Ylithuum
Mother Ylithuum (a.k.a. Earth/Xi Wangmu)
Ylithuum is the element of earth. She is among the ten Erlithmanil. This is one of the most revered elements and their blessings are fairly widespread like those of Wylrith and Lithmor. She is the counterpart of Rylis, air.
Ylithuum has five aspects, like the other Erlithmanil, that represent and express her personality and abilities. These aspects are Gokmar, Oril, Martor, Gokrilvek and Elbixur. Gokmar is the aspect of mineral rock. Oril is the aspect of soil, organic earth. Martor is metal, all alloys and workable metal. Gokrilvek is gravity and sturdiness. Elbixur is tradition and routine.
by Lee Stepp
Ylithuum is a reliable, steadfast and nurturing being. She can also be stubborn and unyielding, unwilling or slow to change. She has a long memory and acts as a glue in any group, bringing people together and helping them cope with the world around them when everything seems uncertain. She values loyalty, community and tradition. She encourages resting and slowing down, gestating and gathering strength for what lays ahead. She is firm and steadfast no matter what comes her way. But she can also stagnate and get in a rut without a push from her counterpart. Ylithuum is quite attached to her mother earth persona and will rarely, if ever take a male form.
by Lee Stepp
Much like Ferith, she enjoys the craftsmanship of humanity, to see how they mold and hone her metals and minerals. However, rather than being a patron of arts like Lithmor, Ferith and Rylis, she is a patron of history, culture and traditions. She is more concerned with the practices and meaning behind these crafts than the creations themselves. She is an avid historian, anthropologist, archaeologist, geologist and more.
It is Ylithuum who preserved and planted the seeds of human society during the Era of Legends, establishing the foundations of culture of those human societies which did not survive the Birth of the Erlithmanil. She is also prone to restoring ancient legends and traditions as time marches forward, finding human memory inadequate. Disrespecting these traditions is a quick way to procure her ire. However, if one has offended her, she has a weakness for jewelry. She is ever fascinated by how humanity finds ways to make her stones and metals even more beautiful. Statues, architecture and masonry also fascinate her.
by Lee Stepp
Ylithuum's Elemental Familiar is Clay. He has a very stable and co-operative relationship with his master and they both work towards a common interest. Like a number of the original familiars, Clay feels Accia Syltharis misled and took advantage of him and his allies. He regrets their actions in the Downfall of the Erlithmanil and feels responsible for putting things right.
Divine Domains
Gokmar's Plane
Oril's Plane
Martor's Plane
Gokrilvek's Plane
Elbixur's Plane
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Below, is Ylithuum's crest surrounded by the colors and monograms of her aspects.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
by Lee Stepp
Ylithuum isn't particularly attached to any one ethnicity but will generally default to Huaren, especially when visiting Ralgotar. She has a different face for every corner of Emynea, partial to features resembling those living in the Burnished Spine while in Accia as an example. She prefers maintaining a thickset, full figured appearance which coincides with her mother earth persona.
by Lee Stepp
Facial Features
by Lee Stepp
Rounded face and a porcelain complexion when Huaren. These features can vary wildly depending on where she is travelling but she generally has dark brown or black hair and rich brown eyes.
Special abilities
by Lee Stepp
Ylithuum possesses all abilities and magic of her five aspects. These are mineral, soil, metal, gravity and tradition. As the source of all earth magic, she can use her abilities as freely as she desires and without reservation.
by Lee Stepp
Gokmar is the aspect of minerals in whichever form such as gems and rocks, any mineral earth. This makes it one of the most diverse of aspects, many materials falling underneath. This magic can be offensive or defensive. Oril is instead organic earth, soils and organic matter which has been processed by Dalyeric, decay. These two aspects can blend together at times as most earth is mix of these materials. Oril is also major aspect involved with agriculture.
Martor is the aspect of metal whether raw ore, forged metal or even alloys. Many craftsmen and warriors possess this magic, useful to even miners as well. Gokrilvek is a more complex aspect, including gravity, inertia, strength and potential energy. This magic leaves her impossibly sturdy, steady and seemingly impervious to damage. She can even enlarge herself into a giant utilizing this aspect.
by Lee Stepp
Last among her aspects is her single mental aspect. Elbixur encapsulates emotions, thoughts, states and memories or even a desire for tradition, ritual, repetition, habit, loyalty, stubbornness and routine. Knowledge and memories tied to routine, rituals and traditions are also stored within this plane, only passing on to Irkath when they fall out of use or to Kanilwyr when only remembered as history.
Apparel & Accessories
by Lee Stepp
She has quite the collection of traditional clothing from all around Emynea, all throughout history. She enjoys fashion not so much for the appearances but by all the unique features, utilities and history behind the clothes themselves. She can often be found wearing clothes that have fallen out of style, occasionally reintroducing them into the contemporary fashion. Most of the time, how she dresses depends on audience but also utility. She will dress simply while working, not wishing to ruin her usually historic and ornate collection. And of course, she loves delicate and well crafted jewelry.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
by Lee Stepp
Ylithuum has always been enamored with human traditions and culture, even before the destruction of the old world. It was in fact Ylithuum who sifted the the remains of this old world and preserved as much of its culture as she could, injecting these languages, cuisine, legends, rituals and the like back into human society as it was reborn in the Era of Legends. She did this partially via archeology and partially by cooperating with both Zalikar and Lithmor, utilizing their aspects Irkath and Kanilwyr. She continues to preserve and reintroduce these traditions, her treasures, back into Emynea every time they seem to fade.
Gender Identity
by Lee Stepp
Unlike her counterpart, Ylithuum is very attached to her gender identity and will almost never take up a male form. She has a mother earth persona she is unwilling to part from.
Education
by Lee Stepp
Ylithuum is the patron of all history, archaeology and general anthropology alongside sciences such as geology and metallurgy. In general, she is an avid academic who seeks to study and preserve the past and reintroduce the best of these traditions to strengthen society and bring communities together.
by Lee Stepp
Accomplishments & Achievements
by Lee Stepp
She has unearthed countless traditions, histories, technological techniques, lore, languages and more and reintroduces them to Emynea and this is one of her greatest prides. While she doesn't regret the choices they made as children, recognizing the old world was corrupt and broken, she knew there was beauty in their cultures which she didn't want to bury with them. She feels it is her responsibility to preserve them. Another source of pride are her two sons, Ilnid and Ralgotar. She only wishes they got along better with each other.
by Lee Stepp
Failures & Embarrassments
by Lee Stepp
She feels it is her own failure to have allowed this schism form amid the Erlithmanil. She had always acted as a bridge between opposing members of their little family and had made it her responsibility to keep them together, to be the foundation they stood upon. But even she couldn't shoulder that burden alone, not after their downfall. Not after that family was torn apart and sealed away from each other, scattered and divided.
Intellectual Characteristics
by Lee Stepp
Ylithuum possesses a comforting, nurturing personality but she can also be impossibly stubborn and unrelenting when she puts her mind to something. She is steadfast, stalwart and reliable and she is immensely loyal no matter the trespass or mistake of her allies. It takes time to earn that trust and loyalty and this can blind her to the flaws of those who have earned it. She isn't overly aggressive when angered like Ferith either, she is more likely to hunker down and remain unrelenting, refusing any and all solutions beyond what she has set her mind to.
by Lee Stepp
Ylithuum is a woman of routine and ritual, falling back on these when things get rough. Little habits bring her immense satisfaction and comfort her, act as a baseline and foundation for her indomitable will. Little moments shared with her family, the smiles on their faces as they share a meal or the way they come together for an annual holiday. These are what lend her her endurance and strength but it is also easy for her to find herself in a rut, stagnating without an outside push. Clinging to old memories and dusty traditions rather than focusing on the present or future.
by Lee Stepp
She is a home body and mother hen. An open ear when her family needs it, a shoulder to cry on, a welcoming hug, all with warm meal readied in her hands. The one to fret, the one to provide, the one to catch when they inevitably fall. Yet she is also the shield at an ally's back who takes the brunt of the assault, the weapon to point at their enemies, the one to charge forward when others are uncertain, the comforting aphorism in one's ear.
Morality & Philosophy
by Lee Stepp
Ylithuum places her family, the Erlithmanil and the Aethids, above all else. She will support and shield them no matter what comes. However, she wants all living things to be able to enjoy community and family as well. She wants humanity to remain steadfast and united as they face the uncertainties of the future. She knows the balance of nature is important, as every Erlithmanil does, but she sees no point to mere survival if one faces it alone. Community and companionship are what makes life worth living in her eyes.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
by Lee Stepp
Ylithuum seeks to revive the Erlithmanil and repair the schism between them. She is still loyal to Lithmor and her cause, leaning towards her perspective, but she still views all elementals as her family. Despite the hostility between Zalikar and Lithmor, she has made it her burden to reunite them. She has a foot in each door.
Social
Contacts & Relations
by Lee Stepp
Much like Wylrith, Ylithuum has a good relationship with all of the Erlithmanil. She is perhaps closest to Dalyeric and Fliral but that isn't to say she isn't close to Ferith and Lithmor—she and Ferith had a child after all. She simply doesn't hold the same extreme views as these two, often acting as a voice of reason when they get carried away. She keeps them grounded and stable, knowing their hearts are in the right place.
by Lee Stepp
Dalyeric and she have a surprisingly close and stable relationship, always baffling Lithmor and Ferith. Ylithuum has a similar grounding effect on Dalyeric who can be hasty and severe when left unchecked while Fliral and Ylithuum are both nourishing, revitalizing influences which only seems to amplify when they are together. They are the caretakers of their little family. She isn't particularly close to Lunil or Raegeric but they are still valued members of her family and bring happiness to those she is closer to. Both she and Wylrith have a shared appreciation for Yaxiya, for their culture and serene beauty. They can butt heads at times but ultimately they respect the others personal version of wisdom and they want the same things.
As for her relationship with her counterpart, Rylis, they can very much be oil and water. Yet at the same time, there is an undeniable chemistry between them as well. Their values, priorities and beliefs often clash with each other and their interactions can be abrasive. Despite this, they also balance each other's worst tendencies, balancing their opposing forces. They go through various phases of being enamoured with each other, clashing and falling out, becoming nemesis but then inevitably being pulled back to the other and becoming obsessed all over again. Rylis is a free spirit, he faces the future with wild abandon, while Ylithuum is a home body, craving stability and connection. Despite being doomed to fall apart, Ylithuum is the home he can always return to when weary and Rylis is the invigorating, exciting habit she can never seem to break. And while they don't agree on most things they do share one passion: music and art.
Family Ties
by Lee Stepp
She has at least two known Aethid sons, Ilnid and Ralgotar. They are considered "young" Aethid on comparison to Banalkar and Sylthari and Ylithuum believes this is why they are more taken with being treated as gods as most of the others. Either way, she loves and dotes on these two even as they bicker with each other. They both look up to her with immense reverence, both of them trying to honor and emulate her at every turn and make sure any humans under their rule do the same.
Divine Classification
Divine
Current Status
Has a Host
Current Location
Species
Ethnicity
Other Ethnicities/Cultures
Spouses
Fliral
(spouse)
Siblings
Pronouns
She/Her
Sex
Female
Eyes
Rich Brown
Hair
Dark Brown or Black
Aligned Organization
Related Myths
Founded Settlements
Comments