S3E13: The Best Man

Summary: So, we know that the lineages precede our histories, they seem to be hereditary as does the aptitude for magic - in the latter case we do see rogue talents appear but I have found no evidence of anyone spontaneously developing an elemental lineage. The lack of scholarly information here is profoundly frustrating, but it is plausible that wherever these originated, there must be a continuous line from parent to child for them to have survived into the present. If so we might conjecture that either not every lineage that has existed still survives or that they protect themselves and consequently their heirs tend to survive long enough to propagate the bloodline. In the stories I have found, there are many abilities attributed to those with elemental affinities - being able to move and manipulate their element is by far the most common, along with being able to move freely through it. Several stories mention characters being able to speak to sentient manifestations of their element or to summon it into forms that mimic people or living creatures. This is in accord with the account of the Diabolist’s army of demons, of course, and seems entirely plausible. Often the elementally attuned seem vulnerable to elements that might be considered to oppose their own and are described as avoiding them obsessively. Other abilities that only get a single mention or barely seem worthy of notice include: Flight, travel between two pools, digging very rapidly, being carried along on a wave, building roads from fire, hiding knowledge in the element(?), drawing or writing with the element, a welcome in the courts of the low fey, friendship with talking animals(?), ability to sail rivers on a lily pad, travel by candlelight, freedom from hunger or thirst, being accompanied by a distinctive odour.