Pentalithic Ramblings

The Six Elements

Pentalithia has a system of six elements, rather than four. The elements are Light, Fire, Air, Water, Earth, and Mystery or Darkness. Many people associate the elements with basic states of water, such as liquid, solid, gas, and plasma. With this association, light represents energy, and mystery represents a super-cooled state. Others associate the elements with time - Light is the past, Mystery is the future, and the others together represent the present.

The states of matter are the more significant association, though. In general, whether a substance lies within the domain of an element is determined primarily by the substance’s normal state (on Earth, excluding extremes such as winter) and secondarily by its current state. For example, ice is more easily manipulated with Earth magic than with Water magic, but even with Earth magic it’s harder to manipulate than stone, because water is more commonly liquid. Some elemental users can overcome this by mixing in another element, but a lot of elementalists only have one affinity, so this isn’t an option.

Note: The descriptions of what’s possible with elemental magic are not exhaustive; the omission of an ability does not imply it is impossible.

Air

The element of Air has affinity to any gaseous substance. Air elementalists can control the flow of gases, prevent disparate gases from mixing, create a vacuum, affect the weather (usually in smaller ways), and other similar things. An air elementalist would have trouble controlling things like concentrated mercury or water vapour, though, since these are more typically liquid rather than gaseous. (There’s no issue if they’re simply present in a large body of gas, unless the goal is to separate them.) In such a case, it helps to mix in a little Water magic.

Water

The element of Water has affinity to any liquid substance. Water elementalists can control the flow of liquids, prevent disparate liquids from mixing, keep liquids back with artificial pressure, raise waves of enormous size, and other similar things. It’s easier to control pure liquids (ones with nothing dissolved in them). In particular, seawater tends to be noticeably harder to control than freshwater, though the difference is still small and generally not significant. When controlling liquids with many dissolved substances, it helps to mix in a little Earth or Air magic (depending on the substances).

Earth

The element of Earth has affinity to any solid substance. Earth elementalists can morph and reshape solids to their will, and exert telekinetic force on simple solids. It’s quite a bit harder for them to propel a computer monitor through the air than it is for them to propel a huge boulder or a chunk of plastic. This is because the monitor is composed of a complicated variety of materials, while the boulder and plastic are far purer, consisting of just one substance, or maybe two or three in some cases (plus maybe some minor impurities). Some substances that contain a lot of air, such as pumice, are particularly hard to manipulate with Earth magic; in this case, mixing in a little Air magic will help. Opals are another thing that’s difficult to manipulate, thanks to their water content, but mixing in some Water magic can help here.

Fire

The element of Fire has affinity to any body of ionized gas or plasma. Fire elementalists can produce, control, and extinguish fires at will, and can sustain them without fuel. They can control the flow of a plasma, though fortunately the sun is too far away to be affected. They can also manipulate the electrical and magnetic field lines in a plasma and direct the flow of electrons through it. (They can’t control electron flow through other substances.)

Light

The element of Light has affinity to any form of energy (excluding magical energies). Light elementalists can produce light and bend it to their will. Some light elementalists are able to produce and bend low-energy gravity waves as well. It’s also possible for a light elementalist to bend waves that require a medium, such as sound or seismic waves, but this requires the use of a secondary element (Air for sound waves, Earth for seismic waves, etc) to be as effective as their lightbending skills.

Mystery

The element of Mystery, also called Darkness by many, has affinity to super-cooled matter and areas of shadow. No Mystery elementalist has been recorded in earth history, but it’s hypothesized that they might be capable of super-cooling matter and then manipulating it similar to an earth elementalist, or pushing back light to darken already dark areas. It’s also suspected that a Mystery elementalist would be able to foresee the future; some have gone so far as to suggest that they might actually live backwards in time.

Elementals

The six elemental species, though classified as fae, don’t fit into the usual Seelie and Unseelie divide. Elementals are rarely seen unless specifically summoned.

All elementals have no need to eat, drink, or breathe; as such, I’ve omitted the Diet section from their profiles below.

Undines

Appearance

A water elemental is composed entirely of water, but can shape that water into arbitrary forms. When appearing to humans, undines often take the form of a human female, usually without clothes. Another common form is that of a small, chubby sprite with pointed ears and short, stubby arms and legs, but no other distinguishing features. An undine’s body expels impurities (except salt), allowing them to sometimes be identified as a patch of exceptionally clear water.

Life Cycle

The life of an undine is directly linked to the body of water in which it lives, though it’s possible for an undine to move to a new location and relink. Undines can reproduce asexually, by simply splitting their bodies into two smaller halves, though most scholars agree that they don’t do this very frequently. Over time, an undine slowly absorbs more water into her body, causing her body to grow in size; the largest recorded undine was around 4m tall when fully in humanoid form! Whether there’s a limit to this growth is unclear, but dialogue with undines suggests it to be likely. If an undine’s pool, lake, or river dries up, she dies.

Powers/Abilities

All undines are natural water elementalists; they can channel water elemental magic with minimal effort and in unlimited quantities.

Society and Culture

Undines are generally solitary creatures who don’t move very far from the place they were born.

Sylphs

Appearance

A sylph’s form is gaseous and airy, and typically remains invisible; however, they can and often do become visible by taking on smoke, water vapour, or other things. When appearing to humans, sylphs often take the form of a human female. They also commonly take the form of birds, especially smaller birds of prey or songbirds.

Life Cycle

Sylphs are effectively immortal, in the sense that there is nothing that will naturally bring their life to an end, though they can be deliberately killed (it’s hard, but possible). Like undines, they can reproduce asexually by simply splitting their bodies in half, though it’s unknown how often they do this. A sylph can absorb air and other gases over time, growing in size, but it’s known that they can’t get much larger than humans, and they can’t maintain this growth indefinitely; eventually they will start to shrink again, letting air out.

Powers/Abilities

All sylphs are natural air elementalists; they can channel air elemental magic with minimal effort and in unlimited quantities.

Society and Culture

Sylphs often move in small groups of five or six. They never stay in one place for long; in fact, they relish the chance of seeing new places.

Pyromanders

Originally, fire elementals were known as salamanders, but in recent years, due to the shift in meaning of that word, many have started calling them pyromanders instead.

Appearance

A pyromander’s body is composed of flame contained within a thin shell of flexible, semi-translucent glass. They often take a lizard-like form, though they have been seen in human form as well (typically female).

Life Cycle

Pyromanders can reproduce asexually, but to do so they must rupture their glass skin. For this reason, it usually occurs during existing fires, allowing the newborns plenty of time to build their own skin. Pyromanders are the only known elementals to produce more than two offspring at a time; some have been known to split into as many as five parts. The integrity of their skin starts to suffer as they get older, and eventually it ruptures on its own.

Powers/Abilities

All pyromanders are natural fire elementalists; they can channel fire elemental magic with minimal effort and in unlimited quantities. If their skin is ruptured, the flames within burst out in a huge explosion. This doesn’t immediately kill the pyromander, but in order to survive they have to generate a new shell before the flames have been extinguished.

Society and Culture

Pyromanders are typically solitary, but may sometimes be seen in pairs.

Gnomes

Appearance

A gnome is composed of a collection of rocks stacked together, often in a vaguely human shape. The rocks are not connected by any physical bonds, and can be separated by force; however, this does not kill the gnome, and it’s capable of bringing its parts back together at will (provided nothing is forcibly keeping them apart).

Life Cycle

As they grow older, gnomes often incorporate more rocks into their body, and when they have enough rocks, they can split to produce two offspring. Gnomes work on far longer timescales than humans though, so this process takes a very long time.

Powers/Abilities

All gnomes are natural earth elementalists; they can channel earth elemental magic with minimal effort and in unlimited quantities.

Society and Culture

Gnomes are typically solitary and don’t talk much, so it’s hard to get a good understanding of their culture or society. What is known, mostly from conversations, is that they enjoy simply watching things happen, and they prefer to be alone.

Shades

Appearance

At first glance, a shade looks like an empty blot of darkness, but closer inspection reveals that the darkness is filled with a myriad of tiny lights, like stars. Shades may sometimes take human form, usually appearing as the silhouette of a human male.

Life Cycle

Little is known about a shade’s life cycle, but one thing that is known is that they are borne full-sized from shadow and slowly shrink over their lifetime, eventually winking out.

Powers/Abilities

All shades are natural mystery elementalists; they can channel mystery elemental magic with minimal effort and in unlimited quantities. Shades are said to know everything. When asked a question, their response will always be strictly true, though often presented in a misleading or roundabout fashion.

Society and Culture

Shades are solitary and isolationist, preferring to shun contact with other beings.

Phaosines

Appearance

A phaosine is composed of a cloud of glowing glitter swirling around. It can take human form, usually appearing like a human female, or it can blend into a beam of light.

Life Cycle

A phaosine’s life is quite short, usually between seven and thirty days. Over this time, it slowly grows in size, and at the end of its life, it bursts into shards. Some of these shards go on to develop into new phaosines.

Powers/Abilities

All phaosines are natural light elementalists; they can channel light elemental magic with minimal effort and in unlimited quantities.

Society and Culture

Phaosines are social creatures, usually travelling in large groups. They live in the moment and are quite friendly, always willing to help if they can. In this way they actually have a lot in common with pixies; they’ve even been known for their songs at some points in history.