A water elemental in natural form swims near the ocean floor. Image copyrighted ©2013 by Eposic. All Rights Reserved. Rendered using DAZ Studio 4.6 Pro. No postwork. Click on the image for a larger version.
It’s been a while since my last blog post. I was sick for about three weeks, but I’ve also been so focused on my debut fantasy novel, I’ve let this blog slide. And slide. And slide. Three months. Ugh. At least I’ve finished my third draft and the fourth rewrite of the ending. Next up are the edits needed throughout the novel that I made notes about while rewriting the ending. Then I’ll make a few editing passes through the whole thing. Once I’m satisfied with my edits, I’ll be looking for beta readers.
But this post is not meant to be about my novel….
In this installment of Khayd’haik the Troll Mystic’s series on elementals, he discusses how elementals can interact with water and liquids.
Check out the introductory installment on elementals if you missed it or any previous installments.
Interactions with Water and Liquids
All elementals can swim in hot, warm, or cool liquid surroundings.
Water elementals naturally swim fast in water, regardless of the temperature of the water, as long as the water is in liquid form. They swim slightly slower in other types of liquids. The thicker the liquid, the slower the water elemental can swim through it. They cannot survive on an extended basis in very hot liquids thicker than water. For instance, a water elemental could survive indefinitely in a hot springs but not in a lava flow.
Stone elementals cannot swim fast, and have difficulty rising to the surface, tending to sink gradually deeper until they reach the bottom. They will not survive on an extended basis in liquids of any temperature.
Flame elementals can swim faster than stone elementals but slower than water elementals. They can swim in any direction without problem. Flame elementals cannot survive in cool or warm liquid environments on an extended basis, but can take up residence in an extremely hot liquid environment, such as scalding hot springs or pools of molten lava.
Wind elementals can swim in any type of liquid, about the same speed as a flame elemental. The thinner the liquid, the faster the wind elemental can travel through it. For any given liquid, a wind elemental can generally swim faster in it if the liquid is hot rather than warm, and warm is better than cool. Wind elementals cannot survive on an extended basis in any liquid.
Shadow elementals can swim nearly as fast as water elementals in any type of liquid, whether clear, murky, or opaque, hot, warm, or cool. They can live on a permanent basis in any body of liquid that is not brilliantly lit. They have been known to reside in a system of streams and lakes, constantly on the move to avoid the sun’s rays.
In the next installment, Khayd’haik discusses how the different types of elementals interact with air, gases, and empty space.
To look at these posts from a fantasy fiction writing perspective, consider that elementals are an intrinsic part of the world of my fantasy novel, and this series of posts is descriptive of how elementals behave in that world. There’s precious little detail about elementals in the novel, because in this particular novel they have little impact on the plot. I plan to write more novels based in the same world, and I’ll use the material on this blog to maintain consistency across all such novels.
I figure this blog is as good a place as any to save these details, and if anyone else finds them interesting, that’s an added bonus.
Cool. You made that picture? You DO love computer stuff 😉
So, do I get to sign up to be a beta? Am I too late, beings that this was written in August. Ahem.
I can still be a beta. Just saying.
Katie, I would love for you to beta read for me. I am just now at that point, so your timing is perfect! I have your email address, so I will send you an email about the details. Thanks so much for the comment here.
Yeah, I did make that picture, with the help of the free DAZ 3D software and some models I bought from their site. Basically, you buy the models you want, run the software, create a scene, load the models into the scene, pose the models in the scene, add textures and shaders that you also buy, add backgrounds that you buy, add lighting, add and point cameras, and then render the scene into a 2D image. Then you can take that 2D image into a paint program, such as PhotoShop, and do more stuff to it until it looks like you want.
There are a ton of FREE tutorials you can take to learn this stuff…and numerous not-free ones too. It’s a ton of fun, and though it might sound like a lot of steps above, you just take them one at a time, like any other journey. You really should try it yourself. Just go to http://www.daz3d.com/ and scroll down the page. You’ll see the link there to download the free software and below that you’ll see the link to some free tutorials. You will get some free models with the free software.
You can also find other sites that offer models, textures, shaders, backgrounds, poses, etc., including free ones. The background in the image above is from an inexpensive package I purchased from DAZ, but you can use public domain images or images you’ve licensed from other image repositories. Or you can make backgrounds yourself.
And, yes, I DO love computer stuff. 🙂