Dark Elves

Those Who Lit The Pyre

History

History of the Elvenkind

Physical Description

Brooding in the world's darkest depths, the subterranean Dark Elves are the most distant from their Fey origins of all their kin. It was their distant ancestors who lit the flames that eventually consumed Foli's mortal form. Accursed by that sole deed, all who descend from those distant few still bear flesh and hair the colors of death and ash. Their locks will vary from crystal white to black, skin following the same mix of color. However some are known to be a deep blue, and only that, remaining the color of the night skies above. As the race continues, some predict that they will only shrink due to their caverns growing smaller, and the race wishing to expand into more tighter underground areas. Their eyes are always various shades of deep purples to pinks, rarely ever becoming a lighter pink. The Dark Kin are known to be narrow in form, their shoulders kept in, and most joints reasonably flexible to cram into tinier spaces.

Garments for those who dwell beneath are strictly worn as grays and other shades of such, blending in with their overall environment to keep the predators unknowing of their position.

• Common Heights:
  • Male: 5'7" - 6'
  • Female: 5'5"-5'10"
• Common Build: Ectomorph, Mesomorph
• Common Eyes: Purple, Pink, Red, Porcelain
• Common Hair: White, Black, Grey
• Common Skin: Varying Shades of Grey, Purple-Grey

Culture

Most Dark Elves do not live on the land's surface, rather they live in cities of caverns beneath the surface, some natural and some carved by hand. Cities are built around areas with underground rivers or lakes. The dark elves survive by drinking the water and using it for fishing, or gathering small bugs and salamanders. The underground reservoirs of dark elves are highly well preserved and treated with great respect, since they are the lifeline of a city. The act of polluting a city's aquifer could result in a death sentence.

The dark elves do not have the innate metal smithing prowess of the Dwarves, however, they live longer and can accumulate great amounts of experience and knowledge. Dark elves tend to dislike the monotony of mining minerals, and most Dark Elven metal is traded for, or gathered when exposed in the creation of the city, or found exposed in cave walls. As such, Dark Elven smithing is practical and direct. They forge light and sharp short swords, daggers, and spearheads, conserving metal and crafting well-balanced tools.

When young dark elves reach the age of 30, they are sent to the depths in groups of 5 in order to brave a challenge known as Eptu'faa. The young would have to survive for an entire sept in the treacherous deep run. Some decide to fail the challenge and disappear forever from their societies, in order to live freely on the surface. Those that survive prove to be capable of escape and stealth, often being able to sense danger and avoid it. They would become true adults in their society. Often, many do not make it. Luckily, dark elves tend to train carefully for the first thirty years of their lives, and if all else fails, they reproduce faster than Dwarves.

Most adults in a Dark Elven society are capable of combat, since without the intricate walls and gate systems of the Dwarves, the dark elves rely on skill and stealth in order to protect their cities from the occasional threats of the deep run. Dark Elven warriors would run away from threats, leading them into larger impromptu ambushes, or waiting for a decisive moment to strike, such as after turning a sharp corner.

Dark Elven professions are separated into three castes, the hunters, tradesmen, and farmers. Hunters, the highest caste, protect the city, hunt in the deep run, and scout for minerals, threats, and resources. Elves that have poor chances of survival in the deep run, great fear, or injuries become tradesmen or farmers. Tradesmen: smiths, crafters, and traders, are looked down upon for failing to be successful in hunting. Though they still serve an important role, the dark elves find no honor or courage in a safe workshop.

Finally, the poorest and most unappreciated dark elves are farmers, who look after the snails, the water supply, fungi farms, and catch fish. These elves provide the basic food necessary for survival, but they have no appreciable skill. In order to survive underground, dark elves will eat a variety of foods typically found unsavory to other races. They will eat bugs, small fishes and cave dwelling salamanders, crawfish, fungi, and snails. Most Dark Elven cities will maintain a snail farm for a sustainable source of easy protein. Traditionally, food that is spoiled would be used to feed these snails. Otherwise, vegetation would be collected from the deep run, left in ditches to rot, then fed to the snails. Since much of their food tends to be unclean, coal and firewood are important imports in order to continue cooking and boiling foods. Dark Elves eat nearly nothing raw, and they prefer to eat food freshly cooked, as food kept in their caverns runs the risk of carrying dangerous infections.

Dark elves are led by only the oldest and most skilled hunters. About 12 elders lead a council in the city deciding laws, trade deals, diplomacy, and city orders. These elders would sit in the cleanest most decorated meeting hall. Despite their displays of power, however, a Dark Elven council member must often be wary for his life. Council members are prone to early deaths from assassination and threats of vandalism to their homes. While formally, Dark Elven culture condemns these crimes, secretly, these underhanded methods of gaining power are extremely common. Dark Elven politicians rarely sleep, and if an assassin is caught, he is not only killed, but also tortured greatly.

Dark elves value age and wisdom, yet they also value excitement and change. They tend to take great care of elders and their parents. The dark elves also tend to be protective of their cities in regards to outsiders. Few outsiders are ever allowed in except the oldest of trade partners who have been acquaintances for over a hundred years. Despite their protectiveness, dark elves tend to be curious, fun and interesting hosts to traders on the outskirts of their cities.

While dark elves tend to be very strict about combat, agility, and stealth training, they also celebrate happily to the success of the young ones. Those that succeed in their paths to adulthood are greeted with a feast, sometimes adorned with rare foods and spices traded from the surface. The dark elves also play games, dance, sing, and play music.

Dark Elven music tends to be played on bone flutes, conveniently made underground, as well as wooden instruments imported from the surface. Their music is short and rapid, reflecting their agility, and they can play for hours without stop. The tunes are filled with changing moods, from sorrowful to whimsical and humorous, often reflecting entire lifetimes or legends.

Additionally, since Dark Elven society has a steady supply of food from snails, fish, and fungi, they tend to have lots of free time when not preoccupied. Dark elves play a variety of games, from sport-like sparring martial arts to board games similar to chess, mancala, checkers, and dice. Traditional Dark Elven riddles can be accumulated over hundreds of years and baffle the wisest men of other races. Dark elves are prone to gambling, drawing art on cave walls with pigments, and even sometimes writing stories.

Though most dark elves live in traditional underground cities, there are sizable populations of Dark Elven cities that are not traditional, as well as populations of dark elves roaming the surface, exiled from their birthplaces.

Dark Elves most commonly pay patronage to the gods Domm, Ombra, and Belek, whom they find to fit their ideals of tradition, protection, and the darkness the most profoundly. This tends to vary widely based on the settlement however, and their worship is by no means exclusive to these deities.

Mechanics

• Lifespan: 300 years old on average.
• Dark Elves have a heightened sense of smell, taste, and listening. They see poorly in the daylight but excellently within the reaches of dark. Compared to the other races of elves, these traits are the strongest with the Dark Elves by a significant amount.
• Dark Elves are immune to illness and poison originating from beneath the soil, due to their scavenging nature.
• Dark Elves are the best race at maneuvering through underground caves and passages, able to effectively navigate and fit into tight spaces better than most races.
• Dark Elves can hold their breath and put all their focus (High concentration) and cloak themselves in a distortion that surrounds and snugly fits their forms. This field makes them unable to be seen in low light or no light areas, and they are unable to move or do anything while doing so, but in medium to bright lighting, the distortion is extremely obvious. This also masks their soul and heartbeat. Dark elves can only hold their breath for a maximum of 8 emotes, and dark vision does not assist in spotting them.

The World of Aethius • The Multiverse of Aethier