A Setting For an Information Elemental

[dcarson]

In Saberhagen's Empire of the East books there is a prairie elemental. One is used on a group pursuing the hero. The key feature is distance, the pursuers have to cover a third? more distance then the people they are chasing so they get out run.

[JanMikal]

I suppose I was asking more about the metaphysics of a world that had information elementals. If information forms elementals, then what else forms elementals. Does that mean magic is common? what kind of magic? information Elementals call up visions of computers, but if you've got digital technology and enough magic that elementals form spontaneously, what kind of a world are you living in?

The images of the places they arrive and hang out is strangely helpful in visualizing the creatures though.

As many have said, it can all be a case of how you define an elemental. I have always considered it a thing that is of itself - that is, a water elemental is made entirely of water, a fire elemental made entirely of fire, etc, with an 'inhabiting spirit' to keep the whole cohesive. In that case, an 'information elemental' would be very tough to define into existence - what would that thing look like, a being made entire of information? I might even say that you're looking at DNA, which I think has been suggested. What is 'pure' information? Newspaper? Magnetic storage? Punch cards?

If, though, you're looking for an idea of where elementals (whatever their definition or appearance) come from, then you need to (at least most source material suggest) the place where that element is strongest. A water elemental is MUCH more likely to come from an ocean, sea, or perhaps lake than it is to manifest in your kiddie pool. A fire elemental would be more likely to pop up out of an active volcano or forest fire than your backyard grill. It's a simple thing, really - any being wants to be as strong as possible, and if a spirit or intelligence decides it wants to construct a body from a single element, then it's likely going to want there to be as much of that element around as possible, to pull together as large and as powerful a body as possible.

I would say, however, that you should be careful in what you define as an 'element'. The 'classic' four elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) were chosen because the ancients could, at the time, lump everything into those groups (incorrectly, as we know now, but whatevs). Acid elementals make sense, because acid seems to be a (more or less) coherent, one-thing sort of 'element'. A 'magic' element seems...unwieldy, because what would it pull together to form its physical shape? A metal element (or, even finer, a 'steel' or 'aluminum' element) would be possible, but now you're starting to look more like a 'golem'. First you have to define what an 'element' is before you can decide what is an 'elemental'.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by JanMikal

As many have said, it can all be a case of how you define an elemental. I have always considered it a thing that is of itself - that is, a water elemental is made entirely of water, a fire elemental made entirely of fire, etc, with an 'inhabiting spirit' to keep the whole cohesive. In that case, an 'information elemental' would be very tough to define into existence - what would that thing look like, a being made entire of information? I might even say that you're looking at DNA, which I think has been suggested. What is 'pure' information? Newspaper? Magnetic storage? Punch cards?

Actually, that's kind of easy - if you don't insist that it also be able to wander freely about the environment. They're usually called 'infomorphs' rather than information elementals, but the same point about what they're made of is there.

If being an elemental implies an ability to move about as a cohesive autonomous object in ways not characteristic of the 'element' you're composed of (which it generally does), I'd suggest that the information elemental would be insubstantial and invisible. You can't see or touch information itself, only objects that embody it.

[Daigoro]

I want to see an elemental from the Elemental Plane of Ass-Kicking.

[AlexanderHowl]

What exactly do you mean by infomorph? If you are using the Transhuman Space definition, it is simply a technological artifact rather than a magical elemental. Alternatively, it could be a psychic entity from the Astral Plane, but that is also not a magical elemental. An information spirit rather than information elemental seems to be your best bet (there is no 'Body of Information' Template in GURPS, so you would end up with a Spirit Template of some sort).

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

What exactly do you mean by infomorph? If you are using the Transhuman Space definition, it is simply a technological artifact rather than a magical elemental.

Yes, that would be it.