Elemental magic

Elemental magic was a form of magic that revolved around the elements.

Nature of Elemental Magic
In the Forgotten Realms people found it difficult to come to any concrete consensus as to what elemental magic was. This was partially because the practitioners of this form of magic had widely varied opinions in views, even among those who specialized in the same element. Elemental magic also resisted easy categorization because it manifested itself within all other traditions of magic. Some people would even go so far as theorize that elemental magic didn't exist its own right as a magical power because it was a product of so many other systems of magic. That being said, there were some aspects of its nature that practitioners of elemental magic could generally agree upon.

Elemental magic differed from other systems of magic in that the spells of this tradition were driven by elemental power, while other systems of magic merely employed arcane processes to access and manipulate said power.

Only elemental creatures could wield this form of magic in its purest state, who were believed to draw its power from within themselves.

Defining the Elements
Throughout much of Toril, as well as the planets of Krynn and Oerth, elemental magic was traditionally based around the four primary elements &mdash; air, earth, fire, and water. In the Torilian continent of Zakhara these elements were respectively referred to as the provinces of wind, sand, flame, and sea. In Torilian continent of Kara-Tur these four elements retained their names but were joined by a fifth, that of wood.

In addition to the four basic elements, some practitioners of elemental magic espoused the merit of studying the energy “elements” of spells. Such as acid, cold, electricity, sonic. A few even elected to include force as being among these energies.

Practice of Elemental Magic
Wizards specialized in one or all four of the classic primary elements were typically known as elementalists.

Those who specialized in only a single element typically avoided the use of spells from their opposing element, proclaiming their own to be superior to others. They also typically dressed in colors appropriate to their element.

Specialized elementalists often tended towards certain schools of magic due to the amount of spells they offered related to that element. Air elementalists tended towards conjuration, earth elementalists tended towards transmutation, and fire elementalists tended towards evocation. Water elementalists tended not to specialize in a school, but they typically favored abjuration, divination, and some forms of enchantment.

Specialized elementalists also tended to relate more strongly to certain elemental energies. Air elementalists tend to relate towards cold, earth elementalists towards acid, and water elementalists tended to favor electrical energy.

Warlocks that practiced elemental magic received their powers from a archomental patron.

History
In, the empire of Raumathar pushed back assaults from their neighbor Narfell through the use of elemental magic.

Over the centuries, scholars struggled with the cosmological problems posed by elemental magic, relegating the matter to philosophical debates. One day the Oerthian wizard known as Mordenkainen was determined to settle the dispute. He posited within a lecture to his students a radical interpretation of elemental power, proposing that it was possibly the root and foundation of all magic that existed. And that the different traditions of magic &mdash; such as arcane magic, divine magic, and primal magic &mdash; was just elemental magic segregated by different methods of wielding it. His theory was met with very mixed opinions. The members of a group he was part of, the Circle of Eight, would greatly argue about this. With one associate of his, a priest by the name of Riggby, understandably refused to believe that it could be the foundation of divine magic.

Groups

 * The devotees of the Elder Elemental Eye often possessed some of the most important lore regarding elemental magic.
 * Within the land of Zakhara there existed elemental brotherhoods, groups of elemental mages devoted to a particular elemental, with the largest being the Brotherhood of the True Flame.
 * Lords of the Tempest

Individuals

 * Antatlab of the Shaking Stones
 * Bastian Termandar
 * Brack'thal Xorlarrin
 * Guldor Melarn, a drow master of elemental magic at the school of Sorcere in 1372 DR.
 * Jhesrhi Coldcreek
 * Maarika, a frost giant shaman in the Great Glacier
 * Morbeoth

Races & Intelligent Creatures

 * In drow society, the disenfranchised and oppressed sometimes turned to elemental magic. Lolth and her priestesses regarded this as a threat to her authority.
 * All genasi felt drawn to elemental magic. For them this form of magic was less a process of study and learning, but rather an awakening of their natural abilities. Because of this, they typically specialized in the element that reflected their particular heritage.

Regions

 * The city of Qadib was home to more elemental mages than anywhere else in north Zakhara.
 * Water elementalists were quite common in the lands around the Sea of Fallen Stars.
 * The land of Halruua had a great deal of air elementalists. Some speculated that this was due to their skyships or their connection to the ancient civilization of Netheril.
 * Wizards in the land of Calimshan were generally specially in air-based elemental magic.

Trivia
In Ossa, which had a strong link to the element of water, elemental magic required a sacrifice to the opposite element proportional to the effect of the spell, for instance a bucket of water for burning hands or lighting a small forest fire to balance out a minor flood.