Nature Elementals

This is only a draft for another type of Elemental. Nature Elementals are elementals that chose a tree, or a giant plant to create its body. Usually the spirit who chose trees will have a body made almost entirely of wood, which are often called Wood Elementals. Most Wood Elementals are confused for Dryads. It's actually easy to distinguish between the two. A dryad will have the upper body of a human, while a wood elemental look almost entirely like a tree. The other type is if the spirit chose a huge plant, or vines to create its body. Those are more refered as Nature Elementals. Nature Elementals look a lot like vine golems, except the shape of the elemental is a lot less bulky and looks a lot more like a humanoid, while a golem would look like an automaton.

Both Wood and Nature Elementals are found in forests and jungles, where they blend in the background to help in their hunt. If a bunch of vines or roots suddenly appears out of nowhere from the ground and wraps you up, it's most likely a nature type of elemental.

Dryads are said to enjoy the company of said elementals, as they are more reliable to tell a secret to than another dryad.



This is mostly a rough draft. If you got any suggestions to expand them, don't hesitate to start a brainstorming.

At first, I wasn't too crazy about the name "Nature Elementals", but then I re-read your post and got a better idea of what you meant. There's some potential here, if you use "Nature Elemental" as a broad category, with many subtypes of elementals. I do think that you should only use the term Nature Elemental in that way, though; don't use the name for that second type of elemental as well.

In fact, you might want to split that up, so that there isn't just two types of Nature Elemental (Wood and Plant). Come up with some interesting subtypes, like a "Snapdragon"- a Nature Elemental that created a Komodo Dragon-like body out of carnivorous plants. You've come up with a very good base to build on, you could do some very creative things with it.

Basically, instead of having them divided like so:

Nature Elementals --> Wood Elemental (Tree) --- Nature Elemental (Plant)

Do something like this:

Nature Elementals --> Treant (Tree) --- Snapdragon (Venus Flytrap) --- Swamp Thing [Needs a better name] (Marshy Plants) --- Kudzu/Morrenia/Evernight Strangler (Vines), etc.

Pretty cool idea.

Okay, there's wood elemental (tree), flora elemental (plant) and vine elemental (vine). Nature Elemental is just a broad term.

Alright, I think I have a basic extension ready, I'll do more later.

Nature Elementals

Nature Elementals are primal spirits who have chosen to construct physical bodies out of Felaryan flora rather than raw elemental forces.

While a spirit that manifests as a Nature Elemental will always manifest as a nature elemental, they are unlike other elementals in that they are capable of changing types; while Nature Elementals often develop a preference for a certain plant/form, they are capable of reconstituting bodies from other types of plants when neccessary.

There are three loosely defined types of Nature Elementals: Wood Elementals, Flora Elementals, and Vine Elementals. All Nature Elementals that physically manifest are classified under these categories.

Wood Elementals are Nature Elementals that have inhabited and shaped a tree, shrub, or other woody plant into their physical body. Notable species of Wood Elemental include Treants and Bramblewolves.

Treants are elementals that resemble mobile, humanoid trees; unlike Dryads, which are partially human, Treants are non-human in appearance. Treants can commonly be found in the presence of Dryads, who are said to enjoy their company and treat them as trusted confidants.

Bramblewolves are small wood elementals (1.5x to 2x the size of humans) with vaguely canid bodies, which are formed out of thorny bushes and shrubbery. They often have leafy manes or "socks" around their feet, and long, branch-like bushy tails. They have long, thin spines protruding from their manes and along their bodies for defense, and their teeth and claws are formed from thick, wickedly sharp large thorns. Bramblewolves are sightless and hunt entirely by vibration, travelling in packs of 3-5; they are nonsentient and of animal intelligence, vicious and nearly fearless when it comes to running down prey. Pretty much the only thing they fear is fire, since they are as vulnerable to it as most wood elementals are.

(More to come...)

That works, but what if a sentient spirit formed its body out of brambles, would it become non-sentient?

Hmm, that's an interesting question. I'm going to tenatively say "No", since that wasn't really what I was implying. I was thinking more along the lines of these being types of Nature Elementals that commonly appear. Explorers have had frequent enough encounters with animalistic wolf-shaped elementals that they eventually named them Bramblewolves. Not all elementals who form a body out of brambles will be Bramblewolves, just the non-sentient wild spirits that manifest in that shape. There could be a Treant-like sentient elemental made out of brambles, for example.

But the reason your question is so interesting is because I suppose there's nothing to stop a sentient elemental from making a Bramblewolf-like body. Maybe it's common for Bramblewolf packs to be led by a sentient but not-very-powerful elemental, who is larger, tougher, and more intelligent than the others. Definitely deserves further consideration, but at the moment, I'm just tossing ideas and examples out there.

Okay....

Flora Elementals are Nature Elementals who have shaped physical bodies from vegetation, raw plant matter, or pretty much any plants other than trees or vines. Notable species of Flora Elementals include Crimson Snapdragons and Mire Shamblers.

Crimson Snapdragons are elemental creatures resembling a Komodo Dragon. Large, quadrupedal, and powerful animals, they are ravenous and rarely give up pursuit of prey once they have began. Their bodies are formed from the carnivorous plants in the Jungle of Perils, with large, spiked jaws resembling a Venus Flytrap; as one might imagine, they swallow their prey whole.

Like Bramblewolves, Crimson Snapdragons are blind, lacking eyes. However, their ability to sense vibrations is limited, and only effective within their immediate area. They mostly lay in wait for creatures to pass by, blending in with the scarlet background of the jungle; once they sense the vibrations of a passing creature, they spring forward and spew a cloud of fine spores at them. These spores are harmless; but if their initial attack is unsuccessful and their prey manages to escape their jaws, the spores allow a Crimson Snapdragon to track the marked prey over incredible distances. They have an amazing sense of smell, and can detect even the faintest trace of the spores from miles away, allowing them to follow their prey tirelessly; the spores are very difficult to remove or wash away, and to remove them with water would require multiple baths.


Mire Shamblers are elementals formed from marshy plants and decaying vegetation, only found in swampy areas. They are vaguely humanoid in shape, resembling the earth creature known as Swamp Thing, but they possess only rudimentary intelligence and awareness. Mire Shamblers are named because they resemble shambling heaps, moving slowly and awkwardly. Although generally peaceful, they do pose a significant threat to explorers in swamps, due to the fact that they are carnivorous. When hungry, a Mire Shambler will eat anything that it can get ahold of that is small enough... and some have been known to latch onto the roots of Swamp Dryads, until removed. They are rather dim, after all.

Mire Shamblers are virtually immune to physical attacks; to significantly harm one requires inflicting a massive amount of damage at once (such as with explosives). Striking one is not a good idea, as your weapon or limb will simply sink into the soft mass of their bodies... with the rest of you soon to follow. Mire Shamblers "eat" by absorbing prey into themselves, much like an ooze; prey swallowed in this fashion is slowly digested alive. How they survive inside is a mystery, considering that a Mire Shambler is made up mostly of water and plant material, but researchers theorize there is some sort of magic responsible that allows someone swallowed to continue to breathe.

Mire Shamblers are also unusual in that they are one of the few species of Nature Elemental that is not vulnerable to fire; Mire Elementals are constantly surrounded by swamp gas that they emit, and have such a high water content that they do not burn. Instead, a fire-based attack upon a Mire Elemental will ignite the gas around it, turning it into a shambling heap of plant material and water with a flame aura. This makes them much tougher to deal with than most Nature Elementals; however, they are vulnerable to water-based and nature-based magic, due to their watery vegetation composition.

Mire Shamblers seem to be in the process of developing a primitive civilization, and can often be found gathering around Swamp Dryads. Researchers have observed them sometimes offering objects, animals, and humanoids to the Dryads in a form of tribute; but at the moment it is uncertain as to whether or not the Mire Shamblers are worshipping the Dryads, or view them as a sort of royalty.

Also worthy of note is that there are unconfirmed reports of a larger, intelligent form of humanoid swamp elemental dubbed a "Mire Lord". These beings are aggressive, faster, and much more dangerous than Mire Shamblers. Rumors say that they possess powerful magic and are hostile to most living creatures, including Swamp Dryads. Despite their name, no one is sure whether or not Mire Lords are related to Mire Shamblers, or if they actually rule over them.

If they are mainly composed of water, how can they be considered nature elementals? Normally, spirits can only bound to one element. In the case of the Mire Shambler, that would be two, water and nature. I don't think swamp vegetation are that much composed of water. But then again, I have pathetic knowledge.

the definition of an elemental is basically "spirits inhabiting nonliving matter" therefore defining a "nature Elemental" should be as simple as: an elemental who constructs its body out of living matter. rare but possible i guess. further we could define a necro elemental as " a elemental that builds its body form once living material" just as a water elemental is just that only because it chose to use water as it s body material.

Cypress wrote:

the definition of an elemental is basically "spirits inhabiting nonliving matter" therefore defining a "nature Elemental" should be as simple as: an elemental who constructs its body out of living matter. rare but possible i guess. further we could define a necro elemental as " a elemental that builds its body form once living material" just as a water elemental is just that only because it chose to use water as it s body material.

The Necro Elemental sounds more like an undead.

Sean Okotami wrote:

If they are mainly composed of water, how can they be considered nature elementals? Normally, spirits can only bound to one element. In the case of the Mire Shambler, that would be two, water and nature. I don't think swamp vegetation are that much composed of water. But then again, I have pathetic knowledge.

They are mainly composed of swamp vegetation, which is saturated with water, just like marine plants are. Plants living in arid conditions can have a very low water content, but the structure of marshy plants are roughly 99% composed of water. Mire Shamblers are not water/plant elementals, they are plant elementals that happen to contain a lot of water, just like an elemental made out of seaweed would be.

A circle of elemental protection vs. water would not protect you from a Mire Shambler, because it is not bound to the water element. It's just mostly made up of water, the same way humans are. The reason I thought to make them vulnerable to water-based magic is because without a constant infusion of water, they quickly dry up and become just a solid mass of vegetable matter. Plus, it's nice to have plant-based elementals that don't have the typical vulnerability to fire.

Wouldn't using water against it soak it more? That's what most hydromanders would do.

Sean Okotami wrote:

The Necro Elemental sounds more like an undead.

One of the many projects I'm working on is a story focusing on the nature of the Undead, and their place (or lack of one) in Felarya. The use of "undead" as a catch-all term for a construct animated from something that was once living is a personal peeve of mine, so I took the opportunity to do something about it.

Sean Okotami wrote:

Wouldn't using water against it soak it more? That's what most hydromanders would do.

There's a limit to how much water anything can hold; past a certain point something stops being a barely coherent mass of water and plant material, and starts being a large puddle with plants floating in it. Aside from that, there's plenty of other options for dealing with it, like freezing the water inside the plant cells, or siphoning as much water out of the creature as you can (making it dry out).

Okay.... In my stories, I intended to have some rare encounter with undeads. Just found one out of pure luck.

Sean Okotami wrote:

Okay.... In my stories, I intended to have some rare encounter with undeads. Just found one out of pure luck.

That's fine, I'm not saying you can't do it. I don't own the concept of undead or anything, so you certainly don't need my permission.

I just get slightly annoyed when everybody assumes that an animated construct made out of a formerly living creature must be undead. There are ways to bind and animate a skeleton that have nothing at all to do with Necromancy; and a bunch of stitched together corpses animated is a typically a Flesh Golem, not an undead creature.

As per Cypress' example, a pile of bones inhabited by an elemental spirit would not qualify as Undead, because it's an elemental. Necro Elemental is as good a name for it as anything else, but thinking of it as undead would just be incorrect; anti-Undead spells would likely have no effect on it at all.

I'll probably start a seperate thread on the matter later, just want to post the Vine Elemental writeup before I head out to the movies.

Vine Elementals are nature elementals that have created a physical body primarily out of vines and vine-like plants. They are often very stealthy and more physically resilient than other Nature Elementals; while their vines can be cut, many species of Vine Elemental are capable of disincorporating most of their body into vines, making their vulnerable points difficult to pinpoint. Notable species of Vine Elementals are the Evernight Strangler and Kudzu Python.

Evernight Stranglers are unusual elemental creatures, even by Felaryan standards. In their mobile state, they resemble a tremendous ball of tightly-woven vines, consisting of a few primitive organ-like structures (primarily stomachs). They spend very little of their lives in this mobile state, only entering it to move on to a new hunting ground. They are commonly found in the Evernight Forest, as their name suggests. Once a Strangler has found a tree large enough to support it, in a zone well-travelled, it relaxes into a writhing mass of vines, which then climb the tree and drape themselves from it. It then remains almost totally stationary, lurking in wait for potential prey to pass by.

Evernight Stranglers are unusual in that their prey is strictly limited to giant predators; they possess an unusual lure, which consists of a woody humanoid structure tightly wrapped in vines, that they dangle beneath the tree. By subtly shifting their vines, they can make the lure squirm, appearing to be a human or neko struggling to get free of a vine snare. When a large predator attempts to "free" the victim in hopes of an easy meal, the Strangler lashes out with its tendrils, quickly binding their prey and lifting them off the ground.

Predators caught in this manner have only a few seconds to free themselves, before they are so tightly bound that they can no longer move; once their prey has been securely wrapped up, an Evernight Strangler will curl back up into a ball around it, fixed to the branches of the tree it is in, while it slowly digests. Digestion can take weeks, during which time the Evernight Strangler remains dormant. Fortunately for most species, Stranglers are less voracious than other elementals; due to the sheer size of their prey, they typically only eat once a month or so.

Kudzu Pythons are yet another animalistic variant of Nature Elemental, resembling large constrictor snakes made out of tightly woven vines. They are very fast, excellent swimmers and climbers, and capable of powerfully constricting their prey. Unlike true constrictor snakes, Kudzu Pythons swallow their prey alive; they squeeze it until all the fight is left, and then swallow the prey before they can get a second wind. Although they lack venom, elemental magic, or other such traits, Kudzu Pythons can be a threat to large predators and small humanoids alike. Piercing weapons are useless against a Kudzu Python, as the weapons will just slip between its vines; In addition, by relaxing slightly, a Kudzu Python can expand, making it a larger threat and capable of swallowing prey much larger than itself.

Okay....

Came up with another couple, just doodling in my notebook.

Glade Unicorn

Glade Unicorns are not actually unicorns, but rather a type of Flora Elemental that greatly resembles them. They are equine in appearance, but have hooves and a long, spiralling horn made of wood. They have leafy manes, "socks" above their hooves, and tails. In terms of coloration, they typically occur in woodland greens, but have also been spotted in autumn colors and bright floral colors as well.

Despite their animal appearance, Glade Unicorns are extremely intelligent, and capable of communicating with other beings. As a rule, they are typically peaceable, just creatures; they feed on plants rather than animals or sentient beings. They sometimes have a reputation as crusaders; Glade Unicorns refuse to tolerate what they perceive as injustice, and will attack those they deem wicked. Unfortunately, due to their inhuman mindset, it's difficult to predict exactly how they define "injustice" and "wickedness", which means that they can pose a significant threat to humans under certain circumstances.

When they must do battle, Glade Unicorns are fairly capable fighters with their hooves and horns; despite being made of wood, a Glade Unicorn's horn is capable of easily puncturing a steel shield or breastplate, let alone the average predator's skin, scales, flesh, and bones. Glade Unicorns also have an unusual ability some have described as an "Aura of Tranquility"; by shaking its mane, a Glade Unicorn can release spores into the air. Most creatures that inhale these spores will gradually become more and more relaxed and calm, until they are incapable of aggression.

Glade Unicorns are fairly rare, and solitary, even for elementals. Many summoners travel into the forests of Felarya hoping to encounter one and befriend or establish a contract with it, as they are said to be powerful and reliable allies. Unfortunately for many would-be "masters", they have very high standards, and a summoner who is determined to be unworthy may find herself on the business end of the elemental's horn.

It's okay I guess. I got another thread I need ideas to brainstorm to.

Ohh some excellent ideas here !
I especially loved the unicorn and the junction between nature elemental and treants. Somehow it made perfect sense

Well I guess I will have to make an entry for every type of elementals at this rate XD

Karbo wrote:

Ohh some excellent ideas here !
I especially loved the unicorn and the junction between nature elemental and treants. Somehow it made perfect sense

Well I guess I will have to make an entry for every type of elementals at this rate XD

Not necessarily, we can say that when a spirit fuse with a source of element for a body, it may lead to all sorts of shape and creatures. Some humanoid, some animalistic, some...very unique. That would kind of bring more variety to Elementals in general.

Karbo wrote:

Ohh some excellent ideas here !
I especially loved the unicorn and the junction between nature elemental and treants. Somehow it made perfect sense

Well I guess I will have to make an entry for every type of elementals at this rate XD

Hehe, thanks. I have another unicorn-like one I'm still working on, just not sure what to call it yet. Maybe Nightshade Unicorn, or something. It's going to be made out of poisonous plants, sort of a very nasty counterpart to the Glade Unicorn.

Sean Okotami wrote:

Not necessarily, we can say that when a spirit fuse with a source of element for a body, it may lead to all sorts of shape and creatures. Some humanoid, some animalistic, some...very unique. That would kind of bring more variety to Elementals in general.

Um... it seems kind of like you're missing the point somehow. All of these ideas I've been posting are examples of exactly what you just said. And as for variety, I don't really see a lack of it here..?

Sorry, I said it before, I have pathetic knowledge. But, we can still say animalistic shapes is not exclusive to Nature Elementals. The examples are example of what only Nature Elementals can be.

Sean Okotami wrote:

But, we can still say animalistic shapes is not exclusive to Nature Elementals. The examples are example of what only Nature Elementals can be.

Right, that's all they're intended to be. Different forms that Nature Elementals can take. I call them species, even though they're not really different species. It's just likely that's the way scientists would classify them, by virtue of common appearances. If a lot of Flora Elementals manifest in unicorn shapes, you can apply a standard template of sorts to them if they share common features.

This doesn't mean that there aren't unique Nature Elementals, though, or that all Flora Elementals that look like unicorns are the same. In fact, I have a few ideas for some unique character Nature Elementals that I will probably wind up posting later.

In addition, I agree that animalistic forms are not exclusive to Nature Elementals. I do think that perhaps they would be more common among Nature Elementals, just because they're closer to primal animals, but I've already made up some fire, lava, and ash elemental variants with animal forms for a story.

I very much dislike the idea of elementals as formless shapes of fire, water, etc.; while they are probably formless while spirits, and surely capable of sometimes changing their physical forms once manifested, it just makes them very generic and indistinct from one another. Applying a somewhat fixed shape template to them allows for more variety and distinction.