The Dominions

The Dominions

At different times, among different peoples, there have been different beliefs as to what order the next four Avesri hatched in, which of them was older. Also, some people at some times have not known of all of them, only telling of the ones they that they knew or remembered stories about. Regardless, the next four Avesri were as different from each other as they were from Sha'nin and Arfiel, each having a particular talent for or Dominion over a different sort of magic. They were: Je'ron the EarthBird, Avesri of the land and that which grows upon it; Sh-low the SkyBird, Avesri of the air and weather; Awn-laa the WaterBird, Avesri of both saltwater and freshwater places and that which lives in them; and Rawn the FireBird, Avesri of the sun and stars and all that which creates heat or burning. In spite of different legends among different peoples not all agreeing as to what order these four hatched in, what is consistent among them all is that the Avesri of Earth and Sky were believed to be the elder two, and the Avesri of Water and Fire the younger two.

Each of these four Avesri took a different quadrant of the world for a home, and these quadrants were also referred to as being part of the Dominion of each. The homeland of Je'ron the EarthBird was the quadrant of Bennuma with the most extensive land masses, the biggest fields and forests, and also large and mysterious swamplands on on side near steep, rough mountains. On the other side of the mountains and swamplands was the quadrant where Rawn the FireBird made his home. It was the fourth of the planet with the next greatest amount of land, but not all in one mass, and also containing many bodies of water more distinctive than in Je'ron's lands. The largest desert could be found in this place, as well as the largest active volcano, but also shining, silent, higher mountain peaks and bitter lakes below sea level. High steppes and tundras, glaciers, savannas and rainforests. This was the land with the most contrasts, the most extremes. Opposite it, on the other side of the EarthBird's Dominion, was the Dominion of Awn-laa, the WaterBird. Oceans separated what land there was from the land in Je'ron's home, and from the land on the other side of it, which was that of the SkyBird, Sh-low. In Awn-laa's Dominion, the land did have some large masses, but also many smaller islands, both in chains and lone. There were many lakes everywhere of all sizes, and the larger land masses had their seas and bays. The largest inland sea could of course be found here, as well as the largest stretches of open ocean. The single largest ares of open ocean actually crossed over into the quadrant of the world under the SkyBird's Dominion. The lands of the SkyBird Sh-low were mostly in one body, but of irregular shape. The largest, widest area of it was mostly flat, the coastlines tended to be wide flat sandbars, some of the other places had many high plateaus, and everywhere else were high, bleak mountains, the highest in the world in some places, but not the most rough or jagged. The fastest winds anywhere were found in this quadrant.

There had already been plants and animals on Bennuma before the Avesri hatched, but none that were known to be sentient. It's possible that they may have all been at least a little bit magical, but none particularly so, or there may have been a wide range of magic ability among the forms of life on the planet, or perhaps none were magical at all to begin with. But it is certain that the Avesri encountered no sentient beings aside from each other when they came into the world. After the Avesri, however... some species, races, or varieties of living things began to gain intelligence. As they did, the Avesri began to guide them and watch over them more closely. But the closer the more intelligent of living things grew to achieving true sentience, the further other matters progressed which would put an end to many of the Avesri's direct dealings with them.

It is of note, however, that of the beings gaining intelligence at that time and progressing towards sentience, although they may have been different types of species in different Dominions of the world, they did not seem to be progressing faster or appearing in greater abundance or variety in any particular Dominion.