Elements

The elements of fire, air, earth, and water serve as the basic building blocks of all matter in the physical universe. Shamanic culture have long sought to live in harmony with, or assert dominion over, the elements. To do so, they call upon the primordial forces of Spirit and Decay. Those who seek to bring balance to the elements rely on Spirit (sometimes referred to as the "fifth element" by shaman, or "chi" by monks). This life-giving force interconnects and binds all things in existence as one, sacrificing its life. Sacrificial magic was considered the greatest violation of life and the energies of life, most commonly known as nature magic, promote growth and renewal in all things. Death, in the form of necromantic magic, acts as a counterbalance to life. It is an unavoidable force that breeds despair in mortal hearts and pushes everything toward a state of entropic decay and eventual oblivion. Decay is the tool of the shaman seeking to subjugate and weaponize the elements themselves.

An Arcane Mystery

Arcane Tactics: Arcane magic is the quintessential combination of spell power and efficiency.

Mana Spring Totem: Water is the element of life and energy.

Mana Agate: Magi are unique in their ability to store mana for future use without alchemical aid.

The arcane, the language of order, is a fundamental power which mana is just a measure of. If mana were water, then arcane would be steam pressure. In keeping with an author's theory that the arcane is an element unto itself, the author humbly offers the fact that there is at least one documented occasion wherein the Focusing Iris was utilized to enslave, direct, and control various elemental beings.

Fel

Drain Mana: Tremendous power comes from a warlock's ability to sustain complex rituals.

Fel Fire: No natural force can extinguish this fire.

Life Tap: When the dark arts call for flesh, you can only trust your own.

Fel is the primal force of chaos, which is order unrecognized by a lesser mind according to an arcane user. It can pool into a green goop when it's in physical form. It is a substance that can be animated and, according to Sean Copeland, is entropic as in "destroys life". It seems like Copeland doesn't understand that destruction is, essentially, the process of destroying structures, breaking them down into the parts that they're constructed of. Fel can't be "entropic" as in destroys life because life would be a construct, which was never alive really (like a toaster). Micky Neilson—veteran of Blizzard Entertainment—states that it seems like just a change of energy and fel (according to how it is described) is chaotic energy that life is converted into by warlocks. If fel is a form of life, the last element, one can view warlocks as a form of shaman.

Elemental Mysteries

Before life even began, before even the cosmos took shape, there was Light ... and Void. In the form of a boundless prismatic sea, the Light swelled across all existence. The ocean of Light was dynamic and ever shifting. Yet as it expanded, some of its energies faded and dimmed, leaving behind pockets of cold nothingness. From the absence of Light in these spaces, a new power coalesced and came to be. This power was the Void, a dark and vampiric force driven to devour all energy, to twist creation inward to feed upon itself. The Void quickly grew and spread its influence, moving against the waves of Light. The mounting tension between these two opposing yet inseparable energies eventually ignited a series of catastrophic explosions, rupturing the fabric of creation and birthing a new realm into existence. In that moment, the physical universe was born.

An Astral Dimension

The most unstable energies coalesced into an astral dimension known as the Twisting Nether. The creatures that had emerged from this realm were known as demons. They had been formed as a result of the Light and Void energies that had bled together at the borders of the Twisting Nether. The demons embraced their furious passions and reveled in pushing the boundaries of their power, heedless of the consequences. Many of these aberrations indulged in the energy that pervaded the Nether. Some learned to wield the all-consuming powers of fel magic and, before long, the bloodthirsty demons clawed their way into the physical universe, terrorizing mortal civilizations and bringing ruin to world after world.

Fel-Connected Worlds and the Elements

The energies released by the clash of Light and Void raged across the nascent cosmos, raw matter merging and spinning into primordial worlds without number. Composed of the primordial matter from which the universe was born, the titans were godlike beings who were uniquely susceptible to fel magic. Their spirits—known as world-souls—formed deep within the fiery core of worlds.

Denizens of the Cosmos

Elemental Spirits

The elemental spirits are primitive and chaotic beings of fire, earth, air, or water. They were some of the first sentient creatures to inhabit the nascent worlds of the universe. The elemental spirits appear in an almost infinite variety of shape and sizes. Each of these creatures has a distinct personality and temperament, traits that are heavily influenced by a spirit's elemental nature. The presence of the fifth element—Spirit—also affects the disposition of these elemental beings. A world with an overabundance of Spirit may give rise to native elementals who are passive and lack physicality. Conversely, a world with too little Spirit may birth elementals who are highly aggressive and incredibly destructive.

Sludge Beasts

These strange creatures share an elemental heritage, but have been corrupted by the powers of chaos. Now they exist as tortured masses of semi-sentient goo. No one knows what their motivations are or if there is any specific ecology behind their existence.

Titans

Composed of the primordial matter from which the universe was born, the titans are colossal godlike beings who were uniquely susceptible to fel magic.

Elemental Duality

Many shamanic cultures have discovered that the elements can influence a variety of emotional states. For this reason, mortals associate the elements with different feelings, both positive and negative.

Fire

Positive Trait: Passion

Negative Trait: Fury

Air

Positive Trait: Cunning

Negative Trait: Madness

Earth

Positive Trait: Stability

Negative Trait: Stubbornness

Water

Positive Trait: Tranquility

Negative Trait: Indecisiveness

Spirit

Positive Trait: Bravery

Negative Trait: Naivete

Decay

Positive Trait: Efficiency

Negative Trait: Ruthlessness

Professions of the Cosmos

Conjurers

Conjurers are seers of mystery, holders of secrets and dwellers in dream. These practitioners of the Arcane Arts have learned through researching the ancient tomes to bend the forces of nature to do their will. They can make the energies of nature strike down opponents, summon forth great creatures or command the elements. They are a secretive sect, and will only gather and train in their own specially prepared mystic towers. Conjurers maintain a close relationship with the elements about them.

Mages

Almia Moonwhisper:"In this time of chaos and turmoil, it may fall to those of us who can manipulate the arcane to rein in the fury of the elements."

Mages are spellcasters who favor magiks involving the cardinal elements of the universe.

Priests

Priests are devoted to the spiritual, that which relates to the "Spirit", the primal life force that shamans tap into.

Shaman

Earthseer Dambrak: "To truly master the elements, ye must find the harmony within them, lad."

Janvaru the Thunderspeaker: "Be one with the storm. It can be gentle and provide healing rains, or it can bring destruction and chaos."

For millennia, since the primitive tribal cultures of Azeroth and Draenor, the natural elements of the physical universe have been celebrated, feared, and even worshipped. Mystics sought communion with the earth, air, fire, and water, and learned to tap into their raw power. In time, these spiritual guides came to understand that nature’s elemental forces aren’t wholly benevolent, but have, in fact, been locked in an unending conflict of chaos and primal fury that once consumed the physical realm. So began the calling of the Shaman, to bring balance to these volatile energies, leveraging their intensity to mend wounds . . . or inflict them.

Warlocks

Baradis Darkstone: "Great power lies deep within the earth ... but why stop there?"

Kena Shadowbrand: Warlocks have the ability to convert their own life force into rewards - both material and evanescent.

Thira Anvilash: "There are those who wish to calm the elements as peacefully as possible, but I am more than willing to do so with violence and pain."

If the energies of a world can be used for destruction, then the energies of the underworld could destroy. It is this destructive power that the warlocks use in their incantations and rituals. As the most powerful of the sects, these dark brethren of Hades go where none others dare in search of ultimate power. Their Towers hold the keys to unleashing the very essence of evil upon those they see as a threat to their devious plans. Spells that channel the fire and brimstone of hell through their bodies, or can summon forth great creatures - even daemons - are theirs to use.

See also

• Cosmic forces
• Schools of Magic

External links

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