Interview with a Primordial

Primordials, creatures born from congruence and earthen elements, are beings that are as mysterious as they are mystical. Ask anyone you encounter about them and it’s almost certain that you’ll receive a different answer as to what exactly these creatures actually are - a bird seemingly made of ice, an amorphous blob resembling volcanic stone, maybe even a creature that looked almost human, outside of their elemental features. I was lucky enough to encounter the last listed option, and, dare I say, it has made me quite smitten with these incredible beings...

In my travels from Greenhome to Dreza, I encountered a clearing in a lush and dazzling forest. While it wasn’t quite along the road, I convinced my companions to let me traverse the unknown terrain with a capable escort while the rest of them carried on. Did it take a lot of convincing? Yes. Was it dangerous? Probably, but there’s little to be learned without a hint of risk.

Traversing my way through the thicket and briar with my naturalist companion, it took a full day’s journey and a camp set-up for the evening to realize that we were being watched. By what, exactly, we couldn’t quite say. Fully prepared to fight for our lives, we cautiously explored our perimeter, not at all expecting the sight that unfurled as we pulled back the brush obstructing our view - a humanoid form, but it certainly wasn’t human. Their skin had a stony texture, like a mixture of volcanic and earthen stone, and before I could get a closer look, the skittish creature squeaked and disappeared into the trees. We thought that would be the last that we’d seen of our little visitor, but we were quite mistaken.

In fact, the pattern continued on a nightly basis - every time we set up camp, we felt the creature’s eyes on us, and by the time we found them, they disappeared before we could get a word in. After our third night of camp, I decided that it wasn’t doing us any harm, so if it wanted to observe, I wouldn’t stop it. I even left a bit of our rations nearby as a bit of a peace offering. We didn’t see the creature that evening, but I heard some rustling in the middle of the night, and as we went to check it out, we saw that the rations had been picked at, but not consumed. What was even more curious was that the remains of our campfire was nowhere to be found. So this creature wanted nothing to do with us or our food, but rather our campfire? It didn’t add up.

At this point there were far too many unanswered questions to idly sit back and play this game with whatever critter had decided to follow us. Several attempts were made to contact the creature and ensure they knew we weren’t a threat. It took until our final night for anything real to transpire. Campfire flickering, and ever watchful eyes on the two of us, I nodded at my companion before speaking out. “It’s okay,” I’d told them, “We won’t hurt you. We just want to know who you are.” The silence that followed had me on the edge of my seat. This creature was something I’d never seen before in my life - would it respond? Could it respond? Did it even know what I had said? Finally, a light rustle of the leaves reached my ears, followed by a timid repeat of my own question.

“Who… Who you are?”

The creature that stood before us was stunning, completely human in shape, but composed of hardened fragments of the elements around us. Ice crystals draped about its head rather than hair, and it was wrapped in a garment of vines. While the being didn’t have the same organs as myself or my companion, it looked almost as if it did, with facial features matching our own save for the elemental properties. Ice blue eyes stared at us with unspoken curiosity, waiting to see what our next move was. Deciding to ride the luck that the Divinities had bestowed upon me this evening, I extended my hand towards a free seat and, thankfully, the primordial complied, hobbling to the campfire and resting their ankle unsettlingly close to the fire. Before I could even open my mouth to warn it, I caught sparks dancing from the crackling flame towards the elemental form, almost as if it were drawn in by a magnet. The tiny specks of flame flickered about the creature's leg before the entire limb took on the warm glow of embers, resounding in a contented hum from the creature before me. Sharing a glance with my naturalist companion, we both turned to the being before us in muted shock - we’d never seen anything like this in nature before. Rightfully so, as neither of us had seen a primordial before, at least, not one like this.

What Primordials Are

Seeing our dumbfounded expressions, the creature offered us a sheepish smile before muttering a brief explanation. “It heals.” Our jaws dropped. It should have been simple to infer, an elemental creature being healed by the elements it was created from, but to see and hear it first hand was beyond what we could imagine. Seeing our obvious curiosity, the primordial slowly began opening up to us, knowing our language well enough to engage, though it was a bit broken here and there. We shared a brief introduction, learned his name was Phoenix, and shared our stories of what drew us into the forest. Unfortunately, Phoenix wasn’t here for the sheer pleasure of it, he’d been injured when he was struck by a carriage and ran into the woods to try to find enough natural components to tend to his wounds. Mass exposure to their primary element, we learned, was the best way to heal a primordial. He hadn’t been in this human form long, truth be told, and he’d learned most of his speech in his time as a stray dog in the neighboring towns, studying human speech and behavior. Phoenix was, as many primordials are, an extremely curious fellow, just as curious about myself and my compatriot as I was about him. The lot of us barely slept a wink that night, engrossed in conversation about what made the other so very incredible, though I’d still argue to this day that the winner of that incredible title would have to be Phoenix, if not primordials as a whole.

An entire species of beings created from congruence itself, its very essence compressing and collecting the solid elements from its surroundings to craft a creature to the world from the world. That same spark of congruence is their very life energy, growing and shifting with them throughout the years - both figuratively and literally. As primordials grow and increase their capacity and connection with the congruence around them, their body in turn grows and shifts, taking a shape of their choice that is often influenced by what they’ve seen in their lifetime. What started as a blob could shift into a chameleon and eventually grow into a wolf or, if they’ve seen them enough, something akin to a human. In fact, the majority of primordials that have undergone their awakening - the process in which they obtain sapience - tend to take on humanoid forms. Phoenix, while still young in his centuries of life, technically had his awakening in the shape of the stray dog from before, and it took him about a year for his body to make the physical shift. It was towards the end of this shift that Phoenix had his unfortunate run in with the carriage - one of the few ways to actually harm a primordial, I’d learn, as physical wear and tear is not typically a concern for them - so when we met him, he hadn’t been in his humanoid form for very long. Phoenix was a particularly rare primordial, we’d come to learn, as the majority of his kind hadn’t had their awakening - in fact, a very small amount of them ever did.

Curious Creatures

Awakened or not, however, one thing about primordials that always holds true is their sense of curiosity. Phoenix was one of the most inquisitive fellows I ever met, perpetually eager to learn about humanity and where my travels were taking me. Truth be told, once I openly welcomed his company, any trace of fear that I might have found in him vanished - he wasn’t afraid of humans at all. He loved them, found them fascinating, which astounds me to this day. For a creature whose name is akin to existing at the beginning of time, there really wasn’t much that this human vagabond could offer him, not that he’d ever agree. In turn, he opened my eyes to the gift that was primordials walking among us. Since I met him, I take extra care to admire the icy sheen of a bird, or to smile at the stony rabbit that zips by me in the fields. I’ve even looked into meeting other awakened primordials, which, I must say, are very hard to find. Primordials aren’t the type to make their own communities. They’re more often prone to wander, seeing as much of the world as they can, and enjoying the sights and the people they encounter along the way.

In my travels since then, I’ve certainly seen more un-awakened primordials than the likes of Phoenix, but I’ve found that there isn’t even a written record of the first primordial - Yes, I even stuck my nose in a book for these beautiful beings, not that it led anywhere… But by all logic that we can comprehend, primordials could be as old as the mountains, if not older. These beings are hundreds and thousands of years old, resilient to a tee and able to survive just about anything, save being smashed apart, but none of us could survive something like that. Who would even want to do something so terrible? To look upon a primordial is to look upon the will of congruence itself, crafting a life out of a healthy mix of elements. The congruence never even pulls just one element - it’s always a blend, a spontaneous combination of solid components that makes them just as unique as you and I.

Since my chance meeting with Phoenix, his contagious curiosity has stuck with me to this day, and I find that I’ll never stop wanting to learn more about these beings. If his inquisitive nature found its way to you as well, I invite you to tag along for the journey. My journal is full of his curious spirit, especially where these elemental beauties are concerned.