Sand Elementals

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The Nalfein Kitten's
The Unofficial Wavedancer 
Sand Elemental Training Guide
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==The Elemental==
Small sand elemental
The Elemental: a small sand elemental swirled with streaks of incarnadine sand
===Show=== 
The elemental is a miniature swirling storm of multi-hued sand, its millions of sparkling granules constantly shifting and spiraling in ever-renewed patterns of ethereal brilliance. Its surface melds and constantly reforms in undulating ripples, while each granule appears to shift through the myriad hues of light and dark in a heartbeat.
===The Case===
a pale crystal shard
===History of the Item===
The sand elementals were created by a joint venture between Voraveil and Lothwynn for the 2005 pay-for event, the Wavedancer. Adventurers braved the Southron Wastes, facing monsters of varying types, some akin to Old Ta'Faendryl war griffins. Most memorable from this quest was the excessive amount of digging through walls people endured for their little pet. Some stories told that digging times were in excess of six hours. 
Fair warning if you're training yours from the ground up, they can devour a king's ransom worth of sapphires. 
==Loresong==
The sand elemental shifts and swirls, its sands grating against one another to form a faint, high-pitched sound that echoes about your mind for several moments.
The sand elemental continues to sing in its strange, melodic voice of sand against sand and for a moment you catch brief glimpses of something fiery and red and all consuming for a scant few seconds.
As you focus your voice and stare at the sand elemental, your eyes are drawn to its swirling interior, and you find yourself lost in the haze of sand... until you are no longer staring at the elemental, but are somewhere else -- crimsons and russets bleed restlessly at the edge of the world, and mingle like ribbons overhead in fantastic, gargantuan waves of pristine beauty. You feel yourself drifting carelessly through the earth, bumping along rocks and encountering different soils -- heedless to everything as you have no body, only a conciousness that streams through the earth in swift heartbeats.
You once again find yourself lost in a vision comprised of the sand elemental's swirling body...
You drift along the currents of earth, and find yourself being pulled somewhere, heat surrounding you like an intense forge as a blinding light blocks your vision. You feel the sensation of ethereal being fading into corporeal existence, and your conciousness is bound to a physical form -- one comprised of hot earth and a twinge of flame. You flow in this new existence, never leaving the confines of the cavern you've arrived in, merely waiting and bathing in the essence from the tiny rip in reality, growing slightly as the years pass.
Then the vision ends.
You once again find yourself lost in a vision comprised of the sand elemental's swirling body...
You find yourself back in the cavern, feeding steadily off the essence bleeding from the nexus within -- others are there, as well, waiting until they too may venture out into the sands. But then, something changes. You sense presences that are only dimly aware or not at all aware of the flow, and you find yourself drawn to them, somehow. One of them reaches for you in your small hiding place, and you assent to their wishes, allowing them to hold you in your shard. Then the vision ends.
Delving deeply into the elemental, you get a sense that it isn't very good at carving, isn't very good at holding objects, isn't very good at digging, isn't very good at creating a sandstorm, and isn't very good at morphing.
Also, it appears that it is fairly disciplined about flaying a hand, is fairly disciplined about hiding, is fairly disciplined about misbehaving, and is fairly disciplined about casting quakes. 
==List of Activators==
===Fun Verbs:===
Sniff
Tickle
Turn
Exhale
Toss
Pull
Touch/Pet
Roll
Pinch
Poke
===Feeding===
Feed elemental - sapphires
When it morphs or listens to one of your commands.
==Discipline==
Pour a liquid on elemental if it does the following...
Flaying your hand
Causing localized quakes
Bashing at you relentlessly
Runs back to its shard when not put inside
It learns not to do bad things only if the punishment follows the action. This can sometimes be difficult if the flaying stuns you for several rounds or the quakes/bashing get stacked. I swear, my seems to be learning to quake then immediate morph to avoid punishment.
===Training=== 
Stare - On and Off
Rub - Coax Morph
Nudge - Make it turn into your desired form
Raise - Set desired form
Tap - Create a miniature sandstorm.
Push - Dig
Put/Drop item ON elemental - Use smooth stones to make jewelry or it can hold the one item.
===Fun Verbs Extended===
>pet/touch ele
You brush your hand over the sand elemental, its fluid-grainy surface flows against your hand like serpentine scales as it parts like a cascade of water.
>sniff ele
You sniff the elemental, and then suddenly sneeze violently!
The sand elemental suddenly explodes in a huge puff of sand and twinkles down in a sparkling rain before it swirls into a tight, amorphous ball in your hand once more.
>tickle ele
You writhe your fingers through the sandy surface of the sand elemental and it suddenly explodes upwards in a brilliant cloud of multi-hued sand and then rains back down into your hand.
>turn ele
You turn your sand elemental about, and it responds by spinning about in a whirling, frenzied cyclone of black sand.
exhale ele
You let out a deep breath upon the sand elemental, and it swirls outwards, following the path of air and then taking flight, spiraling about the area with little thought or care to where it drifts.
The sand elemental shimmers briefly and swirls back into your hand.
>toss ele
You toss your sand elemental about, and it stretches into a springy coil of sand, bouncing back and forth between your hands as it shimmers with varying tones.
>pull ele
You sink your hand into the nearly aqueous sands of the elemental and pull a small handful out, letting the silky, shifting sand sift through your fingers to fall back toward the main mass of the sand elemental.
>roll ele
You roll your sand elemental about, and the elemental assents to your actions, allowing you to roll it into a tight ball of sand after a bit.
Suddenly, the sand elemental ripples outward and explodes in exuberance, its sandy tendrils flailing about playfully.
>poke ele
You poke your sand elemental and it ripples slightly, extending several writhing tendrils from itself and undulates in a slow, mesmerizing dance.
>pinch ele
You crook your fingers and pinch the elemental, grabbing a few bits of sand from its swirling interior.
The sand elemental suddenly whips about in a tight spiral, extending a tendril of sand that swiftly snatches back the tiny bits of sand between your fingers!
==Training==
===NUDGE===
Failure:
You nudge your sand elemental a bit, trying to coax it into changing its shape.
The sand elemental nudges your finger back with a sandy extension of itself. 
No Setting:
You nudge your sand elemental a bit, trying to coax it into changing its shape.
You have not indicated what your favorite form of the sand elemental is. Perhaps you should do that before commanding it to take said form.
Success:
===RAISE===
Success:
>rais ele
You raise your sand elemental up a bit in your hand.
The sand elemental shifts and wavers briefly, then explodes in a burst of brilliant hues, and then reforms, apparently freezing its current form for a moment.
Failure:
>rais ele
You raise your sand elemental up a bit in your hand.
The sand elemental just sits there, quietly shifting its sands and clearly unaware of or unwilling to fulfill your request.
===TAP===
Failure:
You move your fingers to give your sand elemental a little tap on its amorphous form.
The sand elemental whirls about in a tight cyclone to avoid your finger, then settles down and narrows itself in annoyance.
Success:
>tap ele
You move your fingers to give your sand elemental a little tap on its amorphous form.
Your sand elemental suddenly spins and swirls in an ever-tighter vortex, sending out rings of sand in a tiny storm!
Waves of pale sand wash over the area, forming a tiny cyclone on the ground.
The tiny vortex of sand upon the ground begins to weaken slightly.
The whirling dervish of sand swirls and twirls, kicking up bits of dust.
Waves of pale sand wash over the area, forming a tiny cyclone on the ground.
The miniature cyclone of sand on the ground continues to spiral endlessly.
As quiet as a whisper, the tiny cyclone of sand on the ground dissipates.
===PUSH===
Failure:
You move your hand to give your sand elemental a little push.
The sand elemental forms a concave cavity within its body, and your finger simply passes right through it without ever touching it.
Successful Failure:
>push ele
You move your hand to give your sand elemental a little push.
The sand elemental leaps out of your hands and swirls around the ground for a moment, but it doesn't appear to be able to get through the ground. It lets out an annoyed twirl of crimson sand, then leaps back up into your palm, pulsating slightly with black hues. Perhaps you had best find a looser substrate for this activity?
Success:
===RUB===
Failure:
You cup your hands over your sand elemental and rub its soft, silky surface of sand for a moment.
The sand elemental suddenly dissolves and reforms outside of your cupped palm, apparently not interested in your attention.
Success:
>rub ele
You cup your hands over your sand elemental and rub its soft, silky surface of sand for a moment.
Your sand elemental suddenly explodes outwards, its surface glittering with a multitude of hues as it pulsates with a radiating, fiery glow!
As the glow fades, the elemental appears to have shifted into a small sand elemental rippled with dark and brilliant gold hues!
===PUT ITEM ON===
Failure - No interest:
>put sapp on ele
You place your sapphire over the coursing, swirling sands of the elemental, attempting to spark its interest.
Your sand elemental puffs up and undulates its sandy surface with a variety of spikes, clearly not interested in the sapphire.
Failure - Refusal:
>put dia in ele
You place your diamond over the coursing, swirling sands of the elemental, attempting to spark its interest.
Your sand elemental swirls and wavers, refusing to go near the diamond.
Failure - Doesn't Notice:
>put sap on my ele
You place your sapphire over the coursing, swirling sands of the elemental, attempting to spark its interest.
Your sand elemental pokes at your finger and doesn't even seem to notice the sapphire.
Failure - Deciding Against:
>put stone on ele
You place your stone over the coursing, swirling sands of the elemental, attempting to spark its interest.
Your sand elemental ripples quietly and seems to be lunging for the stone, but then apparently decides against it.
Success:
>put tur on ele
You place your turquoise over the coursing, swirling sands of the elemental, attempting to spark its interest.
The sand elemental swirls and parts like a scarlet partition and swiftly inhales the turquoise within itself. Within moments, the spiderweb turquoise is obscured completely in the depths of the elemental.
===GET ITEM FROM===
>get tur from ele
The sand elemental parts its swirling interior, revealing a spiderweb turquoise as you reach for it.
You remove a spiderweb turquoise from in your sand elemental.
===STARE===
Put elemental to sleep:
>stare my ele
You stare at your sand elemental briefly, and it ripples and flattens out into a perfectly smooth plane, then undulates to form a mirrored version of your face, mimicking your every movement flawlessly. Its eyes close slowly, and its overall hue seems to become a bit duller and its movements more sluggish as it dissipates and reforms into an amorphous ball once more.
Roundtime: 10 secs.
Wake elemental up:
>stare my ele
You stare at your sand elemental briefly, and it ripples and flattens out into a perfectly smooth plane, then undulates to form a mirrored version of your face, mimicking your every movement flawlessly. Its closed eyes suddenly open slowly, and faint swaths of color roll across its surface as it dissolves and then reforms into an amorphous, rippling ball once more.
R oundtime: 10 secs.
===Feeding=== 
>feed ele
You extend the sapphire towards your sand elemental.
The sand elemental opens its form up into a wide funnel, its interior swirling and alighting with faint, tiny orbs of bright flame, and you drop the sapphire into the spinning cyclone, which is immediately ground up into tiny motes of sparkling dusty particles and incorporated into its being. The elemental then reforms into an amorphous, shifting orb, glittering happily with its new meal.
Feeding with learning messaging: 
You get the feeling your sand elemental has learned to morph a bit better due to your encouragement.
You get the feeling your sand elemental has learned to conjure miniature sandstorms a bit better due to your encouragement.
==Discipline== 
General Punishment Messaging: 
You pour the clear-hued liquid from your water onto the swirling surface of your sand elemental, causing it bristle and spike up irritably!
Specific Learning Messaging: 
You get the feeling your sand elemental has learned not to misbehave as much due to your discipline.
You get the feeling your sand elemental has learned not to curl up and hide as much due to your discipline.
You get the feeling your sand elemental has learned not to conjure miniature quakes in your hands as much due to your discipline.
You get the feeling your sand elemental has learned not to flay your hand as much due to your discipline.
Quaking Messaging: 
Your sand elemental suddenly explodes with waves of blurry energy, causing a very localized quake right in your hand!
You're knocked to the ground!
Flaying Messaging: 
Your sand elemental suddenly flares up with angry hues of fiery scarlets and deep blacks, its whirling sands suddenly flaying at your hand with vicious speed!
... 15 points of damage!
Feint to your head!
Quick flick at your weapon hand!
Nasty cut to right hand!
Misbehaving Messaging: 
Your sand elemental suddenly whirls and writhes in a seething vortex, bashing at you relentlessly.
Curling Up and Hiding Messaging: 
Your sand elemental suddenly leaps from your hand and scatters itself thinly in the air, then dives straight into the crystal shard that you're wearing!
==Morphing==
General Morphing Messaging:
Your sand elemental suddenly explodes outwards, its surface glittering with a multitude of hues as it pulsates with a radiating, fiery glow!
As the glow fades, the elemental appears to have shifted into a small sand elemental!
Various Morphed Looks:
a small sand elemental
a small sand elemental bleeding with uneasy waves of pale blue sand
a small sand elemental bleeding with uneasy waves of silver sand
a small sand elemental dotted with highlights of deep crimson
a small sand elemental dotted with highlights of emerald green
a small sand elemental dotted with highlights of inky black
a small sand elemental dotted with highlights of misty grey
a small sand elemental melded with sweeping feathery swirls of mottled ruby hue
a small sand elemental melded with sweeping feathery swirls of pale blue hue.
a small sand elemental mixed with radiating hues of pure white
a small sand elemental overlapped with swirls of varying fiery scarlet sand
a small sand elemental overlapped with swirls of varying pale blue sand
a small sand elemental overlapped with swirls of varying pure white sand
a small sand elemental patterned with alternating waves of dark and deep black hues
a small sand elemental patterned with alternating waves of dark and incarnadine hues
a small sand elemental patterned with alternating waves of dark and inky black hues
a small sand elemental patterned with alternating waves of dark and pure white hues
a small sand elemental rippled with dark and brilliant gold hues
a small sand elemental rippled with dark and deep black hues
a small sand elemental rippled with dark and fiery scarlet hues
a small sand elemental rippled with large emerald green arabesques
a small sand elemental rippled with large earthy brown arabesques
a small sand elemental rippled with large fiery orange arabesques
a small sand elemental shrouded in a haze of swirling silver sand
a small sand elemental shrouded in a haze of swirling cobalt blue sand
a small sand elemental swept with intertwined spirals of brilliant gold sand
a small sand elemental swept with intertwined spirals of cobalt blue sand
a small sand elemental swept with intertwined spirals of misty grey sand
a small sand elemental swept with pale yellow mingled with varied cobalt blue tones
a small sand elemental swept with pale yellow mingled with varied incarnadine tones
a small sand elemental swept with pale yellow mingled with varied misty grey tones
a small sand elemental swept with silky smooth tendrils of fiery orange sand
a small sand elemental swept with silky smooth tendrils of light tan sand
a small sand elemental swirled with streaks of silver sand
a small sand elemental whorled with circles of emerald green sand
a small sand elemental whorled with circles of incarnadine sand
==Random Actions==
Your sand elemental blazes upwards, resembling a torrent of flames crafted completely of sand.
Your sand elemental blossoms with several bright hues, shadowed by darker tones of black and red.
Your sand elemental changes its hues for a moment, alternating between brilliant crimsons, pale white and deep black in rippling waves.
Your sand elemental changes its shape rapidly, shifting from an orb to a spiked conglomeration and then back again.
Your sand elemental curls and swirls in resplendant patterns of shifting, rippling hues.
Your sand elemental expands and contracts, resembling a beating heart of sand as tiny motes of scarlet light wink into existence around its tiny particles.
Your sand elemental expands its amorphous form, resembling a swirling cloud of sand.
Your sand elemental flattens itself out into a circular disk, sending radiating patterns of alternating dark and bright hues across its surface.
Your sand elemental forms itself into a pair of ethereal wings for a moment, fluttering about before returning to normal.
Your sand elemental quietly ripples in undulating waves, its surface roiling with alternating hues of earthy crimsons and duller browns.
Your sand elemental ripples with undulating waves of crimson, reds, whites and blacks.
Your sand elemental shrinks into a tiny rippling ball, its hue a deep black for a moment.
Your sand elemental sifts about itself, curling into its own formless ripples over and over again.
Your sand elemental spirals quickly, its surface rippling with a variety of predominantly dark hues.
Your sand elemental spirals in a shifting vortex of varying hues.
Your sand elemental swirls about, its granules looking a bit dull.
Your sand elemental swirls about listlessly, its surface sheened with pale granules of jade as it undulates.
Your sand elemental turns a blazing scarlet hue, its surface rippling upwards with a series of spikes.
Your sand elemental whirls wildly in a spiraling vortex, its surface laced with tiny veins of flame.
Your sand elemental writhes about, sending creeping tendrils of dark-hued sand to slither outwards.
==Voraveil's Guide to Sand Elementals==
Since I've heard alot of questions pop up on what they happen to do and how certain things work, I figure I'd give some helpful hints to people who weren't on the original cruise that got a personalized lesson from a brooding little man. And since all I've got to do this morning is eat this lovely bowl of breakfast nachos, there's enough time to write it.
===Learning===
They're Furbies, pretty much. Learning is simplified in nature, if you punish/reward them, it'll go by the most recent action they've done. You cannot feed them 4 sapphires and uber-encourage them for doing something good, however, same goes with disciplining. It's only once per action.<
Also, disciplining them if they don't listen to you when given a command doesn't encourage them to listen to you. In terms of actually getting them to do something, rewarding them after they do it will work best.
Learning can go both ways, so if you want some horrible little bastard of a pet, you can just encourage it when it does something bad and discipline it when it does something good. When they're genned, they're smattered with a random assortment of tendencies, and just about every bad behavior is set at varying degrees of high, while good behaviors are set low and need to be encouraged quite a bit.
They will not 'forget' if you don't encourage them for a while. Also, they won't forget if you give them to a new owner.
Once you master a certain skill of the elemental, there's no chance of failure when it's asked to do it. The chance of failure naturally goes down as you progress in skill, as well. You can 'de-master' your skill by disciplining the elemental when it does said skill.
Most skills of the elemental need to be triggered by the player. It does some on its own (morphing) but otherwise they need to be coaxed into doing something. Alot of their skills can be found in their StormFront menu. Don't be discouraged if it doesn't automatically do stuff when asked, persistance is key!
One of their fun skills isn't exactly apparent in the SF menus. Try dropping a smooth stone on it. It's a tiered skill, so you'll find it does much neater things as you progress.
===Random stuff===
You'll eventually unlock more random messaging as the elemental gets more encouragement for certain things.
Loresinging gives you a basic idea of where its behavior levels are.
It can hold one tiny trinket.
If you find that it just suddenly stops messaging when you have it in your hand and 'on', you might try moving from the room you're in and turning it back on. It's set to automagically turn off in crowded merchant rooms, but it's not a catchall and sometimes it happens in normal rooms. It's not a bug, tho, so don't bother reporting it if you encounter that particular brand of wonkiness.
Thaaaat'd be all.
~ V 
Category:Guides