`First Herds & Their Name Origins

[Vel]

The first horses on this island were broken into many large groups or herds. These herds were divided by each horses element. Every horse was ‘assigned’ an element at birth or upon arrival to the island. Each herd had a leader who possessed powers over their element. They were known as the lords of the elements. The Lord’s herds were horses of their elements that band together and ran together. The herds made allies and enemies with the other elemental herds. This is why Isola Dei Dei is called so. It translates to Island of the Gods in Italian. As you read on about the elementals you can see why it was called this.

The herd’s elements were made up of the elements of Earth and Life. The list of the first elemental herds is below.

Earthly Elements

- Fire
- Water
- Wind, Air and Weather
- Ice and Snow
- Sky
- Night
- Day
- Earth (such as the ground and plants)


Life’s elements

- Life
- Death
- Time
- Spirit
- Love and Loyalty
- Wisdom and Knowledge

Only the leader of each herd possessed the power to control the element. There were always two leaders in the herd, a Lord and a Lady. But only one possessed the power to control. The one with the power to control the element was the son or daughter of the previous Lord or Lady with the power. If the leaders had two foals, the eldest was to become the one with the power. They only got the power after their mother or father had died and the power was passed off to the first-born. The horse had to be born when the parent with the power died or else they would just bear the mark and not posses the power. If they were born when their parent died they would inherit the power and the Mark. Each one that would inherit the power bore the mark of the herd, such as the Fire Herd’s mark was a flame, and so the Lord would have a marking on him that looked just like a flame. Each herd’s mark will be described in another section.

The leader or heir would have a large Mark on their hindquarters. All the other members had a small Mark anywhere but their hindquarters. They only had a Mark as long as a leader who possessed the Power was still alive. This was because the leader would place the small Mark on their herd member’s bodies.