Elemental Lords and Beast Lords

The material world is composed of four elements: air, earth, fire and water. These elements occurs in both their raw forms and in more complex forms within living creatures. The elements not only form the basis of the four humors, but the temperaments of living creatures.

The elemental planes have multiple governing bodies, just like the material plane. These governing bodies act as a series of checks and balances on one another’s power, preventing any one party from overwhelming the interests of the others.



One governing body is the elemental lords: the rulers of the four elemental planes of air, earth, fire and water. They rule both the physical and spiritual manifestations of these elements, and oversee their manifestations in the material plane. At the center of the elemental planes is the demiplane of Nexus, where the elements mix and the elemental nobility hold court (cf. Legends & Lairs: Elemental Lore).

Another governing body is that of the beast lords, speculated to be concentrated within the apocryphal elemental plane of wood. The beast lords protect the interests of the many plants and animals that live on the material and elemental planes, as they are composed equally of all the elements rather than dominated by any one. They are led by four heavenly kings that represent the seasons and the directions. Serving under these kings are the knights of the zodiac, who represent the interests of particular kinds of beast. Sages refer to them as agathions or kherubim, although they are unrelated to angels.

The Major Arcana are another governing body of the elemental planes, one which is pan-elemental. The Arcana serve the interests of all the elements, with each Arcanum pursuing a different philosophy. When necessary, they arbitrate agreements and disputes between the elemental and beast lords. Sages refer to them as celestial fey, azatas, anachra or elohim, although they are neither celestial nor fey.

The elemental lords and beast lords are gods of the natural world. They care little for the affairs of humans and other civilized races save where they intrude on the natural world. Druids, rangers and other naturists serve them and gain some mystical power in return. The lords of nature are loosely allied with the lords of cosmos, as both recognize the dangers of allowing either of order, discord or chaos to run rampant.

A/N: The beast and elemental lord concept originates from the Stormbringer series, recycled in D&D, but I did some expansion by combing them and including ties to playing cards and zodiacs.