Birdwhisperer

Prepare yourselves. I don't know how to use spoilers with this forum.

Elven History as Seen from the Wood Elf Perspective

Asulon at the time of my arrival:

• Sythera is High Princess
• Haelun'or is isolated from Malinor.
• High Princess Sythera steps down and Bravepaw is made High Prince.
• Tensions rise between Malinor and Salvus as Queen Hightower attempts to overthrow Prince Bravepaw and place Princess Elene in charge of Malinor.
• Bravepaw prepares a sanctuary deep in the wilds for his citizens to move to in order to escape the impending invasion. The high elves of Haelun'or join them.
• The new settlement didn't have a chance to flourish because Asulon was destroyed and everyone had to flee to the Isle of Elysium. The conflict between Malinor and Salvus dissolved afterwards.

Elysium & Kalos:

• The three subraces of elves settle on a coastal mountain range on the large island. Three special districts are constructed for each subrace and Haelun'or is essentially merged with Malinor through necessity. Several high elves are added as Princes, including Kolyat and Lucion. The dark elves also take on a more prominent role, and this marks the beginning of Khel's political career as he is eventually added as a Prince as well.
• Oren and the White Rose become increasingly agressive toward the elves. Bravepaw disappears from Malinor and Kolyat is made the new High Prince to deal with the human threat. Tensions are high but there is not exactly all out war. Bravepaw returns but is not allowed to resume his position. Lucion steps down.
• A confusing situation occurs where the high elves come into possession of a special dwarven anvil. If you ask the high elves, they will claim it was given to them for safekeeping, if you ask the dwarves they will claim it was stolen.
• Elysium is destroyed by a volcano and the races must move to an archipelago called Kalos. The elves each go to the same island but the high elven settlement is more remote and walled off from the rest.
• The dwarves find out about the anvil and prepare to attack Haelun'or. Malinor insists that the dwarves do no such thing, and the dwarves demand a huge monetary tribute. (I don't remember how exactly this was resolved.)
• Eventually everyone moved to Anthos.

Anthos:

• Malinor settled on Anthos, claiming a large forest. Haelun'or once again builds an isolated city. The high elves are unhappy with Kolyat for his impurity.
• Meanwhile, Kolyat attempts to implement a special currency system in Malinor. It is universally reviled.
• Oren aggression increases to all out war. The White Rose commit countless atrocities against the elves, their most infamous tools being flaying their victims alive and hanging their bodies on crosses. Kolyat refuses to handle the threat on several occasions. Haelun'or, led by Sohaer Kalenz, allies with the White Rose.
• Kolyat and a few of his closest associates depart from Anthos in what was known as the elven exodus. Titania rises to the position of High Princess.
• Oren's armies attack Malinor in a battle that causes a huge amount of destruction.
• High Princess Titania and Prince Avern'len negotiate a peace with the Emperor of Oren. All of Malinor's land save for the capital city is annexed to Oren. The White Rose puts in place several security checkpoints that block off Malinor from the rest of the world.
• There is a war with the Delvers, a magical guild which was founded by Kalenz and his dark elf friend whose name I don't remember. By this time, however, the Delvers were led by Artimec.
• The orcs assist Malinor against the Delvers. (I also don't remember how this resolved exactly but not much changed.)
• High Princess Titania refuses to pay the orcs for their help, so the orcs attack Malinor several times as well.
• In other parts of the world, the Great Exodus of Oren occurs for unknown in-character reasons. Oren nobility disappears en-mass, leaving Oren with an inexperienced Emperor in the middle of a war with the dwarves. The dwarves soundly defeat the crippled empire. Rather than abusing their new power, the dwarves give Malinor their land back.
• Unfortunately, the Scourge from the north have proven an effective enemy. The capital of Malinor and the city of Haelun'or are both completely destroyed. High Princess Titania builds a new city that is generally referred to as New Malinor. At first the high elves rejoin with the rest of the elves, but eventually they all find their way to the Tomb, a secret underground complex in the mountains.
• High Princess Titania steps down, and High Prince Eleron leads Malinor.
• Prince Khel constructs a village for the dark elves in the forest, and the dark elves abandon New Malinor to live there.
• Artimec and Elorna gather up whatever wood elves remain and construct their own town, Leanniel, in a wooded valley.
• Discontent is strong in Malinor. Another faction called the Conclave, founded by Kalameet, 'Lion' DeNurem, and a few others, begins construction on a secret elven city. At the same time, they stage a rebellion from the inside of Malinor and call upon the dwarves to 'free' the elves from their 'oppressive' government.
• High Prince Eleron disappears, presumed dead. All of the guards turn against the government and all of the government officials either resign, disappear, or surrender. Only Prince Ebs resists the rebellion/Conclave/dwarves and is imprisoned by the Conclave, but later secretly freed by a rescue team of Halflings.
• The Conclave presumes itself the new elven faction. Many citizens move to live in the new city. However, the dark elves and wood elves remain in their isolated towns.
• Artimec is pressured into stepping down and Leanniel is led by Elorna and Dwynl.
• Eventually Leanniel merges with the dark elves. The dark elves construct an underground settlement beneath Leanniel. Haelun'or is now led by Sohaer Lelien. They remain isolated in their Tomb, however Lelien begins to open up lines of diplomacy with Leanniel.
• A masquerade ball is held in the dark elf district of Leanniel, with all three subraces of elves present. The party is briefly interrupted by a new faction of elves - Snow Elves - but they are taken care of quickly.
• The Conclave tries to absorb Leanniel with strong resistance from its leadership. In order to avoid directly attacking the much smaller and weaker town, Kalameet calls on his Easterner allies to threaten Leanniel with war until Elorna surrenders.
• Kalameet disappears, faking his own death. (The reason might not be known in RP, not sure. He was turned into a shade, and so that's why he left.) Lion now leads the Conclave.
• The wood elves and dark elves in Leanniel mostly stay in their town, but they pay tribute to the Conclave and are able to call on its armies to protect them, which becomes necessary.
• The Scourge once more attacks the elves, focusing almost entirely on the town of Leanniel. The town completely falls to corruption, some of its citizens are enslaved while others flee. Many citizens were druids, and so they rejoin the main druidic order, some hide in the recently healed ruins of old Malinor, and some go to the Conclave.
• Not long after Leanniel's fall, Anthos also falls. The newly emerged Golden Lance (paladins of Xan) help the people of Anthos find a passage to the Fringe, a large island with bizarre geography.

The Fringe:

• The Conclave and Haelun'or built settlements, and some dark elves were allowed to live in Haelun'or. The wood elves that were still displeased with the Conclave built their own homes or lived with the druids.
• Lion, leader of the Conclave, stepped down and announced that he would be holding an election between Kalenz and Elorna to determine who would get to lead the elves. The votes were close but Kalenz won out.
• Haelun'or takes in the wood elves, and Elorna and Dwyn work on building a new district next to Haelun'or. Dak'ir and his dark elves build a larger district as well and the era of the three subraces united under Haelun'or begins.
• The high elves, lead by Sohaer Kalenz, repeatedly abuse their position, even going so far as to create a secret police to route out any wood elf or dark elf dissenters, Artimec being an especially prominent one. Phaedrus the blacksmith rises to prominence as the captain of the wood elven guard.
• One to two druids attempt to assassinate Kalenz and Haelun'or declares a war on the druids. Oren assists Haelun'or and the dwarves protect the druids that live on their land. Elorna is both the leader of the wood elves in Haelun'or and a prominent member of the druids, and she tries to bring peace between the two groups. Lucion replaces Elorna with Phaedrus while the conflict is ongoing and eventually the druids that started the war agree to turn themselves in for the sake of peace.
• At some point a massive war erupts in the Fringe, primarily Oren and Haelun'or vs Orcs, Dwarves, and Snow Elves. The Snow Elves are all but wiped out.

Thales:

• Haelun'or builds its high elf city. Many wood elves abandon the wood elf district to live in a town founded by Dwyn.
• The high elves imprison Dwyn until he agrees to make his town a vassal to Haelun'or.
• A high elf named Durion rises to prominence, and leads a group of elves whose name I forget.

Athera:

• Finally a new land is found that is not a desolate island. Haelun'or settles in Athera with a new city that is again divided into three districts (with a central district connecting them all.)
• Durion attempts a coup to take control of Haelun'or, but is stopped and executed. Kalenz uses him as an example of everything bad for decades after.
• Unrest among the wood elves increases. Haelun'or is raided frequently but Phaedrus and his wood elf guards beat back almost every attack. The high elves put Phaedrus in charge of defense of the entire city and disband their own small guard force.
• Iatrillemar rises to the position of Sohaer. However, many conflicting high elven parties attempt to assassinate each other.
• Phaedrus begins talks with other nation leaders, to gauge who would support him if he took command. All the while, he, Dak'ir, and Elorna attempted to negotiate equality for wood elves and dark elves.
• When Iatrillemar is found encased in crystal, Phaedrus assumes it was another assassination attempt. He declares martial law and attempts to organize an election for the high elves to choose a new leader.
• At some point the high elves smuggle all of the books from their library and set the building on fire.
• Kalenz steps in and declares (I think Kalameet?) the new Sohaer. Phaedrus takes full control of Haelun'or with the backing of the dwarves and orcs. What is known as the high elven genocide involves the other races declaring their intention to kill any high elf they found. However, contrary to popular belief, Phaedrus declared Haelun'or a sanctuary for any high elf that would renounce their ideology of purity and did not himself actually call for a genocide.
• The Undead attack Haelun'or and wreck it for some reason. Meanwhile the high elves disappear and settle in a small spot of land that Oren gives them.
• Phaedrus founds the new nation of Laureh'lin. Artimec returns to help Phaedrus fight a coven of necromancers that have settled in a nearby swamp. Many normal years follow.
• The high elves reemerge - with a dark elf faction that popped up out of nowhere and for some reason wants to take over Dak'ir's dark elves - and attempt to take back their city. Phaedrus steps down and lets Artimec conduct the negotiations.
• Artimec agrees to give the high elves their old city, and constructs a new city for Laureh'lin to move to. The dark elves go off and do their own thing, the faction that arose to help Haelun'or completely disappearing again.
• Some retarded golden pool magic hoodoo happens when the high elves take back Haelun'or which causes a huge plateau to rise from the earth and create a perfect, completely impregnable location for a new high elf city. They also have giraffes. The new Haelun'or plateau and the new city of Laureh'lin are uncomfortably close together.
• Many years of peace follow.
• That all ends when Kalenz decides whatever terms he agreed on the last time aren't good enough. He demands that Laureh'lin hand over Phaedrus and Elorna to be punished for their crimes of genocide against the high elves. They also begin kidnapping wood elven citizens and guards, pouring molten gold in their eyes, and flinging them from the walls of Haelun'or into the city of Laureh'lin below.
• Laureh'lin fights back, gaining the aid of the dwarves. Haelun'or has their allies in Oren.
• A battle is fought and Laureh'lin falls. The people retreat further into the forest and build a new city. There is peace for a time.
• Once again Kalenz threatens Laureh'lin and makes demands of them. A diplomatic meeting is held in Haelun'or, with several of the wood elf ambassadors being killed and Dwyn being severely injured. Dak'ir and the dark elf representatives do nothing.
• Dwyn and Artimec eventually agree to Kalenz's demands, and claim they will renounce Phaedrus as a murderer and give him and Elorna up to the high elves. The two escape to the druids.
• By this point, Oren has seemingly gotten tired of being used as Kalenz's personal army. The king orders some of his soldiers to stay in Haelun'or and keep order.
• While the King of Oren is visiting Haelun'or to inform them of this plan, Kalenz and another elf use an acid trap to flood the courtyard with acid and thus kill the King. The men with him immediately turn on the high elves, slaughtering anyone in the city they can find and ransacking the sacred library.
• Oren mourns their king and moves swiftly to take over all three of the elven subraces. The wood elves and dark elves surrender without a fight, perhaps happy they no longer have to deal with Kalenz.
• Kalenz fakes his own death a few times.
• Oren chooses a wood elf of Oren, the son of a White Rose, to become the new governor of Laureh'lin.
• At some point the dark elves merge with Laureh'lin again.
• Despite pressure from Oren to conform to Canonism, Druidism becomes increasingly popular among the wood elves, thanks to the efforts of Artimec.

It's around here that my character's involvement with elven politics waned. So, the end.

I will accept this only if they're gay and still eat men (because they're gay).

This was a good read and excellently written, however it's also completely plagiarized from Witcher 3: Blood and Wine. I know you guys are capable of creating something good and original, why copy other works?

Beyond even that, as has been said before, these creatures are all but identical to ones already present on the server. Frost witches: cannibals, intelligent monsters, human appearance, even a cold touch. Wraiths: completely unkillable, regenerates even when they are 'killed', extremely powerful, capable of disguising in a somewhat humanoid form. And the rarely played Blood Imps, which is LotCs other vampire creature that actually had original lore.

But basically these things are Witcher-flavored Wraiths in a Frost Witch's body.

As for the lore itself, there are some other issues. The completely unkillable thing, for one. That's actually not too bad, there are other 'unkillable' monsters on the server, though there's usually at least some way to PK them. (Liches, for example, are unkillable unless you have their phylactery. I'm not sure if there's been new lore on how to PK a wraith but there is at least one method I'm aware of.) You'll need to elaborate on how it works when put into practice on the server, however. You say 'with enough time' but you need to elaborate what that means. You'll also need to elaborate on how this works with the memory loss rule.

And finally, as ironic as it sounds, you're going to have problems with all of these weaknesses. Those who have experience playing monsters/evil characters can attest, everyone has everything necessary to kill you. Everyone already carries around gold swords, and if this is accepted everyone will be sudden experts on their strengths and weaknesses, how to spot one, and the blood hound population will increase magically overnight. On paper, these creatures are a little on the OP side. In game, the result will probably be very different, unless you powergame (and the 'super strength' will give a lot of room for powergaming). This isn't really a criticism of the lore, just something that will be interesting to hear about if this gets accepted.

TLDR: Good writing but please make something more original than a carbon copy of Witcher vampires that also have too many similarities to other creatures on LotC, also clarify how their death and regeneration would work mechanically in game.

A storm lashed the coast of Vailor, whipping the ocean into a frenzy and filling the dark night sky with blinding sheets of ice. On a particular strand of coast a tall pillar of natural stone rose from the sea, and atop it rested a strange fire beating its dim light against the cold. A young woman, no older than fifteen years, huddled beside the fire with her back to the storm. Much weighed on the young noblewoman’s heart. Her parents had separated, her father had been killed, and she would soon be forced to marry… and the girl was growing up, not sure how to cope with tumultuous changes in herself that she did not understand.

Lightning turned the sky bright for an instance, followed by a deafening boom. The girl jumped fearfully, and retreated from the fire toward a shaking wooden bridge that lead back to the main keep, her home. She struggled to keep her balance on the swaying bridge. As she reached the center she slowed her pace and peered down into the roiling black sea below her. Ice stung at her face, and for a long moment she contemplated letting herself fall. A sudden burst of wind bucked the bridge.

The girl tumbled down into the sea.

~~~

Far away on the elven isle, a small red fox scurried into a burrow under a tree in Laurelin to hide from the storm.

~~~

Near the center of the mainland a man and women lay in sleep, sheltered from the elements. But the wind rattling their window pane soon woke the woman. Her one good eye slowly opened, its unnatural glow casting faint shadows across the bed. She breathed in deeply, taking in the scent of her husband from his closeness. It made her head spin and her stomach churn. Her cold heart began to race as a feral hunger threatened to overtake her. It urged her to lean over to the sleeping body beside her, so vulnerable and unaware… just take a bite…

Quietly she groped around in the dark for the emerald pendant that hung from her neck and gripped the stone between her fingers. As she focused upon it her mind fogged and her senses dulled, but the growing violent urges were pushed deep into her subconscious and out of the forefront of her mind. The woman sat up with her head in her hands, too ashamed to look at the man beside her. She loved him, and yet this curse kept her always on the brink of destroying what they had together.

As silently as possible the witch rose from the bed and padded across the room, gathering clothes to bundle herself up with. She needed some fresh air, and though the howling snow storm outside would have bothered her no more than a mild breeze she could not risk drawing any attention to herself. So, she donned a warm dress and thick, red cloak. Over her gray hands she pulled dark leather gloves. All that was left visible was her face, with its ugly empty socket, scarred cheeks, and garishly glowing eye.

The face shimmered for a moment, then a new face replaced it. The witch barely had to think about disguising anymore, the act came so naturally. She almost did not realize which face she had unconsciously chosen – a warm brown one, with dark eyes and black hair. It had been some time since she had used this disguise, but it had always been her favorite. It was not far off from her original likeness. The witch sighed and stepped toward the door, pausing a moment to look back at her slumbering husband. Cold wind rushed into the room for a moment as the door opened, and then she was gone.

~~~

The sun began to rise behind the clouds and the violence of the storm passed, replaced by a thick flurry of snow that fell in silence over the sea and shore. The frosted waves pushed a limp body onto a craggy beach beneath the cliff-top fort. The still figure’s dark hair swirled around in the water, and it was not long before she was spotted by a guard patrolling the walls above. Flakes of snow settled on the girl’s damp clothes as a group from the fort made their way down to her. She made no sound nor movement while ice began to stick to her skin.

~~~

The brown-skinned, red-cloaked woman drifted quietly through the city streets. An eerie stillness had settled over the Orenian city as freshly-fallen snow piled up in front of the shops and homes, still undisturbed by footprints. The woman wended her way toward the chapel, guided by its steeple that soared above the rooftops. From the outside, its stained glass windows shone in the pale gray light of early dawn, but as the woman stepped inside she found it dim and cold. She stepped toward the altar and slipped into the second pew, her head bowed low.

‘Why did you let me become this?’

The woman clasped her hands in her lap, beneath the gloves her fingers paled from the tightness of her grip. ‘Why did you allow this to happen to me?’

She slowly lowered her head, forehead resting against the pew in front of her, feeling only numb. ‘Forgive me…’

When she lifted her head to gaze up at the altar she knew what she needed to do. The cloaked woman retreated quickly from the church, heading back out into the snow.

~~~

A red-haired wood elf curled up in an alcove in a cozy tree-home, watching through a window as the snow drifted by outside. She sat surrounded by books as well as a variety of creatures that had taken shelter in her home from the cold. On the woman’s shoulder perched a phoenix, the heat radiating from its body warming her cheek. She reached a hand up to pat the bird’s head, saying, “You’ll like Dwyn. And we’ll still see each other, I’m sure.”

The phoenix gave a soft, melodic coo, and the elf sighed in response. She hunched over her books again, penning a few more lines in the letter she was writing. “We’ll meet in the forest, now and then…” she murmured, quill scratching. Some quiet minutes later she set her quill aside and blew lightly on the ink to help it dry. “That’s done…” she said, in part to herself and in part to the creatures dozing off around her. Her hand stretched out to one of the books beside her, and she lightly touched its cover. This one was old, a little over one hundred years, but the woman remembered the day she penned its first sentence as though it had been last spring.  

“You can take this to Dwyn when the weather clears,” she said to the phoenix as she rolled the letter up into a tube and tied it off with green string. She rose from she sat, the phoenix maintaining its balance on her shoulder, and moved her way toward the bird’s favorite perch in the tree. She lowered her shoulder toward the smoothed branch, allowing the phoenix to hop down, and placed the letter nearby. “I’ll miss you, my dear,” she said quietly, her voice mixed with tones of sorrow, but also conveying more peace and contentment than she had felt in many years.

The firebird stretched out its bright, red wings, and gave a quiet call in response. The elf let out a long breath, her shoulders relaxing in resolution.

“Goodbye.”

~~~

As the sun set the witch’s husband would find a hand-written letter placed beside their bed. Far away in an icey cavern, a similar letter appeared for the witch’s coven.

~~~

The sky did not clear until the moon had risen high. It shone down in silver light, illuminating the fresh snow that had fallen around the elf’s tree. The pure white blanket was unbroken where it settled around the tree, save for a single pair of animal tracks leading away from the home. At the edge of the wild forest a red fox padded through the snow then paused, turning to look back upon the elven city. Its bright green eyes reflected the moonlight for a moment and the next it was gone, melting into the shadow of the trees.

~~~

TL;DR:

Ayana Vimmark would be found on the beach beneath Saltstone. If the Vimmarks decide to find a new player for her, then she survived. If not, Ayana was found dead.

Gabrielle has been absent for a long time, and now she’s officially departed. Her daughters would not feel her presence.

Elorna has disappeared and left her home, possessions, and animal friends with Dwyn.

OOC:

I took a break last month to focus on school, and now I find myself not really wanting to come back. LotC has a lot of problems and the good things aren’t enough to keep me coming back anymore. It’s been fun, for the most part, so thanks for the memories. I might be back, but probably not.

Edit: Message me if you're interested in hanging out on Guild Wars 2.

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

He knows druids good. +1

Approved.

Interviewing.

Approved.

Approved.

Interviewing.

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.