So in my world of Fantasia there are four types of elemental creatures with varying levels of sentience within each type. Despite the fact that some are as sentient as humans, they are NOT races. The first ones I came up with were the pyrosaurs. Pyrosaur is a combination of the Greek words for "fire" and "lizard" and literally means "fire lizard". As you can guess, pyrosaurs are my fire elementals that are this world's equivalent of dragons. As with all elementals, they are kind of a caretaker-species that flourished in the world's younger ages but now are quite rare. They are the most populous of the elementals as well as the type of elementals with the most known sentience. More is known about them than about the other types. The largest concentrations live in the forests surrounding the volcanic Mount Taranis. There are several types of pyrosaurs, but at the moment I'm only really aware of a few:
Name --translation-- Common Name = In English
- Dendrosaurs --tree lizards-- or "Forest Drakes" = Forest Dragons
- Pterosaurs --winged lizards-- or "Fire Drakes" (possibly called "Flying Drakes" by some) = Medieval-type Dragons
- Ailourosaurs --cat lizards-- or "Puks" = shape-shifting dragons
- Drakons --Gk word for dragon-- or "Dragons" = humanoid dragons
- Nomiosaurs --shepherd lizards-- or "Herding Drakes" = pastoral dragons
- Salamanders

Dendrosaurs
Dendrosaurs are the manifestations of the life-giving aspect of fire. They are the pyrosaurs of plant life that live in the thick jungles surrounding Mt. Taranis tending the trees and flora (there may be others elsewhere, but like I said elementals are scarce critters). Their physiques resemble the oriental dragons --wingless lizards-- many are some shade of green. They're larger than say, a pony, but smaller than the gigantic pterosaurs. Their diet consists mainly of game the size of wild boar or small deer. Their most distinctive elemental trait is their emerald colored fire-breath which rather than burning and destroying nurtures and sustains. Dendrosaurs use this to accelerate tree growth, fight off blights or parasites, and direct the physical growth of the trees. They have even been known to heal with their fiery breath on occasion. Dendrosaurs have above average sentience for pyrosaurs, more than most animals but less than humans (think chimps). Their common name is "forest drakes."

Pterosaurs
Pterosaurs are the quintessential fantasy dragons: winged, fire-breathing, sharp talons, etc.... Theirs are the skies of the world which they can travel for ages without needing to land. They feed mainly on larger game like antelope or mountain goats, which they snatch from the ground and eat in the air. Like I said before, they can breathe fire, but no special properties are known of. As far as sightings, they are the rarest of the pyrosaurs (for reasons that will be later explained) but there are usually one or two regular sightings around Mt. Taranis. Pterosaurs have no known level of sentience.

Ailourosaurs
Ailourosaurs are my response to reading about a domestic Soviet spirit called the pukis, which take the form of either a small dragon or a cat. This is where the common name of puks comes from. Theirs is the changing nature of fire which allows them to assume either their small draconian form (small winged dragons not much bigger than house cats) or a feline form. Feline is the norm for them in most instances. They are the most populous of the pyrosaurs and frequent a small town near Mt. Taranis where many are pets that sleep by the fire and protect their families from harm (and supposedly diseases). In both forms their eyes are a blazing green color and it is rumored that they can see a person's thoughts and tell when someone is lying. Their diet is the same of any normal cat, even when in dragon form. In their feline form, they are capable of mating with normal cats, yielding litters of cats with reptilian wings and blazing eyes. Puks in the beginning were among the more sentient of pyrosaurs (as in human-level sentience) but most have either lost the quality or suppress it for appearances' sake.

Nomiosaurs
Nomiosaurs are the other half of the Life-giving dendrosaurs. Theirs are the wild herds of the world (which they eat their fill of in true shepherd fashion ). Their sentience is along the lines of a herd dog but a hair more human. They have the capacity to mentally communicate directions (left, right, turn around, flee, stop, etc.), warnings, and the like to their charges by projecting images into their minds. These are the rarest of the pyrosaurs. There have been sightings in the southern mountains of the world of dragon-like creatures flying protectively over the flocks of wild goats and similar tales of antelope-herding dragons elsewhere in the world, none of which anywhere near Mt. Taranis.

Salamanders
Salamanders are the classical elementals of fire. Small lizards made of flame that appear in the depths of a fire. Their number is unknown. Theirs is the sheer power of fire, making them the most powerful of all the pyrosaurs despite their also being the smallest. They are also fully sentient, yet rarely reveal themselves, let alone communicate, with other creatures or races.

Drakons
The dragons are what happened to my original inhabitants of "dragon kingdom" when I first imagined the world of Fantasia at age 11. They are an offshoot a sentient breed of Fire Drakes that took on human form for some reason far back in their history. My working theory is one of a Drakon lord that fell in love with a Dryad woman and took on human form so he could be with her. Over time, most of the sentient breed did likewise so that the only Fire Drakes left were the non-sentient ones. If you think I'm misspelling by having "drakon" in some places and "dragon" in others, I'm not. Drakon is the proper name (like pterosaur) while dragon is the common name (like Fire Drake). Dragons are the manifestation of the fiery power of human emotion (hence the idea of the first change being one motivated by love). They are the most powerful pyrosaurs after the salamanders, and their wizards are fire masters of great renown. A basic physical description is humanoid with webbed fingers and slightly orange-tinted skin. Their hair is typically of a brownish nature. They are the most populous of the pyrosaurs with the largest concentration of their race living in a large city on (and within) the active Volcano Mt. Taranis, whose top has been removed allowing the gases to rise out of the lava while it pools in a massive lake at the bottom (part of this is due to Dragon magic). I'll post more details about them in the "Races" room later.

Well, that's the first type of elemental creatures in Fantasia. Let me know what yall think. Questions? Comments? It's after midnight here and I should go to bed. I hope to post the next elemental creature type tomorrow: Leukotheres

In Christ,
Jordan

Not quite sure how a cat is an element but I like the style you describe them with. It's so like a cat to not care enough to show it's sentience. Sounds like you really researched this critters! (that just what I call it when I make stuff up about my world, it's real enough to me...)

They are elementals because they are not cats in and of themselves. They are small dragons that take on cat form. The idea is that they manifest the transformative properties of fire.