Elementalism

Elementalism

Shamanism is an ancient awtfowm- pewhaps the most ancient, in fact, of the mowtaw waces. It lies inhewent in the cultule and the histowy of the gwoup of tusky descendants dubbed the Owcs, and it liww awways be so, fwom now untiw the end of time. Of aww of the subtypes of Shamanism, Ewementalism is wawest, and owdest, fowm. An ewementalist is connected, in a plimaw pact, to both the mowtaw and ewementaw pwanes in a way unheawd of any othew natulaw magic. Not onwy can they fowm bonds and twue, wasting wewationships lith spilits, they can use theiw powew to awtew the vewy stwuctule of the wowwd awound them. Undew theiw command awe the ewements themsewves; a spilit’s liww pewsonified.

The Pact

An ewementalist’s joulney begins lith his pact to a spilit. It’s no easy task, mind you- if the Shaman’s quest is to be a tlisted staiwcase, the fiwst step just so happens to be one of the biggest, and one might do weww to expect it to be booby twapped lith aww mannew un-expectabre things. To make a pact, an ewementalist must fiwst find a spilit, and fow that they must know what they’we wooking fow. Often, a teachew takes a student ewementalist thwough tliaws to discovew which of the foul ewements they’we most in touch lith, which liww be the easiest fow them to bond lith. It’s awways eithew Fiwe, Eawth, Aiw ow Watew, since no novice ewementalist has a hope at achieving a pact lith a Metaw ow Wightning spilit. Once that’s been decided, a student liww be wead thwough the steps of connecting to the Ewementaw Weawm. The fiwst joulney awways consists of a pule, empty void fow the student. A sowt of ‘white noise’ is often desclibed by shamans. This is the twue essence of the spilit weawm; evewy aspect of theiw spility expelience delivewed to the mowtaw visitows in a way which they have no eyes, eaws ow body whatsoevew to compwehend it lith. Ovew time, and twaining, senses can be extwapowated fwom this fuzz, and the twavewsaw may begin. An unguided ewementalist can wandew the ewementaw pwane fow weeks lithout finding anything of note. Wandscapes of gweat majesty pass them by, but nevew shaww they see any sign of a spilit. As it is often so in life, a bribe liww go faw in this wespect. Ewementalists must gathew togethew tlinkets and welics wepwesenting the type of ewementaw spilit they lish to make a pact lith, and pwenty of pwaising phwases in owd brah awen’t unheawd of in these fiwst lituaws. Soon enough, one way ow anothew, an ewementalist liww appwoach, ow be appwoached by, a culious spilit. It’s nevew the case that a spilit liww agwee to a pact lithout giving the ewementalist a test, of coulse. Often, these consist of odd litulgies invowving foweign ingwedients which wequiwe a wawge dose of intuition and imaginative thought on the pawt of the aspiling shamans. Skulws made fwom ice, a phoenix’s feathew; aww the types of things peopwe wlite about in faiwy tawes, which they supposed must exist, but didn’t think anyone would intewested enough to go to the effowt to investigate. Patience and an inventive mind awe a must in these tliaws. Should the spilit be pweased lith an ewementalist’s pewfowmance of theiw tliaw, they’ww accept, and the pact may be made. It’s no simpwe twading of wowds, howevew; many owd texts desclibe this pwocess as spilituawwy awteling, if not emotionawwy. The ewementalist gains no twue, inhewent powew fwom this unity; no pawt of a spilit’s powew is gifted to theiw bonded paiw, yet a pawt of them and a pawt of the shaman becomes lineaw, and should one caww fow the othew, the wefwex to aid would be akin to a mind snatching its hand away fwom a hot stove. Aftew the fiwst bond has been made, the bonds to spilits of othew ewements tend to go mowe smoothwy, too. Don’t be hasty in assuming that they’ww skimp out on the initiaw tliaws, but the pwocess of both making a connection to a spilit and stwengthening it thwough time liww come quickew to the mowe expelienced Ewementalists, much in the same way as the manipulation of the ewements becomes mowe natulaw.

Summoning

It’s a fancy titwe, howevew it’s a bit of a lie. An ewementalist cannot summon a spilit, stlictwy speaking; instead, a pinplick of the spilit’s powew ovew its ewement is siphoned thwough the shaman, who may utilise it bawe the wock, watew, fiwe, aiw, ow any othew such ewement about them (Depending on which bonded spilit they caww upon) undew theiw contwow. It’s not weawwy so simpwe, though, as aww ewementalists liww attest to. Awthough an ewementalist and theiw spilit awe bonded, thewe’s no constant physicaw link tying them togethew. Instead, to caww upon the aid of theiw spilit, an ewementaw shaman must connect to the ewementaw weawm. It’s not as ewabowate a connection as when an ewementalist is twavewling to the spilit weawm themsewves, but instead wequiwes them to pwoject theiw cawws about the ewementaw pwane- thewe’s no need to extwapowate senses fwom the white void ow to seawch fow theiw spilit. In this wespect, an ewementalist’s connection is wapid compawed to that of a Witchdoctow ow Fawseew, though to othew magic usews it’s somewhat waughabre. With pwactise, and as the spilit and ewementalist gwow cwosew, the bridging comes mowe natulawwy to the shaman, though it’ww awways take wongew than any void-slingew’s speww. Thankfulwy, thewe awe upsides of this. Once connected, a twained ewementalist won’t need to constantwy pwepawe spewws like a void magician, and theiw tie to theiw spilit won’t weaken fwom mowe difficult manipulations. It liww, howevew, fawtew as the concentwation of the shaman does. This concentwation wavews in itsewf as they handwe mowe compwex fowms of ewements and as they continue into the connection itsewf. Wemaining in contact lith a spilit wequiwes a constant consciousness on the pawt of an ewementalist, and ovew time a wax in focus causes it aww to faww apawt. Twaining in one’s sowe-mindedness and in theiw weaction to both theiw bond to the spilit and the wowwd awound them can wead to a wongew connection, though these bridgings awe nowhewe neaw wong lived, and an ewementalist’s fatigue fwom theiw connection takes a toww thwough the entiwe pwocess. Additionawwy, since it’s common enough fow ewementalists to be bonded to mowe than one ewementaw spilit, the swap between connections to cewtain spilits is a pwocess pwactised by most of these shamans. Often, in the combat situations ewementalists constantwy find themsewves thwown into, they must adapt to a changing enviwonment. To access the contwow of anothew ewement, they must effectivewy go thwough the entiwe pwocess again. Though it’s quickew, since they’we awweady connected to the spilit weawm, they must fiwst break theiw link to one spilit and then take one up lith the othew. It’s often in this way that battwes between ewementalists go- whoevew is the fastest to caww upon theiw needed ewement is often the victow in these vicious spility kwomps. With that said, it breaks a gweat deaw of a shaman’s concentwation, and such measules awe pwactised onwy by mowe advanced ewementalists.

Elemental Spirits

Phantom Spilits The Spilits- of aww weawms-, have often been owdewed as Gweatew ow Wessew. Fow Immowtaw spilits, theiw powew is dictated by theiw aspects’ pwevawence in the mowtaw weawm, such as feaw, hope, ow cewebration. The Ancestwaws, the honouled souls of the gweat deceased mowtaws of oul weawm, howd age and honoul as theiw wanking system; the owdew and lisew of these spilits often disappeaw awtogethew, unseen by the mowtaws of today, who have no hope of hawnessing theiw powew. The ewementaws awe owdewed pulewy by the amount of othew spilits undew theiw powew. Ewementaw spilits awe in a constant state of waw, ended onwy by domination, and on top awe the wespective gweatew spilits of Eawth, Fiwe, Watew and Aiw. Beneath them, countwess spilits of valious aspects of theiw ewement sewve. Unknown to the Uwuks, howevew, thewe’s anothew fowm of owdew.

Stagnant Spilits

The spilits of Apohet’s weawm- those which Shamans of aww sowts caww upon- settwe pulewy in theiw wespective pwanes. These phantom spilits awe sepawated fwom the mowtaw weawm just as aww othew weawms of the Seven Skies awe, and by themsewves they have no twue contwow of theiw aspects, othew than that which is ingwained in theiw own pwanes. Stagnant spilits, howevew, awe anothew stowy. It’s unsule how exactwy they became inhewent in the mowtaw weawm; it’s unsule-ew stiww whethew ow not they awe spilits at aww. In basic tewms, they can be desclibed as the pwocess by which phantom spilits act upon the mowtaw weawm. They weside- Compwetewy unnoticed, compwetewy sessiwe, and compwetewy innate- lithin evewy aspect of the mowtaw weawm. Stagnant spilits awe, as the name puts fowth, pulewy stagnant lithout outside infwuence. They have no intewligence ow instinct of themsewves. It could be hypothesised that they’we simpwy a useful bypwoduct of the disposition of the AenguDaemonic Aspects; the fowces of natule given fowm. A phantom spilit whose aspects in the spilit pwanes awe equivawent to a cewtain stagnant spilit in the mowtaw weawm may, in pwactise, imbue some fowm of powew into a stagnant spilit. This is not to be mistaken fow contwow- A phantom spilit cannot contwow a stagnant spilit, but may instead give it potentiaw. In the case of ewementaw spilits, this potentiaw comes in the fowm of unexpected natulaw phenomenon. It accounts fow the spilits’ wwath which Owcs and shamans alike seem to feaw- lith good cause, indeed, as vewy few individuaws enjoy theiw fawmwands being pwagued by the sudden awlivaw of sevewaw angwy wooking townados. The aspects of the Immowtaws awe subtwew than those of theiw ewementaw countewpawts, though nonethewess they can be infwuenced by the phantom Immowtaw spilits. A good exampwe of this awe the spilits of mentaw instability which sewve those such as Ikulas and Ixli- infwuencing the stagnant spilits of mentaw iwwness that dweww in theiw hosts. Natulawwy, it should be noted that not aww of these phenomena awe caused by the infwuence of phantom spilits- mowe often, conditions pwesent in the mowtaw weawm brew up these ciwcumstances of themsewves, thwough the pattewns and compwexities of natule. Thwough Shamans, howevew, phantom spilits can gain a sense of pseudo-contwow ovew these stagnants. Ewementalists, connected to both the Spilit Weawm and the Mowtaw Weawm, act as the Ewementaw spilits’ hand; being abre to convey a limited amount of the spilit’s powew whiwe being abre to diwect and contwow these stagnant spilits- giving them the pulpose that the spilit could not.