Elements, Gods, and Dragons

Cosmic Spawn of Universal Forces

The Material Plane lies at the center of all other planes, where the four elemental planes converge, those of Earth, Fire, Air, and Water. While many other planes exist, these planes are believed to be primordial, from which creation itself manifests. This takes shape in many ways in the material plane and in the world, the most noticeable of which is the prevalence of the Genasi. Far more populous than any other of the Sapient species, Genasi are elemental folk, each individual taking on traits of the one of the elements.
There are no mythologies that believe in creator deities, except for the most estranged and deluded cults. Instead the elements are seen as cosmic and eternal, without beginning or end, and where they overlap is where the world exists. The elements are worshipped and revered as gods themselves, if not considered to be more worthy of such praise by mortals. Each of the Eight Drakarchies has a majority population of Genasi of one element, and the nation associates that element in its culture and identity. Regular rituals occur throughout the year on certain holidays, and are believed to keep the elements in balance. The four good aligned nations attempt to keep this balance, the four evil aligned nations try to overthrow the world for the sake of their own element.

Divine Interference in an Elemental World

The gods are viewed as great and powerful in their own right, but also mysterious and foreign. As they hail from the outer planes, they are viewed as agents of interference, meddling in what would otherwise be the natural order of things. Evil deities seek to exploit the elements for their own gain, such as infernal gods using the creative potential of fire for destruction, or a god of death perverting the decompositive ability of earth to raise armies of undead.
Good deities are those who fight evil such as gods of law and justice, or otherwise try to keep the elements in balance like gods on nature. Pelor, God of the Sun, is seen as 'the best' deity for the elements, as he performs both roles; his mythos depicts him as a destroyer of evil forces, and a maintainer of elemental balance. In that regard, the sun is considered the platonic combination of all four elements, the heat and light of fire, the life giving essence of air, the dynamism and meteorological influence of water, and the gravity, persistence, and absolutism of earth.

The Might of the Dragon Kings

Dragons are perhaps the most powerful creatures in the material plane. While stronger or more destructive creatures may exist, such as the tarrasque, their rarity inhibits their influence. Dragons, while less populous than most other Sentients, are typically larger, stronger, and far more long lived; allowing their lineages to reign over huge nations for millenia and giving them the time to master the arcane arts in ways unimaginable to those whose lives can scarcely last a century at most.
As a natural consequence of such, eight of the ten species of dragons have families or clans that rule over the eight largest countries in the world, known as The Eight Drakarchies. These eight rule as kings and queens, chiefs, nobles, masters, or any number of other governmental figures. The other two species, Gold and White, prefer lives of isolation and limit their territory to the more remote or inaccessible reaches of the world.