Tag: dark elf

#Lore24 – Entry #250 – Fantasy Month III #7– A Crossroads in Hearthlight

As Told by Teelsa “the Nimble” Dawndancer

“No, no, no, you’re mistaken my good man!  I’m Teelsa the Nimble, you see; this ‘Swift’ character, I don’t know her.  It’s a very particular thing, I just want you to be certain that your notes are correct, you understand.  In the interests of helping your operation maintain law and order and all of that.  Seems dreadfully dull if you ask me, though. 

Now, you asked about the details of our little impromptu smuggling operation?  Well, it’s honestly not that exciting.  Really, it was us stripping Eri and Hatae down to the basics, gagging them with some of Hatae’s gear that she had managed to slip away with, and then strapping them down with a dozen or so leather straps each.  That crate we’d wrangled was just long enough to fit them without causing too much trouble.  Hmm?  No, no, my good man, you’ve not been paying attention!  I write ballads, not tawdry stories!  A romance perhaps, but certainly not simple lewd recounting!  That’s something of the level I’d expect from that Siduri!  It was her idea, after all it was her idea.  I thought it a bit much, but we heard not a peep from our two charges during the trip!

Really, the story of our time in Hearthlight is rather dull.  I fear I’ve not been able to make much of it.  We left the Wayrest unmolested and with no sign of our pursuers and reached the quaint little town the next evening with little trouble.  I said my goodbyes to my companions, for they wished to spend a few days earning some spare coin, and had a discussion about our next steps, once our lovely elves were out of their box, mind you.  I do think Eri was getting a bit angry over the travel accommodations by this point; she’s a hot-blooded one, you know?  Would very much like to stick that rapier of hers into someone instead of hiding away, but it was what it was.

I’m getting there!  Good gods above, man, you’re an impatient one!  So, as I was going to say, we were in the middle of our discussions about how to proceed, enjoying some of the fine cooking at the Sweet Dessert Inn; I must return there one day to proper express my gratitude to the proprietor, for there is nothing quite like a proper halfling cooked meal after a long day’s travel, and its name was most apt!

Ahem…so, as I was saying, no need to get all worked up, we discussed our options.  Which were rather slim, admittedly.  It was only a matter of time before they figured out which direction we’d gone, and we were but four maidens fair on the road, minding our own business and not at all wanting to get involved with kidnap-happy cultists and dark elves with overblown senses of their own importance!  Fortunately, we were all rather well-traveled, so we knew the lay of the land well enough, and had a few connections here and there.  Ultimately, we decided upon Greenspire, figuring that some of the uh…more ah…shady types of entrepreneurs would know something of our plight, and may be willing to offer some aid, or perhaps sell us out and draw our enemies in for a proper fight.  Either way, the real takeaway here is that Eri and Hatae were not willing to go back into their box for another moment.  Much to Siduri’s displeasure, I might add.  It was ultimately Eri’s decision for us to take the route we did, for she’d taken the same course in a previous adventure and knew that, while challenging, would serve us best in evading our hunters.  The only problem with that course of action was that the forest had changed quite a bit in the decades since she’d been through there, so there was a spot of trouble we ran into. 

Oh, my good man, I’m simply parched!  I never did receive that house wine I’d asked for earlier, could you see to that for me?  I simply cannot go on without proper drink!  Why, it would ruin my voice were I to but try!”

#Lore24 – Entry #249 – Fantasy Month III #6 – The Road to Hearthlight

As Told by Hatae Ulla, Exotic Entertainer, Dedicated of Yurisaya

“Oh, so you’re deeming me worthy of speaking to you again?  Aren’t you pleased that I left the muzzle on this whole time?  I’ve worn it longer.  It’s part of my performance, you understand.  What’s a little discomfort in the name of doing something you love?  Yurisaya understands; maybe you should take some time and read up on the Dark Lady’s tenets? 

Alright, so what’s on the menu this time?  I won’t make any promises, but I’ll try to keep things a little more concise this time.  Just because I’m being nice, mind you! 

How did we get out of Caerlon?  Well, it was actually rather easy!  Since those guys didn’t know that Siduri and Teelsa were helping us, they were able to smuggle us out pretty quickly, in all honesty.  We just hitched a ride with the bards that were moving on to the next town after the business with the Bronze Unicorn happened, with me and Eri hiding in their supplies.  Hmm?  Or, so Siduri said that?  Well…yeah, there is a little more to the tale, but you wanted the short and sweet version, right?  So that’s what I’m giving you.  I’m not usually one to tell stories, that’s Teelsa’s bread and butter, after all, so maybe you should check with her?

Anyway, we stayed in the wagon till nightfall, when we were a good way down the road from Caerlon, heading toward Hearthlight.  They had to push the horses pretty hard that day, and it was a rough ride sometimes, especially with me and Eri crammed into that box like we were.; side note, the cage I lost at the Unicorn would have been a lot more comfortable for two people!  Anyway, we eventually made it to the Wayrest sometime after nightfall, and once they’d made the bargain for our stay and confirmed there weren’t any undesirables on our tails at the moment, we were let out of the crate to recover and come up with some plans! 

We couldn’t stay with the bards forever, but Teelsa had decided to stick with us.  She’s really excited to make some kind of epic out of this whole affair; guess you can’t really know when inspiration is going to strike!  We eventually decided we’d continue to Hearthlight, try to uncover more details about who was after us. 

Yeah…well…okay, so I kinda knew who it was chasing me, but Eri didn’t have a clue why she was being chased by those mercenaries.  She had dealt with a demon cult or something like that before, so thought maybe they were related to that group, but something didn’t feel right about that.  Oh, who was chasing me?  Well…that’s kind of a long story and is really only interesting if you’re wanting to delve into the politics of Shey’Inasrith and the machinations of the Mantis Queen.  Did you know that we don’t know her name, by the way?  And yet they still worship her.  Kinda crazy, don’t you think?  And that they get so worked up when one of their family just decides that life isn’t for them and leaves it behind?  I’d call it madness, really, the lengths they go to in order to keep their machinations going.  I don’t even want to be involved!  And I had exactly zero plans to do anything against them; I just wanted to leave it all behind.  But no!  They just had to send their men after me and try to ruin MY life, to draw me back into that horrible situation!  I don’t even know which house they’re from!  They’ve intentionally left anything that would identify them behind, just to make things more difficult!  I’d almost believe it was my mother, hmmm, or maybe one of my sisters, or perhaps one of my aunts?  I suppose it could be one of my cousins, too…there was that one that I kind of rubbed the wrong way a few decades back over how her hairstyle didn’t really fit with her face, or something like that.  I mean, I wasn’t being particularly mean or anything, I was only observing that-MMMPH!”

#Lore24 – Entry #245 – Fantasy Month III #2 – Leaving Home, Chasing a Dream

As Told by Hatae Ulla, Exotic Entertainer, Dedicated of Yurisaya

“Oh, and here I’d thought you’d forgotten all about me!  Hmm?  Oh, the shackles?  They were chaffing so I took them off.  I can put them back on if you want, but it really won’t matter, will it?  You DO know who I am, right?  Haven’t seen my posters around town, then?  A shame, here I thought I was finally starting to get my name out there…

What?  Oh, the Caerlon incident?  That was a real tragedy, that.  I really do feel so bad about the Bronze Unicorn; it was a great place, my first big venue, actually.  I’d never had crowds like that before, and it was the first place anyone had managed to beat my challenge!  It’ll always have a place in my heart because of that!

Hmmm?  Oh, the fire?  That wasn’t our fault.  Not at all!  How did it all start?  Well…I don’t usually like to talk about things like that, you see.  Oh, okay, since you really want to know, I guess I can say something about it… So, I’m from Shey’Inasrith originally, you see, and until you’ve lived there, maybe even just visited, you really wouldn’t understand just how HORRIBLE a place it is.  You know about the whole game the elvish great houses play, I’m sure, being an astute representative of the city and all that, so just imagine that, but even more cutthroat and moving at breakneck speeds.  It wasn’t uncommon to see blood spilled in the street daily over a squabble between noble houses or some perceived slight that may or may not have been true.  It’s a nightmare, really, even for one born there.

The fire?  I’m getting there.  Anyway, I’d had enough of the politics, always dreamed of better things that didn’t involve killing in the name of the Mantis Queen, trying to curry favor, you know.  I just don’t have the personality for it, I guess; I’m too softhearted for that kind of thing when you get right down to it.  So, I left, didn’t even say a word to anyone back home because that kind of thing could get you killed in a place like that.  I wasn’t entirely sure how I’d manage, but at least I’d started chasing my dreams, you know?  To put smiles on people’s faces, to give them something to ease their burdens through entertainment, satisfy my ego a little, that sort of thing. 

It just so happens that I’m really, really good at what I do.  So you’ve really never heard about my show?  I thought you’d have heard something about it…I mean, I’ve been making a name for myself for over a year now, slowly making my way to Arcavarlon, drawing in hundreds over the course of the week I spend in town.  It’s really something to have so many try for a private date with yours truly.  And when you have looks like I do, even being a dark elf from Shey’Inasrith doesn’t matter.  That’s what I love about the lands beyond my homeland!  People are just so open-minded!  Well, most of them…there’s been some that I could tell you about that haven’t been so welcoming to me, certainly.  Oh, you know, I’d put money on it being one of those who started the fire, trying to sabotage me and steal the pot that I’d built up!  You should really be looking at them, not little old me! 

Names?  Well…I don’t really know any?  I mean, I’ve got this one noble who was a bit obsessed with me, I think, Xenia, but she certainly wouldn’t try something that brazen!  She’s in it for the challenge, something to spend her coin on, you know?  I got the impression she’s not got a lot going on in her life, so this really piqued her interests.  I suppose it could be some of those who don’t care for dark elves; I’ve noticed they’re not especially common around here, and I do get some odd looks sometimes.

Oh, right, the fire!  Well, you did want me to start from the beginning, so don’t go getting yourself all worked up over me doing just that!  Be glad you didn’t ask for specifics, or we could be here all night!  Do you realize how many things I’ve gone through since I left home?  It wasn’t just a knack for escape artistry that prompted me to start this show, certainly not!  It’s a survival skill, too!  I figure if I can wiggle out of a bad situation, then maybe I can learn to avoid getting into them altogether, you know?  My charms don’t always work on people, so I have to be quick, and I have to be slippery!  Though sometimes it’s better to be slow and methodical, you see, especially when it comes to expertly done ropework.  It’s all a question of just how much time you have.  That’s what makes my challenges so much fun, you see!  Finding that proper balance is key!  If I’m too slow, they win, but if I’m too fast, it takes away from the spectacle!

Hey, no need to get upset!  I’m getting there!  Wait, what’s that muzzle for?  Hey, is that from my collection?!”

#Lore24 – Entry #155 – Wild West Month #3 – Spirits of Nature Arise

As told by Kumiko Stalks-Amongst-the-Stars, shaman of the Midnight Panther tribe of Kerra-Kerra

So, it came to be that the Devil-Wardens’ power would come to wane, and ruin would follow soon after.  Our ancestors say that the Devil-Wardens had imprisoned the very spirits of land and sea and air, had used foul sorcery to shape the land itself to their dark desires.  However, the spirits of nature would not take well to such treatment, and soon enough would prove that they were more powerful than even these sorcerers and their Ships that Sail the Stars.

It would come to be that one day, the bound spirits of nature would tear free of the great devilish device that the Wardens had created to contain them, had used them to reshape the world as they saw fit.  Then, without the dark sorcerers knowing, for the Many Spirits are more cunning than we can fathom, they gathered their power and begin to dismantle the evil spells which bound them.

In a Great Uproar, the spirits of nature would break the sorcerous chains that bound them and bring terrible destruction upon the Devil Wardens and their Fortresses of Stone and Metal.  In great torrents of wind and water, of eruptions of earth and fire, with fury that rent the very earth beneath us, they would tear down the walls of the fortresses that once imprisoned our ancestors and drive the Devil-Wardens from the Broken Cage that Still Imprisons.  They would flee in their Ships that Sail the Stars, and, for a time, even the future of the Many Peoples would be in doubt, for the Great Spirits were angry, and their fury would not end for many moons. 

Though the Fortresses of Stone and Metal once imprisoned the Many Peoples, some would find safe shelter within them during the Fury of the Spirits, while others, our ancestors, would follow the guidance of our Great Mother goddess, Sarresh, and embrace the will of the spirits who had freed them, to learn to worship and appease their volatile moods, to find harmony amongst them, and so we would prosper in the wilds beyond the Fortresses.  And this is how the many tribes of the Kerra-Kerra came to be, of how each tribe learned of its sacred totem spirit, and how the Broken Cage that Still Imprisons came to be as it is now.

But do not think that the Great Spirits are tamed.  Never assume such!  For the Great Spirits still hold memory of their own imprisonment, and they will lash out with their rage and fury, just to remind our people, and the Many Peoples who are not of the Kerra-Kerra, that the spirits are to be respected and feared, for it is they who hold the true power of life and death upon the Broken Cage that Still Imprisons.

#Lore24 – Entry #154 – Wild West Month #2 – The Devil-Wardens

As told by Kumiko Stalks-Amongst-the-Stars, shaman of the Midnight Panther tribe of Kerra-Kerra

The Night-Skinned People and their Devil Wardens…our ancestors know that they came from the Many Worlds Beyond the Sky just as they once did, but for whatever reasons, they hated those not of their own kind, and sought to terrible things to them.  We know that they held great power, could change the very nature of the Broken Cage that Still Imprisons, could change the very essence of what makes one’s flesh. 

They are called the Night-Skinned People because their own flesh was the color of night, black as the obsidian stone, or perhaps slightly lighter, with a bluish hue, like that of the night skies.  They were known to have unearthly white hair, though some of the ancestors say that a few of their Devil-Wardens had other shades, like that of blood or the sun itself, though this had little bearing on how they would treat those they brought to the Broken Cage that Still Imprisons.  Their ears were as knives or spear-tips, long and narrow, not unlike the Elf-people who prefer the forests and rivers of the lands far beyond the Bitter Frontier, and it is said that their eyes shone like flame, their gazes cowing any who would dare oppose them.  It is told that they possessed strange magical weapons and mechanics that would render even the massive Horse People or the mighty orc warriors helpless before them.

Those we call the Devil-Wardens were rulers of the Night-Skinned People, directing how their lesser followers would treat those they held within their Fortresses of Stone and Metal from their High Towers, their eyes all-seeing within their walls.  They always knew what their prisoners were doing and would bring swift and harsh punishments upon them.  The Devil-Wardens had the power of life and the power of death, and wielded it upon their whims, which could change as does the wind.  Their command of great sorceries and foul rituals meant that even the sacred flesh of those they held within their Fortresses were not safe, for our ancestors tell of many horrible abominations born from the whims of the Devil-Wardens, that entire peoples were changed into monstrous things that now roam the Bitter Frontier. 

Their reign over the Broken Cage that Still Imprisons would come to end in time, however, for their sorcery, while strong, was not all-powerful, and the very spirits of our world would rise up against them.

#Lore24 – Entry #153 – Wild West Month #1 – Prisoners from the Many Worlds Beyond the Sky

As told by Kumiko Stalks-Amongst-the-Stars, shaman of the Midnight Panther tribe of Kerra-Kerra

We Kerra-Kerra are born into this world, and yet none of our people who walk upon it now or who have ever walked upon it are of this world, for all were brought here from stars far beyond.  Each star in the sky is perhaps a world unto itself, perhaps multiple worlds, and it is from these Many Worlds Beyond the Sky that our people come.  Even those not born of the Kerra-Kerra tribes are from these Many Worlds Beyond the Sky, for they were brought to this world with us, not willingly, but as prisoners.

Many, many moons ago, this was the Time of Chains, when all peoples who were not allied with the Wardens of the Night-Skinned Peoples were subject to their rule, were forced onto Ships that Sail the Stars and brought here, to our world we call the Broken Cage that Still Imprisons.  Upon the land that was once barren, made livable by the great magic of the Night-Skinned Peoples, our ancestors and the ancestors of those not of the tribes, were held in great Fortresses of Stone and Metal, not permitted to leave, forced to follow the will of the Devil-Wardens less they be punished. 

It is told by our ancestors that the Devil-Wardens would perform foul sorcery and strange rituals upon the many peoples they held within their evil fortresses, warping the very flesh upon their bones, turning them into the many abominations that roam the Bitter Frontier to this day.  None remember why they would do such things to those they brought here, only that the Night-Skinned People were as devils and demons, using their magic and machines upon those they had deemed to be less than they.

Who were the Night-Skinned People and these Devil-Wardens, you ask, and what do we know of them?  Well…

 

LORE24 ENTRY #20 – Seal-Tech

Category – Technology

Amongst the most controversial and feared arca-tech (arcane technology) in the known galaxy is Seal-Tech, unique to the dark elves, its secrets fiercely protected behind walls of secrecy.  Used primarily in the dark elf-controlled prison system (a lucrative business in its own right given their successful business model), on its surface, Seal-Tech is used as a means of controlling the prisoner population.  At first glance, one could assume that Seal-Tech was simply an advanced form of latex, typically seen in the form of a skin-tight bodysuit prisoners are placed within, sometimes with attached restraints, and able to be recolored at a signal from a controller to indicate various statuses of the wearer, even report back on their general state of health.  It is known to be much more durable than standard latex, and generally is reasoned to be used because nothing could be hidden on a person wearing it.

Below the surface, however, Seal-Tech is much more advanced and insidious.  Having gone through multiple advances over the centuries, Seal-Tech, while indeed latex at its core, is far more than a simple rubber compound.  The reason behind the name is primarily from the most powerful of the material’s abilities, namely the ability to seal away the magic of those wearing it, completely blocking the ability of arcanists and even divine or druidic casters from casting their spells.  The ability of the material to reshape itself on command also makes it perfect for immobilizing hostile prisoners and limiting their ability to cause trouble or even use basic implements, able to form a variety of restraint devices (straps, cuffs, mittens, gags, an inescapable sack to immobilize the wearer, and more).  In the most recent iterations of the technology, the dark elves have managed to incorporate a life-sustaining magic into the mix, which serves to keep a prisoner wearing the suit nourished without the need for actual food (though once their sentence is complete and the suits removed, they are ravenously hungry and must eat immediately), as well as self-cleaning functions so that the suits never have to be removed.

The truly nefarious nature of Seal-Tech is tied to its near-indestructability; once a person has been placed within a suit of Seal-Tech, they cannot remove it.  If the suit is damaged, even with cold, fire, or other means, to the point of being completely burned away, somehow, the Seal-Tech will regrow and reform itself in a matter of minutes (older iterations of the technology took much longer to reform itself, hours or days).  Though outwardly able to affected by magic, it is highly resistant to magical analysis, and the nature of its legendary resilience has yet to be determined, though many arcanists surmise that it is tied to a very advanced form of curse magic.  Others have theorized that Seal-Tech is somehow related to the dark elves’ patron goddess Yurisaya, as her faithful followers often make use of the material for their own purposes, and are known to work closely with the prison system to provide care, discipline, and spiritual guidance to prisoners.