Elemental Esse

"Throughout the planes of existence, the elemental planes hold a difference to the rest..."

— Elementalist Endeavours in Elseplaces

The Esse

Over the Elemental Planes of Existence, there are few similarities beyond their manifestations. The planes each represent their own core element, but where some might believe that rock creatures roam the Plane of Earth and scorching fires trekking across the Plane of Fire, the reality is much different.
The reality of the planes is that the elemental spirits roam as various creatures of a blend of flesh and semi-solid ghostly material called esse, living their lives until summoned from their plane by creatures of the Material Plane. Once on the Material Plane, their esse forms a shield of their home element around itself, bringing life to their term of "elemental". It leaves the element behind when destroyed or dismissed.

The Release

The only way that an elemental spirit can die is when their esse is defeated on their home plane, dissipating into the Astral and then eventually reforming into a new creature in the Planes, not necessarily of an element.
There are ways of forcing an esse into a form that it doesn't belong to, but practices that involve such an act are prohibited by the Magisterium. It's considered a terrible use of magics to force a creature into a shape it isn't meant to hold, especially when the practice can involve dissolving the esse of the creature. While this doesn't generally happen, taking the esse of a Plane of Water creature and forcing into the shape of a Plane of Fire creature is the most common way of forcing dissolution outside their home plane.

Type

Metaphysical, Elemental