Elemental Conduits

The fountain on Swan Island remains a mystery to me. The island itself is surrounded by brackish water and the rivers are some distance away, yet it continually produces water that taste sweeter then I have tasted anywhere else. The servants who stood in line to collect water didn't even care when I asked them.

— from "Memories of a Caravan Guard" by Clais Hiltprandt

An elemental conduit is a small permanent portal to one of the elemental planes. Material from that plane continuously passe through the conduit, exiting from a focal point on a surface or item. This takes the form of a stream of water, air, or sand, or a flame. The size of a conduit varies according to the amount of power used to create it and the amount of material coming through can range from a small drip or flame to a constant stream or small bonfire. Once opened the conduit remains so until the runes used to create it are removed or damaged. If even a single rune is not perfect the conduit will close.

Discovery

The first elemental conduit was created by a group of magic-users working at the Grand Academy on the Mage Isles in 138 AtB. Experimenting with ways to make planar travel more accessible they discovered the first rune sequence. While initially disappointed when they discovered that the sequence accessed to a far away corner of the Elemental Plane of Water they quickly saw the potential.

Availability

Since the discovery the use of elemental conduits has become commonplace in the Mage Isles. They are used to provide fresh air and water, heating, and building materials. While not everyone can create one the permanent nature of the conduits means they have slowly become an everyday thing.
Outside of the Isles the secret to creating conduits was unknown until an imperial expedition reached the Isles in 87 GE. Seeing the wonders the conduits made possible the Empire struck a bargain with the Council of Mage Lords to acquire the knowledge needed to create them on their own. Magic-users of the Empire were not as organized as on the Mage Isles and the use of elemental conduit has not become as wide spread as it is there. But most larger cities have at least one fountain powered by a water conduit and quite a few noble have at least one room that is heated by a fire conduit.

Creation

The basis for an elemental conduit is a rune sequence that links the conduit to a place in the elemental planes. A number of working rune sequences for each of the elemental planes are currently known and the same sequence can be used an unlimited number of times. Different rune sequences connect to different parts of the same elemental plane which affect the exact nature of what comes through. While this is obviously important for earth conduits, some mages who have practice creating conduits claim that the quality of the air, water, and even heat produced by different sequences is noticeable. For the same reason many mages who know how to create conduits are loathe to share any new rune sequences they discover.

The runes are scribes onto the surface of the item the will be the focal point of the conduit. This can be any item as long the runes can be written on it. Since the conduit is only open as long as all the runes are intact, the most common focus items are made of metal or stone. The creation also requires a number of expensive ingredients. Some are used to treat the surface or item that will contain the conduit, others are used to scribe the runes that act as a guide for the conduit. The most important ingredient is called the key, and consists of material taken from the elemental plane which the conduit is supposed to access. Alternatively, an elemental from that plane can be summoned directly and used as a link to the plane. When the item is prepared and the runes are scribed the mage must channel enough energy into the runes to punch a hole through to the desired elemental plane.