In a previous article (DRAGON® issue
#125), this column covered the creatures
native to the positive quasi-elemental
planes. Let's turn our attention to the
other side of the coin: the negative quasi
elementals.

The negative quasi-elemental planes are
those which lie along the borders of the
major elemental planes and the Negative
Material plane. These regions are distinguished
by the reduction and eventual
absence of a particular elemental type.
The plane of Ash is the reduction and
elimination of Fire; the plane of Salt the
removal of Water; the plane of Vacuum the
eradication of Air; and the plane of Dust
the destruction of solid Earth. The quasi
elementals of these planes reflect the
nature of these planes. As is so for ?true?
elementals, quasi-elemental life is a sentient
animation of the plane itself, as differentiated
from creatures which are at
home in these alien environments.

Even more so than positive quasi elementals,
negative quasi elementals are
rarely found in the Prime Material plane,
but appear with common frequency in
their native quasi-elemental planes and are
uncommon in other Inner planes. They
may be able to survive the rigors of the
nearby Negative Material plane, but this is
as yet unproven. Each quasi elemental
may be of small, medium, or large size,
depending on where it is found:
 

1d100	Prime Material dimension	Inner dimension
01-60	Small	Large
61-90	Medium	Medium
91-00	Large	Small

Statistics given in parentheses for the
following creatures apply to conditions on
their home planes. Otherwise, statistics
apply to both Prime Material and quasielemental
planes.

FREQUENCY: Very rare (Common)
NO. APPEARING: 1 (l-6)
ARMOR CLASS: 3
MOVE: 12?
HIT DICE: 6, 9, or 12
% IN LAIR: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-6 + 1 hp/HD
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: See below
INTELLIGENCE: Low
ALIGNMENT: Neutral (chaotic)
SIZE: M
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: VII/ 1,000 + 15 per hp

Ash quasi elementals look like animated
piles of burnt ash and charred cinders.
They are malleable and capable of forming
themselves into slate-gray replicas of men,
centaurs, and other creatures. Ash quasi
elementals are found in the Prime Material
plane only in regions where intense flame
has passed and cooled, as in the lava flows
of extinct volcanoes and in the debris left
from large forest fires.

While not cold in themselves, Ash quasi
elementals suck up the heat from their
surroundings, so that all within 30? suffer
1-6 hp damage from heat loss for each
round. Creatures which are cold-based
(though not those which are cold-blooded)
are immune to this effect. In addition, the
Ash quasi elemental can narrow the focus
of this draining effect to a cone 60? long
and 30? across at the base. Those within
this area take 2-12 hp damage. In addition,
the force of this inward blast can snuff out
torches and small campfires.

Ash quasi elementals are immune to
cold-based magic, but heat in any form is
dangerous to them. All fire-based spells
inflict twice the normal damage, and if the
temperature is raised above freezing, the
Ash quasi elemental must save vs. poison
or explode, inflicting 1-4 hp/HD damage to
all within 20?. In combat, Ash quasi elementals
can only be struck by + 1 or
better weapons.

Ash quasi elementals are very rare in
the Prime Material plane, though they are
reported to have been used by smiths
forging magical weapons in order to cool
the hot metal.

FREQUENCY: Very rare (Common)
NO. APPEARING: 1 (l-6)
ARMOR CLASS: ? 1
MOVE: 36?
HIT DICE: 6, 9, or 12
% IN LAIR: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-4 + 1 hp/HD
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: See below
INTELLIGENCE: Low
ALIGNMENT: Neutral (chaotic)
SIZE: S
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: VII/ 1,000 + 15 per hp

Vacuum quasi elementals are the living
embodiment of a nullity ? the absence of
elemental Air. They are invisible by
nature, though if their presence is detected
(by detect invisible, true sight, etc.),
they appear as amorphous, threedimensional
?skins? of force (similar to an
ochre jelly in zero-gee).

Vacuum quasi elementals suck in any
and all surrounding air, seeking to reduce
any area of confinement to the the same
level of airlessness as their native plane. In
the Prime Material plane, the region within
60? of a Vacuum quasi elemental has the
effects of a gust of wind spell blowing
toward the quasi elemental. A Vacuum
quasi elemental can reduce a 60? × 60?
area to vacuum in a single round. Those
within an area so vacated of air suffer the
effects of being in the plane of Vacuum (no
loss of pressure or temperature, only the
absence of air itself). In addition, those
caught within this range who require air
for survival suffer 1-4 hp damage per
round in addition to any attacks made by
the creature.

In regions of abundant air (such as the
Prime Material plane), Vacuum quasi elementals
can cause their air-removal effects
for 10 rounds at most, after which they
cannot do so again for one hour. When
overwhelmed by air, these quasi elementals
become spherical in shape, and their
armor class increases to AC ?4. They may
still attack normally (ramming a target
with their forcelike bodies), but cannot
use their special attack.

Air-using spells can destroy a Vacuum
quasi elemental only if the level of the
caster (or hit dice of the monster) is
greater than that of the Vacuum quasi
elemental. If attacked in such a fashion,
the Vacuum quasi elemental is allowed a
saving throw vs. death magic; if this succeeds,
it is unharmed by the attack. If the
saving throw fails, the Vacuum quasi elemental
is destroyed. A gust of wind cast
by a lst-level magic-user has no effect on a
6-HD Vacuum quasi elemental, but a 7-HD
djinn could destroy it. Vacuum quasi elementals
are subject to magical attacks, but
require + 1 or better magical weapons to
be damaged.

Nature may abhor a vacuum, but magicusers
find these airless creatures useful as
both protectors and laboratory aides (they
may provide an environment without dust
by removing the air that keeps the dust
suspended). As such, they are valued
when encountered on the Prime Material
planes. This rarely occurs, as most which
survive are those locked in some airtight
compartment which they have drained of
air, or (it is rumored) in the spaces
between the planets and stars.

FREQUENCY: Very rare (Common)
NO. APPEARING: 1-3 (1-8)
ARMOR CLASS: ? 1
MOVE: 12”
HIT DICE: 6, 9, or 12
% IN LAIR: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-6 + 1 hp/HD
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: See below
INTELLIGENCE: Low
ALIGNMENT: Neutral (chaotic)
SIZE: M
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: VII/ 1,000 + 15 per hp

Dust quasi elementals are the living
embodiment of disintegration, the breaking
down of all solid matter. They are
rarely found in the Prime Material plane,
and then only in desertlike regions where
the winds have pulverized most of the
earth to sand.

Dust quasi elementals appear as billow-
ing clouds of dust, dominated by brighter 
motes which are collected int othe "eyes" 
of the creature.  The quasi elemental can 
inflict damage in normal combat, but also 
can engulf an opponent on a roll of 19 or 
better on 1d20 (regardless of magical 
protections of the target).  An engulfed 
creature suffers the effects of the dimension of 
Dust: the loss of 2-12 HP per round from 
the atomic bonding of the body being 
broken down and driven apart.  If the 
attack takes place in the dimension of Dust, 
the effects are doubled.  The engulfed 
creature can only escape by killing the 
Dust quasi elemental, though the quasi 
elemental takes the brunt of all outside 
attacks, like living armor which kills its 
wearer. 

In addition, a Dust quasi elemental can
blow parts of its body up to 40? away,
creating a blinding sandstorm. Those
which may be affected by the storm must
save vs. wands or be blinded for 1-10
rounds, and take 1-2 hp damage per hit
die of the creature.

One of the most dangerous of the negative
quasi elementals, the Dust quasi elemental 
mental may be affected by normal weapons
and magic. An individual engulfed by
an elemental may inflict 2-12 hp damage
merely by his struggles each round.

Dust quasi elementals are considered
quite dangerous, and, unlike the other
quasi elementals, tend to be avoided and
not captured or magically enslaved. One
reason for this is that, unlike other quasi
elementals and elementals, these creatures
attempt to seek out the ones who have
enslaved them and slay them.

Salt quasi elementals appear in a variety
of forms, but their most common form is
that of a long, huge, white lizard, like a
wingless, rime-encrusted white dragon.
They are found only rarely on the Prime
Material plane, and then only in places of
extreme dryness, like the floor of an evaporated
lake or the salt flats bordering a
dead sea.

Salt quasi elementals absorb all available
moisture in an area 80? in radius around
the creature. This inflicts 2-12 hp damage
per round to all creatures which are made
primarily of water (including most creatures
of the elemental plane of Water, as
well as humans and similar animal life).

It is possible to overload the amount of
water a Salt quasi elemental can take in.
Full immersion in water (dumping it into
a large lake) causes the creature to save
vs. death magic or explode. Such an
explosion causes all within 30? to suffer
an attack equal to the level of the monster
?s hit dice. Those struck in this attack
take 1-8 hp damage from shards of salt.
Water-based magics have a similar effect
only if the magic-user or cleric casting
the spell is of higher level than the total
hit dice of the quasi elemental. When this
is not the case, or when small amounts of
water (such as natural rain or fog) are
present, the effects are merely absorbed
by the creature.

Salt quasi elementals are unaffected by
fire spells and weapons of less than + 1
magical enchantment. These creatures are
often prized by researchers, who use
them to reduce the effects of water damage
in underground libraries.
 

DECEMBER 1987