Vortices (PWH)

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Vortices directly connect the Elemental Planes and the Prime Material. Planewalkers usually avoid using them for transport, however, because they tend to form in inhospitable locales directly related to the element of the plane they connect to. A deep volcano's crater might hold a vortex to the plane of Fire, while a vortex to the plane of Air might be many thousands of feet above the surface of a world. 
Most vortices lead to one of the four major Elemental Planes (Air, Earth, Fire, and Water); while not common, these are both permanent and stable. The Para- and Quasielemental Planes don't sport permanent vortices. The arctic poles of some Prime worlds occasionally beget vortices to the plane of Ice. A terrible thunderstorm on a Prime world might contain a vortex to the plane of Lightning at its heart, but it disappears when the storm passes. A vortex to the Quasielemental Plane of Radiance might be found only within a sun as it blazes within a crystal sphere. It's said that vortices to the planes of Magma and Ash sometimes overwhelm and briefly usurp vortices that normally lead to the plane of Fire, adding further danger to their use. Likewise, vortices to the Quasielemental Planes of Dust and Mineral may temporarily take over vortices deep underground that normally lead to the plane of Earth. 
VORTETX TO 	WHERE FOUND 	OCCASIONALLY USURPEED BY
Air 	Cloudy heights 	Steam
Earth 	Mountain hearts	Dust, Mineral
Fire 	Volcanoes 	Magma, Ash, Smoke
Water 	Ocean depths 	Salt, Ooze
Ice 	Arctic poles 	—
Lightning 	Storms 	—
Radiance 	Sun 	—
Vacuum 	Unknown 	Unknown
Positive Energy	Unknown 	Unknown
Negative Energy	Unknown 	Unknown
Vortices don't require keys, and they're always active. They're also extremely simple to use, once a hasher's protected from the appropriate element. A traveler enters an area of the corresponding element on the Prime Material. He moves deeper and deeper into that element (into the very heart of a volcano, for example, so that he's surrounded by fire) until all of his senses can detect only the singular element. At this point of the extreme, he moves into the appropriate Elemental Plane. 
It's almost assuredly vortices that are responsible for the appearance of creatures such as xorn, water weirds, and salamanders on the Prime Material, for all vortices work both ways. A vortex is completely indistinguishable on the elemental side, except for a slight lessening of the intensity of the environment. Though normally mildly repelled from such an area, a few elemental creatures still wander through and onto the Prime. 
Inter-elemental vortices (a variant type of vortex) work exactly as described above, but they're found on one Elemental Plane and lead directly to another Elemental Plane. These vortices don't rely on an extreme amount of elemental material, as the presence of a large quantity of foreign elements in an Elemental Plane is rare at best. Rather, they appear as more intense and volatile concentrations of elemental substances, actively drawing material from one plane into another. (To tell an inter-elemental vortex from a simple elemental pocket, look at the surrounding area. If there's a slight "whirlpool" effect, it's a vortex. If the foreign material simply floats in place, it's a stable pocket.) Usually, only one or two inter-elemental vortices exist on an entire plane. They always provide two-way access, with both sides having a concentration of the corresponding foreign element on their respective sides. 
Lastly, it's impossible (at least for a mortal being) to create any kind of vortex artificially. They occur in nature at the extreme ends of the environment. No known power can deactivate or block a vortex—spells such as surelock or gate ward have no effect.