These elves are extremely few in number. They took their studies to high places - eyries and such. With their sorcerous studies, they adapted themselves to the heights over the course of a few scant generations: their bones were made lightweight and porous, they developed working wings, and their lungs and circulation systems were altered to prefer the thin, cold air. They, in effect, evolved themselves. Their numbers dwindled even further than they had been at the start, but enough survived the experiments and rituals to have allowed this offshoot branch to continue.

They are weak physically, but very quick and agile. As a whole, they hate enclosed spaces and underground situations. The result is a -2 penalty to any activity they may attempt in an enclosed space.

Much of their evolution is due to the intervention of beings from the Elemental Plane of Air, and as a result, all Air Elves are granted the ability to summon and command a 3HD Air Elemental once per week. Their experimentation with altitude has also led to a strange side effect, though necessary at the heights they live in: they are immune to the effects of lightning.

Because of their small numbers, they tend to live in communal setups, feeling very little for the concerns of the outside world. They are stand-offish, and have no cares for the mores of "normal" society: money means nothing, and marriage is an entirely foreign concept. They share each other in the same way they share everything else.

The Earth Elves were the first of the Elementals to break away from mainstream elven society. Several clans began to delve deep within the earth, learning the secrets of the soil and the healing presence of the earth itself. Over the milennia since their severing, they have grown, in essence, to be of the earth. They speak in low, rolling tones, and their skin has become dark and muddy. They rarely ever bother with clothing; the contact with the soils warms them, and their skins are almost always coated with mud and small mineral deposits. They have no hair at all on their bodies. Another strangeness is their fingernails. They are made of diamond, allowing them a natural claw/claw attack. They know little or nothing of smithing, and so have no metal tools, and few wood ones either. Most of what they have is made of stone, which is easily manipulated with their claws. Since they know little of metalsmithing, they have no real weapons.

In becoming more magical in their nature, they have lost their knowledge and study of the arcane arts, as well as their literature and book knowledge: they have no means of reading and writing any longer. They are simplistic and unlearned, though hardly stupid. They tend to move and think slowly and with certainty.

Earth Elves have a great knowledge of soils, rocks, minerals, and plants, and they keep this knowledge alive in their songs and rituals. From their friendship with the earth, they have also gained great contacts with the animal and plant spheres. Although they know and are allies with the Earth Elementals, they have no control over them. Among the secrets they discovered was how to meld with the earth. They can do this at will, though it takes 10 minutes for the process to be completed. Once melded with the ground, they can travel through the soil at a rate of 6"/round. They cannot go through rock. This melding also allows them to heal themselves at a double the normal rate for healing and resting. Note that though they are in the ground, digging in the spot where they went under will neither damage them, nor reveal them. It's as if they dissipate and reform from the ground.

Their society tends to be tribal, but they do not hunt. They live in clay huts, or more commonly, underground in shallow caves.

The Fire Elves aren't what you would expect. They don't spout flames, their skin isn't red, and they aren't pyromaniacs. They are, however, wild, willful, and unpredictable. They are at once more simplistic and more complex than the Earth Elves. They split off from elven society shortly after the Earth Elves, and though they haven't exactly lost their lore, they just misplaced the parts that didn't interest them anymore.

Their interest now lies in fire. To a Fire Elf, fire is the source of life, and a way of living, believing, and thinking. They don't worship fire itself as a god, but revere it as a holy emanation of creative force. They also don't have much contact with the Elemental Plane of Fire. Though they do nothing to hinder beings from that plane, they don't actively seek contact with it, and would rather see life on this plane preserved by fire, rather than destroyed by it. Therefore, they will reluctantly fight against Fire Elementals and Efreeti if it is for the greater good of life on the Material Plane.

For themselves, they are a hardy folk, flourishing much more than any of the other Elemental Elves. They live in many climes, but always secreted away from society, as they realize that few (if any) share their beliefs. The most numerous of the Elemental Elves (largely because they can thrive anywhere), their magic preserves them against the adverse effects of fire. In fact, so reverent of fire are they that if one is struck by an attack of fire, he gains the bonuses normally bestowed by the clerical spell bless.

On the whole, they are dark-skinned and light-haired, simply because they spend a lot of time outdoors. After all, the sun is an amazing source of life and is of fire (well, it makes light and heat, gives life to plants, and when magnified through glass, makes more fire - so what else could it be?), and they consider it to be the holiest essence of the philosophy of flame.

The Water Elves dwell only half in the Material Plane. Their essences actually dwell in the Elemental Plane of Water. Because of this, they know great friendship with the Elementals, who have shared the secrets of existence with and in water with the Elves. Water Elves do not have to summon Water Elementals...a Water Elf can become one! What's more, several Water Elves can merge to form a huge Water Elemental, with 1HD for every elf involved.

They can alter their physical forms slightly, being able to change hair and skin color at will. They will usually not change their shape to other than that of a semi-typical elf, since that is what they're used to. Their physical forms are actually a gelled form of water. They no longer breathe, but they must immerse themselves in water (obviously not polluted or poisonous) at least four times daily, to allow them to maintain their physical forms.

Water Elves are pacifists, making no weapons, and fighting no battles. Why should they fight when they can just flow through, over, and around any would-be opponent? They have no need for territoriality; there are relatively few Water Elves and they are immortal and indestructible (someone seeking to completely destroy a Water Elf would have to first destroy its essence on the Elemental Plane of Water, then destroy the physical form in the Material realm. Not an easy task). They see things from the point of view of the ocean: there is nothing they cannot outlast, outmaneuver, or simply wash over. They are the most patient of sentients, and should they ever find themselves in a position where they must use force, their mere touch causes an accelerated form of erosion that eats away anything at a rate of 3 cubic cm per round.

Water Elf society is very (pardon the pun) fluid. There are really no set standards. They have no need even for individuality, especially since they can merge with each other to form a great Water Elemental. It is generally assumed that they have established some sort of hive-mind in the Elemental Plane of Water, though this theory has never been proven. It is known that while they remember about writing and books, they cannot use them because of their gelatinous forms.

           

Copyright 1999, Kevin R. Turner. All rights reserved. Used by permission.