Elemental vortex

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

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. 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 Elemental 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.

No elemental vortices existed for the Positive Energy plane and Negative Energy plane. 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 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 and whirlwinds, or vortices to the Plane of Fire that manifested within the heart of a vast forest fire. Conversely, some vortices for the non-primary elemental planes occurred in more permanent structures, such as vortices to the Fountains of Creation occuring in volcanoes.

Description
Elemental vortices resembled shimmering pools or walls of their respective element, such as a pool of water rippling with deep cerulean colors.

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.

History
Genies used these passageways to travel between the courts of other genies located on the elemental planes.

Elemental vortices did not exist between directly opposing elemental planes. For instance, there was no elemental vortex between the Elemental Plane of Fire and the Elemental Plane of Water.

Notable Locations

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