Elan

God of air, trust, and education, Elan is part of the only set of twins from Keldin and his wife Mylia. He is a calm god who had strong influence on coastal areas and anywhere that gets snow; Sailors and mountaineers pay homage to him for favorable winds. He gets along best with his twin brother, Ulren, but is a loner otherwise and speaks with few others when not tutoring his pupils. Like his brother, he enjoys solitude.

Elan is sometimes portrayed as a tornado beast or, more often, a giant bird.

Core Statistics
Name: Elan

Intermediate Deity

Symbol: A griffin, An outstretched wing.

Alignment: True Neutral.

Patron Creatures: Sailors, mountain men, air mages.

Domains: Air, Precision, Truth.

Cleric Alignments: TN, NE, NG, LN, CN.

Favored Weapon: A bow and arrows.

Relatives: Son of Keldin and Mylia, his twin brother is Ulren. Also brother of Syren, Orrovan, Sahn, and Saurvold.

= Relationships = Elan is seen as very trustworthy among the gods, as he does not speak hastily of anything and holds little desire for conquest or power, thus most of the gods of good confide their secrets or treasures with him. He is not on good terms with his father Keldin after the First War and tends to only listen to Ulren or Wol on matters concerning the cosmos. He considers Wol more of a father figure than Keldin or Setengar. Elan harbors a grudge against the evil goddess Isod, as she represents the ideal of oppression.

Followers
On Kharlia, Elan used to have a large following in the ice nation of Frost. To this day, he is still worshiped alongside Syren in several port towns, where both deities have significant sway over the fate of sailors and anyone out at sea. In the Abyss, where there are no winds, Elan's place as an elemental god is almost all but forgotten, instead the focus of worship turning to his knowledge domain.

= Functions = Elan serves as the embodiment of the element of air. In addition to this, he tutors the forces of Evalius in the ways of aerial combat and maneuvering. He is a learned scholar and astrologist, spending much of his free time reading or soaring through the cloudy span of his realm, enjoying the freedom of Aereomus' skies. In times of war, Elan serves as a messenger and scout for the gods, as his speed is superior to that of his kin.

= Residence = Elan resides on the elemental plane of air, known as Aeromus. His formal place of living is within a large castle in the clouds, high above the Mucky-Muck, though Elan prefers to spend most of his time out in the wild or at one of the hundreds of training sites where Seraphim and Devas constantly train.

= History = Elan was born third to Keldin and Mylia, his twin brother Ulren arriving at the same time. In the beginning, when the children of the elements were chaotic and short-sighted in their endeavors, Elan took the skies with great speed and recklessness. His winds would dash across the fledgling world of Kharlia and cause great havoc in knocking over things or causing weather disasters such as hurricanes. Aeromus was not much better then, either, with enormous amounts of latent energy left over from the time of the Ancients. Elan insisted that all dragons be given flight, when the time came for his suggestion in creating the first mortal creatures. He spent much time testing them with buffets of wind, seeing how much they could withstand and increasing the precision of his powers. To him, they were impressive creatures. To the dragons, Elan was seen as somewhat of a nuisance in those times.

During the First War, Elan watched from high above the plane of Malgotha as massive amounts of Heaven's forces were slaughtered by Hell's superior devils, including some of the dragons he had come to respect. Some were not killed, but forced into slavery by the cruel goddess Isod; Elan looked upon this event and wept, having never heard of such a terrible thing. It is said that the trauma from this concept was so great that Elan was struck mute for years.

When the war was won, Elan's father Keldin approached all of his children with great scorn and told them that each of them had played a part in much unnecessary woe. Elan's folly was that he did not share his gift of flight, instead using it against mortals for his own amusement and training. In watching hundreds of souls lose their freedom during the war, the god of air knew he had to educate others and train them in the ways of flight. Elan forsook his father, whom he considered a hypocrite for scolding his children while offering no previous instruction on how to properly live. Turning to Wol, Elan apprenticed himself to the god of Law, giving up his Chaotic Good alignment, and learning the ways of the scholar. In short time, the god of air was playing host to several of Heaven's seraphim and the newly created Devas.

When the Age of Mortals began, Elan busied himself with his instructing and cared little for the affairs of man. His winds blew across the world of Kharlia in tune with his siblings, and it was not until the kingdom of Frost arose in the northern peaks did anyone begin to worship Elan in great numbers. Amused by the humans, Elan decided to focus on them and was known as a wise god to his people, teaching them many secrets in the areas of science and medicine. In coastal regions, where Elan's powers were sometimes felt harshly, he had many followers pay homage to him as well. The careful instruments and planning in the art of sailing greatly appealed to Elan, and it is said that he helped mortals navigate the first great voyage between continents.