are carnivores (presumably, we're dealing with a combination of the principles behind the diet of devils and the immoth-- their utilization of flesh is much like that of the Immoth, but like devils, they don't derive anything from the consumption of it, and consume it simply for enjoyment.)
Picturing the other Archomentals consuming meat is easy enough, but um... how would Chan and Yan-C-Bin go about doing this? Batter the meat within their bodies until it's atomized?
Something just dawned on me-- The Planescape Monstrous Appendix III states that the Archomentals...
Tue, 2009-12-29 12:24
#1
Something just dawned on me-- The Planescape Monstrous Appendix III states that the Archomentals...
Fri, 2010-01-01 19:03
#3
Re: Something just dawned on me-- The Planescape Monstrous ...
It doesn't state anything like that, and if it were other elementals, then I think the Diet entry would mention something more akin to that, rather than "carnivore" (in 2E, "Diet" is one of the standard statistic blocks, much like Challenge Rating in 3x. If Yan-C-Bin consumed the breath of air-breathing creatures, it would have mentioned that in the statistics block.). (in 2E, 'nilla elementals are stated to consume combustibles for fire elementals, liquids for water elementals, perfumes/incense/things of that nature for air elementals, and gems for earth elementals. Whereas Ice paraelementals drain heat from creatures and objects)
And that is true about sexual reproduction; it may or may not entail coitus; we have to bear in mind that pollination is also a form of sexual reproduction, and that sexual reproduction merely entails a union of male and female parts. For instance, with fire elementals it probably entails something more akin to entwining around one another in the form of a flame whirl (basically a flame-devil, if you will) and a union of some form or reproductive essences. Whereas with solid, matter-based elementals (e.g. earth elementals, ice paraelementals, mineral and salt quasielementals), the sexual reproduction is more likely to resemble copulation (and again, as with fiends and celestials, the vast majority of individuals existing in the species are not reproduced sexually, but rather either created spontaneously from the essence of the plane itself, or created from petitioners *or in the case of inevitables and modrons, they are manufactured in factories much like an automobile or other machine, though their essence/souls are likely created from petitioners or the plane's essence.*)
Nonetheless, it's clear enough that all elementals are capable of mating and reproducing with other creatures (both humanoids and outsiders) For instance, Chilimba, the self-proclaimed ruler of Paraelemental Magma is supposedly half magma mephit and half magma paraelemental (in fact he claims to be an archomental, though sourcebooks are quite clear in stating that he is merely a very powerful mephit)
Though the half-elemental template can only be applied to mortal creatures, in many cases it makes far more sense that elementals would mate with elemental outsiders (e.g. salamanders, sylphs, genies, mephits, etc.) than with mortal humanoids. Mating with chromatic and metallic dragons also makes sense, although it sounds a bit weird since you're talking about something with a humanoid form mating with a quadruped. Mating with giants also makes perfect sense (in that said giants won't be harmed by direct contact with the elemental), though it's likely to be less common than mating with genies, mephits, or other elemental outsiders (although this would vary greatly by species-- the native mephits and elementals of some planes hate each other, while on others they get along quite well. Native elementals also tend to hate the Efreet and especially the Dao for obvious reasons according to the 1E Manual of the Planes. Of course, that wouldn't be enough to prevent them with mating with one another, it's simply less likely to be consentual. With the Dao at least, it is also extremely unlikely that female Dao would be the victims of such treatment since the males are extremely protective of them. Such acts are also probably far less likely to be committed by the Dao anyway, since they see every other species as being so far beneath them. The lustful Efreet on the other hand, are likely to commit such acts on a regular basis, be they male or female, especially if they are soldiers by profession. It's highly unlikely that there are many half-efreeti, half-djinni creatures running around out there however, since, due to the incendiary nature of the efreet's body, prolonged direct contact would be fatal for a djinni.
In their case, it might mean the "flesh" of other elementals and elemental beings. Yan-C-Bin might also consume the life's breath from his enemies. All archomentals might be able to separate their favored element from the other elemental atoms bound in the flesh of Material Plane creatures, fire atoms sifted from water atoms sifted from air atoms.
They might also consume flesh spiritually, as gods do, from the essence left from the offerings given them on thousands of bloodstained altars by thousands of cultists across the worlds. Every time a crazed priest of Imix casts a victim into the sacred furnace, every time a priestess of Olhydra ritually drowns a victim, every time a sacrifice is ceremonially strangled or frozen or crushed, their patron feeds. The good archomentals might accept the occasional herd animal instead.
As with intimations of sexual reproduction, I wouldn't take it too literally.