Element

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The elements are, in a magical sense, the fundamental building blocks of material existence. The elements are central to a number of magical practices, such as alchemy. They are represented and embodied by elementals and other similar spirits in the supernatural world.

The actual number of elements varies by source:

• The four classical elements in Greek cosmology: air, earth, fire and water
• The five elements in Chinese (Taoist) alchemy: earth, fire, metal, water and wood
• The five elements from the Book of Nine Rings: earth, water, fire, wind and void
• The five elements in Exalted, which draws from a mix of Eastern and Western inspirations: air, earth, fire, water and wood
• The five elements represented by humours in Promethean: The Created: air, earth, fire, water and ectoplasm

Other uses of the elements include:

• Elemental spirits in the Classic World of Darkness, which include incarnations of the classical elements but also elementals like lightning and glass
• Various Paths of blood magic in Vampire: The Masquerade, most notably Koldunic Sorcery but also including several paths of Thaumaturgy
• The most iconic uses of the Sphere of Forces in Mage: The Ascension, or the Five Elemental Dragons (Dalou'laoshi) associated with the Technocracy in the Middle Kingdom
• The elemental Inanimae in Changeling: The Dreaming, or the the elementally-attuned Kwannon-jin of the hsien in Land of Eight Million Dreams
• The Shintai of the Kuei-jin (and, in the last Age, the Godbodies of the Wan Kuei) in Kindred of the East
• The Elemental kith and the Contracts of Elements in Changeling: The Lost

The five elements are particularly relevant in Exalted, where their uses include:

• The Five Elemental Dragons, and their element-aspected Dragon-Blooded descendants
• The five magical materials, each of which is attuned to a different element and a different type of Exalt
• The five elemental poles, which exist at the four corners and the center of Creation
• Elementals, the lesser gods who generally dwell in Creation rather than Yu-Shan
• The elemental paths of the Dragon Kings.

Exalted additionally possesses certain "extra" elements:

• Vitriol, an extremely corrosive substance that was rejected from inclusion in Creation, but can still be found in Malfeas.
• The five Underworld elements, dark corruptions of the elements of Creation, which vary by edition:
  • 1st edition: Prayer (air), Blood (water), Bone (wood), Ghost Flame (fire), and Jade (earth).
  • 2nd edition: Ash (air), Blood (water), Bone (wood), Pyre Flame (fire), and Void (earth).
• The six Autochthonian elements, representing the components and products of machinery: Crystal (counterpart to wood), Lightning (fire), Metal (earth), Oil (water), Steam (air), and Smoke (vitriol).