Tisuut'Kaat - Stone Blade.
There are many elementals residing within the vast deserts of the Vaviel Empire. For the most part, they are docile and uninterested in the comings and goings of others. They have been observed changing the landscapes of the desert. Raising mountains one day, then carving out canyons the next. Though, they have never impeded on the cities and trade routes of the Vaviel Empire. They almost seem to adjust their meandering so as to avoid confrontation with civilization.
During the War of Dissolution, several elementals were captured and "studied." Eventually, the Imperial colleges found a way to control the elementals. A single Elemancer could inhabit the structure of an elemental and cause it to move and behave however they wished. While they could not control the observed terraforming powers, they could cause the elemental to obey other basic commands.
The Imperial colleges conducted exhaustive tests to ascertian exactly what they could accomplish with their new found golems. They discovered that the elementals were nearly impossible to destroy, provided they had access to the type of stone they were formed from. The colleges also discovered that the elementals could carry nearly 1000 times their own weight without being burdened.
Unfortunately, they also discovered that once an elemental had been controlled, it would cease to act of it's own accord, even if the Elemancer was no longer controlling it. The elementals would simply remain stationary wherever they had been left. Neither enticement, nor harm, would cause the elemental to react.
As the War of Dissolution raged on, the Vaviel Empire sanctioned the use of elementals in their armies. Large weapons were attached to the captured elementals, and Elemancers would accompany the armies of the Vaviel Empire into battle. The mere sight of an enslaved elemental would be enough to send armies of the Central Federation fleeing from the battlefield.
For nearly two years, the Vaviel Empire was undefeated, until their hubris caught up with them. It started slowly. One Elemancer would be found torn to pieces, then another. Their elementals would also be found as a pile of rubble.
As the war dragged on, more and more Elemancers were torn to shreds, leaving their elementals useless on the battlefield. The Vaviel generals concluded that the Central Federation was using assassins to target and kill their Elemancers. So they assigned entire battalions to guard each Elemancer. This seemed to work for a couple months, as the armies of the Vaviel Empireand the Central Federation chased eachother accross the Great Vaviel Desert. Finally, a division of Vaviel soldiers engaged a Federation army. They had a single Elemancer, and the general assigned a battalion to protect the Elemancer. The battle was decided before it even began. The enslaved elemental was able to cut down entire ranks of Federation soldiers without slowing, until it suddenly stopped, and remained motionless on the battlefield.
The quote that follows, given by a lieutenant of that division, has been regarded as both a warning, and a curse.
I saw death. A cloud of flesh and blood blowing over the sand. The very rocks we tried to command, were adorned with the entrails of a thousand men. Those glowing eyes, peering out of the maelstrom, burned fear into my soul, and I fled. That howl drove ten thousand soldiers into madness!While official records do not acknowledge this battle, unofficial records show that 7,000 Vaviel soldiers were executed for desertion two weeks later, along with all the officers, and the General who led them. Nothing is told of the supposed Federation Army that they fought. It was only a few months after that forgotten battle, that the Exalted Zabana outlawed the use of Elemancy throughout the Empire, under penalty of death. Hundreds of Elementals were left dormant and abandoned as their controllers were hunted and slaughtered. The use of elementals during the War of Dissolution decimated the elemental population. Many have tried to research how to replanish their numbers. But all who study elementals seem to disappear without a trace.
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