phosphor.space / star heart codex / thoughts / elementals

Elementals: the Basics

Kaleidoscopic Words

The Codex is just 12 Elementals that I refolded and described from different perspectives. The Book of Rules contains the exact same 12 Elementals as the Book of the Earthborn. Each time an Elemental is described in a different context, we name this a Facet. See more about Facets on the next page -- first, let's focus on the 12 Elementals. Like the introduction to Crystal Vision, this page is more abstract and technical. It is not necessary to use the Codex, but it explains how the Elementals are structured.

The Twelve Elementals

Before diving into details, let me first present a list of the Twelve Elementals of the Star Heart Codex.

The Elementals can sometimes have different names (Facets) depending on where they are used. Where possible, I will adhere to the list above to keep things clear in the Thoughts. However, be sure to check the next page to see the most common Facets of each Elemental.

Elemental Side

Now that we have the main list of Elementals, let's dive into the details of the system behind them. Remember that we chose base-12 because it contained other base resolutions? Base-12 contains bases 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6.

Base-1 is not really interesting; we know that all the Elementals are the same thing. Let's move to base-2. We can divide the circle in 2 and make two halves. We can do this division in many ways, as long as we end up with 6 + 6 Elementals (because 6*2 = 12).

The first division we make is the separation of [Inside & Outside]

This is the simplest and most intuitive base-2 division.

Elemental Shape & Flow = Elemental Texture

Staying within base-2, there are other possible configurations to divide the circle in two. However, we also have a base-4 we want to describe, and this resolution is made from base-2 (because 2*2 = 4). Consider the following division:

Here we get four Textures: Radiant, Dense, Loose, and Strange. These Textures are built from Shape and Flow. Shape can be positive or negative. Flow can also be positive or negative. Together, they create four possible combinations.

A Texture describes the way an Elemental appears in Crystal Vision. Shape describes how the Elemental tends to form. Flow describes how the Elemental tends to move. These are Codex terms, not existing scientific concepts. They should be understood only inside the frame of the Codex.

Elemental Temperature

Moving up to base-3, while keeping Elemental Textures in mind, we can now reach the full base-12 Elemental system, because 3 × 4 = 12. As with base-2, there are many ways to divide the Elementals into three equal parts. Here, I will move directly to the base-3 division that interests us: Temperature.

A Temperature describes the entropy-level of an Elemental. It tells us whether the Elemental is close to origin, balance, or exhaustion. It describes how pure, stable, or spent an Elemental is inside the movement of the Codex.

Prime Elementals are low-entropy. They are close to origin: pure, generative, simple, liquid-like, and full of beginning. They have not yet been divided into too many competing forms.

Constant Elementals are mid-entropy. They are polar, stable, consumptive, solid-like, and held in tension. They are no longer pure origin, but they have not yet dissolved into exhaustion.

Terminal Elementals are high-entropy. They are plural, exhaustive, gaseous-like, dispersed, and close to completion. They contain many outcomes at once and tend toward release.

From the Textures and Temperatures, we can construct the base-12 Elemental system, where each Elemental carries a unique combination.

Elemental Levels

We could keep dividing into different configurations, but we would always end up with 12 Elementals. For practicality, we will mostly use the Texture and Temperature to subdivide the Elementals. I will add a final division for completeness.

The Micro-Meso-Macro division is similar to the Prime-Constant-Terminal division -- both are base-3. However, as we are applying the Level division on the entire circle, this division will yield a more high-level overview across the whole. In contrast, the Temperatures alternate sequentially, which gives a more granular base-3 division. This difference is nitpicking, but it can lead to valuable insights to better understand the process of Crystal Vision and how all the Elementals were ultimately described in the Codex.

What is the use of this knowledge?

First of all, it shows that the Codex is hyperstructured. Nothing was left to chance. But beyond theoretical structure, understanding the different divisions of the Elementals will help us understand the relationships between Elementals later. You may also notice that I directly used the Temperature division to write the Book of Rules, and the Texture division to write the Book of the Earthborn.