The fundamental nature of Elemental Essence in Version 3 is different to the Second Edition. This is because of the more oblique nature of their design from the influences listed below. Elemental aspects are not so direct. In Second Ed it's a simply matter of 'the Pole of Earth is about Earth so at the centre of Creation is a mountain, Earth aspected martial arts are literally about Earth' and to an extent so are Dragon-Blooded powers.
In Version 3 Elemental influence expresses itself more subtly. Artistic and architectural styles are influenced by their location but not to the extent that 'it's near the pole of earth so use rock.' Instead the way cultures around the Elemental Poles are influenced by their environment is a deeper, less direct and more profound one.
For the Pole of Earth, in fact the whole of the Blessed Isle, the main influence was Wong Kar Wai's outstanding wuxia work Ashes of Time. Watch that film and you'll really understand how an area can be profoundly Earth aspected while not being so in a crude way like 'it has to have stone, mountains etc.' The reason for this is not a disdain for such evocative, primal ideas but that they simply do not fit with the game. As I have said before if Exalted use conventional fantasy notions like archetypal, you could even say stereotypical, dragons then that would work. But it's precisely because Exalted avoids such conventions that it's attractive and applying an idea like that would not suit it. Instead you have to do things differently. Thus instead of thinking of the Elemental Poles as 'inertly' Elemental, they are related to the life of Creation, principally animal life, via their association with Gaia and the Elemental Dragons. Even the presence of the forests of the East, the most wild environment of all, is just a setting for the life that exists there rather than being a force in itself. The nature of the Elemental Dragons and the Exalted they created is linked intrinsically to animals rather than the inert matter of one of the directions of Creation. So rather than using boring (and conceptually difficult to handle) jade from the sea, the jade found in the West is living matter.
Unfortunately the nature of jade and Elemental is both poorly described in original sources and difficult to up with sound ideas for, although I have one or two which might work out.
The next film which influenced me, in quite an accurate fashion, which helped with the setting for the East was Zatoichi. it expresses my ideas for the Wood setting, especially in the Scavenger Lands. It's not a simply matter of the presence of an element, whether it's fire or earth, in a film like Ashes of time it's very evocative of that element while not being directly so (deserts are a big feature on the film) and they both adhere to, or in the case of Ashes of Time created my ideas for the setting of a particular quadrant. The Blessed Isle is based on historical China, while Lookshy is based on Japan. One flaw with the Second Edition was a complete failure to create and kind of cultural identity for any of the countries it described. This is mainly evident from language and the use of names, language structures for names are scattered at random throughout Creation failing to give any culture a real sense of identity. Lookshy is something of an exception, since they thankfully created some kind of cultural homogeneity.
A closer study of the art and architecture in both films, as well as knowledge of the cultures they come from, will help demonstrate the effect they have on influences regions of Creation. For a long time I tried to create my own little country somewhere in the north east. I tried to work within the existing setting and nomenclature of what I think is High Realm (not the most imaginative name.) On that note it's similarity to the stereotypical fantasy in the film Rolemodels makes me extremely uncomfortable. Of course what I create was rubbish-largely because their description of the Terrestrial directions is rubbish. It wasn't till I saw Ashes of Time that I realised I shouldn't be trying to trying to fit my ideas in with that the game already says. I should be redesigning the Blessed Isle.
Paying attention to background aspects of films such as these two and Hero played a major role in reshaping the identity of Creation. And I can't write any more because this stupid dolly sized keyboard is annoying me so much if I have to use it anymore I'll kick this stupid computer out the fucking window.
