Elves

[Wretched 2038]

Elves, or rather, Mali are the swift footed inhabitants of many different terrains, and many different assorted cultures and sub-races. For example, High Elves live in their Silver City. Wood Elves in their trees within their forests. Lastly, the Dark Elven sub-race inhabits caves and forests with thick canopies. These three elven sub-races each also have different cultures. The elves are the longest lived of all the races, some living well over a thousand years. Although they are the longest lived, they have the least new births out of all the races as a result of Iblees curse, only reliably fertile for the first five centuries of their lives and with elfesses only capable of conceiving ten to fifteen years after their last birth. This makes pregnant elfesses a very rare sight. And it is very unusual for more than two siblings to be seen growing together in the land of the elves, as elves mature more quickly than the shorter lived races, reaching the fullness of puberty in about two decades.

 

Appearance

 

 

 

Elves have long ears, and tend toward fair skin and hair, just like Malin, their forefather. However, their time among nature has molded them toward a wide variety of appearances. Elves are also the most likely among all of the races to dye their hair in natural colours, with green and aqua the most common and conservative colors. Most Elves choose to keep their hair relatively long, with more active individuals braiding it back to keep it from interfering with their work. The length and texture of an Elf's hair usually speaks for their health and vigor, with longer and silkier locks considered almost seductive.

Elves are normally quite tall, usually reaching heights of five to seven feet tall.

 

History

 

 

 

The ancient homeland of the elves was known as the Princedom of Malinor which ruled over the elves for many years. In early Asulon a second elven nation comprised exclusively of the supremacist high elves known as the Silver Enclave of Haelun'or split from Malinor. After a period of decline throughout Asulon, the elven nation was destroyed in Anthos by the Conclave of Malin, ruled by Justicars.

 

After years of authoritarian rule, the Conclave of Malin collapsed and through a democratic election, Kalenz Uradir, Sohaer of the Silver Enclave of Haelun'or, controlled by the High Elves, came to rule over all the elves for the next few decades, enjoying reasonably improved strength and protection with human allies, despite the mistreatment of wood and dark elves under high elven rule. After thirty years, a wood elven-led revolt removed the High Elves from power. After a period of disorder, the State of Laureh'lin rose, led by the orchestrators of the revolution. The government of Laureh'lin deemed the High Elves of Haelun'or and their ideals to be poisonous to elven kind, they offered amnesty any high elf who renounced silver law and returned, but hunted down the rest, which many high elves to this day call a genocide.

 

The high elves were not pleased, and after six years, the High Elves of Haelun'or returned from exile with allies and threatened to destroy Laureh'lin entirely if their city was not returned to them. However, due to several diplomatic blunders by Kalenz Uradir, the high elves lost orcish support and Kalenz was banished by his own people. Eventually the two nations worked out a deal with the new leaders of both Laureh’lin and Haelun’or whereby the High Elves would reclaim their city and the mali'ame would continue to live independantly. A segment of the land that once belonged to Haelun'or was given to the mali'ame to construct a city for themselves which they called Leyulin.

 

However, the conflict between the elves was not yet over. Tensions grew between Laureh'lin and Haelun'or, as Haelun'or's Evarir'thilln began increasingly aggressive attacks on the wood elven people, kidnapping and torturing civilians by pouring gold in their eyes as punishment for their protection of Phaedrus Lle'hileia, a former leader of the wood elves who had been the one who had led what they saw as a genocide against them. Soon the two states reached the level of full blown conflict and the mali'aheral of Haelun'or invaded the city Leyulin, which had been abandoned by the wood elves due to its disadvantageous position at the bottom of Haelun’ors plateau. Though Laureh'lin had moved its capital, they and the Dwarves hoped to hold the region from high elven influence. The ensuing battle, known as the "Battle of Leyulin" was ultimately won by the crushing numbers of the high elves of Haelun'or and Humans of Oren. The Wood Elves, during this conflict, retreated across Fiandria to their new city Cerulin (built to distance themselves from their enemy) before peace was eventually made with the "Treaty of Fiandria".

 

However, this peace would not last as long as anticipated. The High Elves of Haelun'or created a entity known as the Emerald Dominion, with the aim of uniting elfkind under them once more. The Dark Elves of Ker’nor joined out of fear of war being declared on them by Haelun’ors Orenian allies. The high elves then proceeded to beckon the Wood Elves of Laureh'lin to join, but on the condition that they remove all ‘impure’ High Elves from their lands. The State of Laureh'lin refused, and thus the Emerald Dominion proceeded with threats of war. It was only an order to cease and desist from the King of Reformed Kingdom of Oren, Andrik Vydra, that saved them from their fate in exchange for wood elven vassalisation. In an attempt to bring the high elves under his control, troops were moved from Oren into Haelun'or, which resulted in the Sillumir of Haelun'or condemning

Andrik Vydra to death by acid.

 

Haelun’or was sacked by Orenian forces after the death of the human monarch, and soon the Kingdom declared war on the high elves. Vydra’s heir, Olivier de Savoie offered to vassalize the States of Laureh’lin, which gladly submitted itself to Orenian protection from the high elves.

The Dark Elves of Ker'nor soon vassalized under Oren as well. Haelun’or eventually fell after a short skirmish with Oren, and surrendered to vassalization.

 

All the elves were stable under the reign of the human kingdom when the descendants moved to Vailor. It was during this time that Laureh’lin experienced a blooming golden age of population, culture and military strength under its new leader, Tristin Tresery. All elven nations participated in human wars such as the Duke’s War and 18 years war.

 

Haelun’or was eventually given the option to vote for independance from Oren after serving loyally with the Kingdom in the Duke’s war as repentance for Kalenz’s murder of the human’s former king, and voted in favour. Laureh’lin chose to remain with Oren as the wood elven and human peoples had become close. Laureh’lin was made into a principality and several wood elven houses raised to the status of Orenian nobility.

 

Finally, after the long 18-years war against Urguan, in which the Principality of Laureh’lin fought fiercely in on behalf of their Orenian benefactors, the Emperor of Oren granted the wood elves full independence after nearly 50 years of vassalage.

 

Tristin Tresery was crowned a King by his people, and set out to unify all elven peoples. The Dark Elves, now living on the same island as the Wood Elves happily joined this new united state. The high elves, after some coercion, negotiation and wood elven support from Oren, joined as well.

 

Centuries after internal conflict tore apart the elven people, the mali are united once more under the Kingdom known as the Dominion of Malin. With the Wood Elf Tristin Tresery as its King.

 

Wood Elves

 

Wood Elves have brown skin, ranging from a light tan to cocoa colored, and are the most likely of all the races to dye their hair green. Though it is usually a shade of dark red, wood elves are often also born as brunettes. On average they are the shortest of the elves, typically slightly smaller than the average human. Their size makes them the most agile and nimble sub-race, making them more suited for quick attacks and escapes in their favoured woodlands when they choose to fight. They live within their sacred forests, many take up druidism, while others simply live our their lives in coexistence with nature.

 

High Elves

 

Those of the High Elf bloodline can usually be pointed out for their very long ears, platinum hair, and the golden tint to their fair skin. This tint is complemented by their hair, which is usually blonde, though silver and light brown hair is not unheard of. Their eyes range from hues of green to blue, occasionally even purple. It is also not uncommon for an High Elf's eye color to become darker as they age, revealing the accumulation of wisdom. They are the tallest of all elves, and are usually quite thin, making them the sub-race worst suited for physical combat. Despite this they often excel at the use of arcane magic. They often have a strict code which governs their lives, and have a distinct hate for impurity and half-breeds.

 

Dark Elves

 

Dark Elves have quite dark skin, especially for Elves, usually twilight grey or obsidian, though rarely dark blue, with hair ranging from pale blue to black, but usually having white or silver hair as well. They are typically between the heights of their taller high elven and shorter wood elven brethren. They are also the most muscular elven sub-race, making them the best built for combat and the use of a sword. Though elven eyes are usually purple, blue, or green, and very rarely brown among Wood Elves, in rare cases, the eye color of a Dark Elf may include crimson or violet. They, like the High-Elves, have strict codes governing their lives, often not taking half-breeds into their city. 

 

Aging

 

Elves develop very similarly to Humans for the first two decades, with both races reaching adulthood near the end of this time frame. Once this point is reached, physical advancement for an Elf slows down so much that it seems as if they aren't aging at all. Elves are also not burdened with the curse of mortality that is present in all Humans, leading to the oldest Elves having an age upwards of eight centuries. While they may be considered immortal by other races and even themselves, there have been cases of Elves dying of old age when they were older than 1000. Due to Elves still being affected by physical harm, such as disease, murder, and internal complications, it is highly unlikely for an Elf to live that long. As of the current date, there are only a few Elves left that are over 1200, as even the oldest Elves alive might not have met Malin, or were quite young when and if it happened. Despite the incredibly long lifespan, their mental progression does not slow. This can be attributed to the fact that "middle age" isn't reached in Elven culture until around five centuries after birth. For this reason, Elves advance their intelligence over many centuries, with relatively young Elves commonly being wiser than the oldest of Humans. Although an Elf reaches physical maturity within a couple decades Elven culture dictates that an Elf is not considered an adult for a longer time, usually half a century to a full century.

 

Language

 

Despite a common misconception, the majority of Elves have little understanding of Ancient Elven and have instead spoken the Common language for at least four centuries. Why the ancient tongue was abandoned has not yet been revealed, however it has been speculated to have been deemed an illegal language, thus explaining the difficulty scholars have had in piecing together the ancient language. While steps have been made to educate the next generation of elves on their language of heritage, pronunciation remains the most elusive element and may be the missing link in the forgotten practice of encouraging the growth of nature through whispered words. There are a few living Elves who know the old language and as such it is difficult to piece the language together in modern times and more often than not, words are sacrificed to make way for the modern understandings. The language itself has evolved very little, perhaps this is the reason very few Elves understand it.

 

Curse

 

The curse of the Elves is one of infertility. Both males and females Elves suffer from this curse, and so do all those descendants from Malin, which means halfbreeds will also suffer from this curse. This is the same to all sub-races of Elves, as they are all affected by it equally. Elves age similarly to Humans in a physical sense until their twenties, making it possible for an Elf to have a child at this young age. This would, however, be highly unlikely because of both the curse and the Elven culture. An Elf would still be considered very young before the first half a century has passed of his life, and so not yet considered an adult responsible enough to raise a child. Elves would be taught to wait until adulthood before they have a child. An Elven couple would have to pass many years together before finally being able to bare a child. When an Elven female is pregnant and gives birth, she will not be able to have another child for at least ten to fifteen years afterwards, but the norm for an Elf would be to wait much longer before having another child. When reaching middle age at about 500 years old, an Elf will become fully infertile, never able to have a child again. This is true for both males and females of the Elven kind.