elements

The elements are the primordial building blocks of creation of which all other things are composed. They naturally arise in the Sora, appearing, mixing, and annihilating constantly. Most scholars divide the elements into three distinct categories: fundamental elements, demielements, and antielements. Each element has different properties and traits associated with it. The elements must be differentiated from the expression of those elements in every day circumstances. The wood collected from a tree, the fire made from burning that tree, or the shadows cast by the flickering flames are all merely manifestations of the primordial elements. Actual elements can be found in the Sora or within elemental vorticies.

Fundamental Elements

There are six fundamental elements, which are further subdivided into the material elements and the energies. These elements are the basic building blocks of everything, impossible to subdivide into other elements through any known process. Each can be combined with other elements in some fashion to create various demi- and antielements, each with their own unique properties.
The four material elements are air, earth, fire, and water. These combine to create the physical makeup of reality. The two energies are fuliginous (or dark) and nivose (or light). These combine to create the animating force of reality. Each element is antithesis to another; fire opposes water, earth opposes air, and fuliginous opposes nivose.
They represent the basest of emotions and natures of things, such as anger and hunger (fire) or lust and thirst (water).

Demielements

The demielements are pairs of fundamental elements combined in equal amounts. They can be split into their constituent elements through alchemical and arcane processes, though it is difficult to do so. The demielements are thunder (fire and air), magma (fire and earth), lightning (fire and nivose), rust (fire and fuliginous), acid (earth and water), metal (earth and fuliginous), wood (earth and nivose), shadow (air and fuliginous), aether (air and nivose), ice (water and air), oil (water and fuliginous), and ichor (water and nivose).
They represent more complex emotions and personalities, such as creativity and spontaneity (lightning) or grief and bravery (metal).

Antielements

The antielements are two opposing elements combined in equal amounts. Creating them releases a great amount of destructive force, which is one of the major dangers of the Sora. Splitting the antielements requires a great amount of energy. The antielements are miasma (earth and air), steam (fire and water), and void [fuliginous and nivose].
They represent flaws and debilitations, such as madness and exhaustion (void) or disgust and sickness (miasma).

Further Combinations

The elements can be further combined in a near infinite ways to create anything. Different ratios and combinations can make wildly different things. For example, 8 parts ichor, 1 part wood, and 1 part aether creates elf blood. While this is technically 9 parts water, 11 parts nivose, 1 part air, and 1 part earth, combining those fundamental elements in those amounts does not necessarily create elf blood. Mixing those elements at the same time could create 7 parts ichor, 2 parts nivose, 1 part ice, and 1 part acid which combines to create aloe.

Element	Type	Components	Represents*
Acid	Demi	Earth/Water	Seduction, Desire, Gratitude
Aether	Demi	Air/Nivose	Friendship, Triumph, Dreams
Air	Fundamental		Empathy, Fear, Sleepiness
Earth	Fundamental		Pride, Admiration, Safety
Fire	Fundamental		Anger, Hunger, Happiness
Fuliginous	Fundamental		Health, Instinct, Awe
Ice	Demi	Air/Water	Charity, Shame, Affection
Ichor	Demi	Nivose/Water	Passion, Relief, Optimism
Lightning	Demi	Fire/Nivose	Creativity, Spontaneity, Confidence
Magma	Demi	Earth/Fire	Righteousness, Amusement, Gratification
Metal	Demi	Earth/Fuliginous	Bravery, Reverence, Worth
Miasma	Anti	Air/Earth	Prejudice, Sickness, Cowardice
Nivose	Fundamental		Breathing, Hope, Thought
Oil	Demi	Fuliginous/Water	Commitment, Grief, Enthusiasm
Rust	Demi	Fire/Fuliginous	Competition, Humor, Vigor
Shadow	Demi	Air/Fuliginous	Insight, Caution, Somnolence
Steam	Anti	Fire/Water	Boredom, Wasting, Depression
Thunder	Demi	Air/Fire	Trust, Shock, Wakefulness
Void	Anti	Fuliginous/Nivose	Madness, Exhaustion, Despair
Water	Fundamental		Desire, Thirst, Sadness
Wood	Demi	Earth/Nivose	Contentment, Gratitude, Growth

*These are provided as examples and are not an exhaustive list of what each element represents.

Type

Natural