Chaos shard

Chaos shards were a variety of elementals that existed in the period between the Spellplague and Second Sundering, a period during which the Abyss was cast to the furthest depths of the Elemental Chaos. Chaos shards materialized at the boundary between these two planes from crystals in the Elemental Chaos being corrupted and given life by abyssal energy and influence from the shard of evil that had formed the Abyss.

Description
These elementals varied in the type of element they expressed, but all shared the trait of having crystalline bodies that floated above the ground.

Behavior
Chaos shards were semi-intelligent creatures that leaned towards a chaotic evil alignment due to the nature of the two planes they manifested from, making them quite malevolent and destructive.

Abilities
All chaos shards emitted a harmful aura of the element they expressed and could fire that element in concentrated blasts, such as rays of energy, gouts of flame, or bolts of lightning. When brought to the point of death, a chaos shard would outwardly explode a wave of their expressed elemental.

Varieties

 * Death shard: Chaos shards that expressed necrotic energy. They had the appearance of purplish crystals full of shadowy skulls.
 * Flame shard: Chaos shards that expressed elemental fire. They had the appearance of amorphous blobs of fire.
 * Prismatic shard: Chaos shards that expressed as radiant energy. They had the appearance of a large cluster of multi-hued tourmaline.
 * Storm shard: Chaos shards that expressed as thunder and lightning. They appeared as stormy whirlwinds, crackling with lightning and full of blue crystals swirling around their vortex.

History
In the late 15 century DR, Rezlus and his Banite faction of the Zhentarim counted some flame shards among their monstrous minions. A handful of them were sent alongside a pair of rockfist smashers, named Granifex and Obsidia, to assault the fortress of his rival Nezra and her Cyricist faction of Zhents in the Desertsmouth Mountains.

Habitats
In the Abyss these elementals could be found on the 1 layer, Pazunia, as it was closest to the Elemental Chaos.

Languages
Unlike other elementals, which spoke the Primordial language, chaos shards spoke Abyssal.

Relationships
Some wizards and other individuals who drew power from the Elemental Chaos would occasionally capture chaos shards for the purpose of using them as a source of power. In the Abyssal city of Morglon-Daar, there were many chaos shards enslaved to act as a power source for street lamps.

Chaos shards could sometimes be found in the company of eldritch giants, evistros, and slaads.

Rumors & Legends
Some claimed that the most powerful of chaos shards may have been splinters of the legendary shard of evil itself.