Elemental

## Elementals

**Elementals** are ageless and unchanging elemental spirits who have attained raw physical form. Their spirit - made of pure elemental energies - remain at the core. On Azeroth, elementals were bound to the Elemental Plane by the titanic Keepers, which means that, when slain in the physical world, they will return to the Plane.

Killing them in the Elemental Plane seems to be the way to permanently defeat them, after which their power can be absorbed by another elemental. Although they are imprisoned in the Elemental Plane, they can be summoned to Azeroth by those who seek to use their power. The most powerful ones reign over all others, and are called the Elemental Lords. An elemental's core retains some semi-sentient properties after death

### Origins

the early days of the Great Dark Beyond's formation, shards of fractured Light were sent through the universe. Upon hitting the planets they'd encounter, they would infuse them with the spark of creation. The most common and primordial form of life to appear was the elementals, who now populate nearly every world of the Great Dark. The elementals are nourished by the Spirit energy of the planet they live on.

### Life cycle

Azeroth's elementals are extremely violent and chaotic, because as its world-soul developed, it consumed much of the Benevolent energy of the planet, which nourishes the elements. In contrast, a large abundance of Spirit energy leads to slumbering elementals. Spirit is also the force used by shaman to commune with the elements, while malevolence, its opposite, is used by dark shaman to bind the elements to their will.

It is a natural part of the elementals' life cycle that impurities are accumulated in the elemental body over time. When enough contamination has taken place, an elemental becomes unstable and in some cases volatile. A necessary part to their rebirth is pure, living essence, which can be found in the body of other elementals.

It is possible that the elementals of Azeroth have developed some sort of hierarchy, many having titles such as Baron, Lord, and Duke. Some of the most powerful offspring of the Elemental Lords are also known as Princes and Princesses.

### History

#### Primordial Azeroth

The elemental spirits of Azeroth became more and more erratic as Benevolence became less available. The slumbering world-soul consumed much of it, rendering the elements of Azeroth extremely violent, destructive and chaotic by nature.

The elementals raged freely on primordial Azeroth, waging war upon one another for endless millennia, and the four Elemental Lords reigned supreme over innumerable lesser spirits. Al'Akir used to send his minions to spy on his enemies and sow distrust to weaken them. Ragnaros embraced brute force, seeking to boil the seas, reduce mountains to slag, and choke the skies with ash. Therazane was reclusive, entrenching herself behind towering mountain ranges before attacking her exhausted foes. Neptulon fought strategically, allowing the forces of the other elements to clash, before crushing his divided rivals.

When the Old Gods plummeted down from the Great Dark Beyond, they slammed into Azeroth's surface and embedded themselves in the continent of Kalimdor. For the first time in history, the four Elemental Lords banded together in an attempt to fight the Old Gods' fledgling empire. Though the elementals were mighty, they could not stand against the constant swarm of n'raqi and aqir, and they were enslaved by the Old Gods. Without the native spirits of Azeroth to counter the Old Gods' influence, the borders of the Black Empire crept over much of the world.

The titan-forged armies of the Almighty Pantheon would eventually come to assault the Old Gods, defeat them and sealing them deep beneath the surface of the planet, after having imprisoned the elemental armies in the Elemental Plane, divided into four regions: the Abyssal Maw, the Firelands, Deepholm, and Skywall.

#### Elemental Sundering

Even while locked within the Elemental Plane, the Elemental Lords continued to war with each other. The Elemental Sundering was a 5,000 year-long battle at the core of Azeroth. The Lieutenants of Ragnaros, Geddon and Garr, perpetrated the betrayal against Thunderaan, Prince of Air, who was caught unaware. The Firelord's advances were wholly unknown to Thunderaan, and before he could react, Sulfuras, the legendary hammer of Ragnaros, struck an unmerciful blow, and Thunderaan fell, utterly defeated.

The Firelord feasted upon the essence of Thunderaan but was unable to consume him entirely. He stored what little remained of Thunderaan's essence within a talisman of elemental binding. Ragnaros then shattered the talisman in two flawless pieces, called the Bindings of the Windseeker, and assigned them to his lieutenants.

#### War of the Three Hammers

During the War of the Three Hammers, -230, Ragnaros the Firelord was summoned to the Redridge Mountains by the Sorcerer-Thane Thaurissan. It was his intent to use the Firelord for domination of the other dwarf clans. Ironically, however, Ragnaros enslaved them for his own purposes. His violent entry into the world scarred the surrounding area, creating Blackrock Mountain, the Burning Steppes, and the Searing Gorge.

#### War of Blackrock

In Blackrock Mountain, Ragnaros and his fire elemental armies were locked in a war for control of Blackrock Mountain with the black dragon Nefarian.

Neptulon, then at war with Ragnaros, seemed to use mostly mortal races to weaken the forces of the other three Elemental Lords. His agent, Duke Hydraxis, leader of the Hydraxian Waterlords, sought to bring others to his side. He sent adventurers into the Molten Core to fight against the Firelord. Another agent, Tsunaman at Sun Rock Retreat, also sought to destroy Ragnaros's elementals in the Charred Vale.