Elementals are inhabitants of Chahara Vee. They are not animals in the traditional sense, but embodiments of certain aspects of the universe, created from and powered by magiwaves. Their origin is unknown, but it’s generally assumed that they came into being long before life on Andreemea, at the same time as or possibly even before the High Beings.
Characteristics[]
Elementals come in many shapes and sizes, ranging anywhere from a mere few inches tall to, in very rare cases, the size of a building. However, the most common ones are somewhere between one and three feet tall. These small and relatively weak elementals are referred to as sprites. Many elementals are vaguely humanoid or animal in form, or are simply abstract, amorphous shapes. The more powerful ones tend to have more complex and well-defined shapes, as well as be more abstract or eldritch in appearance.
Elementals don’t eat, breathe or sleep, but they require magiwaves for sustenance when in the physical world. Thus, magiwave droughts, like those in deep space, can weaken or even kill them. Because most elementals embody an ethereal or energy-based element, they tend to be able to float and fly around without a source of propulsion. While weaker elementals can only control their body in the way an animal could, more powerful ones tend to have enough control to greatly alter their shape on a whim. Particularly powerful ones may even have external control over the element they embody.
The majority of elementals, especially sprites, embody one of five basic elements:
- Fire elementals have a body made of magical fire that burns without a fuel source. For obvious reasons, they can be dangerous without even intending to be, though as a result most fire elementals have a good understanding of when to keep their distance.
- Cold elementals deep-freeze the air they occupy. They would be invisible, if not for the fact that water in the air tends to freeze inside their bodies, making them appear as a cloud of mist and ice particles. They don’t normally have a body of solid ice, as some might expect, though by immersing themselves in water, they can temporarily create such a body that they have limited control over.
- Electricity elementals appear as a dark cloud, constantly filled with electric sparks. They have a magnetism (very weak in sprites but potentially powerful in larger elementals) that causes small metal objects to be pulled towards them. Like fire elementals, they’re dangerous to be around, as the electric sparks can jump to nearby objects, metal ones especially.
- Light elementals have a luminescent body of pure light. Looking at a sphere-shaped elemental would be much like looking at the sun, though most aren’t that blindingly bright. Light sprites are some of the least dangerous of the sprites, often incapable of harming humanoids even if they want to. However, more powerful ones can solidify parts of their body to attack and concentrate their light into laser attacks.
- Dark elementals appear as a three-dimensional floating shadow, a blot of lightlessness. Like light sprites, dark sprites are rather harmless, but more powerful ones can make physical attacks and drain the light from their surroundings to blind their foes.
Although those elements are the most common, there are many rarer ones to be found, especially among the higher-class elementals, including abstract elements such as space, time and gravity.
Interaction with the physical world[]
Skilled mages and specialized magitech equipment can summon elementals from Chahara Vee into the physical realm. However, just because you summoned it, doesn’t mean you can control it. Elementals may vary anywhere between animal intelligence and super-intellect, but either way, they have their own goals and desires. Thus, if you plan to summon them as an ally, you better make sure the one you’re summoning either agrees with your cause, or you have something to offer it in return. It wouldn’t be the first time a reckless mage summoned a malevolent elemental, only to become its first victim.
Although being summoned is the most reliable way to enter the physical world, spontaneous portals in areas of high magiwave density may cause elementals to randomly enter Andreemea, and powerful ones may be able to travel between the two realms on their own volition.
Combating elementals[]
Although many elementals are good-natured, there are just as many malevolent ones. Some are little more than animals who lash out when they feel threatened, while others are genuinely malicious and wish to kill all humanoids they meet, whether out of hate, xenophobia or simple sadism.
Thus, combat is often unavoidable when a malevolent elemental enters Andreemea, but due to their incorporeal nature, fighting them with conventional weapons is difficult. Gunfire or other physical attacks can briefly disrupt their magiwave field, stunning them or driving them back, but it can't kill them. That's why the Seikko'o Sanhantai are the first to be sent in during an elemental attack.
First of all, the Santantai can execute rituals to banish an elemental back to Chahara Vee. This is their preferred course of action against animal-like elementals, both to prevent killing innocent creatures, and because the more intelligent the elemental, the more able it is to resist being displaced. If banishing fails or is too dangerous, elementals can be fought and killed through less conventional combat methods, the main one being to counter their element, e.g. using water against a fire elemental or bright light against a dark one.