The Five Gifts

The Five Gifts were five artifacts of immense magical power created by Demmazon during the Korvak War and entrusted to five champions of the mortal races. They were created to give the peoples of the world the immediate magical power necessary to resist the Korvaks while Demmazon taught the races how to master magic for themselves.

The Gifts were round gemstones, approximately the size of a grapefruit. Each was tremendously powerful and allowed its wielder to perform magical feats beyond what any mortal caster could normally achieve.

The Gifts were not identical in their capabilities. White was the All-Powerful Gift, encompassing all eight schools of magic. The other four Gifts were deliberately reduced in power and specialized into four distinct magical profiles. Each specialized Gift encompassed two schools of magic.

The resulting structure was:

Gift	Bearer during the Korvak War	Profile	Schools of Magic
White Gift	Vestal Stone	All-Powerful	All eight schools
Red Gift	Kjeldin	Offensive	Evocation + Necromancy
Blue Gift	Salendaius Moonstrike	Transformation	Conjuration + Transmutation
Yellow Gift	Alantarin the Wise	Protection	Abjuration + Divination
Green Gift	Thorn Runehammer	Deception	Enchantment + Illusion

The four specialized Gifts therefore collectively encompass the eight schools of magic:

Red — Offensive: Evocation and Necromancy
Blue — Transformation: Conjuration and Transmutation
Yellow — Protection: Abjuration and Divination
Green — Deception: Enchantment and Illusion

White encompasses all eight.

This distinction between a Gift's profile and the individual schools that comprise it is important. For example, Yellow is the Protection Gift, and that protection profile is expressed through Abjuration and Divination. Likewise, Blue is the Transformation Gift, expressed through Conjuration and Transmutation.

The Gifts were not merely powerful magic items. They became one of the most consequential forces in the history of the world. Their creation changed the relationship between the world and magic, their wielders played decisive roles in the Korvak War, and their power ultimately provided the means by which eight mortals became gods.

The Creation of the Gifts

Demmazon created the Five Gifts during the Korvak War.

The Gifts required an enormous amount of magical energy to create. The power involved was so great that creating the Gifts drew upon the power of the world itself.

The first Gift created was the White Gift. Its raw power demonstrated to Demmazon that five artifacts of equivalent strength could not safely be created. The remaining four Gifts were therefore deliberately made less powerful and given focused magical purposes.

The White Gift consequently remained objectively more powerful than the other four.

The specialized Gifts were not simply weaker versions of White. Their power was deliberately concentrated into particular magical profiles, with each profile encompassing two schools of magic.

The creation of the Gifts also contributed to the world's relationship with magic. The enormous magical forces involved ultimately required Demmazon to merge a portion of his realm with the world so that the planet could survive the process. This created the extraordinary phenomenon later known as the edge of the world, where the ocean falls away into Demmazon's realm.

The larger history of that process belongs to the history of Demmazon, the Korvak War, and the world itself, but the creation of the Gifts was the direct cause.

The White Gift

The White Gift was created first and was objectively the most powerful of the Five Gifts.

Unlike the other four Gifts, White was not organized around a limited magical profile. It encompassed all eight schools of magic, making it effectively the All-Powerful Gift.

Its bearer was Vestal Stone, the first paladin of Demmazon.

Vestal became the leader of those who wielded the Gifts, not because he was formally appointed to rule the others, but because he was regarded as the strongest and most capable of them. As later described of Vestal:

"He was the best of us."

The White Gift's power made Vestal an extraordinarily powerful figure during the Korvak War. Ultimately, Vestal sacrificed himself in order to imprison the leader of the Korvaks.

Vestal died during the final battle against the Korvak leader. His sacrifice allowed the surviving champions to trap the Korvak leader's spirit and prevent it from continuing to threaten the world.

The White Gift was buried with Vestal, his soul remaining with the Gift as its protector. It remained there until it was eventually recovered by Magerris.

Magerris had previously been offered the White Gift and had refused it, instead recommending Vestal. Later, however, circumstances changed sufficiently that Magerris took the Gift and absorbed its power.

The White Gift therefore became the source of Magerris's transformation into a god.

White Gift Summary

Bearer: Vestal Stone
Color: White
Profile: All-Powerful
Schools: All eight schools of magic
Relative power: Strongest of the five
Major event: Vestal sacrificed himself and was buried with the Gift
Later fate: Recovered and absorbed by Magerris
Divine consequence: Magerris ascended

The Red Gift

The Red Gift was originally wielded by Kjeldin.

Its profile was Offensive, encompassing:

Evocation
Necromancy

The Red Gift's connection to Necromancy was not understood during Kjeldin's lifetime. At that time, Necromancy as a magical discipline had not yet been discovered or understood.

Consequently, historical accounts from the period often described Red simply as an Evocation or offensive-magic Gift. This was an incomplete description rather than evidence that Red lacked its second school.

The truth became apparent much later through the work of Riatin, Correries' crony and the first mortal to unlock the secrets of Necromancy. Riatin used the Red Gift after Correries obtained it, and through his experiments discovered the necromantic capabilities inherent in the Gift.

Because Correries had already absorbed the Red Gift, the original artifact was no longer available for later scholars to examine. The historical suspicion that Red contained a second, undiscovered school therefore could not be directly confirmed at the time.

That suspicion was nevertheless correct.

Alantarin's Guardianship

After the Korvak War, Kjeldin eventually surrendered the Red Gift. It came into the possession of Alantarin the Wise, who guarded it along with the Yellow Gift. The two Gifts were kept together under Alantarin's protection in a hidden mountain temple.

Zaraleth and the Red Gift

During the later conflict surrounding the Gifts, Zaraleth stole the Red Gift from Alantarin's temple. She did not steal the Yellow Gift. The Heroes of Aegea intervened and prevented Zaraleth from obtaining it. The Red Gift, however, remained in the chain of events that eventually brought it to Correries.

Correries and the Red Gift

Correries was the first mortal to discover that a Gift could be absorbed rather than merely wielded. He absorbed the Red Gift directly. The physical artifact was destroyed in the process, with its power becoming part of Correries himself rather than remaining in the form of an external artifact. The absorption was not perfectly efficient. Correries did not obtain every bit of the Gift's power; a significant portion of its power was lost into the world. Nevertheless, the process transformed Correries and demonstrated that the Gifts could serve as a means of achieving something beyond mortal power. The Red Gift therefore became the first Gift directly responsible for a mortal's ascension.

Red Gift Summary

Bearer: Kjeldin
Color: Red
Profile: Offensive
Schools: Evocation + Necromancy
Historical understanding: Originally known primarily as an Evocation Gift because Necromancy had not yet been discovered
Later bearer: Alantarin the Wise
Major theft: Zaraleth stole the Red Gift
Later fate: Absorbed by Correries
Important consequence: Some of its power was lost into the world during absorption
Divine consequence: Correries ascended

The Blue Gift

The Blue Gift was wielded during the Korvak War by Salendaius Moonstrike, an elven priest.

Its profile was Transformation, encompassing:

Conjuration
Transmutation

The historical record frequently identifies Blue only with Conjuration. This is an incomplete historical description resulting from a deliberate deception surrounding the Green Gift.

The true nature of Blue was both Conjuration and Transmutation.

The Battle of Demonmount

The Korvaks' last undefeated army eventually emerged from the mountains and swept across the valley where Demon's Horn now stands.

Salendaius Moonstrike stood alone before the army, with only the hordes she could summon through the Blue Gift beside her. The city behind her was relatively undefended because much of its military had been drawn away by a Korvak feint from the east.

The Korvak leader and his allies attacked Salendaius with enormous amounts of magic. They opened a rift through which demons began entering the world. The rift might have released thousands of demons had Salendaius not used the power of the Blue Gift to counter it.

Salendaius sealed the rift and then created the volcano known as Demonmount around it, preventing the rift from reopening.

Salendaius was eventually killed in the battle. Her actions nevertheless broke the strength of the Korvak army sufficiently for the citizens of the threatened city to escape.

The Blue Gift was lost, and despite extensive searching, it would not be recovered for many years.

The Later History of Blue

The Blue Gift was eventually found secretly by Marstalbin.

Marstalbin could not use the Gift himself because Korvak magic was incompatible with it. He therefore gave the Blue Gift to Correries.

Correries subsequently used the power of the Blue Gift in his experiments involving elves and other races. These experiments included his work with Ulanthar and contributed to the creation of the orcs.

The Blue Gift was ultimately not absorbed into Correries in the same manner as the Red Gift. Instead, its power was later divided between Ulanthar and Milaynee, raising both of them to divine status.

Blue Gift Summary

Bearer: Salendaius Moonstrike
Color: Blue
Profile: Transformation
Schools: Conjuration + Transmutation
Historical misconception: Often described as Conjuration alone
Bearer's fate: Salendaius died during the Korvak War
Later fate: Recovered secretly by Marstalbin and given to Correries
Later use: Correries used its power in his experiments
Final disposition: Power divided between Ulanthar and Milaynee
Divine consequence: Ulanthar and Milaynee ascended

The Yellow Gift

The Yellow Gift was wielded by Alantarin the Wise.

Its profile was Protection, encompassing:

Abjuration
Divination

The Protection profile is therefore not a separate school of magic. It describes the overall function of the Gift, which is expressed through the combination of Abjuration and Divination.

Alantarin was entrusted with the protection of both the Red Gift and the Yellow Gift after the Korvak War.

The two Gifts were kept in a hidden mountain temple under Alantarin's protection.

Zaraleth's Attempt

Zaraleth attacked Alantarin's temple and stole the Red Gift. She did not obtain the Yellow Gift. The Heroes of Aegea intervened and prevented Zaraleth from taking it. Consequently, the Yellow Gift remained outside Zaraleth's possession. This distinction is important because older accounts sometimes collapse the two Gifts into a single theft. The historical record establishes that only the Red Gift was stolen by Zaraleth.

The Yellow Gift and Divine Ascension

The Yellow Gift was eventually divided between Krom and Tarmikos. The division of its power raised both mortals to divine status. The Yellow Gift therefore became the source of two separate divine ascensions rather than being absorbed completely by a single individual.

Yellow Gift Summary

Bearer: Alantarin the Wise
Color: Yellow
Profile: Protection
Schools: Abjuration + Divination
Protected alongside: Red Gift
Zaraleth: Did not obtain it
Heroes of Aegea: Prevented Zaraleth from taking it
Final disposition: Power divided between Krom and Tarmikos
Divine consequence: Krom and Tarmikos ascended

The Green Gift

The Green Gift was wielded by Thorn Runehammer.

Its profile was Deception, encompassing:

Enchantment
Illusion

The true nature of the Green Gift was deliberately concealed. Historical accounts commonly identify Green with Transmutation. This was false.

Thorn's deception about Green also explains the historical misconception surrounding Blue. If Green was publicly believed to be the Transmutation Gift, then Blue could not also be publicly identified as possessing Transmutation. Blue was therefore generally described as Conjuration alone.

The resulting public understanding was:

Blue = Conjuration
Green = Transmutation

The actual structure was:

Blue = Conjuration + Transmutation
Green = Enchantment + Illusion

The deception was therefore extensive enough to obscure the actual second school of Blue as well as the true nature of Green.

Thorn's Secret

After the Korvak War, Thorn did not actually return the Green Gift to Demmazon. Instead, he hid the Green Gift beneath the Temple to Demmazon in Aegea. Thorn then publicly claimed that he had returned the Gift to Demmazon.

The false story served an important purpose: anyone searching for the Green Gift would have no reason to search for it beneath the Temple.

The claim that Thorn had "returned the Gift to Demmazon" therefore became part of the historical misunderstanding surrounding Green.

The Gift remained hidden until the events of the Under the Bus campaign.

The Green Gift and Divine Ascension

The Green Gift ultimately played a direct role in the final divine ascensions associated with the Gifts.

At the climax of the Under the Bus campaign, the power of the Green Gift was divided in the events surrounding Thorn Runehammer, Orinder, and Kelestaria.

Orinder redirected part of the Gift's power into the spirit of Kelestaria. The resulting interaction between Orinder and Kelestaria created Orin-Kel, a new divine entity formed from the two.

The resulting distribution of the Green Gift's power allowed Thorn and Orin-Kel to ascend.

Thorn's ascension occurred only after the three opposing factions had been defeated, including Filtiarn. Thorn had not yet ascended when he imprisoned Filtiarn.

Green Gift Summary

Bearer: Thorn Runehammer
Color: Green
Profile: Deception
Schools: Enchantment + Illusion
Historical misconception: Transmutation
Secret: Thorn concealed its true nature and location
Location: Beneath the Temple to Demmazon in Aegea
Public story: Thorn claimed he had returned it to Demmazon
Later fate: Recovered during the Under the Bus era
Final consequence: Power contributed to the ascension of Thorn and the creation/ascension of Orin-Kel

The Four Specialized Gifts

The underlying magical structure of the Five Gifts can therefore be understood as four specialized profiles surrounding the unrestricted White Gift:

Gift	Profile	School 1	School 2
Red	Offensive	Evocation	Necromancy
Blue	Transformation	Conjuration	Transmutation
Yellow	Protection	Abjuration	Divination
Green	Deception	Enchantment	Illusion

Together, these four Gifts account for all eight schools of magic.

The profiles are useful shorthand for understanding what each Gift was intended to accomplish:

Red — Offensive: destructive and damaging magic, including the later-discovered powers of Necromancy.
Blue — Transformation: magic concerned with bringing things into existence and changing their nature.
Yellow — Protection: magic concerned with warding, protection, knowledge, and perception.
Green — Deception: magic concerned with influencing minds and manipulating perception.

White stands apart from this structure because it encompasses all eight schools rather than being restricted to a two-school profile.

The specialization of the Gifts does not necessarily define the divine domains or portfolios of the mortals who later ascended through them.

The Price of Creating the Gifts

Creating the Five Gifts consumed massive amounts of magical energy.

That energy was drawn from the power of the planet itself. Without intervention, the process would have torn the planet apart.

To prevent this, Demmazon merged a portion of the world with his own realm in the heavens.

This created an extraordinary geographical and planar phenomenon known as the edge of the world. At the edge, the ocean ended in a massive waterfall that fell into Demmazon's domain.

The waterfall was effectively a permanent, miles-wide Gate. Passing over the falls carried a traveler from the world into another plane: Demmazon's realm.

This merger allowed the planet to survive the creation of the Gifts.

The consequences of this merger continued to shape the world's magical environment until Demmazon's realm was eventually separated from the world.

The Gifts After the War

After the Korvak War, the surviving champions recognized that the Gifts were too powerful to remain casually available to mortals.

The Gifts were therefore removed from general use.

The White Gift was buried with Vestal Stone.
The Blue Gift was lost after Salendaius's death.
Thorn hid the Green Gift beneath the Temple to Demmazon in Aegea, publicly claiming that he had returned it to Demmazon.
Kjeldin eventually surrendered the Red Gift into Alantarin's care.
Alantarin withdrew into a hidden mountain temple to guard both the Red and Yellow Gifts.

Meanwhile, the mortal races continued to develop the magical knowledge Demmazon had given them. Over time, they became the masters of magic that Demmazon had promised they could become.

Magic and technology developed together, and civilization entered the Age of Wonders.

Kjeldin's Obsession

Kjeldin eventually became consumed by his desire to recover the Red Gift. The loss of its power affected him profoundly. He came to believe that he could not live without it. One of his attempts to fill the absence in his life was to start a family. He fathered two children:

Correries
Zaraleth ("Zut")

For a time, his family appeared to help pull him away from his obsession. Eventually, however, Kjeldin learned that Alantarin had gone into the mountains. Kjeldin entered the mountains searching for Alantarin and the hidden temple. He never returned and was presumed to have frozen to death.

His obsession with the lost Gift did not die with him.

Correries Finds the Gifts

Kjeldin's death affected his son, Correries, profoundly.

Correries eventually inherited his father's obsession with the lost Gifts. Unlike his father, however, Correries ultimately succeeded in finding them.

This discovery began the chain of events that eventually led to the destruction of Aegea, the rise of the new gods, and the Fall of the Age of Wonders.

The subsequent histories of the individual Gifts diverged dramatically.

Gift Absorption

The Gifts could normally be wielded as physical artifacts by mortals.

Eventually, however, it was discovered that their power could be absorbed.

Correries was the first mortal to accomplish this.

Rather than merely using the Red Gift, Correries absorbed it directly. The physical Gift was destroyed and its magical power became intrinsic to him.

The process did not necessarily transfer all of a Gift's power. In Correries's case, some of the Red Gift's power was lost into the world.

This discovery changed the significance of the Gifts. They were no longer merely extraordinarily powerful artifacts. Their power could potentially become part of the wielder permanently.

Thorn and Alantarin had discussed the possibility of absorbing the Gifts and concluded that the amount of power involved was too great for a mortal to safely contain.

Correries demonstrated that the process was possible regardless of those concerns.

The later divine ascensions used the Gifts in different ways. Some Gifts were absorbed or partially absorbed, while others had their power divided between multiple mortals.

The Gifts and Divine Ascension

The Gifts ultimately provided the power through which eight mortals became gods.

The creation order of the Gifts is separate from the chronological order in which their powers were used for ascension.

The ascension history was:

Red Gift → Correries
White Gift → Magerris
Blue Gift → Milaynee and Ulanthar
Yellow Gift → Krom and Tarmikos
Green Gift → Thorn Runehammer (God) and Orin-Kel

The Gifts therefore form the direct magical link between the mortal history of the Korvak War and the later formation of the pantheon.

Importantly, the magical specialization of a Gift should not be assumed to define the divine domains or portfolio of the mortal who ultimately ascended through it. A Gift's magical function and the resulting god's divine nature are separate matters.

The Gifts in Historical Sequence

The broad history of the Five Gifts can therefore be summarized as follows:

Demmazon creates the Five Gifts during the Korvak War.
The White Gift is created first and proves substantially more powerful than the others.
The remaining four Gifts are deliberately made less powerful and specialized into four two-school profiles.
The five Gifts are wielded by Vestal, Kjeldin, Salendaius, Alantarin, and Thorn.
Salendaius dies, and the Blue Gift is lost.
Vestal sacrifices himself, and the White Gift is buried with him.
Thorn secretly hides the Green Gift beneath the Temple to Demmazon in Aegea, while publicly claiming that he returned it to Demmazon.
After the war, Kjeldin relinquishes the Red Gift, which comes under Alantarin's protection alongside the Yellow Gift.
Zaraleth steals the Red Gift, but the Heroes prevent her from obtaining the Yellow Gift.
Correries absorbs the Red Gift, becoming the first mortal to demonstrate direct Gift absorption and the first mortal to ascend through a Gift.
The White Gift is recovered and absorbed by Magerris.
The Blue Gift's power is ultimately divided between Ulanthar and Milaynee.
The Yellow Gift's power is divided between Krom and Tarmikos.
The Green Gift remains hidden until the Under the Bus era.
The Green Gift ultimately contributes to the ascension of Thorn and Orin-Kel.

The Five Gifts at a Glance

Gift	Bearer	Profile	Schools	Key Fate
White	Vestal Stone	All-Powerful	All eight	Buried with Vestal; later absorbed by Magerris
Red	Kjeldin	Offensive	Evocation + Necromancy	Passed to Alantarin; stolen by Zaraleth; absorbed by Correries
Blue	Salendaius Moonstrike	Transformation	Conjuration + Transmutation	Lost after Salendaius's death; recovered by Marstalbin; later divided between Ulanthar and Milaynee
Yellow	Alantarin the Wise	Protection	Abjuration + Divination	Protected from Zaraleth; later divided between Krom and Tarmikos
Green	Thorn Runehammer	Deception	Enchantment + Illusion	Hidden beneath Temple to Demmazon; later involved in ascension of Thorn and Orin-Kel

Important Canon Distinctions

Gift identity is by color

The Gifts should be identified as White, Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green.

Historical sources may use ordinal terminology based on creation order, but those numbers should not be used as the Gifts' names or identities.

Profile and schools are distinct concepts

Each specialized Gift has a broad magical profile expressed through two schools:

Red = Offensive → Evocation + Necromancy
Blue = Transformation → Conjuration + Transmutation
Yellow = Protection → Abjuration + Divination
Green = Deception → Enchantment + Illusion

White is All-Powerful and encompasses all eight schools.

Historical descriptions may be incomplete

Descriptions of the Gifts made before their true capabilities were understood should not automatically be treated as complete descriptions.

In particular:

Red was historically associated with Evocation because Necromancy had not yet been discovered.
Blue was publicly associated with Conjuration because Thorn's deception required Transmutation to be associated with Green.
Green was publicly associated with Transmutation, despite its true Enchantment and Illusion profile.

Zaraleth stole only the Red Gift

Zaraleth's theft involved the Red Gift only.

The Yellow Gift was not stolen. The Heroes prevented Zaraleth from obtaining it.

The Green Gift was not returned to Demmazon

Thorn's claim that he returned the Green Gift to Demmazon was deliberately deceptive.

The Gift was actually hidden beneath the Temple to Demmazon in Aegea.

The Gifts did not all produce divine ascension in the same way

Some Gifts were absorbed by a single mortal; others had their power divided among multiple mortals. The Gifts should therefore not be treated as five identical "god-making" artifacts.

Gift specialization does not determine divine portfolio

The magical profile of a Gift does not necessarily correspond to the divine domains or portfolio of the mortal who eventually ascended through it.

Canon Notes

This entry is the master historical entry for the Five Gifts. Individual Gift entries should provide faster reference for each artifact, while this entry preserves the interconnected history and canonical magical structure of all five artifacts.

The four specialized Gifts collectively represent the eight schools of magic through four two-school profiles. The White Gift encompasses all eight schools and remains categorically distinct from the specialized Gifts.

Broader events such as the Heroes of Aegea, Demmazon's imprisonment, and the Separation of the Worlds should be documented in their respective historical entries. They should only be referenced here to the extent necessary to explain the Gifts' history.