In the beginning when the land was young, lay the great Sha'qel desert. There, numerous small civilizations dwelled, ruled by warlords and theocrats alike.

Whilst the land was largely bare, there was elemental energy borne within every living creature and within each living being dwelled the elements of earth, water, fire and air.
Some mastered one or more of these elements and came to be known as Jiomansirs; ascetics devoted to the mastery of their many and varied arts.

The first Jiomansir's name is lost in the sands of time, but such was his power that he discovered harmony between the elements within himself, achieving immortality.

Forever young, this boy rose up amongst the tribes; bringing wonders upon those who would follow him and ruin upon those who would not.

The land is littered with the ancient ruins of lesser empires whose foolish rulers sought to defy his meteoric rise to power.

He rules to this day as the immortal messiah-king known only as the Eternal Son.

It is said he carved the fortifications that surround his kingdom from his own magic, creating a defensible position for him and his subjects and it is from his palace that an endless font flows, creating a great river that flows out to the sea, nourishing the then-new city.

His city. The city of Pardis.

Centuries have passed and pardis has become a veritable melting pot of culture:

The Pardissians; hardy desert people; their men tanned and toned as their raven locks flow in the desert winds, their women beautiful and bountiful as they undress travellers with lustful, wanton eyes. These people above all venerate the Eternal Son for his generosity and worship him as their god. Quick of wit and hand, many a traveller would be wise to treat the suave and seductive people of Pardis with caution.

The Hakujin; strangers from the west; these ghoulishly pale foriegners are both exotic and terrifying; their men tall and broad of shoulder, covered in muscle and strange tattoos as their golden hair gleams in the desert sun and their cold blue eyes bore into the souls of those who would dare meet their gaze. Their women are fiery and passionate, devoted to their mates with near animalistic zeal. These strange foriegners frighten the natives with their brutal way of life and unforgiving code of honor. Practical and oftentimes, blunt, the Hakujin do not revere the elements but see them as any other tool, or in many cases a weapon, merely another means of gaining strength in their martially-inclined culture.

The Lung Empire; these enigmatic mongoloids from the East bring with them an ethereal grace and inhuman calmness; while the Hakujin may bear a raging heart of fire, the Lung Imperials are the calming flow of water, bearing any burden and facing any trial with serene composure. elegant and tranquill, they are borne of a spiritual culture, seeking only enlightenment and peace within themselves. Having heard of the Eternal Son, as well as his city's position smack in the middle of a prime trade route, many of the Empire's more commercially inclined and spiritual scholars have migrated there in the hopes of finding their destinies. They possess the greatest tendency to siring Jiomansirs due to the abundance of spiritual energies that flow through them.

The Composites; once the servants of the fallen Kalashmite Empire, an evil theocracy given to the worship of the dark goddess Kalashmi, bringer of death and woe, the composites feel they have much to atone for. These frankensteinesque constructs, stitched together from the remains of the dead and reimbued with an elemental spark of life now serve the Eternal Son as well as the merchant houses, and while few in number, make specialized minions, from the spiked and heavily muscled Brutes, to the lithe and seductive Companions and the swift and elegantly centauric Striders.