Book of Elementalism

By Kachina, Healers Guild Dean of the College of Elementalism,

Extra notation by Doktor Tesla

Introduction

Elementalism is a new type of magic which has appeared since the Cataclysm of 110[6-9] and is the ability to manipulate the life forms known as Elementals. People who can wield this type of magic are predominately Healers, Enchanters and Light Incantors.
Since the introduction of this magic there has been some study into the specific abilities and skills people have when wielding this type of magic although the full potential has not been realised there have been over the past year whilst the world has been settling a number of discoveries which has led to teachers such as myself able to help others learn this new ability.

Elementals

Elementals are living beings. This means that like any other living beings they can be intelligent and over the past year there have been seen many different types which have yet to be catalogued properly. Elementals have been seen to come from Elemental Planes depending on their type and also some can be native to Erdreja depending on how they were created, studies continue to look into the differing origins of Elementals and how some can live on Erdreja and experience has seen that Elementals who are native to the Elemental planes seem to only appear on our material plane for a limited amount of time and once this expires it is then forced to return to its native plane.
This may be the case however some of my research suggests that there may be ways in which they can extend their time on our plane, I believe that they may do this by consuming material of a similar type to their own structure. Though have no experimental evidence of this.
Additional notes: There seems to be 3 broad levels of Elemental.

Anima (lesser and greater)

These are the least powerful of the Elementals, They are generally non-sentient unless they are attached to a living pattern. They still are powerful enough that a normal Elementalist can't produce enough Thaums of power to control or dismiss them.

Scions (lesser and greater)

These are quite Powerful Elementals, They are almost always sentient and very difficult to dismiss or control. Greater Scions can sometimes hide their dismiss level from Elementalists, sucks to be you, this ability is referred to as 'cloaking'. 

Overlords

These are the biggest, hardest of the Elemental level, They are powerful enough to control many minions and lead armies. They are almost impossible to dismiss or control and yes they can 'cloak' their dismiss level. 

Living Elemental

There are some Elementals that can remain indefinitely on our plane, these are generally referred to as Living Elementals. However for them to do this they need to attach there pattern to something native to this plane, be this a Pattern from Erdreja or an object.

 

Discerning Elemental Beings

Before anyone can look at learning the art of Elementalism they must first be able to understand Elementals as beings. This is where a healer probably has a slight advantage over other people who are trying to learn the skills from other paths such as; Enchanters and Light Incantors in theory because Healers are already aware of the different types of patterns and living beings and how to discern these for wounds and afflictions, therefore, when Elementalists discern an Elemental the point of gaining more information about the being is inherently the same.

However, discerning an Elemental being is very different in practice, the first major difference is that this type of discerning can be done at a longer range than a normal discern a healer uses to ascertain if a being is wounded. This discern still takes 10 second of concentration but can reach out up to a distance of 30 feet and if the being within this range is an Elemental being then the Elementalist will be able to obtain more information on that type of Elemental.

The second fundamental difference is what information the Elementalist attempting to discern an Elemental Being will be able to obtain, by discerning an Elemental the Elementalist will be able to tell what the Elemental's Control/Dismiss level is. This information is necessary if an Elementalist is attempting to Control or Dismiss the Elemental and wishes to successfully do so as it provides the Elementalist with the knowledge of whether they can Control/Dismiss the being with their own power or if they need to enlist the aid of other Elementalists depending on the type of Elemental Being.

In summary, if the Elementalist wishes to be successful in how they use the skills and abilities of Elementalism they must first of all be able to understand an Elemental Being and the different types which the skill of Discerning Elemental Beings goes a long way towards this goal.
I believe that people should take a second to consider whether they should discern an elemental being. Firstly the very act of discerning a being can be considered a serious insult, now I understand that this is not your first priority when the being is attempting to club you or your mates around the head with their large flaming fists, however it may be an important consideration if you're planning on having dealings with the being in the long term. Secondarily the act of discerning can be like posting a large target on your head, don't be surprised if the Elemental immediately turns his attention to you and starts giving you a shoeing.
Additional notes: I believe it is not possible to tell if an Elemental is native to the Elemental planes or Erdreja.

Elementalism

The basic art and skills of Elementalism can be divided into four basic categories however, not all of these skills are available to any Elementalist as it depends on the path they have chosen to determine which skills abilities they can use:

Controlling

Elementalists have the ability to Control an Elemental Being however, this depends on the type of Elemental being Controlled and the Elementalists skill. The extent of this Control is still being tested but it appears that by using this ability the Elementalist can order the Elemental to do things for them. This can be a potentially dangerous skill as is basically gives Elementalists the ability to control and domineer other beings which should not be used lightly especially as there is no guarantees to confirm if it is successful and the duration of the Control. Recent studies would suggest that the duration would depend entirely on the level of Elemental being controlled, the duration can be potentially for mintes, hours or days.

The Elementalist should ask themselves why they need to use this ability and consider the consequences before applying it practically. Elementals can do things like any other beings if they are asked to do so however, if they are being Controlled to do something against their will then the Elementalist might want to consider controlling them so that they gain the ability to issue commands to them and stop them doing something harmful to others.
The important thing about Controlling an Elemental is that the most recent Control will be in affect so if an Elementalist Controls and Elemental and another attempts to Control the same Elemental then as long as they have the skill to make it successful the recent Control will take over along with any other commands that the Elementalist issues.

It has been proven practically that an Elementalist can Control an Elemental and command it to return to its native plane which depending on its type and origin can mean the Elemental desists from doing any previous action and in some cases disperse as it returns to its plane. However, if the Elemental's native plane is Erdreja itself which cannot be proven either way as far as we are aware at present then this Command will just involve the Elemental stopping its current action.

Always be careful what you ask a controlled being to do, many a time I've seen a controller tell a being to stop hitting them only for the being to start pummelling their mate. Use precise commands with no room to wriggle.

Dismissing

Only Elementalists who are Light Incantors have the ability to dismiss an Elemental being. Incantors have the ability to dismiss other beings such as Unliving and from what I understand of such magic the ability to Dismiss an Elemental Being is effectively the same. However, again great caution needs to be taken when using this ability as depending on the Elemental Beings origin it can be an act of generosity if the Elemental wishes to return to its native plane or can be permanently damaging if again the Elemental's native plane is Erdreja but to what extent we are not sure.

As Kachina has said only people with a natural skill in Dismissing can Dismiss Elementals. Due to the power of even the weakest Elemental, you will normally have to form a wedge in a similar way to when you Dismiss an unliving. It is important for the person at the head of the wedge to be an elementalists and an Incantor, but those lending power to the wedge just need to be able to dismiss normally ie. Incantors. Powers that improve your ability in a wedge also work with elementals.

When it comes to dismissing think carefully before you carry out the action, I had to have a long discussion with an Incantor last year. They were putting together a wedge to deal with an agent of the Kinslayer. I had to point out that there were people out there that could deal with the issue in a more pugilistic manner, and healing them up afterwards would use far fewer Thaums of power than the huge dismiss wedge they would have to make to dismiss them. So deal with it in the same way as we deal with healing on the battlefield and on campaigns. Use it sparingly when other methods will be less efficient.

Additional notes: With Living Elementals the effect of Dismissing can be a bit hit and miss. It could have no effect, send the whole being to the plane of life or send the Elemental part of the pattern back to the Elemental plane.

Healing

Depending on the Elementalists skill some have the ability to heal Elemental Beings of wounds and afflictions. Again there has been no extensive study on this practically however, Elementalists seem to be able to heal different locations of an Elemental Being in some cases more affective than healers but this can depend on the type of Elemental and also as a healer I would have to express concern about the type of wound the Elemental is suffering as with other living beings there is certainly instances where wounds cannot be healed because a nastily affliction prevents the channelling from working therefore it would be logical to assume that the same could be for healing Elementals.

Summoning

Elementalists seem to have the ability of Summoning Elemental Beings, this seems to be the most least practiced skill as with a lot of the skills and abilities an Elementalist has the reason why an Elementalist is trying to Summon an Elemental must be questioned and like a lot of the other skills must be used with great caution. My own experiences would confirm that Elementals can be Summon in a similar fashion to Daemons and Ancestors, the other tools that need to be used for this skill seems to be Rites and Rituals however, it has not been extensively studied into what other kind of skills need to be used for this act to be successful. However, like with all of my findings I would logically assume that the more powerful the Elementalist and their Rite or Ritual potentially the more powerful the Elemental Being.

It is possible that I have a bit more experience in this matter than Kachina. Though I must admit I am neither a Ritualist or an Elementalist. I do spend a lot of time dealing with ritual magic. Elementals can indeed be summoned in a ritual circle, and should be dealt with in a very similar way to demons. However there are a few things that should be noted.

Firstly Elementalism is opposed to Necromancy, therefore you should avoid using Necromancers in the circle, or indeed to a lesser extent unliving. Also before you carry out a ritual you should find out which way the circle you are using is aligned. If it is aligned to necromancy you will need some way to rebalance the energy in the circle, I have seen this done by getting a Necromancer to absorb the energy, but as I said be very careful, especially with a Necromancer in the Circle.

Also when it comes to an Elemental ritual more is more, get as many Elementalists in the circle as possible, also not all Elementalists are equal, if they have High Healing or Incantation we believe they will contribute more than a Healer or Incantor with only a basic knowledge of their art.

When it comes to binding an elemental into a object I would recommend making the object out of Teslanium, which should act as a perfect receiver for an Elemental pattern (see my notes on metallurgy)

Conclusion

In summary, there is still a great deal to learn about Elementalism and its boundaries that currently exist. Hopefully, as these skills and abilities are taught to others and the knowledge is spread further we can equally gain more knowledge about this magic which like Healing is an art that I hope all I teach to use it wisely and responsibly.