The Nativus, People of the Elemental Planes
Habil sat quietly, feeling the air as it flowed around him. It was like a comforting embrace, like a springtime blanket mixed with cool mountain air. He opened one eye, peering about at the vast mountainscape before him, watching bird wheel through the wind, catching updrafts, and drifting effortlessly. How he wished he could do the same. Even now, he sensed the pull of the Promise upon his heart, demanding he return to his work for his masters in Al-Amra once he finished his Hearkening Ritual.
Habil shut his eye again, falling back into his meditation, reaching for understanding and connection in his Hearkening ceremony. He felt the wind gust about him, sensed its flow and pattern, drifted on it upwards, skywards, onwards into the clouds and was carried away . . .
Habil saw a sky dark with angry clouds and strobing red lightning. The water of the Obsidian Sea churned malevolently and beneath its waves Habil saw great beasts and nightmares rise up from antediluvian depths. The earth itself cracked and trembled and whole mountains were swallowed up in the turmoil. Volcanoes erupted, spewing flaming boulders down upon the landscape before him and he watched as AhinRaj, Korinthos, Qutarnan, and the surrounding lands all burned equally. Suddenly, a great rift opened in the sky and a hand stretched from the heaven, then another appeared, and another, until hundreds of hands of various forms and shapes and sizes extended towards the earth below, scooping great clumps of Loris into the sky. Then, three great eyes, like suns in the sky turned and looked at Habil, a cold burning fear filled his soul and he stumbled away, falling from his precipice and into the dark void beyond. He screamed, flailing his arms about, crying out to the bird, the wind, the sky.
Habil's eyes returned to focus as the wind whistled past him. He WAS falling. He turned, righting himself and stopping his flailing descent. He closed his eyes, willing the wind to carry him, willing himself to become light as air. The ground continued to rush towards him. Habil closed his eyes. And Habil then flew, soaring upwards as the wind carried him to safety, buoying his body upwards against gravity. He laughed wildly. He felt the tether of the Promise break, its disparate ends falling away from him. He was free. Yet, burdened, by his knowledge of the future. Had he witnessed the Great Cleansing, had he seen the Elemental Beasts of legend rise to consume Hearth? He had to warn the world, not to prepare for the event if it should come, but when.
Naming Traditions
Unisex names
First names are generally dependent upon the type of Nativus. Inferni typically have names of Persian/Arabic origin, Caelis generally have names of Eurasian origin, Lacus generally have names of Greek/Roman origin, and Terra typically have Scandinavian names which also speaks to their general cultural beliefs and standpoints.
Family names
Usually a derivative of the element of choice. For example, an Inferni might have the last name Cinder, Ember, Charcoal, Blaze, Inferno, etc. While a Terra might have Stone, Earth, Shard, Boulder, Pebble, Granite, etc.
Other names
Inferni - Fire
Caelis - Air
Lacus - Water
Terra - Earth
Culture
Culture and cultural heritage
Currently, a large portion of the Nativus are held under the yoke of slavery by the AhinRaj. In a great event, known largely as the Calling, Ahin mages called forth a great host of the Elemental Planes and bound them to their will, securing a workforce to build their empire. Even now, no one is certain how the Ahin managed such a feat, but this dedicated workforce has made them powerful. Thus, the culture of the Nativus who live on the Material Realm (Hearth) have a culture of subservience and hardwork. Quiet resistance, however, still burns in their hearts.
Birth & Baptismal Rites
It is rare that a new Nativus is born into society, however, when the stars align and it does happen it is a day of great celebration. The child is doused in its parent's elements to see which element it will take on, occasionally a child will take on its own element, a rarity in its own right. Once the child's element has been chosen they are welcomed to life at a grand party where all friends and family are invited and enemies are welcomed too, encouraging the forgiving of old qualms and grudges.
Coming of Age Rites
When a Nativus comes of age, typically at the age of 20, they are sent out into the world to surround themselves in their element and become one with it in a ceremony known as the Hearkening. In this ceremony they are encouraged to seek understanding in their element. Some Nativus are granted visions of the elemental plane, while others develop strong affinities for their element of choice.
Funerary and Memorial customs
When a Nativus dies they are given back to the elements. Their bodies are encased in a stone coffin, filled with warm coals, they are then left exposed to the air for twenty four hours and then buried at sea or in a lake where the coffin sinks and they become one with nature once more.
Common Taboos
Caelis refuse to sail on ships as they view the act of harnessing the wind as a kind of slavery of natural elements. Terra refuse to wield worked metal, viewing it as the twisting and unnatural combination of natural elements. Inferni view the use of fire for paltry things like cooking as blasphemous and refuse to eat baked goods or cooked meats. Lacus refuse to force water to change shape in anyways (freezing, heating, etc.) as its forcing water to react not according to the will imposed on it by nature but instead imposed by someone else's whims.
Common Myths and Legends
Many Nativus believe that a great reclaimer will come one day, a figure simply called The Innatus. No one can agree which kind of Nativus this Reclaimer will be, but the legends say that they will come and release them from their shackles and bonds and return them to the Elemental Planes.
The Nativus also speak of four elemental god beasts that will one day destroy the Material Plane (Hearth) and subject it to torment and pain for the harm it has committed against the natural order of things.
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
Inferni
Parent ethnicities
Diverged ethnicities
Encompassed species
Related Locations
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