Elemental vortex

Elemental vortices were permanent two-way pathways that existed between the elemental planes or an elemental plane and the Prime Material Plane.

Description
Elemental vortices resembled shimmering pools or walls of their respective element, such as a pool of water rippling with deep cerulean colors. Those to the Elemental Plane of Water could be flattened disks of moving water, resembling a whirlpool. And much like an actual whirlpool, they often carried the danger of pulling nearby creatures into them.

Vortices to the Elemental Plane of Air tended to drift a lot, being blown back and forth in the wind, which made them difficult to use. Vortices to the Elemental Plane of Earth also tended to move around a lot, always in conjunction with earthquakes.

Vortices within the Elemental Plane of Fire often took the form of a column of fire or a huge free-standing fireball.

Nature of Elemental Vortices
All vortices had a mild repellent effect on elemental creatures, though a few still managed to make their way through them.

It was impossible for mortals to artificially create elemental vortices. There was also no known means of blocking them or closing them, with even the spells gate ward and surelock having no effect.

Primary Elements
On the Prime Material plane these vortices were only found at the heart of great concentrations of their particular element. For example, elemental vortices to the Plane of Fire and Plane of Water could sometimes be found within volcanos and the deep ocean respectively. Vortices to the Plane of Water could also occur in deep underground lakes or as free-standing maelstroms in the ocean.

Elemental vortices to the Elemental Plane of Earth only occurred among large concentrations of natural stone, such as the heart of a mountain or most commonly underground or deep within the Underdark, typically in areas prone to earthquakes.

Vortices to the Plane of Air could sometimes be found within the highest and windiest mountaintops. They could also be found high up in the atmosphere &mdash; these were known as floating vortices.

Some vortices to the planes of primary elements could also be temporary, such as the whirling vortices to the Plane of Air that manifested within the hearts of tornadoes, whirlwinds, and typhoons. Or vortices to the Plane of Fire that manifested within the heart of a vast forest fire.

Para and Quasi Vortices
No elemental vortices existed for the Positive Energy plane, the Negative Energy plane, and the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Vacuum. There were believed to be vortices to the various para-elemental and quasi-elemental planes, though unlike vortices to the four primary elements these were believed to only be temporary. For example, a raging thunderstorm might have an elemental vortex to the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Lightning at its center.

Some vortices for the non-primary elemental planes occurred in more permanent structures, such as vortices to the Fountains of Creation occurring in volcanoes. A vortex to the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Radiance might be found within a crystal sphere's sun. And a vortex to the Frostfell might be found in a world's arctic poles.

Occasionally vortices to the Quasi-Elemental Planes would overwhelm and usurp portals to the primary elemental planes. Magma and Ash vortices in the cases of vortices Plane of Fire. Dust and Minerals in the case of underground vortices to the Plane of Earth. Salt and Ooze vortices in the case of vortices to the Plane of Water. And finally, vortices to the Plane of Steam sometimes usurped vortices to the Plane of Air.

Inner-Elemental Vortices
A type of elemental vortex that occurred on elemental planes and lead to others, except for directly opposing elemental planes. For instance, there was no elemental vortex between the Plane of Fire and the Plane of Water. Unlike the vortices that manifested on the Prime Material plane, these didn't rely on an extreme amount of their associated element. And typically only one or two of these existed per elemental plane.

Inter-elemental vortices had a similar appearance to elemental pockets, being intense and volatile concentrations of elemental substances that actively drew material from one plane into another, albeit with a slight "whirlpool" effect. The substance on one side always corresponded to the foreign element on their respective side.

History
Following the Spellplague, many magma beasts made their way through elemental vortices and planar rifts into volcanic regions that were on Toril and within its Underdark, such as Mount Hotenow.

Notable Users

 * Dao were known to use underground vortices connected to the Plane of Earth to travel into the Underdark and do business with the races therein.
 * All types of genie used these inner-elemental vortices to travel between the courts of other genies located on the elemental planes.
 * Salamanders sometimes used elemental vortices to launch slavetaking raids on the Prime Material.

Notable Locations

 * Pale River
 * Iron Crucible
 * Bubble Net/Waterspout
 * Jabal Turab

Rumors & Legends
It was theorized that if an elemental vortex to the Positive Energy plane occurred it would result in a massive surge of such energy, much like a star. While if an elemental vortex to the Negative Energy plane occurred, it was theorized that it would suck in all surrounding substances.