Photo by Trevor Hall / jollysailor1950
Air
Nothing’s more beautiful than standing on the edge of a cliff, and seeing the wind travel between the mountains. The world needs the wind, it carries our crops water, moves our ships and brings us the cool breeze on a hot day.
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Air is the only truly free elemental. Whereas water simply drifts, fire spreads and earth is locked in place; air is in the unique position of properly moving around. The wind felt on coastlines is never the same, and a mortal may never truly meet the same air twice. The same goes for elementals, forever moving away from the borders of mortal view, rarely choosing to return to the same location. One could call them nomadic, traveling throughout their lives like no other elemental would.
Anywhere could have a slight breeze, but a simple breeze isn’t enough for an elemental to form. The faster the wind, the better it is for a domain and the stronger an elemental can become. Areas like plains and coastlines are known to have faster, stronger, winds and therefore more likely for an air elemental to be found.
Commonly found in: Coastlines, Plains, Tundras, Plateaus, Hilltops, Valleys, Mountains
P H Y S I O L O G Y
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At first glance, one would think that air elementals would be rather restricted in their domain. What can air be, other than air? The type of wind one feels at a given time will always change; a pleasant breeze to a rough, salty, coastal storm. The heat of a sandstorm, or the chilling touch of the arctic winds. As they grow in size, air elementals become storms. An off-shore hurricane, a tornado raging through the plains. The coldest blizzard, and the roughest sandstorm. All of these are caused by air elementals in some way, even if they have the help of kin to do so. Storms are the reality of what an air elemental is, can be, and will become.
Like all elementals, air elementals can focus their domain into a set form, taking shape within the air as an avatar of ever-moving air. Although they have creative freedom, the larger an avatar the slower the air within it moves. Even the fastest elementals would struggle to form a large avatar with a high speed of wind within it. If they can control their size at a whim, how does one track the power of air? Whilst other elementals can be tracked, measured and classified based on their sizes to fit in a tier, an air elemental lacks that process. Instead of gaining power in a measurable size, air elementals grow in tiers the faster they move.
Faster winds make stronger storms, and therefore stronger elementals, so the youngest air elementals can only form within moderate breezes. With a speed of anywhere higher than 20mph or 32km/h, these elementals are Fledglings, known to make large branches and small trees sway in the wind. Classified further as a Noble at the speeds of 26mph or 42km/h, nearly a gale in how fast they can move, fast enough one could hear the whistling of the wind and light items could be picked up by the weather.
Lordly air elementals and above carry a powerful wind speed, often forming into large storms in appearance. These storms are the weather of Altera, but don’t necessarily move around as a whole at the speed of their wind. Storms move slower, but they carry with them a consistent wind pressure felt by the mortals on land. Elementals are considered Lordly when they have formed into a storm, most commonly having a wind speed of 32mph or 51km/h. Their winds are a force that makes entire trees sway and make it difficult to walk against.
Princely elementals are often equivalent in power to moderate hurricanes or the strongest thunderstorms, with high speed winds and terrifying weather. Should they pass over a city, the wind alone can ruin a civilization’s shelter. Terrifying speeds of at least 50mph or 80km/h, these storms carry more than just one elemental’s power behind them. Princely elementals are rarely a single elemental anymore, rather a combined force of many elementals that have come together. Merged into a single avatar of a storm, multiple elementals will become Kin. Previously, an entity separate from one another, now they are the arms and legs of a single domain of their combined will.
The Royal elemental of Air, commonly referred to as the Sea of Storms, is the only one recorded as of now. A terrifying hurricane that is said to be seen from horizon to horizon, and known to lack a true understanding of mortals. It is rumored to have been fighting with the Shoreless Gulf during the recent years. Scholars estimate the Sea of Storms must have a wind speed of more than 200mph or 321km/h, and if the elemental were to make landfall Altera would never recover. The Sea of Storms is known to have six storms within it that have bonded with one another as kin. No longer separate from one another, their true dominant avatar is the Sea of Storms as a controller of the actions of all of the smaller parts.
B E H A V I O U R
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Air elementals are the least consistent out of all elementals, and the few traits that they commonly show off are quick to change. In truth, the only consistency between them is their wish to be free and lack of consistency. They are the truest nomads, always moving, and easily the most unpredictable of all elementals.
Fledglings are whimsy, and fleeting. Always moving, they are nearly the most free-roamers of all their kind. A freedom found in the slow moving winds, some air elementals will never move past this stage. Sometimes called playful, but also known to change their actions in an instant. From drifting a mortal through the air with curiosity, to letting them drop as though they had never paid them any attention.
The differences between a Noble elemental’s and a Fledgling’s behaviours are often limited. They could even simply be considered a bridge between Fledgling and Lordly, the difference between a breeze and a storm. They are not a storm, but they move with the power of a gale. If nothing else, the unpredictability of this tier is the most of any tier. Most are never the same, and most are as though they are two-faced in their emotions.
Lordly elementals are a force to be reckoned with, often drifting higher into the sky and away from the land below. Seen as large clouds hanging over the world, they are the thunderstorms and sandstorms of Altera. Temperamental, they are known to go from not caring to thrashing the world around them violently. Some are more playful and curious, others simply have no cares in the world. Others are a mix of both, with moods changing in an instant with no true causes behind it.
Princely and Royal elementals are the peak of all air elementals. Storms to be reckoned with, they are the most dangerous in all forms of the word. An elemental that cannot be understood, or know the actions that will come next. Most do not understand mortals, such as the Sea of Storms doesn’t, and all carry the nomadic interest of being free. Some are more interested in power, others are simply curious.
B O O N S & B A N E S
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How does one strike air? Air can fly towards its enemies with high speeds, knocking most anything down if it has enough power. The strongest elementals are large, untouchable behemoths that could tear down entire cities by their presence alone. Even if its opponent can hold their ground, no blade could cut air the same way it could flesh. They are untargetable by normal means whilst packing a powerful punch.
Air has always had one fatal counter, and that is Shelter. A wooden cottage would protect most breezes from harming a mortal’s dinner table, but all shelters must scale with the power of the elemental. A hurricane will blow away a home, but not a cave. Some trees will be uplifted, but not all. Defense has its benefits when the enemy cannot be hit, perhaps the only true way to outlast the strongest storms.
A B I L I T I E S
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Air is a domain that is truly expansive, not quite the same as other elementals in the sense they don’t have a set area that is theirs to control. They themselves are avatars, flying through the sky with no true sense of gravity. Their movement alone can tear the world apart, lifting sand and bringing heat or cold to their enemies. The limits of their abilities are endless, so long as they have the speed to back their existence.
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As always, lore found within this thread is not to be used to metagame. Public knowledge on elementals is minimal, but it does exist. Roleplay to the correct level of your character.
As always, lore found within this thread is not to be used to metagame. Public knowledge on elementals is minimal, but it does exist. Roleplay to the correct level of your character.