The Elemental Defenders
'...Ande in the Dayes of the War, the masses of the darke ones grew into a greate ande terrible force, ande thus were the Fyve Armours sent unto the worlde...'
~The Grynthar Codex, chapter three verse ten
Overview
In the midst of the fury that was the Demon Wars, those days that blasted the lands of Tyren and left them forever scarred, five armors were sent into it, to protect the people and drive back the demonic hordes under the command of the Prince of Darkness.
Pyre, Guardian of the Flame
Aqua, Watcher of the Waves
Terra, Sentinel of the Earth
Aero, Defender of the Air
Xain, Keeper of that which is Not
Each of the five armors is a full-body set of plate, complete with helm, breastplate, bracers, gloves, and greaves. The Defenders represent each of the five elemental forces that make up all of creation, and each has a weapon that matches it's personality and abilities.
Though the Defenders are not sentient, each Defender will call to itself a bearer that matches it's 'personality'. This will, of course, be all the product of random chance and circumstance. Also, the level of power accessable to the Bearer is directly proportional to the power needed to stop the threat that forced the Defender out of hiding. Not every Bearer is going to get to summon massive columns of fire or such just to handle a (relatively) minor foe.
Abilities
Even with their innate differences, all five have common threads that bind them together:
~Before being 'bound' to a Bearer, each of the Defenders masquerade as a coin, which is the heart of the Defender and allows the calling of the rest of it. What form each takes is up to the GM, and after the threat which they defended against is past, so is their time, and they take up their hiding form once more, dropping out of the pocket of the Bearer or some other happenstance thing to make them lose the coin.
~Each Elemental Defender is a 'Spirit Item', in that only the heart must be carried around at all times. However, when combat beckons, the armor can be called from it's celestial storage as needed.
~Each Defender was forged from the raw material of it's element, and thus its Bearer has a limited control of that element. Similarly, the Bearer of each Defender is for the most part immune to the ravages of it's native element.
~Each Defender can negate the basic adverse effects of another Defender's powers. e.g. Pyre calls up a fireball to hit some enemies; the other four will not be affected. Conversely, anything beyond simple usage can and will harm the other bearers of the Elemental Armors, such as Pyre calling a firestorm upon the enemy army.
~Each Defender, being mystical in nature, is also quite light, much lighter than a comparable set of plate. They offer even more protection than normal plate armor however, being exceptionally hard to damage.
~Each Defender must occasionally 'recharge' itself within the element of it's birth, else it will become weaker and weaker as it's powers are used, until the celestial energies are depleted entirely and the Defender functions as a normal set of plate armor. In addition, the 'recharging' process also heals damage done to the armor. Scratches, nicks, dents, all are repaired, which is a good thing, because a normal blacksmith's hammer would shatter before being able to work the divine metal the Defenders are made of.
Mythos of the Defenders
When the world of Tyren was still all one continent of the same name, there arose a darkness from beyond the realms of man. The creator of the world, named Trigu by His followers, foresaw the intense and unparalleled destruction the forces of chaos would cause His world, and thus was He saddened, and had mercy upon the people of Tyren. Thus did He forge and send five armors into the world, to defend and protect it against the forces of evil, which were rallied under the banner of the self-proclaimed Prince of Darkness L'ruhk.
And the followers of L'ruhk waged war upon the peoples of Tyren, who themselves were divided amongst the two sides. On one side were those who sided with Trigu and rallied under the banner of the Five Defenders, whom had each found a suitable bearer for their powers. And on the other side of the battleline were those who stood with the Prince of Darkness, and his Dread Lords.
The fighting was fierce, and each side fought with the zeal that comes from having your Lords and Masters watching you. So dedicated were the two sides that they scorched the very earth with their madness, laying waste to anything they could not keep so to keep it from the enemy. And the Five Armors were present, and banished innumerable numbers of demons and Dread Lords from this world to the next, but even they could not be everywhere, and so both sides fought to a stalemate.
It was then that those of Trigu's faith discovered that the Prince of Darkness was amassing a great army which he planned to lead onto the field himself, and they immediately began planning a counterattack. In that great and final battle of what is now called the Demon Wars, so great was the Defenders hatred of the Chaos within L'ruhk that when called upon to fight the Dark Prince himself, they summoned a meteor from the depths of the heavens to smite what they considered a blemish upon their world.
And thus was the battle won, but at a terrible price, for the continent had been cracked by the forces unleashed in that impact which laid waste to both sides. And thus were the Defenders separated as they had the now three continents, their purpose of fighting L'ruhk completed. And soon knowledge of them passed from history into legend, from legend into myth, and from myth to near obscurity...
A Final note
While the armors are humanity's defense against darkness, the armors are also going to force the Bearer to grow in at least one area that they're weak in amongst the course of fighting evil. It doesn't do just to have a defender that will hop in whenever things get out of hand, that defender instead needs to teach as well as save.
Full Item Description
Pyre, Guardian of the Flame
'Of this burning foe I cannot speak, for to do so would be to condemn myself to the eternal embrace of fire. But this I will say: beware the flame, for in his eye is the likeness of death!' ~M'hali Trosta, Knight Captain of the shattered 7th Legion
Each part of this Defender is tinted red, if not outright crimson colored; however, its look is modified by the wearer's personality: no two bearers will wear the same appearance.
Of the five Elemental Defenders, Pyre is considered to be the most combative and fiery in spirit, traits which it looks for in a wielder. Keeping with its straightforward and blunt personality, the Burning Armor's weapon is the classic of heros everywhere: the sword.
Each wielder of the Defender invokes its fire using Draw Magics, as detailed below.
History
When the world of Tyren was still all one continent of the same name, there arose a darkness from beyond the realms of man. The creator of the world, named Trigu by His followers, foresaw the intense and unparalleled destruction the forces of chaos would cause His world, and thus was He saddened, and had mercy upon the people of Tyren. Thus did He forge and send five armors into the world, to defend and protect it against the forces of evil, which were rallied under the banner of the self-proclaimed Prince of Darkness L'ruhk.
And the followers of L'ruhk waged war upon the peoples of Tyren, who themselves were divided amongst the two sides. On one side were those who sided with Trigu and rallied under the banner of the Five Defenders, whom had each found a suitable bearer for their powers. And on the other side of the battleline were those who stood with the Prince of Darkness, and his Dread Lords. Eventually the Army of the Five won, but at a terrible price, for the continent had been cracked by the forces unleashed in that final battle. And thus were the Defenders separated, their purpose of fighting L'ruhk completed. And soon knowledge of them passed from history into legend, from legend into myth, and from myth to near obscurity...
Magic Properties
Draw Magic
The power of Pyre is invoked with draw magics, by drawing its blade with the intent of protection by whatever means. However, calling upon the magics continually will result in the draining of Pyre's energy, and it will need to spend time recharging within the flames that gave it birth.
Fire Immunity
You saw this one coming, didn't you? Because of the raw flames that gave it birth, Pyre and its wearer are protected from nearly all fires. That said, such unnatural flames such as Hellfire or Anti-fire can and will cause damage to Pyre and its bearer.
Article Codex
Items • Armor • Heroic
Pyre, first of the five elemental armors.
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? Responses (15)
Ok, I wil lcomment here Choas then just edit these out later. I am confused by this statement.
Pyre calls up a fireball to hit some enemies; the other four will not be affected. Conversely, anything beyond simple usage can and will harm the other bearers of the Elemental Armors, such as Pyre calling a firestorm upon the enemy army.
That seems to contradict to me. They will not be affected, but they can and will harm the other bearers. Can you explain this a little more please?
It is not a contradiction, it is merely the level of energies involved. It's roughly the equivalent of water immersion. A little amount (fireball) can be shrugged off. Too much (firestorm) can and will drown you. Make sense now?
I suppose if it is detailed in each write up then I guess that would be ok then.
The point of a codex is to put forth the basic principles of similar items; in this case, the elemental defenses were put there. It saves space within each item post.
Updated: Submission gone live. Have at it!
My favorite parts of this are that the armors celestial form is linked to the trinket. I see infinite possibilities here for people finding a seemingly innocuous coin or tidbit that they just can't bring themselves to get rid of.
I also like how the armor will change appearance depending on who's wearing it.
Idea: maybe the armor can become 'bound' to a person weather the person wants it to or not. Perhaps the binding process causes the bearer pain? And speaking of which, how is 'binding' initiated?
I like this. You have included history and created nice pieces of mythic armour. On the downside I must admit that I get 'Diablo' vibes and that it is very combat oriented. They might seem a bit munchkin too, but since these suits are mythical of nature that is to be expected. Had they not been items of myth I would have subtracted from the overall score. Some kind of weakness could have been included, as could plot hooks.
You're quite right in getting vibes that they are combat oriented, for they are. Their entire purpose is to combat Evil when it gets out of control, and that for the most part means blasting it with force. ^^
This is an idea that has been around, but you gave it a good backstory. I'd like to see more of these, because all the other times I've seen this idea it has only been the 4 basic elements.
I like the history you wrote and I like that you have 'void' as well as the 4 elements. There are some things I don't understand about the item (for example what is Draw Magic? does this just mean it draws a magic sword? if so, how come this armor doesn't have the power to create the fireball mentioned in the above, because I don't see call fireball mentioned anywhere... but maybe I'm just missing the point).
Also, and this isn't to belittle your work, which is very nice, this is just a comment/challenge to everyone here at the citadel. I notice every time elemental things exist the fire one is violent and aggressive. I think that's lazy. I mean, sure fire can be violent and water can be calm. But you could also say water is violent (hurricanes, tsunamis, fire hoses) and fire is calm (candle, fireplace warming you bringing blood back to frozen limbs).
Other than that, my feelings mirror Pariah's.
(Note - codex/citadel is weird today, so this post is meant for Pyre only)
Umm...The citadel must truly be wierd today, because Pyre should be hidden. It's not gone live as an item yet, and only I should be able to see it.
But aside from that, the model I pulled the basic elements from has fire as a predominantly aggressive element/style of fighting. Yes it can be a protector or a defender, but by and large the effects of fire as an element are destructive. Take your candle example. Yes the fire seems calm and sedate to most, but when you take an in-depth look at it, you will find that the fire is a (admittedly small) raging inferno, consuming and destroying the candle as it burns. Fire is by nature destructive, though like most anything else it can be used for a different purpose.
A little more 'juice' and it would get a higher vote from me.
Still it is a solid idea.
Updated: Modified the generic abilities of the Defenders slightly.