Never Mess with an Elemental!

It’s the tail-end of autumn and the air elementals are out in force, blowing the winter in. Walks have become hard work as we battle our way through the gale.

These coats are worse than useless in windy weather!

Air elementals – or sylphs – are spirits of the wind. The word ‘sylph’ suggests images of waif-like fairies……but this isn’t strictly accurate. Some can be sweet and gentle, conjuring summer breezes…

…while others are massive, powerful beasts capable of whipping up deadly hurricanes and devastating storm surges.

It’s possible for humans who know magic to summon elementals to do their bidding, but you’re asking for trouble if you invite them into the human world without knowing how to handle them. Sylphs are capricious creatures, as unpredictable as the wind itself and as hard to control as wild horses. If you catch them in the right mood they’ll provide hours of entertainment with their mischievous pranks, and a skilful mage can even use them to influence the weather; but God help the unseasoned adrenaline junkie who invokes an elemental for a cheap thrill. They resent being toyed with and will make their feelings known in no uncertain terms.

Don’t think for a moment that air can’t hurt you. An angry sylph will tear through your home, hurling things about and breaking them; worse still, it can blow your mind inside out, leaving chaos in its wake.

Never underestimate an elemental!

Images: Sylph, Dragon Sylph (cloud), Storm Clouds, The Scream