Invisible stalkers have a poor opinion of mortals due to the unsavory nature of the violent tasks summoners usually call them to the Material Plane to perform.
ELEMENTAL BEINGS
The Elemental Planes—primordial realms defined by aspects of air, earth, fire, or water—are home to a diverse group of beings known as elementals. Spellcasters on the Material Plane call upon elementals for aid, though these enigmatic creatures can also travel to the world of mortals via interplanar gateways and rifts. The elementals on these pages exemplify the creatures of the Elemental Planes, but this list is by no means exhaustive.
Primal Elementals
The most well known of all elementals are the primal elementals, creatures composed entirely of air, earth, fire, or water with roughly humanoid shapes. Many primal elementals are named after natural disasters, ranging from those relatively small in scale (and roughly the size of Medium humanoids) to much larger ones (often the size of small buildings). Primal elementals can often be found in areas where their namesake disasters have recently struck.
Elemental Lords
The most powerful elementals are demigods known as elemental lords. Until recently, only four evil elemental lords ruled over realms on the Elemental Planes. However, recent events have allowed the previously imprisoned good elemental lords to return to their realms, causing massive conflicts that could lead to planar wars.
Elemental Creatures
Not all elementals are lumbering, humanoid-shaped creatures. Some take on the forms and natures of animals and beasts from the Material Plane. These creatures often behave in ways similar to their Material Plane counterparts, even though as elementals they lack the animalistic instincts mortal creatures have when it comes to hunting, reproducing, and the like. Elemental creatures are favorites of conjurers due to their small size, relative ease of summoning, and varied abilities.
Elemental Vortexes
Where the boundary between planes wears thin, elementals manifest in the world through churning vortexes. Such gateways might lie at the heart of a volcano, a deep ocean trench, in regions beset with earthquakes, or within great storms.
“Civilized” Elementals
Some elementals, such as invisible stalkers, xorns, and salamanders, have specific cultures and personalities that elevate them beyond simple magical creatures or manifestations of living energy. These creatures are often found in larger settlements or living alongside genies on their respective planes.
Other Elementals
When energies from elemental planes mix, unusual elemental life can form. The combination of fire and earth, for example, can spawn magma elementals, while air and water can create ice elementals. Lightning elementals form from a conjunction of fire and air, while water and earth give birth to mud elementals. It’s possible that in the vastness of the Great Beyond, even more unusual elementals might exist, although they are as rare as they are strange.
Monstrous Elementals
Some elementals are more than living incarnations of air, earth, fire, or water. Creatures like the genie (pages 162–165), the uthul (page 317), or the zaramuun (page 339) have their own complex ecologies and societies. While these creatures originally hail from an Elemental Plane, they can often be found on the Material Plane as well.
Elemental, Air
Hailing from the Plane of Air, these beings appear in a variety of sizes and shapes.
