A kingdom that had flourished with life, abundant with calming and beautiful forests. Considered to be the mediator to kingdoms involved in wars or disputes, as the Goddess of Nature had been with the other gods. The nature elementals who lived in the Kingdom of Nature had the ability to control nature’s plant life and form bonds with the animals that lived there. Most of the nature elementals were hunters and gathers, retaining a balance with the ecosystems around them, but others created small villages and traded with neighboring countries. All of the kingdoms respected and honored this kingdom as its deity, the Goddess of Nature, was the one to ask the God of Sound to call forth the powers of all the gods and goddesses onto the earth. In the heart of the kingdom there once stood a beautiful and towering tree, a species of tree that only grew in the Kingdom of Nature that had an array of different colored leaves on its branches year round. The fruit on its branches and the nectar underneath its bark was commonly referred to as the Tears of Mundus, the god of the gods, and had healing properties for all kinds of ailments. The tree itself was given the name Heaven’s Tower and was itself a citadel for many nature elementals.
Before the fall of the kingdoms of the world, the Fire Kingdom was one of the most powerful nations, second only to the Dark Kingdom. It was highly populated with fire elementals, the descendants of the God of Fire. The most noble, wealthy, and renowned individuals were said to have been born in the Kingdom of Flames and many people traveled there in hopes of making a name for themselves. The welcoming, temperate climate and beautiful lands having also been ideal for travelers from all around. Citadels bustled with life and in the middle of the Kingdom stood the Torch of the Undying, a statue dedicated to the lasting flame of their god that portrayed the kingdom’s pride. The torch was lit everyday by a fire elemental or a resident of the kingdom that was not born a child of the Fire God—no matter their status or reputation—and was protected so it would not burn out. The only time in history that it did was when the War of the World began, when the fire was purposefully extinguished to signify the people of the Fire Kingdom would go against their belief in honor and mercy to participate in the bloodshed.
A land mostly inhabited by the followers of the God of Light where one of the largest cathedrals was created to honor the gods of the elementals. Travelers from all over the world would cross many miles, often times tackling dangerous journeys to seek redemption in the land of peace and love. The only travelers who were not welcome were those born from the God of Darkness—many of those who hailed from the Dark Kingdom dared not travel there. It kept friendly relations with all other kingdoms, in an effort to honor the God of Light's plead of kindness. Festivals like the annual Lights Festival in December was a way to bring all walks of life together so many could honor their respective deities or beliefs; such festivals echoed the Light Kingdom’s desire for peace. Light elementals were a special breed of supernatural phenomena their powers lacking the violent, intimidating, or physical attributes like that of other elementals. Most, if not all were healers, and although there was not a definitive language of the kingdom (light elementals came from all over the world), their shared second language was Lumina, the language of the old scriptures of the God of Light.
Once thought to have governed all the oceans of the world, the Kingdom in the Sea's hunger for acquiring the oceanic territories led to tense battles and wars with their close relatives that hailed from the Kingdom of Ice. The Kingdom opened its ports to many of the other nations, except for the Dark Kingdom, Ice Kingdom, and Fire Kingdom. The reason for the strife between the Water Kingdom and its relations with the ice and fire derived from an old myth. The Goddess of Water promised both the God of Ice and the God of Fire her hand in marriage, but made a more sincere promise to the God of Fire. Her actions were a plot to cause a rift between the two gods, but failed as the God of Fire made peace with the God of Ice by revealing the goddess's intentions. Even in modern times, elementals of water and ice continue to harbor bitter relations.
Rugged and dangerous terrains made up the Kingdom of the Earth where the brave and strong dared to challenge their endurance. The largest mountain in the world, Heaven’s Staircase, was located in the north of the Earth Kingdom, where many travelling mountain climbers would disappear far near the foggy peak—most people assumed they succumbed to the cold and died. Heaven’s Staircase was then changed to Death’s Peak by many of the kingdom’s residents. Earth elementals were considered the strongest of all of the elementals in terms of endurance and were the only ones that could withstand the harsh conditions of the terrains of the Goddess of Earth’s land. Most earth elementals were hard workers and would travel to other neighboring countries to seek work and were often times the more desirable and well-suited candidates than the locals. They had the ability to control the minerals of the earth such as rocks, sand, and soils, as well as transform their bodies into earth.
The most notorious and mysterious of all the kingdoms. Not many adventurers traveled to the Kingdom of Darkness for fear of becoming ostracized by their home kingdom or for fear of succumbing to evil. Those that did live there were born with the blood of the God of Darkness, possessing the power to control darkness as well as being able to harness or steal an abundant amount of dark aura. Most who hailed from this kingdom were branded as rogues and rebels, which was the reason most, if not all, of the other countries treated immigrants or travelers from the Kingdom of Darkness as scum and criminals.
Despite many of the other kingdoms’ differences and bitter relations, all of the other kingdoms had made a treaty because of their fear of the Dark Kingdom; thus, they had agreed to band together if it ever waged war on any one of them. And although tensions had always been present against dark elementals, hate and discrimination against the nation as a whole began after an attack against the royals of the Light Kingdom. Dark and Light, already having been at odds with one another, from then on were consumed in--what seemed would be--an everlasting war.
Although smaller than the other kingdoms, the Empire's population density is much higher, most of the forests having been destroyed for cropland, livestock, and constructed urban communities. Humans, although physically weaker than their elemental counterparts, were the world’s largest population and considered themselves to be the most desirable species, having been the mold the God of Humanity created before the elementals were bestowed powers from their respective gods. Humans and Elementals shared all physical characteristics, but differed in that Elementals had supernatural powers. However, Elementals were further outnumbered by the time the War of the World occurred. The Empire became the last Kingdom to fall, having held onto power long enough and formed pacts with the winning nations to have allowed the human population to become the majority in the years that followed.
Also known as the Kingdom of Music, the Sound Kingdom was a small territory inhabited by sound elementals, most of them gifted in the art of music. The Sound Kingdom was also very renowned for being the most welcoming of all the kingdoms; the kingdom having retained stable and strong relationships with all the other countries, even the Dark Kingdom. Because of the God of Sound’s contribution to the worlds arise, all the other countries respected and honored the Sound Kingdom. The God of Sound used music to persuade each god and goddess to lend their powers to create the world. Each song summoned a power to the world where the Goddess of Nature was waiting for each new element to arrive. The Sound Kingdom was associated with love and unity, but was also believed to harness great power that threatened other nations, able to use other elements by song—and two songs, the Song of Life and Song of Death in particular that were said to only be urban legend.
The kingdom where the lands were covered in snow and the waters froze over and never thawed. All who hailed from the Kingdom of Ice were ice elementals who were the only ones who could stand the harsh conditions, even withstanding the harshest of winters. The God of Ice was believed to have allowed the frozen tundra to thaw every spring, but his heart became bitter after the Goddess of Water broke his heart. After the feud between the Ice and Water deities, the winter persisted through spring and ice elementals blamed the heartbreak the Ice God suffered through—as well as the cause of his heartbreak, the Water Goddess—as the reason for the everlasting snow. Therefore, the Ice Kingdom was hardly ever a travelling destination for the weak of heart. Intense conditions occasionally during winter made the kingdom impossible to travel to, let alone bare through if travelers stayed there. The spectacle that attracted travelers to the Kingdom of Ice was usually the Lights Festival in December. Light elementals would travel to the kingdom to perform in the Cavern of Crystals where their powers of light would reflect on the stalagmites and walls of the cave.
A kingdom that birthed many haunting tales and true stories about the spirits that inhabited its forests and villages. Most who hailed from the Spirit Kingdom were lingering souls from the other side and stayed in the presence of the spirit elementals who were not only able to see ghosts but also become them. Spirit elementals were commonly referred to as the grave keepers of the world and the kingdom was known for its largest cemetery called Hallow’s Home that was guarded by a skeleton knight at the gates and a sign that read in Halvalen, the language of spirits, “The one without eyes, sees all.” The common garb of spirit elementals elders were tattered cloaks and a cane made from a large femur from a wingless dragon which was many spirit elementals were dressed in when they were buried. It was said that most spirit elementals, like their God, were unemotional to counteract the extreme emotions of the spirits they helped or associated with. The God of Spirits was a neutral figure who had relations with the bickering Gods of Light and Darkness—he had no qualms with others and maintained fair relations with all other nations. Travelers encountered the foggy and rainy climate that kingdom was cursed with when they traveled there.
A kingdom where the idea of using electricity for energy originated, as this kingdom was a magnet for thunderstorms. The most valiant of all the Goddesses, the Goddess of Lightning stood as a noble knight in her legendary armor that garnered the electricity during her thunderstorms and charged her energy. She was notably one of the strongest opponents of any of the Gods—a favorite sparring partner of both the God of Fire and the God of Ice. Although she was serious and a violent force within her own right, she was also considered to be playful and sarcastic at times. Many lightning elementals reveled in different kinds of festivals and celebrations throughout the year to entertain this charming trait of their Goddess and to mitigate their own boundless amount of energy that they carried. The Lightning Kingdom kept good relations with many of the other kingdoms, but usually mocked the Earth Kingdom. The Goddess of Lightning was said to have had a spar with the Goddess of Earth and when she had won despite the odds against her, the Lightning Goddess let out a cry of victory. Many scriptures were translated incorrectly and interpreted the word “cry” as “taunt”—the tradition was borne from this misunderstanding.
Although the Wind Kingdom was inhabited by many wind elementals on the surface, there was a castle held up by the strength of the winds just below the clouds. There was a dragon that was wrapped around the earth underneath the castle—the mighty beast had protected the castle from intruders and attacks. The land below the castle was where many wind elementals lived, however communities consisted of intricate systems of bridges and treehouses high up in the trees. The Goddess of Wind was believed to have proclaimed to the Goddess of Earth that her and her descendants could go on forever never touching land. “Even in death, we will soar” she told the Earth Goddess. For this reason, many wind elementals were not buried when they died, but sent to the sky by small dragons carrying handmade pouches that contained their ashes. Only animals lived on the ground floor of the Kingdom of the Winds.
Known to many as the Kingdom of Wisdom, the Psychic Kingdom surpassed all in the race in advancement; it was considered the leader in the ideas of modern architecture, literature, and technology. The designs for the largest cities in most of the countries of Soluna began in the Psychic Kingdom, where the most intellectual individuals in the world were born. The God of Wisdom was said to have given humans the ability of garnering the overwhelming power of knowledge, but so few were able to handle mastering the ability that only the chosen ones retained the power. Those that were able to see into the future, use telepathy and telekinesis, and control others with their minds were deemed psychic elementals and the majority of them lived in the Kingdom of Wisdom. Towns in the kingdom were usually aristocratic and many who hailed from the Psychic Kingdom were very educated and noble. The kingdom was not highly populated, however, as psychic elementals were nomadic, many craved for the knowledge of far off lands and return to create literature or build technological devices. The largest library at the time was built in the psychic kingdom that housed over 150,000 books, most of which burned during the war.
The largest lake in Soluna, the continent where the kingdoms rein. It was believed that a creature lurked in its depths which many thought was the reason why it had the name of a multi-headed dragon, but the name was actually derived from the fact that five kingdoms shared the body of water. Many kingdoms used it as a means of trading with the water kingdom—the lake’s underwater caves were once paths to the ocean. Exotic sea creatures and even sightings of monsters were commonly associated with Lake Hydra and it was said that those who dared to swim into its depths would be snatched by the hand of Death himself.
Unlike its larger counterpart, Lake Lumina was associated with good luck and prosperity; this was speculated to be because it was surrounded by the Light and Fire Kingdoms. Although it was named after the Light Kingdom, a derivation of the word “luminous,” the name also pays tribute to the language of the old scriptures of the God of Light. The lake was also known for beautiful underwater stones that glowed called Elemi which were active with elemental energy and illuminated the bottom of the lake with all kinds of colors.