Quote Originally Posted by Gwaeron View Post
Now I can't remember what I've read about the elemental sprites in FATEs and guildleves, but are sprites elementals? Because they sure don't look anything like the actual elementals that were called elementals rather than sprites in v1, http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/im..._Elemental.png
No, they're not all that alike. It's the way in which they are alike that made me assume they might be in the same category.

Elementals are in everything. To give an example, in the Seventh Umbral Era storyline, on the body of a slain Garlean soldier was a letter written in a code unlike anything they'd ever used. Though the code itself could not be broken, the conjurers of Gridania communed with the elementals in the ink and fiber of the letter to determine that the soldier was a double agent, a member of the Ala Mhigan resistance, and a noble spirit. What makes the elementals of the Twelveswood (Spirits of the Wood) special is their age and power, which are said to be unmatched by those anywhere else. Now, if Elementals exist in all corporeal things, and the corporeal realm is built from the basic aetherial unit...

Unlike men and other creatures bound in temples of flesh, the elementals are beings of pure aether. Recognizing this, the mages of eld reasoned that their talent for aetheric manipulation might allow them to commune with these theretofore enigmatic entities.
And this brings us back to Sprites.

I haven't stumbled across an explanation of exactly what they are, but properties they have include being aspected to the aetherial elements, feeding on aetherial concentrations, becoming corrupted themselves by consuming corrupted aether, possessing a core that temporarily holds a strong manifestation of that element, generation of luminous crystals, and at least semi-sentience that results in attacking passers-by and activities that are deemed "mischievous." They sometimes seem to generate on their own in the field, sometimes are summoned by magick. Would these not also seem to be aetheric beings of some kind?