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Air elementals are powerful, near-invisible creatures that rule the air and skies. They have a particular fondness for playing with wind chimes, hence the name.

As the second most powerful group of elementals, Chimes rule the skies and generally cannot be tamed. Their power and tempestuousness is immense. They can, however, be consulted, cajoled, tempted, and appealed to. They are not treacherous. Instead, they are playful and childlike. 

Naturally, they are extremely useful aboard sailing vessels, and the elementalists that can command them will never be short of work or coin. 

They build ‘nests’ on cliffs, between rocks, on clouds, and in the highest points of the largest ships. These spaces are strange little eddies of wind, often containing stolen objects or filled with odd, disembodied sounds and voices. 

Humans can also build nests for them out of large clay vessels called ‘whistling jars’. With a scattering of smooth holes across their surfaces, these whistling jars most closely resemble ocarinas, although much larger and not truly fit for playing music. However, the elementals make good use of them, playing through the holes and nesting in the hollow interiors.

It must be noted that most weather phenomena on Melusine is perfectly natural. Hurricanes, tempests, winds, gusts, and storms, are nothing more than mundane weather patterns, although they can be fearsome and destructive in their own right. Chimes, however, are capable of wreaking havoc. In terms of wild chimes, one alone usually isn’t something to worry about, but when they gather into groups, they tend to get particularly rowdy. As one might imagine, this can cause strong, violent winds. Older chimes, or extremely large groups of chimes present a particular danger, as there is a possibility they can brew up hurricanes and other weather disasters.

Another curious ability that these elementals possess is the ability to collect sounds. They are excellent mimics, often able to hear a voice or sound and reproduce it perfectly. The more intelligent an elemental, the more likely they are to use these collected sounds for rudimentary communication. Whether elementals of any sort are able to intelligently communicate at length is a matter of perpetual debate.

That said, the longer an elemental has a sound, the more degraded it becomes. Sounds will become eerie facsimiles of themselves and on windy nights, one might hear strange things out on the waves. However, sounds collected from supernatural beings, such as the gods, are as clear as the day they were collected.

Elementalists, priests, and people who study the elementals are often found following the flocks for the mere chance of hearing and recording words spoken in the voices of the gods themselves. This is can be a very profitable, but dangerous, endeavor. There have been tragic reports of truly ancient voices causing strange visions, madness, death; often, all three, and not always in that order. There are some things that are better left unearthed, but fortunately, there are few air elementals old enough to have such dangerous stolen voices.

And that is all for this week. Please enjoy the illustration, and I plan to  be back next week with more about the brines!

Hello, all – another week, another worldbulding update on the ocean world of Melusine. Today’s development update is about the earth elemental known colloquially as the Salt Hermits.

So named for their strong resemblance to hermit crabs, the salt hermits are one of the most common earth elementals to inhabit the ocean floor and live aboard human ships. Unlike the ember pups, the earth elementals have been able to remain wild, but even in this state, they are benign and solemn towards humans and other lifeforms and are most helpful when left alone. 

Like hermit crabs, they have crab-like legs, seemingly composed of volcanic glass, black like obsidian. As they grow in size, they need sand and fire to create a new layer to their shells. There are no discernible eyes or other sensory organs, and prominent terraturges propose that they sense the world around them seismically. 

Unlike hermit crabs, they have no shells. Instead, these creatures possess a unique affinity for the mineral salt, and grow salt crystals from their backs. The shapes of these shells range from complex spiral constructions to the typical blocky crystals, depending on the age of the hermit. 

Their ability to absorb salt makes them an indispensable part of shipboard life across all the waters of Melusine. They are one of the most reliable sources of renewable fresh water. Any well-equipped vessel on the seas, great or small, will have a small school of salt hermits living in the on-board water tanks.

When one grows too large, humans are able to shave the salt from the crystals, gathering it for food, sanitization, medicine, fire control, preservation, fertilizer, pest control, laundry, health, and plumbing. In return for this great boon, the salt hermit lives in relative comfort and safety for all of its days.

It is not known exactly how they reproduce, but it is suspected that they do so by fission. What is known is that salt hermits can grow to both tremendous age and size, functionally immortal if give enough material. The greatest example of this is known as the Salt Spire. 

Seen from afar, the oldest and largest salt hermit on Melusine looks like a spire jutting up from the ocean floor. If one watches for long enough, they will see that the spire is not a static landmark, but moves, even slowly, the massive creature traversing the ocean. Thought to be a creature from before the fall of the firmament, the entire landmass is composed of immense, ancient salt crystals. It is a common nesting ground for sea birds and other winged things, and some brave humans have taken to building settlements in the sheer cliff-sides. 

If this natural wonder wasn’t enough, the surrounding sea for hundreds of miles around the Spire is freshwater. This is not unheard of on Melusine, as great clusters of salt hermits can create patches of fresh water, but none of these are as large or as permanent as the shallows and wetlands around the Spire. 

It is an entirely different biome to the surrounding ocean, marked by a ring of dark, freshwater algae. Creatures great and small exist in the underwater caverns and in the groves of aquatic trees. The Spire is an interesting world on its own, enough for another article, which will come on another week.

I hope you all enjoyed this peek into the world of Melusine. Until next week!