Elemental magic, a legacy of the Djinni, runs through the bedrock of Al-Kalim. These vestiges of trapped sorcery tend to draw together to manifest as living things, gathering together like droplets of water might form a shimmering pool or lake. The elemental beings thus created may roam as lone predators, but they are just as likely to group together to form entire regions where the laws of nature no longer apply. Either way, they exist to feed upon mortals, whether drinking the water from their flesh, burning their blood for fuel, or devouring the breath from their lungs.
There are many kinds of minor elementals. Quicksand elementals lie in wait upon trade routes and near wells to trap the unwary. Some regions are rife with these creatures. In the salt swamps of the Endless Desert, they move across the wastes in the night to surround caravans, whose travelers wake to find themselves lost in a new and deadly landscape. Then, there are flame elementals, which drift on the wind like flickering embers, drawn to the heat of the living. When they find their prey, they burst into blazing life and burn away the flesh of their victims. Spring elementals pose as pools, lakes, or streams of tempting water in the desert wastes, although it is the fluids of their quarry they seek. Should a creature or individual be foolish enough to try to drink from one, the elemental sucks them dry, leaving only a desiccated husk behind.
Elementals don't appear naturally in many places outside of Al-Kalim (excepting Lava Elementals in The Heart of the Molten Heath). However, they may manifest as the result of powerful spells cast by sorcerers; purposefully or accidentally.
References
- Realms of Terrinoth