Difference between revisions of "Elementals"

Revision as of 04:16, 2 August 2009

Elementals can roughly be 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 unpleaseant, 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 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, but some use a very animalistic appearance too. How intelligent and conscious an elemental is varies enormously from one specimen to another. There are some spirits barely aware of themselves, and some with a mind closer to a gods 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 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 apperance. Treants can commonly be found in the presence of Dryads, who enjoy their company and treat them as trusted confidants.

Flora Elementals

There 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 stay undergroud, while the upper half of the dryad is made of bright and very beautiful flowers and is the part the Dryad show 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 preys, Bloom dryads use a speial 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 more easy 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. One thing they love more than anything else however is to be complimented. More than one oblivious traveller has been spared the belly of a Bloom Dryad simply by commenting absent mindedly on how beautiful her petals were.

Water Elementals

Vapor Elementals

A subspecies of water elemental, but due to their nature, they are often confused for air elementals.

• Vapires can be simply described as a water elemental that is superheated, basically making it a steam elemental. Unlike most water elementals, they tend to like areas that are hotter, though still with adequate moisture. Vapires can range from large to small and can take a variety of shapes, usually a human shaped one for interaction with other species - though due to their turbulent nature, it only resembles the outline of a human, with hardly distinguishable features. Only the larger or older vapires are able to get a fairly realistic humanoid shape. Any attempt to touch one, however, will get you quickly scalded. Vapires are not really agressive or predatory, not really needing food to sustain themselves, and as long as there is enough moisture in the air they can keep their form fairly easily. However, they tend to have hot blooded personalities. If you approach one in a friendly manner, it will probably be polite, but curt with you and be on it's way. If it feels like you are annoying, or insulting it, it will likely lash out and you will get a nasty steam burn. They will also chase you quite far if they don't catch you instantly, being very vindicative. Perhaps this is warranted, due to a strange relationship with some 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. What has been found, though, is if a powerful enough mage can bind a Vapire, they can be placed in a steam engine and controlled by that mage to power it, giving unlimited power due to the Vapire not dissipating and being constantly looped through the machine. This can be dangerous if the mage ever loses control, or dies naturally. The Vapire will burst from the machine in an impressive explosion, and you can bet it will be VERY angry, and start wrecking revenge on it's captors. It is rumoured some people have actually befriended Vapires who do such tasks willingly, but that is fairly rare. Fighting one is difficult due to their speed and intangible nature. One way to do it is using a powerful ice magic to cool the Vapire down - it will condense to a liquid form, in which it is helpless and inert. It will not be able to move again until it returns to a heat where it begins to turn back to steam - though, be warned, it can start to heat itself up naturally if the water is not cold enough. Safest is to turn it to a block of ice, where it is entirely helpless... until it starts to melt.

Air Elementals

• Brizz are a rather nasty creature made out of a malevolent spirit that possesses Air. They represents the spirits of tornadoes and dust devils. Brizz are creatures that dwell in mountaintops, deserts, and plains, and they are rare in the actual jungles. During winter, they become more active and predatory and may float into the outskirts of it's 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, floating nexus, envelopped by raging winds. Brizzs varies widely in size. The main commonality between them is a low intelligence, and 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 strike range is difficult and dangerous. Even magic is not that conclusive, with some chances to backfire. Fire in particular is to be avoided at all cost, for the brizz set ablaze will incinerate whatever it envelopes. Generally speaking, Brizz are better be avoided. Technically, one can kill a brizz by simply inhaling it and digesting the nexus, which also has the benefit of giving the "huffer" as they are sometimes called, the temporary ability of flight. However the risk of getting nasty cuts from the Brizz's claws usually outweighs the benefits.

fire

lava

earth - sand - rock

lightning

darkness

Known Elementals

Sasha (Nature - Bloom Dryad)

Déméchrelle (Darkness)

King Trazix (Lava)

• Credits goes to Sean Okotami for the base idea of nature elementals, to Silent-eric for the Brizz, to Jaette-troll for the Vapires, to Rythmear for the Bloom dryads, and to TheQuantumMechanic for their design and characterization and for Bramble wolves, Crimson Snapdragons, Kudzu Pythons, Glade Unicorns.