What would an Elemental Prison look like?

[Strolen]

What was created by the mages left those that gazed upon it in awe. A huge, dark red ring, almost black, with faint swirls of blue, brown, and white running all through it was found floating amid the rolling hills. The ring's center is a mirrored, cloudy reflection that hurts the eyes to gaze upon. Under the ring was found a large expanse of multicolored sand. This patch of sand is simply called The Sands of the Elements. For each element there is a color sand--Red, for fire, Blue, for water, Brown, for earth, and White, for air.

Some speculate that the elementals were pulled through the ring and entrapped. Other protest and say the ring transformed the elementals into the sand. No person really knows what the ring or sand actually are, whether the ring is a portal to another plane of existence or if the sand itself is a prison, still holding the entrapped elementals now. Scholars and commoners of all walks of life, from all over, journeyed to the ring to gaze upon it?s greatness.

And so was the second attempt. The first attempt was just a wall with swirling colors representing the elementals. But at some point I decided I didn't like the wall (although it was a wall for 8 years since I thought of it in the first place). Now, I know I don't like the circle but find it difficult to go back to the wall.

The entire purpose of it, in a nutshell, was to trap the evil elementals that have been plaguing all of Aros. The elementals were created on accident and slowly grew in power. Then they decided they wanted to rule Aros and started a war with the Gods. The beings of Aros were being torn up by the war so they finally decided to get into it. So they developed a spell to create a prison for the elementals to trap them and save Aros from certain destruction.

So the spell was cast and a prison was made.

The thing I need help with....

What would be a cool prison type thing for the elementals?

The only requirement is that it does have to have a physical form and it must be surrounded by patches of the sands that form the magic of the world.

[gottgen]

A towering, four-sided monolyth or pyramid...covered in eldritch runes of binding.

Each side is a different color; and at the bottom, sands of different color form in piles where the sides are eroded by weather...or maybe you have to shave off your own dust from the walls?

[Siren no Orakio]

You're imprisoning embodiments of the primal forces of reality. Personally, I would feel something nearly equally primal would be needed. To oppose all four of the cardinal elements, let us turn to the intercardinal elements, the combination of the ideas into something new.

From Fire and Earth, mortal man smelts the power of metal, at once the bite of the sword and the bulwark of the shield.
From Earth and Water, Nature works her leafy miracles, from the lowly shrub to the great redwood, the power to grow and thrive. Mortal man names this power Wood.
From Water and Wind, the spirits of the past and present bring forth the power of the Mist, the concealing veil between places, the power that clouds, confuses, and chokes.
From Wind and Fire, the Gods forge their wrath, the electric flame of the skies that man names Lightning.

We begin, then, by forging mortal man's contribution to the prison. In every shape save one, there are weaknesses, corners and edges to pry and defeat. That shape is the sphere. The sphere is significant in size, a great, open cage, free of weldings and seams, that hovers majestically above the ground.

Nature, then makes her contribution, lacing the gaps of the cage with the ageless resilience of the most ancient forests, great, leafy vines interwoven with the struts of the metallic sphere, taking support and strength from the metal, nourshed by, and in turn, nourishing the third component of the sphere.

The dead fill the gaps that the living cannot, with blinding, haunting mists that echo of sorrow and sadness, though at the same time, it nourshes the great vines and carries the final component of the sphere.

Finally, the gods have given their blessing to the scheme, enthreadind the sphere with thundrous, crackling lightning. It courses widly through the mists and framework, eternally reforging, strengthening the struts.

Far more than a mere prison, there is an insidious quality to this great enchantment: It draws and feeds upon not the wills of the casters, but rather, upon its prisoners themselves. At once both ambrosia and anathema, the elementals cannot help but attempt to merge with, to 'purify' the combined elements of the sphere, yet always they find that they are the ones consumed, integrated into the combinatorial magics. Far, far more power is consumed than is needed, and over time, this power is crystallized by the forces within the prison, let fall to the wind and weather: The sands of Aros. It was the hope of the magi that this sand would return to nature, distributing its life and power again to the barren world, free of the malevolant intelligence it once possessed...

[Siren no Orakio]

^^^^^
Okay, on second thought, that's, uhm, overboard, and has setting integration issues. But I still had fun writing it.

Against the background of the sky, one can faintly see four objects, floating high above. Each is a different geometric shape, representative of the four elements.

Each is created from one of the four precious metals, and deeply graven with the symbols of one of the four elements, as well as ritual runes of binding and constraint: Gold for Fire, Silver for Water, Platnium for Wind, Iridium for Earth.  

The four all orbit about a common center point, a dark, hissing point, painful for the mind and eye to look upon. From their orbit against the sky, they are scraped across the wall of reality itself,  slowly wearing down, raining their sand upon the world below...

[Kassil]

Somewhere, far out in the Great Wastes, a sphere floats above a sandy patch. It was forged through great and terrible magics to contains the Elementals; the prison is made of the essence of Nothing, the great Void beyond the worlds. It can't really be seen - a blind spot that the eye slips over, as the mind can't grasp the concept of seeing Nothing made into Something.

The Elementals, of course, struggle for freedom within the Sphere - only when they touch that which Is Not, their essence is drained off, and rains down from the sphere's edge as a fine sand, which blows back out to rejoin the world...

[Magus]

My idea is taken straight from seikendensetsu III, so im sorry, but you probably have never heard of that game anyway, mabey strolen has, because it only came out in japanese.

A crystalline structure that houses the elementals whithin itself. (i think this may also be from ff4) This is a unorigional, simple, but great idea.

[CaptainPenguin]

Not really that great, Mags, though my idea isn't that original either.

I like the ring, myself, but if you must change it...

A massive tree, larger than a skyscraper, rearing into the sky like a mountain of vegetation. Its own branches and roots have jungles growing on them. Strange fruit and berrys grow on many of the plants and on the tree itself, and these glow with elemental principles. When they drop off of the tree, they become the elemental sand.

How's that?

[MoonHunter]

Most of the eldritch forces containing them would be non-perceptiable.  Might I suggest something boring appearing.

The prison does not appear to be a prison.  From a good distance the only thing that can be seen in the stone halo floating in the sky (several stories up).  The Stone Halo is intricately carved, and gilded with some metal.  When you approach the halo, you begin to see an occasional sparkle between the halo and the ground.  

As you approach the halo, you see a wide stone foundation beneith it.  If not a foundation, perhaps a large stone dance floor for some unknown festival. On the foundation, you see an enscribed circle the same size as the floating halo.  As you approach closer, you see more and more faint fairy sparkles.  

When you reach the foundation, you see many glyphs and warnings, in many languages, both elder and modern.  The message varries per the language, but the gist is always "Danger. Do not Stand on the Platform or you will die. "

If you ignore these warnings and step on the foundation, you will be covered in fairy sparkle lights.  There will be a tingling sensation that is not all that pleasant.  No magical form of motion will work in this area, so no teleport, recall spells, flight or jump spells.  

If you keep going and cross the enscribed circle, the world changes.

Your friends watching you will just see you wink out of existance.  

For you the intrepid adventurer, it becomes dark and cold.  The space is filled with fire, earth, water, and air elementals in constant conflict.  You are now in the middle.  If you survive six or seven attacks you might be able to walk out of the circle, but probably not.  

If you make it, as no magical means of motion will work, you just reappear on the foundation.  

You see, you can go visit them, but you can not free them without dying. You see the elementals are each others keepers.  When only one elemental is left, the cage will open. So the immortal and unkillable things constantly fight each other in an attempt to be "The One".

[Luke Lavin]

Elementals size veries right?

Well they could be small item not much larger than a palm pilot but anyways they all could be buried in the sand.


A glass sphere contains wind.  

An orb of jelly contains fire.

A chunk of ice hold water.

A metal sphere contains earth.

[Strolen]

Wish I got here earlier, don't have time to do itemized comments but all the ideas...well, most of the, really gave some unique perspective and inspiration.

Now, between the pyramid, globe, and a stone halo, or other.

I must admit that my original concept had the sand created at the same time of the prison so the thoughts about the prison structure itself erroding and dropping the sand never crossed my mind. This idea, however, fits even better in my idea of the world and the historical perspective since its creation. So I think I must use the idea of the wall creating the sand over time.

The other things that sparked my mind were that each element may have their own prisons, seperate, but close. I think I need to define the interaction between the different elements and how they interact magically and historically during the war. Might be a natural thing for them to be divided in prison or might be more natural for them together. Makes me think deeper then I have previously so I appreciate that perspective as well.

Far more than a mere prison, there is an insidious quality to this great enchantment: It draws and feeds upon not the wills of the casters, but rather, upon its prisoners themselves. At once both ambrosia and anathema, the elementals cannot help but attempt to merge with, to 'purify' the combined elements of the sphere, yet always they find that they are the ones consumed, integrated into the combinatorial magics. Far, far more power is consumed than is needed, and over time, this power is crystallized by the forces within the prison, let fall to the wind and weather: The sands of Aros. It was the hope of the magi that this sand would return to nature, distributing its life and power again to the barren world, free of the malevolant intelligence it once possessed...

Combined with

The Elementals, of course, struggle for freedom within the Sphere - only when they touch that which Is Not, their essence is drained off, and rains down from the sphere's edge as a fine sand, which blows back out to rejoin the world...

WOW. I must meditate. These will be used somehow.

The tree idea gives me ideas for the Scions of Piety in my Rangerwood and Seeker part of the world. May not use it for the actual prison, but it is an interesting idea to expand on.

And then Moonhunter had to have the thought for the ability to travel into the elemental prison. Man....this could be such a incredible change to the entire nature of Aros. This would give the 'evil' elemental worshippers direct contact with there imprisoned masters. I would have to rethink "The Horde" and how they react to mages...although already I think they are even more justified.

Awesome group of ideas that are helping me better define the world. Am currently moving otherwise I would spend more time but I will try and use some of these ideas tomorrow at work.