Arright, since I failed to do...Anything...In the last topic about Elementals, I think I'[ll just do this one. While it will focus on the Divine Elementals, I'll also explain a bit about how Elemental Magic works in general.
Alright, Elemental magic is created somewhat similarly to a Sage, in that its created by a part of their bodies. Well, thats not entirely accurate. Unlike a Sage, which converts magic through a singular organ in their bodies, every single cell in a Elemental's body converts magic. Due to this, Elementals radiate excess pure magic even when they aren't doing anything, and their bodies hold magic very well. Because of how rapidly they produce magic, and how much they give off naturally, their own spells are often many times greater than some other species' magic at the same point of life. However, they are extremely used to magic being around them; due to this, AM fields can produce a feeling of discomfort, even nausea, though nonfatal, and due to their aforementioned ability to produce magic, they can be back up to par within seconds of exiting a AM field. Because of this rapid production of magic, Elementals live extremely long natural lives, and age very slowly. There is, of course, a downside to this, however-Elemental Magic is specialized. A Fire Elemental, for example, is awesome with Fire Magics, such as fireballs or explosions. However, it would take a significant amount of their power to so much as levitate water or make a breeze. There are certain things that are equally controlled by certain kinds of Elementals, though-Mud can be controlled by both Water and Earth Elementals, Magma by Earth and Fire, Lightning by Fire and Wind, ect, due to the properties of them. There is no 'shared' ability with Divine, however, though they do have their own loophole. More on that later, though!
The reason for their specialization is due to the habitats they evolved in, and this is manifested partially in their DNA, and partially in their spirits. All Elementals share a spiritual structure, unique to each Elemental Species, while their DNA allows them to produce cells that respond to this spiritual structure. There are, of course, variations between individual spirits, but these have no affect on their general magic. On the astral plane, these structures are actually visible upon the Elemental Spirit as a form of crystal fused into their spirit-flesh-whatever, each different Element taking a different design(and no, simply morphing your spirit to mimic these designs wont make your spirit Elemental. Its more than just astral-physical-whatevermabob). Possession of a Elemental's body, therefor, will not give you the Elemental's power, as their cells will not react with your spirit. This also means that a deceased Elemental that, for whatever reason, is still on the mortal plain, cannot possess a different Elemental to get control of a different form of magic; while they would have the body of a different form of Elemental, their magic would still be that of their spirit(the reason all Elementals cells work this way toward any Elemental spirit is because they evolved from the same root organism). Another thing along the same vein is how Elemental DNA cannot naturally hybrid. While Elementals are compatible with most forms of sentient humanoid life, their DNA will not mesh with the other parents enough to form a hybrid. Traits may be inherited(such as, say, a Elemental Dark mating with a Elemental Fire and giving birth to a Dark child, the child may have red hair like a Elemental Fire), but the result will always be one or the other, at about a 50-50 chance for the child to be either the species of the father or the mother(this has no affect on gender, mind, so there would be a roughly 25% chance for the child to be a female of the father's species, 25% for the child to be a male of the father's, 25% female for mother's, 25% male for mothers if it were any kind of Elemental mating with any humanoid not the same kind of Elemental). As well, attempting to create a artificial Elemental hybrid, for unknown reasons, WILL result in the magical levels being poor at best. Elementals simply do not hybrid.
Now that this has been explained, I'll explain Divine Magic. While all Elemental Magic relies on the Spirit to guide their ability to use Magic, Divine Magic actually requires the spirit for more than that-While they are capable of actually summoning angelic or demonic entities to fight for them(whether or not the being actually does depends on the strength of the Elemental), more often than not, their Magic takes a aspect of their own spirit and manifests it directly. Lets say a Divine manifests their Anger(this is a bit of a poor example, because there's several different kinds of anger, but anyways...), their magic would flow through their Spirit, find their Anger, and literally manifest it from their shadows. This would, considering the source material, probably manifest as a demonic bull-like entity, red in coloration, and largely muscular. The Divine can manifest what they know as Angels and Demons(again, they can also manifest literal Angels and Demons but this is much more rare)-Angels are a singular aspect manifested(such as the earlier example of Anger) or many similar aspects at once(such as Anger, Fury, and Revenge), which are often more benign and easier to control, but not always as strong. Demons, on the other hand, are always multiple aspects of their spirits which conflict each other-these are stronger summons, but are much, much harder to control(a example of a demon would be a well-known Divine Summon, the Demon Dragon Eclipse, which manifests both their desire to live but also their subconscious desire to die). A Demon, if not controlled, is much more likely to act upon the aspects used to summon it than what the Elemental actually wants them to do. Lets say a Divine summons a Demon, combining their aspects of sadness and anger-While not exactly opposites, these two aspects are obviously not similar, and if the Elemental were be unable to control it, it might wallow in despair, and lash out at anyone that tries to disturb it, for example. It should be noted that these summons aren't necessarily emotions, but also ideals of the Elemental, personality traits, sometimes they can even manifest small ideas. These manifestations do think for themselves, but are a part of the Elemental that summoned them(with a rare exception that I'll explain in a bit).
Once summoned, these creatures(again, with a few exceptions) are forever a part of the Elemental, capable of being mentally called upon without needing to summon them physically. This is because those summoned aspects are imprinted upon the spirit-structure of the elemental, basically to allow for a quick-summoning of them. While there are a few known 'species' of Angels and Demons, these individuals would still be dependent, personality-wise, upon the Divine that summoned them. When asked what its like to not be in use, the Summons seem to describe a 'other world', which unknown to them or the Divine is simply that Divine's own 'inner world', something of a manifestation of their mindscape. And, of course, all of this only applies to the summons that are aspects of that Elementals own spirit, not literal Angels/Demons. There are a few summons, though, that are aspects of the Divine's Spirit, but not unique to that Divine, such as the aforementioned Eclipse. Eclipse, like a few other summons the Divine consider legendary, are actually a manifestation of aspects of the collective spirits of the Divine species. Eclipse is not just the manifestation of that divine's own desire to live, and their subconscious desire to die, it is the manifestation of ALL Divine's desire to live/die. These summons are, however, influenced by those aspects of that individual's own spirit used to summon that Angel/Demon. If a Divine capable of controlling Eclipse had a especially strong desire to live, Eclipse's own power would skyrocket because of this. Technically, the same is true for any Divine Summons, the way-up-there aforementioned example of Anger being used to summon something, that bull-monster would be strongest when the Divine in question is angry themselves. Its simply more true with these specific summons which are made up of those aspects from all Divine.
A bit of a note, the Divine Elemental dont actually know that they aren't summoning actual Angels and Demons. This is due to the creation process of these entities by the Divine, known by them as the Contracting Ritual. According to divine beliefs, Angels and Demons are incapable of sustaining themselves in this world without a vessel to summon them. This process binds the two entities together, their wills, their goals, such as that, and they DO realize that this ritual imprints the summoned entity onto their spirit; this, according to them, is because through the ritual, the entity has become a part of their summoner. In a sense, the Divine KIND OF get it, but not entirely. It should also be noted that the ritual does take time, and cannot be performed on the battlefield due to how long it takes. The summons which are a part of all Divine(like Eclipse) do not need a contracting ritual, and can be summoned by anyone, though it is not considering safe to do so, because these are extremely hard to control, even the Angels. A Contracting Ritual CAN be performed with them if the individual is capable of controlling them, which increases their abilities when summoned by that individual and allows them to mentally communicate with the entity, but only the strongest Divine are capable of such.
And now, lastly(at least, until I can think of anything new), is that loophole I mentioned waaaaaaay earlier-While Divine do not share any ability to control something with any other Elemental species explicitly, there is a way for them to be capable of utilizing a different form of magic than their normal summoning magic...Buuuut, not all Divine are capable of this. Only a Divine Elemental who has a non-Divine parent can do this. This is because when a Elemental mates with another being that is not the same species as they are, if the child is still Elemental(of course, this still works if both parents are Elementals but not the same kind), the spiritual structure will retain traces of the other species' spirit. In other words, their spirit will be dominantly of the same species that they were born as, but there are still traces of the other species they could've been within their spirit's crystal structure thingy. This is not a genetic factor as you might think; these traces are specific to the individual, and will not pass onto that Divine's children. If the child is a Divine, they will, of course, have these traces within their spirit structure. Because these are directly within and a part of the spirit structure, however, the more the Divine uses their magic, the more these traces are affected. As time goes on, they will unintentionally summon a entity made of this aspect called, by the Elemental, a 'Mana Spirit'. Mana Spirits that aren't contracted are usually benign, and simply wander around until the magic sustaining them wears away, but over time, they will subconsciously influence the Divine to move towards a specific mountain of their continent, or the closest heavily spiritual location to them. Once in this place, the Divine's magic will be used by the Mana Spirit(remember, Divine summons do have minds of their own, they aren't simple constructs) in order to forcibly summon it, where the Spirit will lure the Divine further into the place. Once in a suitable location, the Mana Spirit will challenge the Divine to a battle-If the Divine wins, they'll be able to Contract with the Mana Spirit, if the Spirit wins, they'll siphon the magic from the Divine, and eventually the Spirit, in order to create a permanent body. Mana Spirits usually look small and unintimidating, but its almost suicide to underestimate them; they are very powerful, and have the same specializations as the other Divine's Parent's species(so if a Divine had, say, a Water parent, the Water Mana Spirit would have the same magical specializations as a Water Elemental, meaning they'd be able to use powerful Water Magic. If the parent was of a nonmagical species, like, say, a normal human or something(not a good example, no, but its the only species on Shattered I can think of without magic right now that they could mate with), the Mana Spirit would replicate those such abilities through magic for until they're contracted, or they defeat thee Divine and gain a actual body, through which they'd probably be capable of using those true abilities).
It should be noted that its not malice that drives this desire, but Mana Spirits aren't like normal Divine summons; before a Divine can control a Mana Spirit, they have to first defeat it, whereas normal summons are controllable through the level of power the Divine has. If the Divine isn't able to defeat the Mana Spirit, its only means of being able to live is to steal the magic and Spirit of the Divine, which it can ONLY do to the Divine which summoned it. This is because when it steals that Divine's spirit, the Spirit is altered to a degree-The trace of the other species' spirit is replaced by the Divine's own personality, memories, ect. while the consciousness of the Mana Spirit assumes the identity of the Spirit. Basically, they can only do this to the Divine that summoned them because they already share the same Spirit. The body created by a Mana Spirit is purely astral, not physical, and converts magic like a Elemental does, just instead of with every cell its with every part of the Spirit(if the admins that read this want me to request Mana Spirits as a separate species, just ask, though Im pretty much explaining everything about them here). If the Divine succeeds in defeating the Mana Spirit, they'll be able to perform the Contracting Ritual with the Mana Spirit, which will allow them to summon it at will like any other summon they have(the only difference is a Mana Spirit will NEVER become uncontrollable again if the Divine, for whatever reason, becomes weaker magically, while other summons will become harder to control the weaker the Divine becomes. Unlike other summons, however, a Mana Spirit's power is entirely dependent on the power of the Divine's, since their aspect is pretty much static and wont change). Mana Spirits do not necessarily look like the other parent's species, however their form is very much influenced by the abilities of the parent species, though its wildly varied; a Earth Mana Spirit might look like they're made of rock, for instance, whereas a Wind Mana Spirit may look like a normal human wearing clothes that have a air motif.
A Divine Elemental of extreme power can perform a form of combat ritual known as Spirit Bleeding. Its ordinarily useless except symbolically, however Divine with Mana Spirits have noticed that this art has a affect upon their power. Spirit Bleeding isn't what you'd assume, its not the practice of bleeding a person's spirit away to destroy it. Rather, it is a art used to temporarily bleed traits of another's Spirit into your own(bleeding, in this case, refers more to how, for example, mixing darks and lights in the washer causes the colors to bleed into the lights). For the process to work, both parties must be mutual allies, or their spirits will reject each other's traits-Therefor, its impossible to 'bleed' traits from a enemy. Because of the way it works, the Divine that receives these traits would not get any magic within the other's spirit, nor would they be able to manifest it. However, in a Divine with a Mana Spirit, these traits mix with and temporarily overwrite the traces of the other special spirit, allowing for the Mana Spirit to temporarily use the magic of the person those were bled from. Nothing specific to the person, of course(such as Hikaru's Revelation Magic, I think, Im unsure now that it seems to be genetic-ish), but general magics they're good at could be used. At the same time that this ritual is used, certain traits of the Divine's Spirit are also temporarily bled into that of the ally. This is why it was originally meant as a symbolic spell, because the simple fact that it worked showed that the two understood each other. It wasn't intended to be able to cause a change in the abilities of a Mana Spirit. It should be noted that a Mana Spirit loses its normal abilities for the time that this ritual is in affect, adopting the 'Bled' traits instead, and these cannot be made to wear off prematurely. So if the Mana Spirit isn't able to use those other abilities effectively(due to lack of experience with them), they have to wait until it wears off on its own. It should be noted that while Spirit Bleeding technically could be used by non-Elemental species, its still only use is symbolic. No other species gets use of magic that might be Bled from the other's spirit or the like or vice versa.
Aaaaaaand here's some other stuff I may have forgot about earlier, remembered later on, and couldn't find a place for in the rest of the explanation-
-The summons can only be 'killed' by killing the Divine Elemental. this isn't to say you cant take them off the battlefield. Doing enough damage to them(such as stabbing them deeply enough, decapitation, blarg) will forcefully de-summon them, which the Divine will have to rest and recover for at least a day before the summon will be ready to be summoned again. But aside from killing the Divine, there isn't a permanent way to kill them. Technically, even that wont entirely work, because the summons will still remain a part of the Divine's spirit after death, so to kill them off you'd effectively have to destroy the Divine's spirit.
-Mana Spirits that have defeated, and stolen the magic and spirit of, the Divine that made them cannot be Contracted by any other Divine, because they're already 'whole'. They would also have no interest in attacking another Divine for their spirit and magic 'cause they cant steal them. Mana Spirits can only be contracted by the Divine that made them, and once they're gone, the Spirit has nothing holding them back from whatever it may be that they might want to do.
-Mana Spirits that have defeated(and blah blah blah) can use Divine magic to use the summons of the Divine they were spawned from, and even the Divine themselves, to fight for them. However, they are notoriously horrible at controlling those summons(due to the incompatibility, and more often than not the summons dont like the Spirit anyways), and are incapable of Contracting new Summons. They can, however, control the former Divine quite easily.
And...I think thats it...If anyone actually reads through all that and has any questions, feel free to ask.
And if you DID read through all that and want a Elemental(of any kind, not just Divine), Elementals are open for requests as long as you ask me first via PM, the Chat, whatever. I'll probably want to know something or other about them and their history before giving my approval for it, but thats probably all.
