Editing Elemental (section)

==Particulars==
Elementals are the type of Others that [[Innocent]]s can easily forget being made up of the stuff of reality and [[creation]].<ref>The elemental schools deal with the simple forces, but unlike Incarnations, they embody the physical world, not human and worldly conceits.  The common elements are earth, water, fire, and air, but there are many sub-derivative elements, such as cold, lightning, light, dark, smoke, sound, and metal.  They are said to be those that bridge the gap between spirit and reality, or Creation and reality.<br><br>Elemental practices and Others tend to be short lived in their manifestation.  They happen in the short term, often do a lot of damage, leave the environment sharply changed (flooded, burning, ruined), and pass without remark.  Innocents don’t necessarily see elementals, and when they do, they tend to forget them far more easily than they do other Others.  This applies broadly to most things Elemental; the ‘realms’ of elementals, the practices, and the systems surrounding them.  With this short life, however, comes a lot of raw, accessible power. - [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LZFjFfwxLK1UWS59EY5js8ORYAlQLvLzBmkcqdpTp_0/edit#heading=h.wvvgke36ql47 PACT DICE: Elemental]</ref>
=== Types ===
There are presumably are many breeds of elemental as there are elements.

Elementals have changed over time, they used to resemble animals, now more likely to be human. The types of element have also changed, electricity is more common, as is polluted water, radiation and acid rain.<ref>[[Vanishing Points 8.4]]</ref>

Time passes differently for elementals given that they aren't bothered by human concerns,<ref>“Is it rough?” Avery asked.<br><br>“Is it painful?  No, I have no body or nerve endings.  Is it tiring?  I have no brain.  I used to be one thing and now I’m a mess of another and certain affectations help me stay coherent in that.  If I’m to be a corruptive ooze that seeps into patterns and processes, I’ll be a ''gentleman'' corruptive ooze.” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2021/03/23 Excerpt] from [[Shaking Hands 9.z]</ref> and most aren't sapient enough to care either.<ref>Portentum "a sign, token, omen; monster, monstrosity".  An Echo looks to the past, but omens mark future events.  Between, if echo and omen find equilibrium, there is room for something to be held.  Big, horrific events.  Spirits, other echoes or splinters of the original echo may fill the space, or an elemental may settle in - usually less sapient or sentient forces, who value the hallow formed more than they mind the monotony of that particular existence.  Most are tortured or put through the wringer as the echo and omen twist them and put them through the same events over and over again. - Wildbow on Discord</ref>
=== Lesser Elementals ===
[[Blake Thorburn]] encountered a lesser elemental that resembled a racoon made of debris, mostly sticks and leaves bit with some trash, stones, teeth, and a beak where it's mouth should be. It was able to sense the connections formed by people looking and dart out of sight before it was clearly seen, but by focusing his [[Sight]], he was able to examine it briefly before it fled.<ref>“Look to your three o’clock without turning your head,” she said.<br><br>I did.<br><br>Something that might have been a raccoon scampered down from the top of the garage to the far side.  It probably wasn’t a raccoon.<br><br>“It’s gone,” I said.<br><br>“It’s ''there'', it’s just out of sight.  Keep looking.”<br>[...]<br>I caught it a second or two faster than I might have if I wasn’t already focused on the area.  It looked like the slop that you dug out of a gutter after a rain.  Leaves, branches, twigs, and a bit or two of trash.  There were only shadows where eyes were supposed to be, and a few pieces of stone, some teeth, and a bird’s beak where it was supposed to have teeth.<br><br>It stopped in its tracks, seemingly startled, as if my vision had transfixed it.<br><br>A moment later, it bolted, disappearing around the corner at edge of Hillsglade House.<br><br>“You looked too hard,” she said.  “You made a connection, and it noticed.  A lesser elemental.  Now keep looking.  Softer.  Relax, and try to see where the longest lines are.  If you don’t focus too hard, it’s easier to see them.” - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/01/28 Excerpt] from [[Damages 2.4]]</ref>

=== Intermediate Elementals ===
The [[Sisters of the Torch]] employed an intermediate flame spirit in most of their rituals as their go-to power source.<ref name=":0">“Apparently the sisters have this elemental they all use in their rituals.  An intermediate flame spirit, the eponymous ‘torch’ of the group, their go-to power source.  J.P. went for a walk, came back, and the elemental decided it wanted to set up shop in one of the Astrologer’s pieces of equipment, rather than the housing they’d prepared for it.  Apparently there’s a lot of power flowing through her systems at the moment, enough to bait an Elemental closer.” - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/06/07 Excerpt] from [[Void 7.4]]</ref>

[[The Eye]] was considered a moderate elemental.<ref name=":2">“I am the Elder Sister, Lord of Toronto.  You should know who I am.  
These three women are elementalists in my employ.  This is the Eye of the Storm, a moderate elemental.” - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2015/01/31 Excerpt] from [[Judgement 16.3]]</ref> Elementals like the Eye, fueled by powerful traumas or resentments, are common during wars.<ref name="WoG">
:Eyes
Spirits like the Eye from the Toronto Fire are common-ish in wartime. They generally reflect lingering trauma and sentiment. - [https://redd.it/8upije Wildbow on Reddit]</ref> 

=== Greater Elementals ===
Some [[Dragons]] are elemental or mostly elemental in nature, thought to be formed from elementals that take in more than they put out in an endless feedback loop. Elemental dragons are particularly common in [[Asia]]. Most dragons incorporate elements of elemental, [[spirit]], animal, [[nightmare]], and other components, rendering them immune to attempts to counter them with their opposite.<ref name=":1" />

The greatest Elementals are found in [[Realm#Storms|elemental Storms]], and can be on a par with [[deities]], but manifest for only a brief time. Some speculate that they may survive after the Storm fades, travelling between different Storms, while others believe they are simply short-lived.<ref>Storms will keep going because they turn inward.  Winds will loop inward instead of venting out, fires will focus toward the interior of a structure instead of spreading.  They can cover wide areas, enough to occlude a small settlement, but they can be as small as a single building.  It often requires something catastrophic.  This is, at the most extreme end, the uppermost tier of elemental power.  The things that live and are comfortable in storms are akin to deities, but as fleeting as their storm.  We don’t know how many live for a few hours or a day, and how many recede into other territories or realms, waiting for another storm to wake them, before they emerge there. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2021/01/19 excerpt] from [[Vanishing Points 8.4]]</ref>