Where are elementals trapped for constructs?

[SangoProduction]

Funky title. lol.

In what book are elementals trapped for the purposes of making a construct? I've seen people say it, and I wanted to see it for myself. (Preferably a generic, non-setting-specific, first-party book, but as long as it's first-party, then it works.)

[Rubik]

Funky title. lol.

In what book are elementals trapped for the purposes of making a construct? I've seen people say it, and I wanted to see it for myself. (Preferably a generic, non-setting-specific, first-party book, but as long as it's first-party, then it works.)

The Monster Manual states that golems use elemental spirits to power them.

[eggynack]

I don't think that it's a strict property of constructs. It is a strict property of golems, however. To quote the monster manual, "The animating force for a golem is a spirit from the Elemental Plane of Earth. The process of creating the golem binds the unwilling spirit to the artificial body and subjects it to the will of the golem’s creator."

[DrMotives]

That's about all there is on it too. It's part of the fluff, but not one that's really dealt with other than a bit of golem theory. You could expand on it if you really want to deal with either RPing elementals, or if you just want more weird ethical problems in your game. I think that;s why most people leave it at that little footnote in the golem section though.

[BioCharge]

Though, it's also worth noting that Eberron has a subsystem to crafting where you bind elementals to magic items. It's how the setting gets flying ships and the lightning rail, among other things.

[SwordChucks]

The idea of binding elemental spirits to create a golem is mentioned in the legend of The Golem of Prague. I'd link you to Wikipedia but I'm on my phone.