Okitt explains everything

"You are what we call Praktores. Agents of the gods. Throughout history, they have appeared in times of great turmoil. They have not always been identified, or called Praktores, but any time there has been significant turmoil or conflict in the last 500 years, a group of heroes with special powers has appeared to get in the middle of it. Traditionally, they have been associated with various gods, thus the name. We in the Godsbane believe that all of these gifts come from mother Gaia- the embodiment of the world. This mine goes deeper than any other we have found in our searches, and you have just proved our theories- you just went closer to Gaia than anyone ever has, and she gave you the push you needed to bring out your powers.
It is our belief that the gods have no role on this world- centuries ago they walked among us, but for whatever reason they left and have only acted through their agents since. They have begun to push that boundary recently, and it is our intent to prevent this. The Alliance in the north seems to be the primary faction pushing in this direction, and that is where we have chosen to focus our efforts.
There is one Praktore for each element you can think of, 18 in all. Besides the four of you, we have recruited two others to our cause. Though we are not sure, we believe that our enemies have recruited a few of their own. Now that your powers have awakened, you will more easily be able to identify other Praktores by their auras. We intend to use this, should you choose to help us. Surely there are unaligned and unaware Praktores out there. "