“A rhythm heralds the rising storm. Fluid motion calls the waves. A presence that consumes the eyes in fire. These are the dances of Avahndi. Pray you witness them in celebration, and not battle.”
–Gabriel Tassetolm, Capital scholar of Quintessence cultures

The Avahndim wastes were not always named thus. The Avandhi's command of elemental magics to till soil, call nourishing rains, and construct shelter protected them from drought and famine for ages. It is a cruel irony that a society valuing movement to match the ever-changing flow of the elements in nature crumbled, so brittle to the onset of war. Some travelers with more mouth than money say the Avahndi’s hubris led to their fall, but if you ask an Avahndi pilgrim they would likely say otherwise. Regardless of the blame attributed, only a blasted scar of barren earth, biting storms, and volcanic crags remains of that Edenic community.

The exiled Avahndi have wandered for several generations, preserving their elemental powers in the art of dances both sacred and mundane, taught by mavens to new dancers. Some have chosen to settle in far regions, build new homes, and gingerly put down roots. Others take the lessons of disaster more personally, and storm across farmland like tornados, taking anything they please on their path to vengeance and a new paradise without the effort to rebuild.
 
Dancing In Resonance
Elemental power flows and changes, so elemental dancers must constantly align their motion to match that dynamic rhythm. Wherever they dance in synchrony the elements respond in kind, flowing more violently and grounding the dancers.
The dance mavens are the elders of the Avahndi, controlling even flickers of Quintessence through their graceful motion. Fast and precise, they carry the echoes of whichever elements they resonate with as they move, as if summoning their own dance partners. Their very hair absorbs this magic, and they pass down braided locks to for pupils to bind into their own maven robes.