"I write what I know, and what I do not. I write so those who come after may remember that we once tried." Muadib Baraka, Preceptor of the Collegium.
Three books, as recorded by the Collegium of Preceptors.
The Creator, source of all existence in the world of Erad. Not a force or principle, but a Being of absolute will, present before anything else existed. In the first dawnless age, Ehad conceived a Throne of Glory, from which sprang the Galallions, the primordial gems of power. Ehad does not walk among men in the current age; He speaks through the Luminar to those with sufficient spiritual clarity to receive them.
The twelve primordial gems of power, sprung from the radiance of Ehad's Throne of Glory, used by Him to shape Erad from barren stone into a world of realms, seas, skies, and secret places. Ehad entrusted them to the Luminar, who brought ten to the Fey, keeping the Soul Stone and the Ɛaqiqa of Protection apart, the withholding that became the source of Samum's pride and the first war. The Soul Stone was revealed eleventh, stolen by Nakier from Barzak during the First Conflict; the Ɛaqiqa was revealed twelfth, given by the Luminar to Ollan during the war against Tanun.
Gala Stone of Land. Earth, soil, terrain. Kingdom of Yamina, in the Akon's sceptre.
Gala Stone of Air. Kingdom of Talorad. Now housed in the Amulet of the San of Talorad, guarded by the Jud in the Judar.
Gala Stone of Water. Kingdom of Shamalea, in the Rai's ring.
Gala Stone of Fire. Kingdom of Nazoleem, in the Ubba's wristlet.
Gala Stone of Time, used in Divination. One of the most dangerous stones if misused.
Gala Stone of Space, used in Cosmic Magic. Only those with extraordinary ability can master it.
Gala Stone of the Mind. Kingdom of Wassetrad, in the king's crown; its control over that king brought the chaos before the Sand Flood.
Gala Stone of the Heart, made of light. Held by Tanun alongside the Sabj, its fading forced Ollan to retrieve it and fight his own son.
Also the Dhill or the Thill. Gala Stone of the Self. Found by Salar the Pious, who used it to control the Azz and build Salarad.
Gala Stone of Dreams, used in Dream Magic, communication and illusion within the dream realm, Mirage.
Its colour not yet revealed. Governs the soul, life and death. Nakier used it to create his daughter, Leil, given to Tanun as a bride.
Gala Stone of Protection, the last revealed. Given by the Luminar to Ollan to shield him from Tanun's Sarmady sword.
The Sand Flood came at the end of Book Three, the Book of the Mehireen, marking the end of their seventh kingdom and the survival of Anin and his small family on the back of Ħyzom the Buraq. After the Flood and the end of the age of the Ħoor, the Galallions scattered across Erad. The Fayrouz remains housed in the Amulet of the San of Talorad. The Sabj, lost after the purge of Salarad, will eventually surface as the stone on Jizur's Staff. The remaining ten are scattered, lost, potentially buried under the sands of the ages, their recovery, or misuse, one of the great unresolved dangers of the saga.
Also called the Al Hala, the light beings, fashioned by Ehad from purest light before the Fey, before the Ħoor, before Mankind. Intermediaries between Ehad and His creation, present at every great turning point of history, from the first war against the Fey to the Purge of Salarad.
Samum, first of the Fey, flame-born of fire and smoke, was given ten of the twelve Galallions as steward of creation, until pride and greed drove him to war against Ehad for the remaining two. His own son, Aziz, later known as Nakier, defied him and sided with the Luminar. Samum's tragic story is told in the Book of the Fey, the first book of the Galallions.
The Fey's war against the Luminar over the two withheld Galallions. Ehad's response was absolute: the Luminar captured or destroyed the Fey entirely, save one. Aziz.
After the destruction of the Fey, Ehad created the Ħoor, magnificent, elf-like beings of extraordinary capability who preceded mankind on Erad. They evolved across ages into a highly sophisticated civilisation, advanced beyond anything mankind has since achieved or fully understood.
But the Ħoor grew proud and vain. They discovered the Galallions, or the remnants and effects left behind by the Fey age, and used them to create magic. They fought amongst themselves, lured into hatred and darkness by the power they wielded, and fell, their cities destroyed. Their ruins lie buried under the deserts and wastelands of Erad; Ġaihaban, upon whose ruins Salar the Pious later built Salarad, is among the most significant of these ruins.
Each of the Five Ancient Kingdoms held a special terrain with a geographic landmark, a colour, a preferred weapon, a symbol, a mysterious element used to name their weapons and armour, a natural healing factor, and a talisman containing their precious Galallion.
Southern woodlands of black and green, ancient trees, fertile earth. Colour: black and green. Symbol: the Rhino. Weapon: the Axe of Yamina. Landmark: a sacred tree with never-ending fruit. Mysterious elements: Sanam, mighty wood from the sacred tree, and Jallad, a leather from its leaves that never damages (later used in the Chiwazy handle of the Jud Knights). Healing factor: a healing mud pit. Talisman: the Green Emerald Zomoroda, the Gala Stone of Land, in the Akon's sceptre. People: dark skin, black hair, black eyes. Fall: necromancy magic surfaced, and the Aradin, stone beasts, destroyed the kingdom, themselves destroyed by mud.
Northern ice, glacial, everything white. Colour: white. Symbol: the polar bear. Weapon: the Hammer of Shamalea. Landmark: the glacier. Mysterious element: the Dorr pearl. Healing factor: a spring of hot water. Talisman: the Blue Sapphire Zaphira, the Gala Stone of Water, in the Rai's ring. People: pale white complexion, white hair, grey eyes. Fall: the pond of life was discovered, and Frost Giants emerged and destroyed the kingdom, themselves destroyed by the flood from the glacier.
Eastern sunset lands, yellow, sand dunes, golden wind. Colour: yellow. Symbol: the spear. Weapon: the Spear of Talorad. Mysterious element: Qussay, their crystal sand (later used in the crystal that charges the Nafis stone in the Chiwazy). Healing factor: the gentle breeze. Talisman: the Turquoise Opal Fayrouz, the Gala Stone of Air, in the Sai's emulate, now housed in the Amulet of the San of Talorad, protected by the Jud in the Judar. People: narrow eyes, fair skin, blond hair, hazel eyes. Fall: the Ħoor's nature magic resurfaced, and the Sand Faces, then the Sarsar, violent winds, cleared the kingdom. Talorad's people await the prophecy of the Roherad, the Mother of Blessings, the Spirit of Erad who will restore balance.
Western volcanic wasteland, crimson, everything red. Colour: crimson. Symbol: the bison. Weapon: the Bow of Nazoleem. Landmark: Mount Fury, the great volcano. Mysterious element: Nazolean steel, forged when Mohl, liquid fire ejected by Mount Fury, cools into an indestructible reddish-black metal (later used in Chiwazy handles and Tanun's Sarmady sword, though it still melts in Mount Fury's own lava). Healing factor: an eternal flame. Talisman: the Red Ruby Yaquta, the Gala Stone of Fire, in the Ubba's wristlet. People: reddish complexion, red hair, amber eyes. Fall: fire magic rekindled when they meddled with the eternal flame, creating the Flamewalkers who burned the kingdom, before Mount Fury's own eruption finished it.
Also called Wasset or Waset, the midlands, later renamed Mehirea. The heart of the world, the crossroads of Erad. Colour: gold. Symbol: the golden falcon. Weapon: the Sword of Wassetrad. Landmark: a giant golden pyramid. Mysterious element: Eitharty, an element that responds to frequency and energy. Talisman: the Golden Thahabeya, the Gala Stone of the Mind, in the king's crown. People: brown hair, brown eyes, medium complexion. Fall: the Mind Gala Stone came to control the king himself, and brought the chaos that preceded the Sand Flood.
Ollan was the first of the Mehireen, forefather of the Dozen gods of Mehirea known as the Tanash, father of the Banol. His eldest son Tanun, aided and corrupted by Nakier, turned against his own family and was ultimately defeated and imprisoned. Nakier rose against his own father Samum to try to save him, and was left to wander Erad in grief, until his shadow began to move again, first as watcher, then as wielder, becoming King of the Azz. Samum's own story belongs to the Galallions, not here.
The sole surviving Fey, Samum's son, Aziz was kept alive on Erad by Ehad's design, not mercy. Where he once defied his father, now known as Nakier. He witnessed the fall of the Ħoor and now watched Erad being given to a new creation, the Mehireen. He turned instead toward Ollan's most vulnerable son, Tanun, setting the Second Cosmic War in motion. Imprisoned after the Purge of Salarad; his location remains unknown even to the Seminary.
Also called the Al Hala, the Luminars are beings of pure light, fashioned by Ehad before the Fey, before the Ħoor, before Mankind. Intermediaries between Ehad and His creation, present at every great turning point of history.
Ollan, the first of the Mehireen, Mankind, created by Ehad alongside his mate Ola and sent to Erad to begin the age of Mankind. A man of righteousness who rejected Nakier's offered knowledge and power, setting instead the stage for his own son's corruption.
Ollan and Ola's ten children, five pairs of twins, each marrying their own twin to found the five kingdoms of Mankind: Shamalea, Talorad, Nazoleem, Yamina, and Wassetrad. Centuries later, after the Sand Flood, they were mythologised and worshipped as the Dozen Gods of the Tanash faith.
Born of Tanun's union with Leil Bent Nakier, a corrupted, deviant version of the Fey. The Azz in turn mated with the beasts of nature to produce the Mentons. Most of the Azz are now imprisoned in Sijin, though some remain free as Unitarians.
Tanun, Nakier, and the Azz against Ollan, the Banol, and the Luminar. Ollan struck his own corrupted son and took his eye; the Luminar gave Ollan the Nibras, the original sword of light, and the twelfth Galallion for protection. Tanun's armies were broken; he was imprisoned in a deep cave on a far deserted island, and Nakier fled with his surviving Azz.
Kingdoms of the Mehireen (Mankind), not the Ħoor, the last of which falls in the Sand Flood, ending the First Age of the Mehireen.
The cataclysm that ends the First Age of the Mehireen, closing the era of the Seven Kingdoms and clearing the way for the age that follows. The Sand Flood came at the end of Book Three, the Book of the Mehireen, marking the end of their seventh kingdom and the survival of Anin and his small family on the back of Ħyzom the Buraq, closing the Galallions Saga.