Element

In the various cosmologies and schools of magic on Toril, an element was one of the fundamental building blocks of the universe. The elements, together with the two energies, positive energy and negative energy, composed everything that existed on the Material Plane. On the Material Plane, the elements were roughly in balance; whereas, on the Inner Planes, one element or energy dominated over the others.
Different cultures counted the elements differently. In Faerûn, four elements were acknowledged—air, earth, fire, and water. Zakharan sages recognized the same four elements but named them wind, sand, flame, and sea, respectively. The sages of Kara-Tur, in contrast, held that there were five elements, not four. These were fire, metal, water, wind, and wood.In the real world, in Chinese philosophy, the five elements are earth, fire, metal, water, and wood. In Japanese philosophy, the five elements are earth, fire, water, wind, and void (or ether), which correspond exactly to the Western classical elements. In 1 edition, the Oriental Adventures sourcebook provides the five elements of fire, metal, water, wind, and wood, which does not match either the Chinese or Japanese list. The 3-edition Oriental Adventures sourcebook appears to "correct" this by listing the five elements as the Chinese list of earth, fire, metal, water, and wood. However, 3-edition Oriental Adventures is not a Forgotten Realms sourcebook, so this wiki lists the five Kara-Turan elements originally provided in the 1-edition sourcebook. Wu-jen in that land could master one of these five elements.
==Appendix==
===See Also===
* Elemental magic
* Acid
* Cold
* Electricity
* Force
* Sonic
===Notes===
===External Links===
===References===
Category:Substances
Category:Cosmology