Shenlong

It is said that every sough and storm was once the charge of the eikon Shenlong, the Tempest. In the immeasurable ages that she spent flying in the winds, creating the currents of Terra that would come to carry the ambient aura upon its gales through the planet and then back to its core like so many parts of the lifecycle, Shenlong, alongside Nidhogg and Typhon, would later create the dragons in their image. In modern depictions of the long-lost history, Shenlong is understood to be the most capricious and emotional of the eikons, as prone to changing temper as her own winds.

=History= A strong instance of the free will of the eikons, Shenlong lived her existence exactly as her whims commanded, with no reason for rationality or logic that mankind so greatly treasures. Shenlong favored the skies, so she would roam them for eons on high until the sky had become blocked out with clouds, flying and flying without any regard for anything else. Shenlong favored the beautiful creations of other eikons and even mankind. And perhaps most of all, Shenlong deeply respected the great eikon of the seas, Bahamut.

It may have been his benevolence and patient temper that Shenlong admired, so opposite to her own, or it might have been the soughs of his cresting waves. Nonetheless, Shenlong would often present new and exciting treasures of her own to Bahamut, and would spend longer and longer time near the sea or his tributaries in the form of the rivers. It is said that during the time of Shenlong and Bahamut's friendship, the winds were the kindest to Terra and its lifeforms.

But they could not remain this way forever. When Bahamut began to suffer corruption from the vual taint, Shenlong was startled and dismayed. Wanting to reverse the course of events, Shenlong began to rampage over the seas as if to urge mankind to take action. Great amounts of water from the seas were thrown up into the winds and then back down at the great continents, drenching them in the great rains.

When the sealing of Bahamut inevitably occurred, Shenlong was even further aggrieved, and so deep was her grief that without caring for anything else she dramatically went down to the seas and laid there curled up at their floors to mourn. None of the treasures that she once prized so dearly could give her rise; no great offerings made to her by men for the purpose of quelling flood or quenching drought were enough.

The great rains, as well as all variety of wet storms, have been attributed to Shenlong's eternal remembrance of her friend, and her demands that he might not be forgotten by anyone who spans the planet - be it in the winds, lands or seas.

Creation of Nanyue and the tideborn

 * See the separate description Nanyue.

Sylphs
One of Shenlong's children, the sylphs resemble small fairies, and are very simple creatures whose cheerfulness have not been dampered by the fact the golden age of aura is long gone. They love the winds, the forests, and the spirits. Though they are rare and reclusive, they live in harmony with nature as the whim takes them and flit along the winds in places where the auraflow is still abundant, such as in the forests of Jiusyu and Ossyra, where they are sometimes known in the languages of both lands as the eiri. Paying remembrance to the lord of the winds, Shenlong, the sylphs are a reminder of when history of the Tempest once was not so full of storms and still roamed the skies carefree. Sylphs generally have one of two emotions towards things: like or dislike - and like their creator, they are fickle. On occasion, they have been known to favor animals and humans.