[Elven Myths] Snow Elf Lore

[edelos 1500]

 

((Heavy use of Ch. 5 of Elven Origins: High Elves onwards in this lore. I would heavily recommend reading it. In general, if this is accepted it is heavily recommended that Snow Elf players overall attempt to conform to the lore herein. Open to recommended changes. I'm watching this thread for "stop trying to bring them back" because it legitimately doesn't do anything and we all know snow elves aren't going to die out even if we want them to, but other than that feel free to post comments and concerns.))

Ancient History of the Mali'fenn

 

"Our wayward cousins seek to achieve perfection, to preserve their dated definition of purity through maehr'sae hiylun'ehya. Their search means they know they do not have it. Fight, then, and show them the true definition of perfection - that of thill'al."

Aelthos II Tundrak

 

The Mali'fenn defending against Setherien and his Harbingers, Late Anthos

 

Encompassed within:

The Experiment

Purity

Ice

Fenn

 

 

Part I: The Experiment

 

The tale of the Mali’fenn begins with the schismatic war of the ancient Elcihi’thilln of the High Elves, or the Silver City. The untouched visage of the would-be ruler of the Mali'aheral, Lomal, after the inferno died around him during his trial by fire had stunned the many Mali’thilln of the Silver Hall, among them a young researcher named Aelthos Thuln’diraar and those of his laboratory. They stood then as he called for followers, a fire sparked in their hearts by the claims of elevation and destiny, and joined Lomal. They would be among the first of the Elsil’Parir, the Swords of the Harbinger, the flock of their prophet.  As Lomal, who now called himself the Elannil’Ilum, chose Aelthos to be among the first to ascend the steps to his word altar and change his form, Aelthos would continue his research in a spectacular way - to ask for a change akin to that of the Golden Pools that their parents and grandparents had bathed in centuries before. Instead of gaining the fantastical form of a half-animal, and instead of gaining vast magical resistances, he would seek his version of the completion of maehr’sae hiylun’ehya - to become what he would call thill’al, purity complete. Physically his ears shortened and became more triangular as the hair around it bleached to a snow-white color. His eyes became a bright silver, and his skin paled to just more than that of a ghost. His muscles became more pronounced, his arms toned and hands dextrous, and his height shortened to an even six feet. He, however, would not take up any of the truly transformative properties that many other Elsil’Parir had chosen to take as he saw himself as the embodiment of physical perfection.

 

His experiment, then, was to question whether the the use of the word altar would fundamentally change them, and to do so he would enlist his laboratory. His researchers, scientists, the sparse few mages of the laboratory, and their families would gather at the altar one day and Lomal would change them one by one, granting them all nearly the same changes as Aelthos before them, with slight individual modifications of eye and hair color. Some had eyes a deep amethyst color, while others chose hair a pale blonde color instead of white. He saw them as family, then, and they tested themselves and each other.

 

Part II: Purity

 

They would, however, soon be forgotten by Lomal for those he had changed into more exotic and powerful forms, and by Larihei’s folk for their lack of connection to Lomal thereafter. Indeed, though originally entranced by their new forms, the lack of change during the stagnated conflict left Aelthos disillusioned, and whilst he had thrown in his proverbial lot with the Elsil’Parir, his people wished to return to their cousins and their purpose of forging their own destiny. He would, late in one Snow’s Maiden night, send a message across the wall asking for return. Months later, they would enact their plan on the third night of what would be called the Ball of the Century. As Lomal hosted perhaps the most grand ball the Silver City had ever seen, with magical displays far beyond that which had come before, Aelthos and his band stole away across the wards of the great wall put up to protect Larihei’s people from Lomal’s, assisted by those of Larihei’s followers that had been trying to undermine Lomal’s influence.

 

They found themselves quickly isolated, however, as many of those that had once been their friends now declared their forms impure. Those that sought to join them thereafter were a tenth of the number that had applied previously to the once-prestigious laboratory, and indeed they found themselves to be a different definition of pure than their brethren.

 

While they had set themselves back on the path of progress as they had once known it, peace would not come to them easily. When Larihei called upon Lomal for a final debate and shot in front of their many followers, and when Lomal’s supporters then broke through great wall’s wards, they fled with their brethren. They fled through Tahn’s great plains and ancient wilderness, and when they came across the portal, they too trusted in the missing Larihei and jumped into the portal.

 

Part III: Ice

 

When they found themselves deep in the Aegisian wilderness, they wandered separately from the many that would later assimilate into Laurelin. Instead, they would find themselves in the deep North, far past the future location of the Human city of Winterfell, where their changed bodies would not be called a curse by their cousins. Here they found that they had indeed lost some of what had once made them Mali’aheral - their eyes had only flecks of the deposits once vibrantly glowing within, and their search for health halted as soon as they had become accustomed to their "perfected" bodies.

Instead they sought to defend themselves from the constant ringing within minds, the effects of the loss of the word altar. For decades, the men and women of the laboratory tested everything they could, subjecting themselves to intense training and work to delay what had taken the minds of their weakest. Indeed, deep in Aegis’ northern tundras, Aelthos seemed to be the only truly sane one of them. For this reason, they would not scout far past their frozen laboratory until the advent of Iblees, which forced them to flee south and into the Verge with the rest of the Descendants. In Asulon, too, they searched for a cure for decades with little luck before the continent was destroyed in fire and flood.

 

Aelthos, while a good leader and smart in coupling his people, knew he would not be able to hold their new curse at bay for long. He had slowly found himself less in control, and while the changes of the word altar on him were small, he had still accepted Lomal's changes those many years go. Though outwardly he was still the same grand leader his people had always seen, he felt the lack of the altar eating at the edges of his mind. For Aelthos, though, he most cherished and cared about his young and growing son. When his son showed to be under the same mental strain as he, Aelthos knew finally that for their survival they must leave their laboratory. To find a cure for his son and his kin, Aelthos and his two original laboratory managers searched Anthos far and wide before finally standing at a frozen, bright blue lake far beyond the Wall that mirrored what had once kept them from being true High Elves. They had travelled for years, and their wills were all but broken by their lack of success. Their last lead had brought them to this lake, but they’d found it to be devoid of even the slightest lead. Here, as a tribe of mutated Bohra began to surround the group, they finally collapsed. Aelthos, for the third time in his life after his change at the altar and leap into the portal, placed his life in the hands of a greater being than he. Here, despairing for his son and their family’s fates, he prayed for salvation.

 

Part IV: Fenn

 

Whether by luck or by the will of a higher being, they were saved that day. As the Bohra closed in, the mountains framing the valley trembled and shook as great sheets of white thundered down around them, annihilating the small army of Bohra that had surrounded them and subsiding enough by the time it reached them to only push them onto the ice covering the lake.

 

Also, perhaps because he sensed the avalanche, or perhaps of sheer luck in passing, Wyrvun, the Aengudaemon that had once fallen to corruption, learned of their survival, their drive in searching for sanity. Delving into Aelthos' half-mad mind, he pressed himself  in a vision to Aelthos, delivering a verdict - bind himself to the Lord of the Deep Cold and have his people returned to sanity, or condemn all that had followed him those many years ago to the continuation of the painful spiral they had endured. Aelthos made up his mind in a heartbeat, and the effects were felt the next.

 

When they returned to their laboratory, they were welcomed with great fanfare. To their new savior, Wyrvun, they dedicated shrines, temples, even their laboratory to him, renaming it to Fenn for the crystalline sheet that had covered the lake, saving Aelthos' group from death by Bohra or avalanche. They so truly followed their new lord that they took to calling themselves Mali’fenn, and neither Wyrvun nor Aelthos would stop them. Those joyous times, however, would not last. Only three years later, Aelthos would pass in his sleep. He was given a grand funeral, with a display of magic and people none of them had seen since Elcihi. It, however, raised the question of who would be the next head of those of the Deep Cold. Thill’al, that notion which had separated them originally from the other Mali’aheral of the city, gave their answer - his son, he who had inherited his father’s silver eyes and “perfected” features. There could be no other.

 

They were a new people, then, with large numbers and a mew leader. Aelthos II, whose original name is now lost to time, declared Fenn a Princedom in honor of Malin, only true king of the Elves. He became Grand Prince, for he was declared thill’onn, born of purity. His people, some now exhibiting the traits of those who had joined later rather than those created, worked to make their newfound Princedom their pride, and Aelthos II would open the Princedom to the outside world.

 

 

Mali'fenn march to the portal to the Verge, end of Aegisian era

 

Features

 

The Mali’fenn are generally 6’ even and have muscular builds on average, and while many of the original ilk were changed by Lomal, many of them also have mixed High Elven blood. The average Mali’fenn has a hair color ranging from white to pale blonde, though light brown hair is not completely unheard of. Their eye colors range from white-silver, to hyper blue, to a deep amethyst and everything in between. Any other eye colors indicate mixed-blood with either High Elves or other races, though is not necessarily frowned upon. They lack much of the inherent magical prowess formerly exhibited by their brethren, though they are by no means unable to use magic. Their high cheekbones and angular faces have been softened, somewhat, though their ears ranging from two to four inches in length have become sharpened and angled. Perhaps because of the world altar’s effects, the Mali’fenn have a lower birthrate outside of their race, with interbreeding even between them and other Elves made less likely.

Though all Elves eventually go mad with age, the Mali'fenn are particularly susceptible to this particular aspect of the Elves. While a normal Elf's mind begins to unravel around the age of 1000, a Snow Elf's will begin nearly half a millennia earlier, at the age of 600.

 

 

OOC Guidelines

Pregnancy: Roll out of 100, 95-100/100 meaning pregnancy. If with non-Snow Elf, roll out of 100, with 97-100/100 meaning pregnancy. This is partially to make sure we all follow the same guidelines.

 

Magic and Physical Prowess: It is recommended that a Snow Elf be played as more powerful physically than the average Elf, but that their ability to use magic is greatly weakened. Even if one were to devote their entire life to magic, it is our recommendation never to go over 1 main and 3 subtypes for magic.

 

Age: The oldest living Mali'fenn, as of this post, is dated to 193 years old, or the age of the Princedom on the server. It is recommended that you play a character at or below this age. We will be removing our current age restriction, but please remember that any Snow Elf above 600 years old will have their mind unravel, and by 650 would be fully insane.

 

The subrace is meant to be played according to pretty strict features lore-wise, so we’d recommend not taking as much artistic license in the skin and structural features of the character. This means white to pale blonde hair, pale skin, and slightly shorter than High Elf ears.

 

Written by:

bickando

ww2buff99

Dannybrine

 

With tips from:

Leowarrior14

[gone_fishin 4296]

i'd dab to this

[mitto 2256]

FM Notice:

 

Before people start jumping on this piece ramped up to meme, any posts unconstructive, offensive and unnecessarily abrasive will be removed and you will get points.

 

Please be civil.

 

beware snelfdomination

[gone_to_the_store 2673]

cool lore

 

(also nice song in ur signature)

[Hero_ 1366]

Where's the edel I kno and <3 bby come back

 

all seriousness good lore

[Rip and Tear 224]

[Chef891 230]

Been playing a snow elf for quite some time now and this lore is something that I can get behind and stay behind..... Good job Edel

[MrMineLoveDude 297]

This lore is very informative and helps clear any confusion and fills in the gaps within the current lore for the mali'fenn. Great read.

[NotEvilAtAll 3802]

Well done! It is clear and concise as well as interesting! Great read! And great lore!

[BrandNewKitten 2644]

It is important to read the entirety of the lore you are sprouting off of. Those mali'aheral that mutated themselves using the powert of Lomal given to him by Tayl eventually went insane because of their connection to Tayl's word altar.

 

It is strange then to use the origin point without the repercussions. 

[edelos 1500]

47 minutes ago, Sir K Andruske said:

It is important to read the entirety of the lore you are sprouting off of. Those mali'aheral that mutated themselves using the powert of Lomal given to him by Tayl eventually went insane because of their connection to Tayl's word altar.

 

It is strange then to use the origin point without the repercussions. 

0

 

 

This is a good point. We state within our story two things that we used to offset this - that they did go insane for a while, and whatever benefits they took from Lomal's word altar were quite minimal compared to the others that were changed. Their insanity is eventually cured by Wyrvun with the side effect of guaranteed, OOC-roll based lower fertility, though we could obviously add more.

 

Point is, Aelthos went for very visual changes while the majority of those changed had very drastic, form-changing differences. It's like the difference of transforming to a model and a superhero - obviously the change would still have repercussions, but I would think it would be slightly less than that of suddenly transforming to be half-snake (though I may be wrong). It is also not stated exactly the time period in which the madness took form in Lomal's changed, just that it happened and both those insane and those that stayed behind were gone by the time the Descendants returned.

 

I hope this answers your critique well. If it doesn't, please tell me so I can fix lore accordingly!

 

Edit:

Tayl realized the defiance of the arrogant mortal he had struck a bargain with, and made his choice. The power he imbued into the word altar was erased away. Lomal’s connection to it severed. And with that, the Daemon left the mortal plane to let all Lomal had built crumble. Without the daemon’s power infused into the altar, the mutated elves who had depended on it lost control of their minds. Some turned on others, going feral. Some simply isolated themselves deeply and descended into madness.

 

Thus, the Vihai struck.

 

Quoted off of Elven Origins: High Elves. I didn't think it meant they went insane right away, but the last line, "descended into madness", implies it happened over time. If a group were to hold itself together, as seen here in our lore, 

 

Instead they sought to defend themselves from the constant ringing within minds, the effects of the loss of the word altar. For decades, the men and women of the laboratory tested everything they could, subjecting themselves to intense training and work to delay what had taken the minds of their weakest. Indeed, deep in Aegis’ northern tundras, Aelthos seemed to be the only truly sane one of them.

 

I believe it could feasibly overcome this. Though I may have accidentally implied it, Aelthos was not actually sane during this time either, hence him taking two other leaders and leaving their people to search for something that may not even exist and with no idea what they'd be searching for.

[gandalfo 745]

this is really thought out. +1

[BrandNewKitten 2644]

39 minutes ago, Edeldrache said:

 

This is a good point. We state within our story two things that we used to offset this - that they did go insane for a while, and whatever benefits they took from Lomal's word altar were quite minimal compared to the others that were changed. Their insanity is eventually cured by Wyrvun with the side effect of guaranteed, OOC-roll based lower fertility, though we could obviously add more.

 

Point is, Aelthos went for very visual changes while the majority of those changed had very drastic, form-changing differences. It's like the difference of transforming to a model and a superhero - obviously the change would still have repercussions, but I would think it would be slightly less than that of suddenly transforming to be half-snake (though I may be wrong). It is also not stated exactly the time period in which the madness took form in Lomal's changed, just that it happened and both those insane and those that stayed behind were gone by the time the Descendants returned.

 

I hope this answers your critique well. If it doesn't, please tell me so I can fix lore accordingly!

 

Edit:

Tayl realized the defiance of the arrogant mortal he had struck a bargain with, and made his choice. The power he imbued into the word altar was erased away. Lomal’s connection to it severed. And with that, the Daemon left the mortal plane to let all Lomal had built crumble. Without the daemon’s power infused into the altar, the mutated elves who had depended on it lost control of their minds. Some turned on others, going feral. Some simply isolated themselves deeply and descended into madness.

 

Thus, the Vihai struck.

 

Quoted off of Elven Origins: High Elves. I didn't think it meant they went insane right away, but the last line, "descended into madness", implies it happened over time. If a group were to hold itself together, as seen here in our lore, 

 

Instead they sought to defend themselves from the constant ringing within minds, the effects of the loss of the word altar. For decades, the men and women of the laboratory tested everything they could, subjecting themselves to intense training and work to delay what had taken the minds of their weakest. Indeed, deep in Aegis’ northern tundras, Aelthos seemed to be the only truly sane one of them.

 

I believe it could feasibly overcome this. Though I may have accidentally implied it, Aelthos was not actually sane during this time either, hence him taking two other leaders and leaving their people to search for something that may not even exist and with no idea what they'd be searching for.

0

 

 

 

So you know how Elves go insane eventually? Why not have the major repercussion be easier insanity/weaker minds.

 

So because snow elves got a "physical buff" at the cost of magic being less viable having them prone to mental illness via the use of too much magic (3-4 subtypes) and going insane at an earlier age (500-600) seems like a good way yo approach it. 

 

Another way you can describe it would be having the first snow elves that were granted power to truly have dominion over cryomancy. After Lomal's fall that power would eventually degrade to its current state.

[Luv 2408]

But I have a serious question?

 

Why write this at all? 

 

Why play a snow elf at all?

 

These are the hard-hitting questions, that I need answers for.

[ShameJax 1368]

Arayon Drakon grins from beneath his grave.