Chaotic Neutral
The Elemental Tetrad of Axio
Origin
The Trickster descended from high above Primordias, refracting as it hit the atmosphere and splintering into four fragments. The refractions resonated with different fundamental aspects of reality, dispersing over the region of Axio in the southern reaches of the continent Malumus. The first fragment struck a volcano, triggering a devastating eruption of lava and smoke. The second halted before ever reaching the surface. It floats in the sky, surrounded by an impossible island of frozen clouds. The third plunged into an inland sea, birthing an enormous coral reef. The final fragment buried deep into the surface, hallowing a great cavern veined with precious ore.
As the four fragments of The Trickster settled and synchronised with their resonant elements, they began to warp their surroundings. Their spheres of influence spread and converged, forming the Crux, an area of elemental balance. At the center of the Crux, the converging energies have punctured reality, creating a turbulent vortex that flows into Limbus, the upper plane of elemental chaos. Limbus is remade in every moment, a constantly shifting miasma of churning elements that is home to the sphinxes, first-born of The Trickster. The sphinxes are inscrutable entities; chaos and trickery manifest. They live in a timeless state, disconnected from the flow of history and consequence, rarely leaving the formless depths of Limbus.
With the sphinxes sporadic involvement with the affairs of Primordias, the real power in Axio falls to the genies. They are elemental immortals born of the refractions of The Trickster. The efreeti dominate Vulkra, the great volcano, building fortresses and forges of obsidian and brass on its peak and flanks. Djinn oversee Vindu, the floating kingdom of frozen cloud, holding courts of philosophical debate and hosting games for their own amusement. Marid rule the Axiotic Sea from the enourmous coral reef called Unda that stretches along its coast. They are scholars and innovators, filling great libraries with esoteric knowledge. The dao control the subterranean kingdom of Ferrus, digging deep mines and erecting great workshops for their engineers and smiths.
Domain
Axio is located deep in the south of Malumus. Low in the northern sky hangs Orbis, the enormous gas giant that Primordias circles in a tidal lock. It remains stationary day and night, sometimes lending its light to the sun and other times blocking it. If not for the inland sea and active volcano, Axio would be a cold and desolate place. Outside of the elemental infused oasis the landscape is dominated by moors and tundra. Within Axio, the climate fluctuates greatly between the four elemental kingdoms, but maintains a habitable environment throughout.
Vulkra is hot and fertile, overgrown with tropical vegetation. The volcano releases a constant stream of lava that cuts the landscape with rivers of fire. High above, Vindu is cold and still. Its frozen cloud banks form a towering thunderhead that has been shaped and sculpted into a majestic city hanging upside down from the sky. The waters of the Axiotic Sea are warm and temperate, fed by the equatorial ocean currents. The great reef of Unda breaks the surface, creating an archipelago of gatehouse islands along the coast. Ferrus is insulated from the climate above, static and unchanging it is accessible by a network of labyrinthine catacombs and sea caves that lead to a single titanic cavern.
The Crux exists in a balance point between the extremes of the kingdoms. At it's center, perched on a cliff that overlooks the Axiotic is Halcyon, the capital of Axio. Halcyon is flanked by lava falls that flow from Vulkra and pour into the sea below. It is situated beneath Vindu, the cloud kingdom looming large overhead. The city is built out from the cliffside in tiers and shelves, stretching the entire height of the rock face from the volcanic plateau to the waters of the Axiotic. Where the shelves meet the cliff there are tunnels and caverns that lead into the catacombs of Ferrus. Halfway down the cliff and in the middle of the largest shelf sits the Palace of Veils, built around the unstable vortex to Limbus.
Society
The gnomes are the mortal children of The Trickster, born inexplicably from the vortex of the Crux. They were seen as gifts by the genies and integrated into their kingdoms as serfs and vassals. Over the millennia, the gnomes have adapted to the different environments of Axio, dividing into five distinct subraces. Four take their name from the prevailing element of their region while the fifth, those of the Crux, are called Limbus gnomes.
Each of the four elemental kingdoms is governed in its own way and has developed its own culture. The fire gnomes of Vulkra live in an oppressive society where they must serve the efreeti as servants in their brass palaces and workers in the obsidian forges. The air gnomes of Vindu enjoy the most freedom and liberty. In exchange for their services the djinn grant them status and privilege within the cloud kingdom. The water gnomes of Unda serve the marid as scribes and research assistants. They are granted access to the vast libraries but are otherwise treated with benign neglect. The earth gnomes of Ferrus are enslaved and exploited by the dao, forced to perform hard labor in the mines and workshops.
Halcyon is a cultural gestalt, characterizing each of the kingdoms and yet rising above them. There are distinct districts dominated by specific races but also mixed areas, creating a cosmopolitan atmosphere in which gnomes enjoy a more equal standing. This enlightened chaos is strongest at the heart of Halcyon, surrounding the Palace of Veils, where regular interaction with the enigmatic Sphinxes throws all attempts at order and control into disarray. Here, all things are possible and even the lowest of gnome servants may rise to the upper echelons of Axiotic society as easily as a genie sultan may fall to ruin and obscurity.
Paths
Elocutioner
Bard (College of Lore)
Elocutioners are air gnomes, trained in the philosopher's courts of Vindu. The djinn are benevolent masters, willing to share knowledge with those that prove themselves worthy. They wield incredible power that allows them to warp reality to their wishes through the cosmic song of creation. The right words of power, set to the right notes, allow an Elocutioner to tap into the inceptive energy that broke the stillness before time began.
Though this power is dangerous and unwieldy, with focus and years of practice, an Elocutioner can craft riffs and verses that allow them to shape the world to their will. They are taught by the djinn to weave elaborate illusions, charm the senses, and influence the minds of others. When an Elocutioner rises to the highest heights of the Vinduan courts they are taught the wish hymns that grant them the power to make their dreams manifest.
Smokejumper
Cleric (Trickery Domain)
Despite their lives of servitude, the fire gnomes take pride in their contribution to Vulkran society. They are rewarded well for their service in the forges and palaces, the most adept among them granted freedom and property. Though most of fire gnome society embrace their position, there are those that reject what the efreeti offer and instead live by an older birthright, that of the Trickster. Known as Smokejumpers, these dissenters live as outlaws and fugitives in the hostile and dangerous landscapes of Vulkra.
Turning from the traditions of their people, they bend the fiery passion of their kind to the ways of their creator. The Smokejumpers are empowered by The Trickster's favor and learn to use illusion and stealth to carve out their own destiny, free of the oppression of the efreeti. They dream of freeing their people and healing the pliant complacency that infects their souls. Smokejumpers embody the chaos of The Trickster and strive to help their kin even against their wills, earning the brand of outcast among the very people they serve.
Tetrasetic
Monk (Way of the Four Elements)
The Tetrasetics are trained at the Tower of Tetrad in the heart of Halcyon, an institution dedicated to the harnessing of all four elements. They see this as the one true path towards communion with The Trickster. Students are taught to shape the flow of magic within themselves into patterns that resonate at different frequencies. This allows Tetrasetics to attune themselves to the elements and express their power through them.
As Tetrasetics advance through the long and demanding training of the Tower of Tetrad, their progress is marked by magically infused tattoos. Once an adept masters an element, a representation of it is tattooed on their body and acts as a focal extension of the patterns they create within. In this way, Tetrasetics appear to summon incredible powers from their very flesh, bringing their tattoos to life and turning them against their enemies.
Typhlosian
Rogue (Arcane Trickster)
The earth gnomes are subjegated and enslaved by their masters, the dao. They live in the subterranean darkness of Ferrus, forced to do hard labor in the mines and workshops. The Typhlosians are a secret society of assassins that live outside the influence of the dao and work to end their tyrannical dominance. They are taken from the young and strong; those that still have fight in their eyes, and brought to the depths of the depleted mines, far beneath the Grand Cavern and its phosphorescent glow.
Down below, in the Pit, there is no light. In an act of commitment and initiation to the Typhlosians, aspirants must gouge out their own eyes, forever sealing themselves in the darkness. They are trained for years in the darkness of the Pit before ever rising back to the upper levels of Ferrus. Typhlosians are taught the magic of deepsight, which allows them to weave their senses together with arcane energy, creating a more complete understanding of their surroundings than they could ever achieve with their birth sight.
Enigmata
Sorcerer (Wild Magic)
The Limbus gnomes of Halcyon live in close proximity to the vortex at the center of the Crux. This wound in reality bleeds the raw magic of elemental chaos and sometimes infects the souls of newborn gnomes. The changes manifest at puberty and for the safety of the community, the children are sent to the Palace of Veils, built around the vortex and home to the only sphinxes living outside of Limbus. Those touched by Limbus are judged. If they are found unworthy, they are destroyed, while the worthy are trained as Enigmata, the keepers of chaos.
The sphinxes are made of the chaos energy of Limbus and are unable to understand the reality of Primordias as mortals do. It is for this reason that they take the Enigmata, not to save them, but to use them, as messengers and translators. As an Enigmata learns to control and channel their powers they are taken into Limbus and infused with greater levels of its magic until they begin to fall out of sync with space and time in the same way as the sphinxes. With the focus taught by their patrons, Enigmata come to wield truly terrifying powers and perceive reality in unthinkable ways.
Illusio
Wizard (School of Illusion)
Water gnomes live in the exotic kingdom of Unda, the great barrier reef of the Axiotic sea. It has been crafted to transition seamlessly between aquatic and air filled environs, allowing the partially amphibious gnomes to fulfill their role as scribes and assistants for the scholarly marid. This has led to a high level of education among the gnomes and a large portion that choose to undertake their own studies and experiments. The marid are tolerant of this as long as the discoveries are added to their own libraries (and often their own credits).
Illusios are the most accomplished among the water gnomes that pursue learning. The libraries of Unda are some of the most extensive in all of Primordias and for those willing to seek, there are many secrets to be found. The way of the Illusio is solitary and difficult. There is no formal institution of learning dedicated to the education of gnomes and so they must glean what they can from their masters and peers. Those that take to this challenge are able to thrive in the silent kingdom of study and delve deep into the knowledge of the arcane.