Sénaqaii - The Elemental Crystals ([seɪnækaɪ])

((OOC: This is a "live document". Most of the detail is now here, with just two Elemental Crystals remaining to write up.))

The Elemental Crystals

Compilation Date: Jolta 557 AFD, 4 NE

Màr’add Turarchusz

The Sénaqaii, or Elemental Crystals (henceforth in this document, “Crystals”, with an upper-case “C”) were naturally-formed gems, discovered in various locations around the Realm of Qal'ath many centuries ago. As the name suggests, they were linked to the Elements in Nature and served to influence one particular Element or, in combination with other Crystals, multiple Elements. The Crystals were held by Guardian Mages of The Crystal Circle.

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Which Elements Were Represented?

To anyone who has undergone even moderate education, knowledge of the basic Elements will be obvious: Erdé⁽¹⁾, Air, Fire and Water. However, since the creation of the first Crystal Circle, two other Elements were added: Light and Sky. Thus, in Foyiitùn, the Crystals were as follows:

1. Aevyenkai - the Crystal of Air (Aevyen)
2. Erdékai - the Crystal of Erdé⁽¹⁾ (Erdé)
3. Ethkai'el⁽²⁾ - the Crystal of Sky (Ethkiel)
4. Fyrkai - The Crystal of Flame (Fyr)
5. Ormàkai - the Crystal of Light
6. Ousiikai - the Crystal of Water(s)

Please be reminded that “wind” is translated as Aevyten, i.e. “living air”.
As people from various nations do, and may in the future, travel here for research, I have kept most terms in Common Tongue.

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Why Is Sky an Element?

Having spoken to the mage Hera'llyn about Jakarrn’s Crystal of Sky, I discovered that the reason they believed “Sky” was an element was the basic question of: “who, or what, rules when the Wind is completely still?”. We clearly have “air” to breathe, but it is the Sky that radiates in colour (in tandem with Light) even when all around is calm.
In practice, what had occurred when the Crystal of Sky was still being studied upon its original discovery, other Guardian Magess of the Crystal Circle at that time found balancing the other Elements far smoother with this Crystal. Thus, while not fully understanding the reasons for its existence, the result of its inclusion in the Circle was enough to satisfy them of the Crystal of Sky's place as an intermediary of sorts.

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Why Is Light an Element?

Without Light, all things eventually die, either because they themselves require Light to live, or because a lack of Light kills the sources of food required for life. Thus, all the other Elements are bound up in Light.

1. Erdé: Creatures and plants require Light to live.
2. Aevyen: without Light, we cannot judge the Wind’s direction to harness, or avoid it.
3. Fyr: Fire is ablaze and gives both heat and Light. If one could not see it, how could one know its precise perimeters until it was too late? (It is not the place of this document to discuss “Dark Fire”. For that, please see Annal IX, entitled Zykyrn Pilkarrz: Uncommon Myst).
4. Ousii: Even life in the Waters may depend on Light. The beauty of the reflections is only possible to see with Light and one cannot avoid its torrents without the aid of Light. Furthermore how would seafaring be made safe without the aid of lighthouses, or the flickering flames of towns on the coast?
5. Ethkiel: Our two⁽³⁾ sources of Light move, free, in the Sky above us giving us Day and Night and the glory of the stars - the distance glimmers of other worlds beyond our grasp.

Therefore, since the First Destruction, the Six Elemental Crystals were those known to us.

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Where Did the Elemental Crystals Come From?

In this section, I differentiate between the origin of a Crystal and where it was discovered. The first is based on oral tradition passed down the ages, the second is constructed on facts - or as close as we can get when piecing together writings completed before we had the preservation and ink-sealing skills we know and use today.

The Origin of the Crystals

The question of how the Crystals came to exist in the first place was not simply a case that they were found among other crystal deposits or found in such mines. The Crystal of Erdé, for example, was found under The Great Oak at Everspring.
No, although the Crystals were found in Nature, they were not formed by Nature - or at least not solely by Nature.
Different people groups discovered a Crystal in their region and therefore had their own tales to tell. These I then cross-referenced with historical parchments, adding in some notes from Byanté and the Foyblànii and eventually formulated the document on The Sénakii (to follow).

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Summary of the Sénakii for the Nonplussed

To those disinclined to delve too far into oral tradition in search of answers, here is a summary.
The Sénakii are what we now called “Elements”, but instead of being passive, they have a type of sentience that sees them at odds with each other. One can observe small-scale battles in the lands around us: Fire quenches Water, Water erodes and splits the Land, Wind can strengthen or diminish Fire while changing the direction of rain, Light blanches colours of Ground and the Sky can command clouds to obscure Light and gather Water to rain down on us.
Well, a myth surrounding the Sénakii tells that one such great war in the skies Beyond Eye’s Reach that led to the formation of a new Star (or “Orb” as the oldest parchments read). The story continues that they each left a fragment of their Power hidden within the Orb to see who would discover it and who would be found worthy of harnessing its strength.

The Originators

Thus, on the occasion you may hear a mage, or scholar, refer to The Originators of the Crystals, it is these semi-sentient Sénakii to which they refer.

Where Were the Crystals Found?

As far as possible we have ascertained, or at least surmised the original locations the Elemental Crystals were found. Where there are doubts or conflicting reports we have stated it as such. Please see each individual Crystal's document for more details.

Crystal of Air

Crystal of Erdé

Crystal of Flame

Crystal of Light

Crystal of Water(s)

Ousiikai was found in the waters of the Grànousii-an-Ormàszil Ocean around the Isle of Ghrrysz. Further details to follow.

Crystal of Sky

Chronicler's Note: I am still compiling what scraps of knowledge I can about the Crystal of Sky and will append additional documentation once I am settled on its contents.

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Footnotes

1. From the Foyiitùn words Ethkiel and Kal/Qal. Due to Foyiitùn's "Language Smoothing" rules, simply appending or prepending -qal to Ethkiel leads to an inelegant pronunciation. Thus, on the rare occasion, the "Word Components" are placed inside each other.
2. Some have argued Three Sources. This will be discussed elsewhere.

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Item type

Magical

Used by

• Aevyenkai - the Crystal of Air

Chronicler's Note:

The rendering of kai is noticeable - and surprising. The correct suffix is -qai, linking it in Foyiitùn with words associated with rocks and stones.
"kai", however, is Foyiitùn for "what", "which" or "that which". That means, in Common Tongue the meanings changed from "The stone of Fire" to "which fire" and Bezélian Archive documents show this change around the reign of Carnael I.
I suspect then there was a two-fold reason: firstly, for pronunciation and scribing reasons - many Foyii words beginning with the letter "q" were re-written with "k", often without checking for changes in the meaning; and secondly, to pour doubt on the then-Crystal Circle's authority by making all their Crystals effectively a question.

There is little wonder Carnael II has had an inbuilt mistrust of both the Foyii / Woodsmen and the Crystal Circle all his life.