Elemental Icon

"Doesn't matter if they don't use silver hex as currency. They can just melt them down and make a few of those little squirly things they like to stick on their clothes."
-an Avadian merchant explaining - badly - one of the uses for silver, forging Elemental icons, to his apprentice

An Elemental icon is a commonly worn symbol of the Elementalist faith, regularly worn and displayed across Southern Arikanda, the Heartlands and Solathi. It is representative of one of the Elemental Gods of the faith, usually one with particular importance to the wearer (or, in more pragmatic people, one with particular importance to the undertaking they're about to take on, or one they particularly wish to please).
The icon is usually a pin designed to be placed openly on a person's tunic, cloak, robe or anywhere else in prominent view. They are made of a number of materials, usually depending on the affluence of the individual- usually a metal such as copper or tin, although wood or stone variants can be carved if metal is scarce.
The icon can take the following forms, each an Elemental god's symbol;

• Shokai, god of thunder: A stylised thunderbolt;
• Essena, goddess of water: A cresting wave;
• Balaros, god of fire: A single flame;
• Delthur, god of earth: A rocky outcrop or mountain;
• Shiereleya, goddess of wind: Two stylised curved lines, meant to represent wind.

Manufacturing process

The icons themselves are usually forged by local artisans (carved for wood, crystal and stone, forged for metals, blown for glass). They are then taken to local priests and are given blessings of their respective gods, then usually sold from shopfronts with a portion of the proceeds going to the local temple.

Significance

"What about that Makro? Good Essenian lad, that one. Silver pin and everything. You could certainly do worse."
-a young Lygonian woman to her friend, on a similarly-young merchant wearing an Elemental icon of Essena on his tunic

Elemental icons are a simple and obvious way for a person to openly display their veneration for a particular Elemental god. They easily identify the wearer as a part of that god's faithful and as a devout believer; beyond the obvious indicator of a person's faith it also serves as an easy way to win the favour of other individuals of that god's following.
The pins also serve as a way for somebody to display their social status; for example, pins of silver clearly indicate a person's wealth and status. Social climbers or people with pretenses of affluence may wear these pins with more everyday clothing for example.
Priests of each god's individual Templar usually have these pins crafted from coloured crystal or glass, the colour usually corresponding with the colour of the god in question (red/orange for Balaros, blue for Essena, green for Delthur, white for Shiereleya and azure for Shokai). Only priests are permitted to wear the glass/crystal icons.

Rarity

Elemental icons are ubiquitous throughout most of southern Arikanda and northern Calina. Most smiths and carpenters can design and forge them easily for the common folk. More ornate versions with precious metals and gems are harder to come by, but those with means can usually acquire them from jewellers or silversmiths. The glass and crystal pins worn by Templars are very rare, and can generally only be distributed from the First Temples of the respective god.

Item type

Jewelry / Valuable

Related ethnicities

• Heartlander
• Magantine
• Tanorite

Owning Organization

Elementalism

Raw materials & Components

Wood (common)
Stone (common)
Copper (common)
Tin (common)
Silver (rare)
Crystal/Glass (extremely rare)