Elementals

[William Alexander Von'Dire]

Elementals

Born of the essence of elements, elementals hail from the elemental planes. Earth, Fire, Water, Air and Shadow each type of elemental is different, and each represents the unbridled power of its home plane. While elementals are constantly being spawned on these planes, few ever come to the Prime Material. Most of those are summoned by mages, little more than puppets. Every now and then, however, an elemental comes of its own will, bringing with it the power of the very elements that support life on the Prime.


Air Elementals
Born of the chaotic storms and gentle breezes that constantly run through the elemental plane of Air, no two air elementals are quite alike. By nature they tend to be flighty, doing everything as quickly as possible. This isn’t to say they aren’t patient, just used to doing everything at the speed of the wind. Their preferred beast form is generally that of some kind of bird, finding it hard to separate themselves from the currents of air. As a humanoid they will generally choose to take on the appearance of humans, finding their brief, frantic lives something to be emulated.

Air elementals draw their power from the wind around them, as such they have a mastery over the air that no other creature can rival. This gives them a host of interesting abilities that they use to their benefit. The following are traits inherent to an air elemental:

Their weakness is earth.

Some examples of features an air elemental might have in humanoid form are:
Light blue skin
Pale white skin
White hair
Light blue hair
A constant slight breeze in their presence
Flesh that is cool to the touch
Voice that can be heard over any nonmagical wind
Any sudden movement is accompanied by whistling wind



Earth Elementals
Born of the solid earth and gems of the Elemental plane of Earth, earth elementals are as varied as the gems they spawn from. When on the prime material they prefer the forms of giant insects for their beast forms, protected by their strong exoskeletons. In humanoid form they prefer the guise of dwarves, enjoying the excuse to be underground like their home.

Earth Elementals are the opposite of Air elementals in almost every way. Choosing to patiently think through problems and having little regard for day to day tasks. This outlook gives them many different traits than their elemental brothers.

Their weakness is air.

Some example of these features that an earth elemental might have in human form are:
Earthlike skin
Eyes like black pits
Eyes like gems
Gravelly voice
Very large hands and feet
Iron gray hair
Sweats mud instead of water
Metallic sheen to skin or hair



Fire Elementals
Born of the ever raging flames in the elemental plane of fire each elemental is as different as is the dance of each flame. In their beast form they prefer serpents, especially giant salamanders. Their humanoid forms tend to be that of gnomes, appreciating their quick wit and intelligence.

Fire is the most destructive of the elements in its raw form. As such the traits of fire elementals tend to be fiery and destructive.

Theri weakness is water.

Some examples of features one would show in humanoid form are:
Charcoal gray skin
Deep red skin
Red or orange hair that waves like flames
Eyes that glow when the fire elemental is angry
Unusually warm skin
Large red teeth
Always smells like smoke



Water Elementals
Born from the endless waters of the elemental Plane of Water, water elementals are as changing as the daily tides. Water elementals prefer aquatic animals in their beast forms and generally take sea-elves or merfolk as a human form.

Water elementals are the representation of the element of life. Water also represents an erosive destructive force, not to be underestimated. This leads to a strange combination of abilities unique to water elementals.

Their weakness is fire.

Water elementals have certain features in humanoid form, such as:
Lightly scaled skin
Clammy flesh
Blue-green skin or hair
Large blue-black eyes
Webbed hands and feet



Shadow Elementals
Born of the flux that is inherent within the abyssal plane of shadows, shadow elementals tend to be very chaotic in nature. These rare elementals tend to just be a 2 dimensional image of what it is that they would be copying. It can sometimes take years for an elemental of this nature to learn to control himself, and actually form into a full fledge creature.

While a shadow elemental can mimic anything that casts a shadow, they tend to follow the guidelines of felines as their preferred animal to duplicate. More often than not when a shadow elemental finds a form he likes or prefers he will stick with that form for the rest of his life
Shadow Elementals draw their power from both the the reflection of light itself, and the complete absence of the element, as such there is truly no place that they can not tap their power within. The following are common traits of the shadow elementals

Theri weakness is fire.

Some examples of features a shadow elemental might have in humanoid form are:
Skin devoid of all color, the essence of black
Hair much the same as skin, a dull lackluster black
No heartbeat or blood to speak of
A shadowy afterimage left behind in the wake of sudden movements
Flesh that is spongy and cold to the touch
Voice that tends to sound as if there are multiple people speaking if they are not paying attention