Five Elders

The five individuals born in 2100 who lived in excess of 200 years and were possessed of extraordinary abilities.

A Brief Historical Overlay

In the entire history of the Overlord world, there have only ever been five people to have lifespans exceeding 200 years, and they were all born in the same year. Technology and magic has brought others close to this, but these five individuals were able to achieve this age naturally, without outside intervention. There are a number of theories as to why exactly these five were so special, but none of them hold much weight as there were thousands of other children born during this year, and the five individuals in question were all born under different circumstances.
Their names are Thorir, Audrie, Killian, Amiram and Eleuia. They all have last names, of course, but they are each enough of a household name that the singular first should be sufficient for the average person to know who you are talking about. More than their longevity, they were each possessed of a unique power and a rare wisdom and humility that enabled them to reach an advanced age. I say this because there is a possibility that there were more such individuals who might have attained such an age, but lost the opportunity due to their own stupidity or the stupidity of others. But even if there were others, these are the five that earned the attention of the world. To the envy of just about every human adult in existence, they retained the physical abilities and appearances of people in their twenties and thirties until about two years before their deaths.
Thorir Bayle was born in Atazicolia. Of his five compatriots he had the most normal childhood. He was raised in suburbia with a mother and a father and a dog and eventually two younger siblings. He went to school, had girlfriends, and got a part-time job after school just for something to do. Of course, then he just kept going to school until he had something in the range of three doctorates.
Audrie Broyhill was born in Gorathia, but moved to Chemnos as a child. She is historically considered to be the kindest of the Five Elders, and the most noble. She was also an amateur weightlifter and could stall most barfights with a single look.
Killian O’Grady was born in Logenthru. Before he reached the legal drinking age (which is twenty-one, the same as Earth), he had a criminal record due to his temper and his singular ability to become embroiled in the battles of others. What made him somewhat extraordinary was the fact he was legally blind.
Amiram Gnann was born in Ankhenstrom shortly after it made the name change and moved to Sornevo as a toddler. He had an older twin brother named Arnan. The fact that he was an identical twin allows for some interesting observations to be made about the nature of whatever brought about the longevity. When Arnan died, he was eighty years old and looked like what a person that age should, having grown and eventually degenerated in the normal fashion. At that same time, Amiram had the appearance of a man in his thirties, hale and hearty and in the prime of his life. Amiram was the third son of the second daughter of the ruler of Ankhenstrom.
Eleuia Kargau was the true nomad of the group. She was born in Maraphel, moved to Gorathia before she was a year old, back to Maraphel for her adolescent years, Logenthru for her teenage years, and then as soon as she was legally an adult she went back to Maraphel, which she used as a base for her travels that took her all around the world. Her initial years made her notable for her pursuit of each and every object in Draylinger’s Encyclopedia of Magical Artifacts. She made it about halfway before she stumbled onto the genie stone.
A particularly clever ghost had managed to tie himself to a rock in a much more permanent manner than usually occurs where such things are concerned. He had been asleep for about a century (or at least whatever passes for sleep for a ghost), until Eleuia found him. As a person who greatly appreciated the value of messing with others, this ghost presented himself as a genie who could grant wishes. Eleuia, although dubious, asked him to reveal if their were others like her. The “genie” did nothing. Eleuia’s power to alter reality automatically drew the other four to her in that moment.
They were all initially suspicious of each other, as well as alarmed at being dragged from relatively normal lives into a hazardous adventure by a strange woman. Then the truth came out, slowly. Killian’s senses were acute well beyond the norm and had an instinctual precognitive sense of when and where dangerous events were about to take place. Thorir’s intelligence was high, but it could be attributed to the fact that he could pick up any skill simply by looking at an action being performed. Audrie was exceptionally strong, but could also alter the properties of objects with a single touch. Amiram had great magical talent, but he also had the ability to observe events from almost anywhere in the world.
They banded together and became a great fighting force. Acton and his sister Atricia rose up and attempted to obliterate the entire country of -dale, but the five stopped them. They tried again, and were stopped again. They tried a third time and finally people started paying attention, since Acton and Atricia were now in their eighties and suffering the usual age-related maladies while their opponents were still young and fresh and able. And more powerful than ever, because they did not rest on their laurels but kept working harder and harder.
When the power of the five became apparent, people tried to control them. And others, perhaps wiser, simply called them the Five Elders, who only answered to the Council of Evil and the Unified Benevolent Nations, and were not meant to be used as tools. Not that people did not try, but most realized it was a foolish thing to try.
As far as an epilogue to this tale goes, Killian and Eleuia got married. Eventually, and the relationship was fraught with difficulties, most of them personal as they were both quite strong willed individuals. Amiram became a mysterious wise hermit for his post-eldership career. Killian O’Grady alternated between a Robin Hood-type persona and that of a dangerous bandit king. Eleuia finished her catalog of Draylinger’s, in part through her husband’s criminal activities. Audrie Broyhill moved to Peligora and started an anti-cult organization that became something of a global phenomenon and almost destroyed Deorma’s economy. Thorir got a few more doctorates, accidentally got married to a charming young woman named Jolly, and was finally persuaded to write the definitive work on magical mathematics.
There were two other occasions in which they were required to band together and use their collective abilities to save the world, but I believe the gist of the matter is already covered. The second time, all they had to do was show up and the poor shlub gave up on the spot. Everyone knew he was going to lose the moment the Five Elders showed up.
Eleuia died first, at the age of 213. She had outlived some of the grandchildren of her siblings, and it was a great shock to everyone, who had started to believe the Five Elders were immortal. Next was Killian, then Thorir, then Audrie. Amiram died last, not two years ago, in the year 2367. All five died of natural causes.
As I said previously, there are many theories as to why these five were so unique in their abilities. The most common one is that it had something to do with the Sources. I am sure the more astute among you have noticed a correlation between where the Five Elders were born/raised and the homes of these mystical magical fonts. Since the exact location and nature of the Sources has been lost, there is no way to confirm this, but it is assumed to be the truth by most of the researchers who looked into the matter.