Elemental myrmidon

Elemental myrmidons, otherwise known as elemental archons, were a variety of elementals created by conjuring and bonding elementals into ritually created suits of armor to act as servile weapons of war.

Description
Archons were of roughly human size and shape, though they were still impressive to behold. An archon was typically composed almost entirely of a single substance, be it an element or paraelement and were essentially the elemental planes given form. All archons were covered in thick armor, typically of a plate variety, which protected them against attack and was all that would remain when they were killed.

Behavior
Being creatures that were forged for the purpose of war, the mindset of archons revolved almost entirely around conflict and conquest. They had an innate desire to wage war and no personal ambitions. However, there was no innate hostility between archons of differing elements.

Earth archons were particularly known for being good strategists and preferred a slow, steady rate of conquest. Storm archons were particularly bloodthirsty, always itching for a fight. They were known to go out of their way to cause panic and suffering.

Abilities
All archons were immune to the effects of disease and poison, as they were composed wholly of elemental essence.

History
Elemental archons were created by the primordials during the Dawn War as a response to the gods' use of angels. It was believed that the idea for them came from an outsider. Such as a djinn, an angel, or a deity that had turned traitor to his fellow gods.

In order to create the archons, the primordials studied nature in the Elemental Chaos. They then found several elemental creatures or wild elementals and split them apart into their components. Finally they reshaped them, forging the elementals into archons through intentional creation. The use of archons was initially successful, although in the end the gods prevailed. At some point, efreets managed to steal the secrets of archon creation from the primordials and from them this knowledge eventually spread across the planes.

Since the time of the Dawn War, archons have served a variety of elemental lords across the planes. However, nearly all archons have within them a burning urge to return the world to the rule of the primordials, having little other purpose in their minds.

Some time following the Spellplague, fire archons were utilized as minions by the wizard Kabal the Firesoul.

During the Elemental Evil crisis, archons were utilized by members of each of the four elemental cults responsible for the crisis: the Cult of the Black Earth, the Cult of the Crushing Wave, the Cult of the Eternal Flame, and the Cult of the Howling Hatred.

Society
Archon societies were based around warfare, being rigidly disciplined and having hierarchies based on rank. With rank determining every aspect of life in their stronghold. These ranks did not have proper titles, as archons simply knew where they and others ranked. They did not challenge authority or compete against one another for rank, each being satisfied with their station and feeling they best serve in that position.

When archons had their own settlements they were best described as fortresses or strongholds, rather than cities. These could be found all across the Elemental Chaos. They were lead by the archon who had the greatest personal power and military acumen.

Outside of combat, archons spent much of their time trying to hone their knowledge of strategy and tactics, engaging in tactical exercises, or sparring. Constantly training for the next conflict, which satisfied their innate desire to make war.

On rare occasions, archons took slaves to perform manual labor or act as practice opponents. Slaves usually died from the latter or from neglect, as the archons did not understand how fragile creatures of flesh could be.

Creation
Constructing an elemental archon required a special forge, built in a significant concentration of elemental energy. Free archons often constructed strongholds around these.

The efreets were known to create fire archons from such a forge in the Char district of the City of Brass, while some ice archons were known to create more of their own kind through a forge located in the Crater of Blue Ice.

Relationships
Many archons were known to serve the evil archomental of their respective element, including Cryonax and Yan-C-Bin. They were also known to serve efreet, storm titans, earth titans, fire titans, and even mighty archons. Titans generally amassed archons of a specific element, while efreets were known to include a wide variety in their armies.

Some ice archons were known to serve the goddess Auril and act as escorts for her winter hags.

Appearances

 * Video Games
 * Board Games
 * Tyrants of the Underdark
 * Tyrants of the Underdark