgot! xD;;

Since the Avatars are all humans who have no prior knowledge of magic, the other worlds, etc, the Elemental Lords decided to also create one Guardian for each Avatar. The Guardians are magical creatures of some sort, also dedicated to only one element, much like their Avatars. However, they act like guides and companions of their Avatars.

Is that enough for you? My mind's a bit dead at the moment, so I'm likely to be making no sense whatsoever. ^^;