Element of Flowing

The element of flowing took much longer to discover that earlier elements. The is the element of fluid, which made it difficult to recognize early on. The most common fluid on Oabos which was not already associated with another element is water. Water already flows and moves like a living thing, meaning the early sentience of living water was not noticed for along time. Some of the earliest records of living water are of streams flowing up an mountainside to reach an area of need, rather than following the normal route down the slopes. During these early recordings it was believed that this element only included water, but it has since been determined that it is the element of all fluids and flowing things.
Even once Flowing was better understood as the element of living fluid, it was not easily recognized as an element within soul maps. It can commonly be mistaken for Synsri, due to the similarly changeable nature of the two elements. The element of flowing is a very changeable element and embodies adaptation and graceful acceptance of change. It is also the element of persistent change. Much like waves grinding down mountain stone, this element embodies the slow persistent push to cause change in the world, without yielding.

Humans have a very similar understanding of Flowing to what we believed early on in our histories. They call this element simply Water and believe it to manifest as control over water in all it's forms. This is how Burning Body elementine can so easily be mistaken for "Frozen Water Spirits". If the Burning Body can control their emotions and seem to be more relaxed and accepting, this can be an easy way to get close to the humans before fighting breaks out.

— Soul Scribe lecture to young Elementine Warriors

Early Manifestation

The earliest recognized manifestations of the element of flowing were streams running the wrong way. These instances of living streams did not occur randomly, but always brought water to areas of need. One of the first sightings of such a stream was mistakenly thought to be the work of a local Eldyr bringing much needed water to their ruling, part way up a baron mountainside. When the situation was later discussed, the Eldyr was adamant in having no knowledge of how the water changed course and moved against the pull of Oabos. As the ruling was dying, the Eldyr flooded the mountainside with Oas in the hope that some miracle would occur but had no way to control how that would happen. The flood of Oas into the sentient water further down the mountain strengthened the stream enough to be able to climb back up the mountain. In the way of Flowing, once the first rivulets of water reached the ruling and pooled in a reservoir within the cliffside more water was pulled up along the path.

In The Soul Map

The element of flowing has changed how it manifests in the soul map slowly over time. While this can be frustrating when trying to understand soul maps it is also very true to the nature of the element. The way it presents in recent years tends toward the the persistent push for change over the relaxed adaptability to move past obstacles.
In the mind ring, Flowing impacts the natural tendencies of how an individual thinks and looks at situations. These individuals tend to appear very calm and accepting of everything around them. This calm may only be surface level however. Most Flowing mind elementine of the current era are the driving force behind change. They do not attack problems with forward aggression Ike Burning or stoic resistance like Ground. Instead they wear the problem down slowly over time.
Flowing minds are also very mailable in their nature. One unique way this can be seen is when an elementine with a Flowing mind strongly aligned or opposed to their body ring. Flowing minds strongly aligned with their body element have an incredible ability to adapt to almost any change to their bodies without the trauma or recovery times which would be expected in others. The nature of persistent change can also push the body to adapt to situations through will alone. When these rings are opposed, the individual will experience a natural disconnect from their body. This disconnect in more pronounced with a Flowing mind and can lead to extreme dissociation. Some of these individuals have reported receiving an impression of the strong thoughts and emotions of other Flowing minds near them when in this state.
Body rings with Flowing almost always manifest as humanoid forms constructed out of water or another fluid. The biggest exception to this is myth-touched humans with Flowing in their body ring. Since humans inherit their form from their parent or parents, they do not have liquid bodies. Instead, these individuals tend to be natually at home in the water and do not require air if fully submerged. It is uncertain if they are able to process the water in their bodies to extract the air they need, or if these individuals do not truly need air to breath at all.
When the element of flowing is present in the spirit ring, manifestation seems to follow the normal rules of alignment and opposition with the body ring. Close alignment manifests abilities to control fluids in and around the body of the individual, while opposition tends to manifest as control of fluids external to the individual. An opposed Flowing spirit is how humans view all individuals with the Flowing element.