Shadowbane Lore Archives

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Elves: The Seperate Races

Elves: The Seperate Races

Email: Hello Meridian.

I'm sure you hear the kudos for the fantastic work you do, so I'll spare you the time, and just echo it. =)

As House Lok-ri is a Gwaridorn elven house, I'm very interested in trying to flesh out exactly what it means to be a Gwaridorn, learn the Gwaridorn culture. My first point of interest is the Gwaridorn Dynasty, the ups and downs of the Deathless Empire during it, and specifically for right now, how the Dynasty came to be.

The Transition from the Dar Khelegur Dynasty to the Gwaridorn Dynasty:

A new dynasty was founded, and the Deathless Empire endured in peace until the ending of the Age of Dawn, when Time began. From The Elves: Their Lore And Thurin bore Shadowbane away, proclaiming that none in all the Deathless Empire was fit to bear it. Many Elves returned to the All-Father's worship, but still there lingered some whose hearts were filled with spite at their defeat. So the Treason of the Elves was broken, and with it the power of the Dar Khelegur.
The Sea Elves, the Gwaridorn of the West, came to rule the Deathless Empire afterward. Giliander the Bold, named for the First King of the Elves, wore its crown of truesilver.
From the Legend of Shadowbane: The Age of Twilight.

For lo, this Elvish woman was the falsest creature living, the granddaughter of Sillestor himself, who had sent Beregund on his quest so that she might steal back the mighty sword, her long lost birthright. "And so at last I shall have my vengeance, mortal Man," she said, "for it was your Maker who slew my father, not the spawn of Chaos. The Sons of Men shall pay dear for the sins of their Father. You shall be but the first to die." From the Legend of Shadowbane: The Age of Days

For Ithriana had many brothers, and none of them could bear to see their younger sister rule. Pride spawned envy, which begat treachery, and soon the blades of the Dar Khelegur were turned upon each other, not the enemy. From the Legend of Shadowbane: The Age of Days

Why the Gwaridorn? Why Giliander the Bold, and how was he positioned to inherit the throne? What was his claim? I'm interested in the mechanics of the succession.

Sillestor's line was continued, as evidenced by Ithriana and her many brothers at the end of the Gwaridorn Dynasty. Wow.the irony of that just hit me.

The Gwaridorn, the 'Masters of the Sea,' builders of mighty ships and the fiercest warriors among Elvenkind, despite being Elven, were a subdued nation. This was an era the Elves recall as the Times of Parting, when the folk of the Twilight Kingdom were divided into four great nations, each with its own dreams and desires. From the Legend of Shadowbane: The Age of Twilight.

Each of the nations' dreams and desires were, if not in conflict, not in perfect harmony either. If so, they would not have split into four nations, nor would there have been a need for the conquest by the Dar Khelegur.

An enterprising Gwaridorn such as Giliander the Bold could manage to position himself favorably with his Ellestor displaying his innate talents, achieving General of an Elvish Legion, all the Elvish Legions, or maybe even some sort of Imperial Guard, or an Imperial Armada. The Taming proves disastrous, and the greatest strength of the Dar Khelegur, their magic, even when coupled with the power of Shadowbane itself, proves to be inadequate in defeating this menacing Wanderer and his Companions, and now even Shadowbane is gone. There is no mention of a re-conquest by the Gwaridorn, so the transition of power , I assume, was near instantaneous (or not, mechanically, as there was no Time yet); the Gwaridorn inherit an intact Empire.

What was Giliander's claim? The possession of a mighty Elven Warhost, along with some well-placed supporters among the Dar Khelegur and the Twathedelion nobility, perhaps gained with the promise of lucrative positions in the new order to come? Sillestor's brood does not seem of the type to abdicate their claim, if Ithriana is indicative of their demeanor. Intermarriage between the Gwaridorn and Dar Khelegur, that put Giliander in a legitimate line of succession? I think not, as that would leave him only half-Gwaridorn.

Did Giliander have control of the legion(s) or Fleet under his control, and deliberately withhold support from Sillestor in the fight against the Companions? That also seems very counterproductive, and unlikely. Advancement of the Gwaridorn at the expense of Elvenkind is not lucrative.

I'm just very interested in the actual circumstances and mechanics of the succession, and specifically Gilidander's claim.

I thank you in advance for your time and assistance.

By Alexei Lok-Ri

Answer: Hey there!

There was a brief surge of Elvish interest a while back, then the Elf fans seemed to grow silent. I'm glad to be getting steady Elf questions again. If the "racial" communities can be firmly entrenched when the game comes out, the meta-plot will be that much easier to start rolling.

In very broad terms, each of the three recognized Elvish races embodies one of the core attributes of "Elfish-ness" as initially envisioned by Tolkien - you'll need to look to the Silmarillion as well, not just LoTR. Also, don't forget that our Elves have quite a bit of Michael Moorcock's Melniboneans in them (the first Elric book has the best descriptions of that dreaded empire), and their social structure should always seem disorganized yet byzantine. Everyone is somebody in "elf world," although there are distinct social grades and castes, and etiquette provides yet another battlefiled. If you look at the social dance some of the White Wolf PnP vampires engage in, or watch Dangerous Liaisons, you'll get a feeling for High Culture among Elvenkind.

Anyway, back to the three "streotypes" - the Dar Khelegur are the magiest of the Elves: magic in all forms is their strong suit. The Gwaridorn embody the warrior spirit of the Elves, and their adventurous nature, while the Twathedelion are the mysterious, secretive elves, the nature-loving forest part of the Elvish stereotype. These steroetypes are just that, remember: are Elves are pretty magical, so there are mages among thre Gwaridorn and Warriors among the Dar Khelegur, and some Druids and Rangers among them both - but in broad strokes, each of the nations is known for one thing above all others.

Anyway, to understand how the Deathless Empire was born, you need to look at the aftermath of the Dragon's Rising. You were left with a swarm of Elf Lords, all very upset, mourning the death of their king and many other Sidhe. One of Gilliandor's daughter's set herself up as queen, but there were many who didn't follow her. Before the Dragon, it didn't really matter who had been in charge. Now, Elves had DIED. Their entire kingdom lay in RUINS. And quite a few powerful Elf Lords decided that they knew better than everybody else how the Elvish race should adapt and continue on. Sillestor used Thurin's gift of Shadowbane as his proof that his vision was the best one (really, there wasn't anything to it - Thurin was just being literal. Sillestor asked for Shadowbane, Sillestor got it). This was the root of the Parting - The Elves don't handle grief very well, it tends to make them surly and quarrelsome. The queen tried to pull them all back together, but it just didn't work - geography was now a factor, as large bands of Elves migrated away to escape the sunlight. Sillestor finally conquered all of his opponents, and started a Dar Khelegur dynasty. Bear in mind that there were probably few actual battles - most Elf Lords knew better than to stand up to the power of Shadowbane once demonstrated.

The Gwaridorn during the Parting I see as being very busy anyway. Corrinandor the Mariner, one of the Sidhe, was probably the oldest and greatest of their breed. He sailed off into the sky to try to douse the sun, but never returned. I can also envision lots of Gwaridorn mariners journeying far, looking for lands still hid in twilight. Sure, the Gwaridorn lords all swore fealty to Sillestor, but he didn't make too many demands on their time. I imagine the Deathless Empire did build an army, and some fleets, and the warrior-prone Gwaridorn would make likely officers and generals. Bear in mind, however, that with legions of summoned servants and mega-powerful wizards, the need for infantry and cavalry was pretty minimal (there also weren't exactly much in the way of enemies back then either): the legions of the Deathless Empire were probably largely vestigial, a defense against the Dragon maybe, but not that robust. The Gwaridorn were, I imagine, very arrogant and aloof, and cruel in their own way, but nothing compared to the degeneracy of the Ice Lords. The majority of them probably spent most of the early dynasty roaming, sailing the infinite seas.

Anyway, this leads us to the Taming. The Elves have their first war, but the magic is what carries it. I can envision huge, orderly phalanxes of Centaurs laid waste by sorcerous blasts and rampaging elementals. Even Kenaryn's strength was blunted by the Beast Lords, and the Hunter became the hunted. But wouldn't you know it, the All-Father had to show up, with his host of Archons. Well, they won pretty handily. The Beast Lords were scattered, Sillestor was killed, and once again, the Deathless Empire was at a crossroads.

Here we have the situation for the Gwaridorn succession. Even though Sillestor had kin who survived the Taming, they weren't really in much of a position to push their claim - they no longer had their best wizards to back them up, and many non Dar Khelegur had gotten sick of their degenerate ways anyway. After all, it was Sillestor's arrogance that had nearly toppled his precious little empire and smashed Elvish culture - the All-Father and the Archons didn't have to stop the slaughter when they did. Most Elves realized that. None of the non Dar Khelegur Elf Lords were comfortable with the notion of an Ice Lord being in charge.

Enter Gilliander. I can imagine that most of the mightiest Gwaridorn weren't even around for the Taming - they were off exploring when it started, received magical summonses to the war, and sailed home just in time for it to end. So there they are, a force to be reckoned with, and largely blameless in the whole Taming debacle. The Elvish Church of the All-Father, driven undergorund during the ascendancy of the Jackal Heresy (imagine Christians in Rome), came out of hiding to say "I told you so" in a big way. I expect Gilliander built a coailtion of support among the Gwaridorn, and won the Church over as well. He could be a son of Corrinandor, which would make him pretty respectasble to most elder Elves - Corrinandor did give his life trying to save the world, the kind of selfless nobility most Elves aren't known for.

I can envision a coalition of mariners and wanderers settling down and becoming a race of kings. Their warrior natures would sure come in handy - the Deathless Empire would fight the War of Spite with Ardan, the War of the Stones with the Dwarves, the War of Flames against the Irekei (bloody them! dman them all to Hell!), and the War of the Scourge against the spawn of Chaos itself. The last two were the worst - they really ended up breaking the strength of the Deathless Empire, and too many of their best and brightest ended up being killed for the dynasty to endure. And so, rule fell to the Twathedelion, who counseled a new strategy: alliance (though strained) with the other races, and complete withdrawal to hidden realms.
Cambruin and company put and end to them, and the last war shattered Aerynth along with the empire.

I expect all three Elvish nations will be looking to reassert their right to rule whatever Elvish state emerges in the Age of Strife. Sillestor's brood have been waiting in scorn, and even tried to make a play for power when everything was at its most dicey (the whole Shadowbane thing). They lost, big time. The Ice Lords managed to stay a part of Elvish culture, and remained a potent force in the Empire - they did do the Blood Curse and make the Minotaurs. I can envision a group of Gwaridorn having endured the Age of Kings the same way, waiting for their strength to return. I mean look - their rule saw the empire expand to its greatest extent, and they never lost a war! Well, its arguable that even the victors lost the War of the Scourge, but it wasn't a fair contest!

Whew... I wrote more than I meant to. I hope this helps, and that all you Elves out there are managing to circulate the tidbits I send out.

M