Difference between revisions of "Elementals"

Revision as of 10:55, 18 August 2010

The neko shaman Rosalak invoking a huge lightning elemental. Picture by wenart commissioned by Timing2 and used with artist's permission. For larger version visit wenart's gallery.

Elementals can be roughly defined as spirits inhabiting nonliving matter, though they are infinitely more complex than that. For example, a water elemental isn't just moving water with a mind of its own! Once the matter is possessed by an elemental, it becomes the body of the creature and forms complex organs just like in a regular organic creature's body. It take days or weeks for an elemental to properly develop its body when it first inhabits it. Because of Felarya's magical nature, most elementals are able to animate huge masses of matter, making them gigantic, and because a large elemental needs a lot of energy to maintain its form, they need to eat a lot too. They hunt pretty much anything that is living and that they can consume. Their body is often malleable, which means that their throat, mouth and stomach can stretch quite a bit, allowing them to swallow large preys.

Elementals are extremely hard to kill. If you fight one in its own element, the task can become all but impossible because the elemental will use the surroundings to sustain itself. Even if you manage to severely damage its body, the elemental will just leave it and search for another chunk of matter to animate in a quieter place. However, once an elemental spirit has chosen a type of matter to inhabit, it will never be able to use another type. A fire elemental will never become an ice elemental, for example. Moreover, leaving its body for another is an unpleasant, sometimes traumatic experience for the elemental, especially if they got used to it for a long time.

The only sure ways to get rid of an elemental is to either devour its spirit (but creatures able to perform that trick are rare) or to use a banish spell once the spirit is separated from the body, to take the spirit away. Using opposite elemental magic is also a good way to damage them (water vs fire for example). There is no existing spellcaster strong enough to harm an elemental using its own element (aside from the coldfire used by some very rare beings, among them the succubus Arale).

Many elementals shape their body like a human's, but others have a very animalistic appearance. How intelligent and conscious an elemental is varies enormously from one specimen to another. There are some spirits that are barely aware of themselves, and some with a mind closer to a god's than a human.

List of elements

Nature Elementals

They are primal spirits who have chosen to construct physical bodies out of Felaryan flora rather than raw elemental forces. While nature elementals often develop a preference for a certain plant, they are capable of reconstituting bodies from another type when necessary. There are two loosely defined types of nature elementals: wood elementals, and flora elementals, both including a wide variety of forms.

Wood Elementals

They inhabit and shape a tree, shrub, or other woody plant into their physical body. The two most known forms are treants and bramblewolves.

• Bramblewolves are small wood elementals, with vaguely canid bodies, which are formed out of thorny bushes and shrubbery. They often have leafy manes or "socks" around their feet, and long, branch-like bushy tails. They have long, thin spines protruding from their manes and along their bodies for defense, and their teeth and claws are formed from thick, wickedly sharp large thorns. Bramblewolves are sightless and hunt entirely by vibration, traveling in packs of 3-5. They are non-sentient and of animal level intelligence, vicious and nearly fearless when it comes to running down prey. Pretty much the only thing they fear is fire, since they are as vulnerable to it as most wood elementals are.

• Treants are elementals that resemble mobile, humanoid trees. Unlike dryads however, treants usually don't have a human body, although they often have a human like face somewhere on their trunks; some of them are completely inhuman in appaerance. Treants can be commonly found in the presence of Dryads, who enjoy their company and treat them as trusted confidants.

Flora Elementals

These are nature elementals who have shaped their physical bodies from vegetation, raw plant matter, or vines. Some species of flora elementals include crimson snapdragons, kudzu pythons, and glade unicorns.

• Crimson snapdragons are elemental creatures resembling a huge komodo dragon. Large, quadrupedal, and powerful animals, they are ravenous and rarely give up pursuit of prey once they have began. Their bodies are formed from the carnivorous plants in the Jungle of perils, with large, spiked jaws resembling a venus flytrap; as one might imagine, they swallow their prey whole. Like bramblewolves, crimson snapdragons are blind, lacking eyes. However, their ability to sense vibrations is limited, and only effective within their immediate area. They mostly lay in wait for creatures to pass by, blending in with the scarlet background of the jungle; once they sense the vibrations of a passing creature, they spring forward and spew a cloud of fine spores at them. These spores are harmless; but if their initial attack is unsuccessful and their prey manages to escape their jaws, the spores allow a crimson snapdragon to track the marked prey over incredible distances. They have an amazing sense of smell, and can detect even the faintest trace of the spores from miles away, allowing them to follow their prey tirelessly; the spores are very difficult to remove or wash away, and to remove them with water would require multiple baths.

• Kudzu pythons are yet another animalistic variant of nature elemental, resembling large constrictor snakes made out of tightly woven vines-like plants. They are very fast, excellent swimmers and climbers, and capable of powerfully constricting their prey. Unlike true constrictor snakes however, kudzu pythons swallow their prey alive; they squeeze it until all the fight has left it, and then engulf their victim before they can get a second wind. They are very stealthy and more physically resilient than other nature elementals; while their vines can be cut, they are capable of unweaving most of their body into vines, making their vulnerable points difficult to pinpoint. Moreover, piercing weapons are useless against a kudzu python, as such weapons will just slip between its vines. In addition, by relaxing slightly, a kudzu python can expand, making it a larger threat and capable of swallowing prey much larger than itself. Thus kudzu pythons are a threat to large predators and small humanoids alike.

• Glade unicorns are not actually unicorns, but rather a type of flora elemental that greatly resembles them. They are equine in appearance, but have hooves and a long, spiraling horn made of wood. They wear leafy manes, "socks" above their hooves, and tails. In terms of coloration, they typically occur in woodland greens, but have also been spotted in autumn colors and bright floral colors as well. Despite their animal appearance, glade unicorns are very intelligent, and capable of communicating with other beings. They are usually peaceful, feeding on plants rather than animals or sentient beings. They sometimes have a reputation as crusaders; glade unicorns refuse to tolerate what they perceive as injustice, and will attack those they deem wicked. Unfortunately, due to their inhuman world-view, it's very difficult to predict exactly how they define "injustice" and "wickedness", which means that they can pose a significant threat to humans under various circumstances. Glade unicorns also have an unusual ability some have described as an "Aura of Tranquility"; by shaking its mane, a glade unicorn can release spores into the air. Most creatures that inhale these spores will gradually become more and more relaxed and calm, until they are incapable of aggression. Glade unicorns are fairly rare, and solitary, even for elementals. Many summoners travel into the forests of Felarya hoping to encounter one and befriend or establish a contract with it, as they are said to be powerful and reliable allies. Unfortunately for many would-be "masters", they have very high standards, and a summoner who is determined to be unworthy may find herself on the business end of the elemental's horn.

• Bloom dryads, despite their names, are actually elementals. Their main body is usually made of various vegetation, vines and leaves, and stays underground, while the upper female half of the dryad is made of bright and very beautiful flowers and is the part the "dryad" shows to the world. The presence of a bloom dryad is typically signified by a concentration of beautiful flowers in an area. Depending on their diet and location, they can cover anything from the size of a small swimming pool to a vast foot-ball-field sized area of ground. As with actual dryads, bloom dryads can conceal themselves perfectly in the landscape, but with greater efficiency, since all they need to do is hide under the surface of the ground. When they do surface, their hair appear made of tangled roots and flowers, and their skin is the colour of the soil. Like other floral plants, they are more than capable of absorbing energy from the sun and growing from it, but it's a much speedier process to feed on smaller creatures. In order to capture their prey, bloom dryads use a special pollen from their flowers. When puffed into the face of a victim, it sends them into a temporary state of semi-unconsciousness which makes them much easier to swallow. Personality-wise, bloom dryads tend towards flights of fancy, but always display an outwards appearance of great joy and happiness. Like their flowers, they bend different ways in the proverbial 'wind', changing their opinions and decisions in a heartbeat if they feel so inclined. They love to eat, and see absolutely nothing wrong with consuming whatever strays into their territory. However, one thing they love more than anything else is to be complimented, and more than one oblivious traveller has been spared the belly of a bloom dryad simply by commenting on how beautiful her petals were.

Water Elementals

Under Construction

Clouds and Fog Elementals

These spirits choose to inhabit the multiple tiny droplets of water in suspension in the air, that create fog and clouds. They tend to be rather lazy, drifting quietly in the air, and are generally not very dangerous.

• The Self-Conscious Clouds is a strange and utterly harmless type of cloud elementals. It playfully changes shape the moment someone recognizes exactly whom it's imitating. Village youngsters love to pelt the cloud with names and requests, while romantic couples laying in the grass find them impossible to enjoy. It's believed no one ever managed to engage in a direct conversation with one.

Vapor Elementals

Due to their blurry appearance, vapor elementals are often confused for air elementals. They can be described as superheated water elementals who, unlike most of their cousins, love areas that are hotter, though still with adequate moisture.

• Vapyres can range from large to small and can take a variety of shapes, but most often a human-shaped one. Due to their turbulent nature though, it only resembles the outline of a human, with barely distinguishable features. Only the larger or older vapyres are able to get a fairly realistic humanoid shape. Any attempt to touch a vapyre will result in you getting scalded. Vapyres are not really aggressive or predatory though, not really needing food to sustain themselves, as long as there is enough moisture in the air. Vapyres tend to have friendly but hot blooded personalities. If a vapyre feels like you are annoying, or insulting it, it will likely lash out and you will get a nasty steam burn. When really angry, they will also chase the offender quite far, being very vindictive. Perhaps this is warranted, due to a strange relationship with some of the more primitive societies on Felarya. Many of these groups do not have advanced machinery, though some have basic steam engines. Mining for coal on Felarya, however, is an unrealistic venture, so an alternative source of steam was needed. What has been found is that if a powerful enough mage can bind a vapyre, they can be placed in a steam engine and controlled by that mage to power it, giving unlimited power due to the vapyre not dissipating and being constantly looped through the machine. This can be dangerous if the mage ever loses control, or dies. The vapyre will then burst from the machine in an impressive explosion, and you can bet it will be VERY angry, and start taking revenge on its captors. It is rumored some people have actually befriended vapyres who do such tasks willingly, but that is fairly rare. Fighting a vapyre is difficult due to their speed and intangible nature. One way to do it is using a powerful ice magic to either turn one into a block of ice, or to cool the vapyre down; it will condense in to a liquid form, in which it is helpless and inert. It will not be able to move again until it is heated and begins to turn back in to steam. Be warned though, some vapyres can start to heat themselves up naturally.

Air Elementals

These elementals have chosen to inhabit and shape the ambient air of Felarya. They typically are fast, can fly or float, but are rather weak physically.

• Brizzs are rather nasty creatures made out of malevolent spirits that possesses air. They represents the spirits of tornadoes and dust devils. Brizzs dwell in mountaintops, deserts, and plains, and they are very rare in the actual jungles. During winter, they become more active and predatory and may float into the outskirts of its usual territory to rend anything that comes near with claws of wind. These creatures look intangible and are very often mistaken for ghosts. However they do possess a body, in the form of a small, transparent, floating nexus, enveloped by raging winds. Brizzs vary widely in size, but most of them are not very smart, and have a very hostile nature. They are hard to destroy through any means but magic. Throwing things into a brizz just gives it missiles to throw back at the attacker, and approaching its vulnerable nexus within striking range is difficult and dangerous. Even magic is not that helpful, with some chance of it backfiring. Fire, in particular, is to be avoided at all cost, for a brizz set ablaze will incinerate whatever it envelopes. Generally speaking, brizzs are best avoided. Technically, one can neutralize a brizz by simply inhaling it and digesting the nexus, which is said to also have the benefit of giving the inhaler the temporary ability of flight. However the risk of getting nasty cuts from the brizz's claws usually outweighs the benefits.

• Murmuras are strange bell-shaped creatures, mostly found in Imoreith Tundra. They are made of constantly vibrating air, and any contact with them gives the strange feeling of vibrations propagating throughout your body , a bit like if you were holding a running pneumatic drill. Murmuras are intelligent beings that can talk, but their voice is constantly changing. Over the course of a single discussion a murmura's voice can vary widely: first a normal but loud voice, then a whisper, then shouting, then changing to either a male's or female's voice, then an angry voice, next perhaps some using animal cries, or even own voice. It results in a strange cacophony that can be quite painful to the ears. Like many creatures of the zone, murmuras hunt by using sound as a weapon, either to draw a prey to them, or to stunt it with a violent sound wave. Once close enough, the murmuras will provoke a very violent detonation that literally throws the prey in to the air and knocks it out before they swallow it. Murmuras are not very resistant though, and their body can be destroyed by a violent enough shock.

Darkness Elementals

Darkness elementals create their bodies out of pure darkness. They mostly live in dark caves or bottomless abysses where very little or no light can be found. This type of elemental is typically very powerful in its element, but also terribly weak against light as any light attacks its very body. It's important to note that, contrary to popular belief, a darkness elemental is not necessarily evil.

• Abyssal discs are a type of darkness elemental that resides in the most lightless, deepest parts of the Topazial Sea depths. Physically it's extremely flat, almost merely a membrane of darkness stretched over the ocean bottom, and is stationary. There it lies in wait for prey to approach, at which point it strikes. Nearly anything that touches its surface becomes stuck fast, as if to a sticky mat. The creature then draws in the rest of its prey, until it is enveloped and is only seen as a bulge in the totally dark, flat disc. Since abyssal discs are highly magical in nature like other elementals, they share an elemental's appetite. However, they can sustain themselves to a degree by utilizing the magical properties of Felarya's soil, in the form of the sediment directly beneath them, which their wide surface area makes the best use of. They are known to have an extreme aversion to light, which because of their exceptionally thin nature, is quite distressing and even damaging to them. One of their most common predators, the shinade, makes excellent use of this weakness. The largest abyssal discs residing in the deepest abysses of Felaya are said to cover immense areas of ocean floor.

Earth Elementals

They are spirits who built their bodies out of the soil or minerals of Felarya. Thus, they literally take in to themselves the healing property of Felarya, granting them amazing regenerative abilities, and very powerful healing magic.

Magic Elementals

The rarest of elementals, magic elementals are only born when already powerful spirits use the essence of magic itself itself to create their body. They are immensely powerful entities, although they suffer from the same drawback as other elementals. Since the larger an elemental is, the closer it must remain to its element, magic elementals are typically unable to leave extremely magic-rich places such as the fairy kingdom, and most forms of anti-magic are absolutely crippling to them.

They may subsist on magic of the environment, or take the form of something fit for hunting. Because their body is defined by their whims, their behavior can become erratic and unpredictable. Unluckily for magic users, magic elementals have the most heightened awareness for the predator sense, and can likely pinpoint you miles away as if you were next to them. However, since they are such an immense focus of magical energy, they in turn can be sensed by anything capable of the sense from great distances. If you've sensed it first, it's smartest to activate something with anti-magic capabilities as self-protection. Magic elementals are the natural predator of genies, seeing the extremely magic-rich beings as 'candies in a jar'.

Fire Elementals

Lava Elementals

Lightning Elementals

Known Elementals

Sasha (Nature - Bloom Dryad)

Goro ( Nature - Treant )

Déméchrelle (Darkness)

King Trazix (Lava)

• Credits goes to Silent-eric for the Brizz and self-conscious cloud, to Jaette-troll for the Vapyres, to Shaman for the Murmuras, to Rythmear for the Bloom dryads, to Fish for the Abyssal discs, to Fish and Silent-eric for the description of magic elementals, and to TheQuantumMechanic for the design and characterization of the Bramble wolves, Crimson Snapdragons, Kudzu Pythons, and Glade Unicorns.