Aurora

Though the nature and origin of the six elements are widely understood and accepted, a handful of researchers at the Aseran mage academy have recently presented a controversial theory suggesting the existence of a seventh element, hitherto unknown and totally uncontrollable by conventional magical methods.

Our understanding of the six elements is, in large part, credited to experiments performed by the mages capable of controlling these elements. A mage’s ability is determined from birth, and depending on the arrangement of their soul, they grow to become capable of controlling anywhere between one and all six of the elements, though the ability to control all six is very rare, and currently only extant in one known mage – a student of the Academy who lent his experimental prowess to this paper.

But though we know that mages of the six elements have always existed, is it not possible that there exist elements for which no mage yet exists? How would we determine the power and nature of these elements without a mage capable of controlling them?

Without such a mage, all we can do is infer from the data we have.

Through the ability and experimentation of countless mages over the years, we understand what each element is capable of and what role they play in the human body. Fire regulates both temperature and emotion; water commands both blood and mental flexibility; life is present in both physical healing and mental adaptability; etc.

Much of our understanding of these elements comes from observation of what ailments afflict those suffering from elemental corruption. Fire-corrupted individuals lose the ability to regulate their temperature and are prone to bursts of emotion, stone-corrupted individuals become sluggish and obstinate. The elemental corruption phenomenon is common and well-documented, as are the myriad ways an imbalance of the internal elements can result in a myriad of disorders, both physical and mental.

There are two reasons to suspect the existence of an undetectable and uncontrollable seventh element.

The first is the fact that homunculi created by mages, though composed of the same six elements as all of us, lack the ability to repair or sustain themselves. Without external healing or repair, these homunculi inevitably degrade within a handful of years. Homunculi do not need to eat or breathe, and indeed will not do either unless directed to. Even when they do, the air and food do nothing to sustain them; the body does not grow or incorporate the new matter. Though the presence of life essence in their form allows them to superficially heal injuries, they are incapable of taking in new material with which to maintain themselves – the new flesh healing an injury will be moved from elsewhere in the body, rather than constructed from material consumed. It is currently unknown why homunculi do not function the same way an identically-structured person or creature does. The currently accepted theory suggests that the blessing of the Twins is required for a life form to be able to sustain itself, much in the same way this blessing is required for a life form to be able to reproduce, but interactions with the Twins do not support this theory – they seem exclusively concerned with the creation of new species, and hold no opinion towards the creation of unique individual entities.

Thus, this new theory suggests that within all living things is some unknown element that, to our knowledge, no mage can control. Homunculi created from the traditional six elements do not contain this unknown seventh element, and without it, the homunculi cannot sustain themselves. It seems likely, therefore, that the nature of this theoretical element is of consumption, and without its presence in the body, the homunculus cannot consume matter to sustain itself.

This theory is supported by the second reason, which is the existence of “cave-crawlers” – the common vernacular for those unfortunates lost in the Singing Caves who fall victim to the as-yet-unidentifiable corruption commonly referred to as “cave corruption”, for lack of a better term. This descriptor is misleading, as similar forms of corruption have at times been reported in areas suffering from famine or plague, regardless of proximity to the Singing Caves. Victims of “cave corruption” find themselves overwhelmed by intense hunger, frequently for a specific substance – though some cave-crawlers simply ravage farms seeking out roots and vegetables, many more dangerous cravings exist. “Bone-drinkers” are those cave-crawlers afflicted with a hunger for living marrow, and the city of Tastra was once famously ravaged by “Upyr”, a victim of cave corruption afflicted with a terrible thirst for blood.

Cave-corruption is widely considered to be incurable, as it is unresponsive to all typical treatments for elemental corruption – but if cave-corruption is the result of an imbalance unrelated to the traditional six elements, it handily explains why it cannot be cured by any method involving them.

A typical case of elemental corruption results in an internal imbalance; much like an excess of fire energy trapped in the body will cause one’s inner fire to react, producing fevers and mood swings, perhaps the energy of the seventh element produces a terrible imbalance in the body’s desire and ability to consume. Though it is unclear why this seventh energy would be present most strongly in the Singing Caves, it is noteworthy that, while all other elemental energies are typically strongest in the high upper atmosphere, Stone energy is at is strongest and densest in the singing caves – most cave-crawlers also suffer from stone-corruption. Perhaps this seventh element is similar to stone, or its energy is similarly bound to it – the concept is precedented, as Lightning energy is most frequently found paired with an excess of Wind.

The Academy intends to pursue this line of investigation further, with the hope of determining once and for all the true source of these inexplicable anomalies. If there is a seventh element, perhaps we can someday find a way to master it – to heal those corrupted, and to gain a truer understanding of ourselves and our nature.