Sludge spirits lurk in sewers, fetid bogs, and polluted waterways, but they are also native to the border realm between the Elemental Planes of Earth and Water, the Plane of Ooze. These spirits are so sticky, heavy, cold, and slow, that they are incapable of flying like other elemental spirits can. Their bodies are masses of toxic reagents and wretched slime, and they slouch along the ground leaving trails like slugs, their odd grasping arms poisoning anything they touch.

Some adventurers seek out sludge spirits to procure the rare and expensive alchemical reagents that can sometimes be brewed in their toxic, slimy bodies. They might also be employed to clear out the spirits because of legends that claim slaying sludge spirits will reduce pollution across the land. Whether the legend is true is unknown, but many also claim that these spirits often carry strange and rare diseases, and that slaying them can subject the killer to a mystery malady.

Elemental Spirits

Smaller than the usual elemental, these spirits can be found not only wandering the Elemental Planes that they spawn from, but also the Feywild, Shadowfell, and Material Planes. While they are plentiful in their native planes, any encounter with these spirits outside of the Elemental Planes is rare and often cherished.

Not Quite Genie. Elemental spirits are usually born when the soul of a sentient living creature melds with the primordial matter of an elemental plane and fails to manifest as a genie. The soul loses all characteristics in this magical rebirth. Since such manifestations are very rare, some say that there are as many as a thousand elemental spirits born for every genie that manifests. Spirits can even be born outside the Elemental Planes in places that resemble those planes, where a genie would never be able to manifest. They may appear in quarries, rivers, campfires, etc.

Capricious and Playful. Elemental spirits adore fun and whimsy. Since they don't need to eat or rest, they spend nearly all their time playing with each other when they aren't hiding from the world around them. These spirits flit from activity to activity, rarely staying still, and they are fascinated by anything they haven't seen before. They often make off with objects from humanoid settlements to entertain themselves. Many an adventuring group have awoken from a rest to find their campsite soaked in water, filled with recently dug holes, on fire, or scattered to the winds by these mischievous spirits.

Unreliable Servants. While they are much easier to summon than normal elementals and especially genies, these spirits are notoriously difficult to control. Their ability to hide and infiltrate small spaces makes them potentially excellent servants for many mages, but these benefits must be balanced against the certainty that some orders will be misunderstood or even willfully ignored. Still, making friends with these spirits can be worthwhile. They are difficult to understand and so they can be a challenge to please, but they form very strong bonds and always remember their friends.

Elemental Nature. Elemental spirits don't require air, food, drink, or sleep.