Amazons: Aelfborn and Amazon Information
Amazons: Aelfborn and Amazon Information
I wrote to Meridian this morning concerning my backstory and my character's relationship with The Aelfborn Nation. However, since the reply I received has some interesting Amazon information and because we have several Amazons who are Aelfborn (Kestra included) I thought I would post his reply here.
*Note: This has been edited to remove unrelated information.
The Amazons/Furies are very into nature, but they have a different take on it than the Druids do - really, we've got two "back to the woods" factions in SB. Now, the Amazons have always believed that an advanced culture of city builders and technology users can live in harmony with nature, while the Druids are much more rustic in their outlook. There are, of course, even more fundamental differences in their outlook - Furies are using nature, while I expect most Druids would say that nature is using THEM. They also have very differnet ideas about who the master is in the equation. It's not that amazons DON'T connect to nature, I think they just do it in a fundamentally different way than the Druids - the Druids are our most blatant nature folk. As Anthrage points out, Huntresses are profoundly in touch with nature.
One other thing to consider - with the exception of their antipathy toward males (particularly male authorities and the whole system of patriarchy), Amazons were, at the beginning at least, a pretty inclusive bunch. Phaedra took Aelfborn with her into the wild. For most of the Age of Kings there were only two places Aelfborn could expect to fit in and have their troubled psyches not only tolerated but actually soothed: one was the Holy Church, the other the Amazon Empire (not that very many Aelfborn journeyed to the place after it was founded - geography was prohibitive - but Amazons in their breeding and baby stealing never discriminated against Aelfborn the way I figure the Elves and Humans did). The Amazon Empire has been the only place, historically, where Aelfborn ever "fit in." Who knows - some Amazons might link the Curse of the Aelfborn to Saedron's madness (at least symbolically), and therefore hold it in a higher regard than other folks do, thinking it a Blessing instead of a Curse.
I don't really know that much about the Aelfborn Nation (the in game Guild) or the Temple they're allowing for (I don't really follow guild politics... yet). I can see there being two or three main agendas of Amazon groups, as well as two or three main objectives for these nascent Aelfborn cultures.
For Amazons:
1) Find the way back to Delgana to regroup
2) Overthrow the Patriarchy that destroyed Aerynth (they did leave Delgana for a REASON)
3) Find the means to heal the world.
For Aelfborn:
1) Leave the feuding worlds of their parents behind and build a new nation on THEIR terms
2) Get payback on the oppressive races who tormented them for so long
3) Find some means of undoing the Curse that shackles their race.
Now, if you look closely, you'll see how some of these goals coincide. The Aelfborn are trying to strike out into the wilderness and build a Nation on a new paradigm. That's EXACTLY what Phaedra did. So, from their point of view, Amazons might have a lot of wisdom/experience they can learn from. Secondly, the desires for revenge and revolution could make them potent allies.
Third, if the particular group of Aelfborn is looking to natural harmony as the means of taming their inner demons, then perhaps the third goals might link them too. Of course, if the groups in question are devoted to just one of these goals and those goals don't coincide (an Aelfborn unit of "terrorists" working to stick it to the Elves that meets a group of Amazons just tryin' to get home) then they may not have much to say or do for each other. If, on the other hand, one or more of their goals coincide, then an alliance would easily strengthen both.
So, in the end, all I'm trying to say is that there is historical precedent for Amazons to get along with Aelfborn (to at least not despise them at first sight) and, since both of them are trying to set themselves up as outsiders, they can have a lot in common. Again, I think it can vary for group to group, guild to guild.
As for your backstory, it sounds fine to me. Bear in mind that Furies are still more wizards than they are priests or druids, and that the spiritual veneer they put over their powers is often just a show they use to ensure the awe and loyalty of the Huntresses. Again, though, that's a sweeping generalization. I can imagine some Furies would take a VERY different approach - Braialla was, after all, their mother's sister. So again, don't change a thing if you don't want to, but be advised that some of the elements in the story are a little unconventional. A Fury with a little bit of Druid in her soul could be a powerful force indeed.
By- Kestra Fuerur
