Floating Islands
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"May you one day explore the Seven Skies..."
"Shadows descended from the heavens, consuming the tree tops in it's dark grasp. Though it was not clouds that blotted out the sun's embrace. It was the islands. The floating islands. I had finally found them."
-Jack Drake, acclaimed explorer
Legends once foretold of the Aengul’s Domain, far above that of normal descendant grasp. A realm in the sky dedicated to the powerful Aenguls and Daemons, a realm filled with power. A realm that was once expected to be explored by the Descendants. The Seven Skies.
For once, long ago, the ancient races of Anthos crafted shrines and temples of revered quality, showing their praise and respect for these great gods and goddesses. These deities, finding their constructs fit for the Seven Skies, rose them to their realm to be shown to all of their brethren.
These Islands flowed with power from the great Deities that blessed them, the blessing itself allowing these tracts of land to ascend beyond the normal plane of existence.
History
The Islands of the Sky go back as far as there were men who worshipped gods. As long as there has been shrines dedicated, they have been. From obscure and minor Deities, to even those in comparison to Aeriel, Aenguls and Daemons have accepted these shrines as beacons, raising them into their own domain as recognition for their work. Though just as all other monuments, they have crumbled in recent times, floating far and away from their normal habitats. As the descendants came and went, so did their gods, leaving these monuments of sheer beauty to roam the skies alone.
When these gods were much more [], they aided their followers in creating these shrines—although invisibly. The magics of the ancient world were much more powerful and unveiled than they are now, but do not think that the formation of these beacons was an easy task. Generations of these Dedicants spent their centuries crafting these temples, and their god watched over them, aiding them in spirit and soul. The temples were not of this world; their holy stone touched literally by the hands of the blesséd . Creating such a shrine would be impossible now, for these Watchers are not present as they used to be...
But it is still possible to visit them...
Creation
When the ancient denizens of Anthos began their crafting of these monuments, they used whatever materials they had around them. Some shrines consisted of simple arrangements of branches and leaves, while others were molded from the grandest sandstone and slab.
As the temples were built, the holiest men of these races placed upon the shrine a boon of their god; a charm representing their grand power and prestige. Some shrines hold only a single scale from the pinecone of a great tree, while others are embroidered with gold lace and diamond gems.
However, no matter the scale or elegance of structure, these deities reveled in the creation of these beacons, smiling down at their believers from the Seven Skies. They blessed them with the will to work, and their creation was sped even faster. Stone was piled like none before, slabs laboriously stacked in layers upon layers...
Until finally, the Aengul or Daemon found the monument fit. Using the gifts of the Seven Skies, they lifted the shrine (and some of the land around it) to their realm, leaving behind only a crater, blessed with the absence of years of work.
Flotation
After the powerful deities grant their blessing upon the shrines and the land surrounding, a border is set up. Generally the Dedicants whom built the shrine will grind coal and redstone, making a border upon the ground. After infusing the border with holy energy, the entire tract of land will lift from the earth and ascend into the heavens.
The most committed of believers actually stood within the temple as it rose, never to be seen by their families again... Some say that these ancient priests are still up there, [but who knows if they are dead or alive].
Portals
The process of lifting the ground itself to the heavens is a long and arduous one, and one of the many steps to complete the process is the act of setting up a portal. What is the reasoning behind having a shrine in your Deities domain if you cannot visit it to proclaim absolute prayer. Though many of these portals are lost by time, buried beneath the ever rolling hills, some of them can still be found.
When the earth is lifted into the sky, the Dedicants would erect yet another monument, though this one served a wildly different purpose. Teleportation. By building one portal on the ground, and the other upon the island they allowed easy transportation to and fro.
While the portal would be erected to allow access to the shrine in the sky, only certain people would be allowed to use it. Often times they would develop a security system, be it an ancient riddle needing answering, or a phrase needing citing. After such a thing would be completed, the dormant portal would become alive once more, allowing access. Wannabe sky isle explorers would need to decipher what the code was, to gain access.
Those that Wander
Shrines. Altars. Temples. All of these things holding such religious importance amongst the gods. Though what happens when a shrine is left alone? What happens when faith in a deity is lost? What happens when those deities that raised forth the land from the earth, ascending them into the sky, leave? The Islands Wander.
Without a purpose, these beacons have lost their connection to the place they were built, and begin to float freely under the will of the winds. As they started drifting, the tethering between the portals was broken, preventing the mortals of the world to travel to their shrine and back.
Some temples that have been completely forgotten, left to drift, may actually lose their ability to float altogether, causing them to crash down to the ground. Those islands that befall such a terrible fate are referred to as...
The Fallen
The fallen are a sect of Floating Islands that have lost their deities grace, dropping from the heavenly domain of the sky and coming crashing down back to the planet below. They no longer have the faith of the people, or the power of the god within them, and have nothing else to maintain their beauty. These Islands are forgotten and left to the dust; the altars, shrines, and temples scattered about in fallen rubble.
Those who have seen these destroyed relics are unsure if they will ever rise again, unless one discovers the Aengul or Daemon that was once revered in those very halls. Only then may the faith in that deity be restored—but none have had the privilege of doing that yet.
