Nature elemental A nature elemental was a creature summoned by a special priest spell for a single purpose : to return an area of land or water to its natural state , " i . e . " , before it was touched by any form of humanoid civilization . When summoned , they began converting the area designated by the caster and continued for 24 hours or until a circular area of radius one mile ( 1 . 6 kilometers ) had been cleansed , whichever came first . Fundamentally , a nature elemental was composed of Air , Earth , Fire , Water , and spirit or life . If the caster was of sufficient level , then the spirit portion came from his or her deity , otherwise , the caster ' s spirit was used in the summoning and departed the Prime Material Plane with the nature elemental when the spell concluded , leaving the caster ' s lifeless body behind . This summoned creature did not have free will , nor was it controllable . It performed the job for which it was conjured , relentlessly and without emotion , destroying all vestiges of civilization , including humanoid life , in its path and then dissipated . If any beings were foolish enough to attack it , it would defend itself and return the attack , but could not be lured away from its designated task . Description . A nature elemental took the form of a massive , rough humanoid at least 35 ft ( 11 m ) tall . Its body was made up of the biome in which it was summoned . For a typical temperate landscape , it would be composed of stone and dirt with grasses , shrubs , and small trees growing out of it , and miniature streams of water and small creatures running over its surface . Combat . Regular combat with a nature elemental was an exercise in futility . Armies and weapons were just grist for grinding into raw materials that were immediately turned into soil , minerals , plants , and animals . Magic weapons and items had a chance to survive touching a nature elemental , but it was the same chance as resisting a " disintegrate " spell . The creature had the strength of a titan and could use its two massive fists to destroy structures or crush armed opposition . While it remained in contact with its environment ( including air ) , a nature elemental regenerated all damage every minute . The only way to kill it was to take all its prodigious health away in one tremendous blow , or somehow remove it from its environment so it could not regenerate . Nature elementals were immune to " protection from evil " and similar spells intended to repel extraplanar creatures . By far the easiest way to get rid of a nature elemental was to cast the reverse of the spell that summoned it , " dismiss nature elemental " . Habitat . Most sages speculated that these creatures did not have a single plane of origin , but were rather a very minor and limited avatar of the deity worshiped by the summoner . Ecology . The nature elemental removed all traces of cultivation , deforestation , and civilization by breaking it down and reforming the area into its natural state . Plants grew to maturity within minutes after a nature elemental passed by . Air and water were purified , and animals were either deposited or attracted to the newly renovated area within hours . These creatures left behind a fully viable ecosystem in their wake . History . The origin of the spell to summon a nature elemental has been traced back to the height of the first Netherese empire . References to it were found in ancient Netherese libraries and tombs .