Centuries ago, before the war had befallen the continent of Cyllesia, four kingdoms lived in peace and cooperation; each kingdom offering its own advantages to its neighbors, all working in harmony towards a comfortable life for all in residence. Magic was the most valued resource on the continent, with each kingdom possessing its own magical core that contained the very essence of their powers. The four cores were displayed together at the center of the continent where the four kingdoms' borders met. With the cores so close to one another the power was able to run smoothly between the kingdoms, one amplifying another in a way that maximized the potency of everyone's magical gifts.
The Carnelian kingdom was the largest, possessing the powers of the mind. Its people were gifted with the ability to control or read minds, as well as an incredible knowledge and hunger for power. Carnelian court members were your scholars, teachers, and archivists. They kept to their libraries, schools, and books, happy to educate the young minds from any court, not just their own.
The Amethyst kingdom was much smaller, west of the Carnelian kingdom. They were given the gift of the soul, allowing them to foresee events of the future or speak to the gods. They were oracles, able to see through the veil into another world. For this reason they were often feared and left alone, save for a few that were hired by nobility to act as their personal soothsayer or to run temples in each kingdom as a priest/priestess. They were very superstitious as well as religious, as kept very strange practices that most never bothered to try to understand.
The Emerald Kingdom sat to the east, its people granted the affinity for nature. It was always a sunny spring day in this part of the continent as the people were gifted with elemental and earth magic. They tended to crops and livestock, possessing an affinity for both things that root themselves in mother earth as well as those that stalk above it. They were a peaceful, calm people, always willing to come to someone else's aid when necessary. They possessed perhaps the widest range of magical abilities, and they thanked the earth under their bare feet.
The Sapphire kingdom lay to the south. They were granted the magic of the body, able to shapeshift and heal as well as blessed with an incredible strength and agility. They were the healers of the land, usually setting up many permanent residences among the other courts. Their shapeshifting abilities were put to many different uses, some using wings act as messengers, others transforming into large beasts of burden.
Then one day that peace was threatened: the Sapphire kingdom's magic core was stolen, their powers evaporating as it was taken farther and farther away from their lands. As tensions rose, blame was hurled at friends now turned enemies, and a war lasting 13 years erupted on Cyllesia. The core was never recovered, and the Sapphire kingdom deteriorated to ruins.