ELEMENTALS
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The fabric of the mortal world is composed of six elements. Four of these are natural elements, earth, air, fire, and water. By adding the fifth element, quintessance, these natural elements may be brought to life, infused with soul and sentience, and given tasks to perform. Elementals are not truly alive, but moreover extensions of the planet's own life force. They were first created by the gods, as both builders and guardians of the natural world throughout the Age of Tranquility. To this day, they retain their former roles, though only a scarce few remain after the devastation of the Twilight War, and they no longer act in concert without the gods to lead them. Each elemental category includes three sub-types, known as 'aspects'.
Earth (Stone, Dust, Mud)
Earth elementals were the first to be shaped by the goddess, Arka, to build the continents, mountains, gorges and caverns found throughout the world. For untold eons, they wandered the planet in slow, ponderous troupes, long before life took hold, contructing the very face of Rym from the ancient fabric of stone, sand, and mud. They are generally the largest and certainly the slowest of elementals beings, speaking in deep, thundering tones that can be heard for leagues around. Their ancient tongue is as slow as they are, making it almost impossible for them to communicate with mortal beings.
Stone: Stone elementals are summoned from hard rock and mineral, forming into lumbering juggernauts of awesome proportion. They are often humanoid, but headless, with broad shoulders and massive, crushing fists. Their immense weight and coarse build make their movements painfully loud, and their footsteps shake the earth. They often disguise themselves as rock formations, piles of boulders, or huge druidic standing stones in order to hide from the ever-searching eyes of Nigh. They are the most powerful, but also the slowest of earth elementals, capable of creating earthquakes and levelling mountains.
Sand: Found in places where rock has erroded away, these elementals are often disguised as rapidly-shifting sand-dunes. They move with a dry hiss, twisting themselves chaotically from place to place much like amoebas. When they're forced to act, they momentarily lunge forward in some necessary shape, such as a hand or tentacle, only to fall back to their natural state an instant later. They are quite fast but not especially strong, lacking real solidity, and are typically summoned from the surface of beaches or deserts.
Mud: Pulled from the semi-liquid medium of earth and water, mud elementals generally form themselves into shambling, four-legged brutes much like gorillas. Their oozing nature makes them almost immune to blows, and they are capable of flowing through even the smallest cracks in order to persue or invade. Mud elementals are usually found in swamps and moors, and cannot stray far from their native substance for fear of drying out and falling to pieces. In their own element, however, they possess fearsome power and absolute camouflage.
Fire (Flame, Lava, Smoke)
Fire elementals are the most destructive of elemental beings, for while they lack the raw power earth, they possess a wild and chaotic nature that makes them far more unpredictable and difficult to control. They were the subjects of Ixra, the fire goddess, and served along with their earthen brothers to temper the raw face of the new world. Without their queen, however, they have flown into a state of near-psychotic rage, and now tear at mortal things if given the least provocation. Only an overriding fear of Nigh keeps them in check. Fire elementals speak in low hisses and crackles, punctuated by deep roars that instinctively panic even the bravest of beasts.
Flame: These living conflagrations are the most common type of fire elemental, a twisting column of multi-hued flame. Summoned from large sources of fire, they become dangerous and unstable allies, eager to wreak havoc on the mortal world. Flame elementals set everything in their path alight, moving and spreading with tremendous speed. Worse still, the fires they start give them perfect camouflage, and allow them to travel instantly through their own medium, evading any who would stop their destructive rampage. They are, however, physically weak and completely ineffective against anything that doesn't burn.
Lava: Surely the most frightening of fire elementals, these liquid goliaths are drawn from deep below the earth, where colossal pressures create an almost supernatural heat. Thought far slower than their ethereal cousins, lava elementals are also far hotter, burning the very earth they walk on and melting down even the strongest of substances. They have a physical presence that allows them to deliver brutal, searing blows, and their liquid embrace spells certain doom for any mortal that comes too near. Lava elementals cool gradually if they move far from their native element, and are rather vulnerable to cold conditions as a result.
Smoke: Often seen as the most harmless of the fire aspects, these are the spies and assassins of the family. Their toxic fumes can choke the life out of air-breathers, and they move with such subtlety and guile as to be nearly invisible, even in plain sight. Their hot, vaporous bodies can set certain substances on fire, but they are rarely drawn into any sort of direct conflict, seeking instead to spy and report to their more powerful cousins. Smoke elementals move with whispy, curling grace, pouring through cracks and under doors, evading even the smartest of blows, and making not the slightest of sounds. They are summoned from sources of smoke, which may be of any color, even invisible.
Air (Wind, Clouds, Storms)
Air elementals were the guardians of the sky, wrapping the world of Rym in a live-giving coocoon. They are nearly as chaotic as fire elementals, but have a less violent edge, prefering mischief to destructions. Air elementals are the fastest and most agile of the four varieties, though their substance is somewhat lacking. Since the death of their goddess, Cira, they have become scattered and have lost their purpose, drifting aimlessly among cloud banks and waiting sadly for the world to end. They speak in low howls, and occasionally in high, whistling shrieks.
Wind: Often felt as nothing more than air currents, these shapeless beings are among the most dangerous of elementals. They can twist themselves up into a deadly vortex, flinging debris and tearing apart structures with ease, and moving with frightening speed. Literally summoned out of thin air, they have tremendous mobility and range, and make excellent scouts. Their erratic nature makes them somewhat unreliable, however, as they are easily distracted. They are also slow to follow orders, and resent summoning more than of their kind.
Clouds: Somewhat softer and more benevolent than most elementals, these rolling, sentient cloudbanks deliver life-giving rain even now, after the death of their goddess. They are calm and peaceful, summoned for less hostile purposes, and usually drift high above the mortal world, avoiding contact with its inhabitants at all times. Cloud aspects often gather in large groups, though telling them apart from normal cloudbanks is nearly impossible. Only the slightest hints of unnatural motion give them away - some people have gone so far as to suggest seeing faces in the clouds.
Storms: These are the violent siblings of the cloud aspects, composed of darker, heavier vapor. They are more prone to fits of rage, obviously, and are perhaps the least predictable of an already unpredictable species. Drawing upon wind and lightning, they assault the face of Rym and take occasional, petty revenge against anyone walking out in the open. For the most part, however, they are too mad and unfocused to direct their wrath, and roam from place to place, ranging in size from a mere stormcloud to a driving hurricane. They can be summoned from the heart of any storm, but are next to impossible to control.
Water (Ice, Liquid, Steam)
Builders of oceans and lakes, carvers of rivers and streams, these elementals are often thought of as the least threatening. Their waters gave life to the dry earth, and the mortal beings who walked upon it. The servants of Mera were a peaceful lot, until the Twilight War showed the Creators thier hostile side, sinking ships and obliterating coastal cities. Water elementals continue to carry out the last instructions of their goddess, though they appear to move quite randomly to mortals and speak in a bubbling, alien tongue that none have ever translated. Most continue to guard certain sacred sites, such as great reefs, sunken temples, and the remains of the goddess herself.
Ice: In cold climates, water elementals take on a harder form, similar to that of stone elementals. These hulking humanoids move at a slow, grinding gait, but pack a whallop, adding the impaling aspects of crystalline structure to an already formidable impact. They are drawn from the substance of glaciers, and often disguise themselves as icebergs in order to move more quickly from place to place. They cannot stray far from their climate, however, as they grow soft and gradually melt away to nothing. Ice elementals chill the air around them, and sap the strength of mortal opponents with their frigid aura.
Liquid: Between solid and vapor, these aspects of water can actually be summoned from nearly any form of liquid with a high water content (pure water being the strongest, however). These gracelss beings move like snakes, forming miniature rivers as they glide from place to place, leaping up into a soild pillar when not in motion. They can deliver a nasty slap, or drown air-breathers caught offguard by a sudden lunge. Most are lightning quick, and quite strong, though they cannot move too far from their element without drying out. They are less willing to serve if summoned from natural bodies of water.
Steam: These vaporous beings are similar to air elementals, though they have a liquid content that makes them cloying and easily visible. They are largely amorphous, even in motion, and lack the subtlety of most ethereals as they drift about, ruining dry things. They take a certain dim delight in this behavior, and are said to be quite lecherous, if an element could be given this attribute at all. They are typically non-hostile, prefering instead to smother mortals in a hot, uncomfortable shroud when given half the chance. They leave a telltale fogging on cold surfaces.
Quintessance (Life, Soul, Thought)
The fifth element is a primordial energy known as 'quintessance', the raw life force of the planet itself. This radiant energy animates elementals and mortal being alike, and exists to some extent in all things with the exceptions of the Eater and its ilk, which seek to extinguish it forever. Quintessance is also regenerative in nature, capable of healing injuries to mind, body, and spirit. Rather than forming elementals, this energy becomes their temporary anima, allowing ordinarily-lifeless elements to move and even think on their own. It is composed of three distinct aspects, all three of which are necessary for even the most basic life forms. In a sense, all living things are composite elementals.
Life: Raw life force appears as a radiant blue gas, generally manifesting itself in healing and restorative magic. Life energy is an extension of any mortal being, though most barely have enough to maintain themselves for more than a few decades. The Solinar used this energy both to restore the living and to combat the undead, whom it burned on contact. When separated from its host body, the body dies, and the energy is drawn back into the planetary pool, to be recycled into new organisms. This briefly-liberated life energy is often seen as a 'bright light' by the dying. The three Spiral collectors target this energy, incinerating it before it can re-manifest.
Soul: Another vital aspect of any mortal being, the spirit is a slightly more cohesive and permanant form of energy which, unlike life force, can remain intact even after death. This faintly-glowing 'spirit' typically passes on to some other plane after leaving its host body, though on occasion they may remain behind to haunt the mortal world in some way. Spirits are relatively harmless 'echoes' of the mortal beings they once inhabited, gradually fading away to nothing as time goes on. Spirits may be made more permanent if given artificial homes such as totems or standing stones.
Thought: The final, and perhaps most complex of the three quintessant aspects is thought. This is not so much an energy as a potential, the ability to perceive the outside world and act upon it in a deliberate fashion. Thought is surprisingly common, existing on a basic level in even the most primitive plants and animals in the form of instinct or or nervous reaction. Though invisible, thought often takes the form of inspiration, creativity, and logic, and manifests itself through the actions of sentient beings.
Wasting (Death, Entropy, Void)
The diametric opposite of quintessance is the element of corrosion and collapse, a dark energy known as the 'wasting'. This is the essence of the Eater and its minions, an inverted anima that eats away at life and matter, until there is nothing left. It also manifests as the withered remains of those living things it consumes, which work to aid its mindless cause. All aspects of wasting react violently on contact with their polar opposite, quintessance, with the weaker force being consumed. When applied to living things, the wasting causes sickness and a withering apathy, reducing vibrant colors to a lifeless wash of sepia.
Death: Not so much the state of death as the event, this aspect represents the transition of life force. Death is no less neutral than any other aspect, a natural occurance which facilitates the recycling of mortal energy. Like a dark, swirling fire, it consumes the withered wood of life, burning away stricken mortals and separating their quintesseance into its three aspects, perpetuating a cycle that has endured since the dawn of time. Some creatures can 'see' death, and describe it as a rich, ebon-hued flame that consumes things slowly, or in a raging instant.
Entropy: After death comes decay, the aspect of decomposition as it applies to both organic and inorganic matter. In living things, it is the 'cause' or mortality, the process of aging which gradually wears down all beings, reducing them to dust. In other materials such as metal and stone, it brings about corrosion and crumbling, gradually grinding everything down to its base elements in the same way that organic decay redistributes complex beings to the most simple levels. When concentrated, it becomes a mold-like darkness that consumes matter with frightening, time-lapse speed.
Void: The final aspect of the wasting is void, the absence of all things. It is not so much an aspect as a lack of all other aspects, which is a state in and of itself. Lightless, airless void is also known as vacuum, the dark gulfs between the stars. It is also manifested at the heart of the Eater, where all matter and energy simply ceases to be. Pure void also lacks time, and bestows a stillness that could well be described as the terminus of reality itself. This is the most powerful energy employed by the Spiral, a force capable of obliterating the fabric of the universe and destroying energy.
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