elemental

Elementals are insensate (lacking self-awareness) creatures composed primarily of some fundamental force of nature, most ordinarily the elements. They are dangerous and territorial, often residing in areas which contain high concentrations of whatever they are composed of. They are even capable of forming in the Sora itself, serving as one of the primary dangers outside of the eddies. Very rarely, they drift into eddies and cause problems for travelers, though most are not strong enough individually to cause harm to any soracraft.

Description

Elementals are almost entirely made of one force of nature, their bodies having shifting, fluid forms. As their shapes are malleable, elementals are thus differentiated by their overall power and behavior rather than their physical structure. The following types are currently distinguished by most scholars:

• Animates are powerful elementals which lash out and attack any mortal life which approach them. They typically mirror the general shape of whatever they are attacking.
• Apparitions are very weak creatures which frequently stay in very diffuse forms. They drift around almost aimlessly, the only evidence of their passing a sudden sensation related to their makeup, such as unexplained chills or tingling flesh. At times, however, they will take a more solid form and lash out at whatever is nearby.
• Orms are dangerous, territorial creatures which lair in strong manifestations of their primal nature. They tend to destroy anything living that nears them, including plants and other inanimate creatures.
• Titans are incredibly powerful beings, thought to be remnants of the primordial Sora from which realms are formed. They generally lie dormant, but will occasionally awaken and rampage, wreaking havoc until eventually falling dormant again.
• Weirds are small, weak elementals which are generally harmless unless disturbed. They will remain hidden unless intruders get too close.

Origin

Elementals come into being in three primary methods. Many are created from the leftover elements remaining after a realm is created. These primordial elementals may be ancient and are typically the more powerful types: animates, orms, and titans. They may exist for thousands of years, undisturbed and virtually unknown in remote areas, or may have their homes encroached upon by mortals and cause incredible destruction.
The second most common way of elementals coming into being is spontaneous generation. These elementals, of all types, will form unbidden in any heavy concentration of elements. They typically remain in these locations indefinitely unless some outside force either relocates or destroys them. Most of these spontaneously generated elementals are animates, weirds, and apparitions. Titans and orms can be spontaneously generated, but this is rare.
Finally, elementals can be created through powerful magic. Mages often create elementals as guardians or shock troops, using magic to direct them or tie them to a location. If this magic fails, the elemental can go berserk as it searches for a location high in its element to reside in. Typically, only animates and weirds are created this way. Orms are possible to create by mages of extreme power, while apparitions are easily creatable but serve very little purpose. Theoretically, a titan could be created through magic, but the amount of power necessary appears to be beyond the reach of even the most powerful cabal of mages.