The Dark Elves (In Progress)

Concerning Dark Elves

Of all the menaces that plague the realms of northern Adem, the Dark Elves are the menace most associated with the cruel cold winds of the North. Wielding powerful magic and riding forth on mighty seafaring slave ships, it will not be an exaggeration to claim that the dark kin of Elves are one of the most evil sentient threats to the northern realms.

Calling themselves the Morr-Vollak, the Lords of Elves, the Dark Elves inspire nothing Lordly or Noble save their tyrannical hunger for slaves. Entire settlements along the coast can be wiped out in a single raid and thus those who know of the Dark Elves are forgiven for believing they are just a bunch of cruel, primitive slavers.

Few have peacefully dealt with these Dark Elves, and fewer still live to return to tell the tale of these Machiavellian Lords. For just as their term for their race suggests, the Dark Elf Slavers one hears about are but a small fraction of the lowest denizens of the Morr-Gannakh, the Realm of Lords.

The legends of the Morr-Vollak tell of a time hundreds of generations ago, when the Gods still interacted with the mortal kind. It was an age of plenty and an age of wonders. As the First creation of the Gods, they were blessed with the Divine Right to Rule. The Elves were charged with tending to the Garden of the Gods. To this end, they were given the intellect, wisdom and knowledge needed to establish their civilisation throughout the World. Magic was their art perfected. Unlike today, the Elves were all fair of skin and fair was their hair. Some would say almost angelic in their beauty.

In time, the Elves developed a government, an assembly of the High King, Ruler of All Elves, Lord of All under Heaven. To aid him in his responsibilities to the Gods, the High King appointed eight clans to rule in his name. Thus the Great Noble Houses were born, nine in number. The Great Houses in turn appointed or gave birth to multiple lesser noble houses to create their own courts. Eventually, the Lords of Elves became a race apart from their subjects.

All did not last, however, as the Gods soon grew weary of this world of Mortals, and established for themselves their own Realm. The Morr-Vollak considered it their duty and thus honour bound to not seek this new Realm that would serve as their Creators’ refuge. Instead, they concentrated in the administration and government of the mortal lands.

This Elven Dominion over all Lands, all Realms, and all Life eventually met resistance, the younger races, those who came after the Elves, sought power and freedom from the laws of their rightful master, many of the lesser Elves, those from the lowest castes, who by right should have been honoured to serve their Lords and Masters too, began to rebel.

The noble houses were divided in how to deal with these unexpected phenomena. It was inconceivable that those who serve should oppose the will of the master. These Upstart Races soon enveloped all non-Elven races as well as some of the lowest castes of Elves. Those who would not or could not comprehend the grand design of the Gods, those who would not accept the culture and wisdom of the Lords.

Uprisings, rebellion, the world was torn asunder with the consequential wars. Some of the Elves even from the Great Houses began to question their place amongst the Ruling Caste, defection was rife. A war that shook the very foundations of the world ensued. Continents were plunged into the deep waters of the sea. Valleys were turned overnight into high mountain passes. The death toll was devastating. Nearly three in four of the Morr-Vollak population was sent to their doom. The losses of the Upstarts were much higher.

Blindly, they pressed the attacks. From the beginning, a grand alliance between the various races of the world against one portion of the Elven race, the most powerful but numerically the smallest in number, the result of the war was clear. In a final act of desperation, the Lords of Magic, one of the Great Houses proposed to the High King a final solution to save their people from the brink of annihilation: to sever the lands of Morr-Gannakh from the main continent. It was a risky ritual, and it could be disastrous for the entire world. The High King and the Great Houses convened to the Lords of Magic’s proposal, and they unanimously agreed that their duty demanded that they survive to tend to the Gods’ creation.

As the Lords of Magic gathered their entire clan to the ritual, the Great Houses moved to defend their saviours. A great battle was fought at the feet of the Fortress of Magic, the great Citadel that was the realm of the greatest Mages of the world. In the end, with great sacrifice, the ritual was completed, and as the Lord Magus uttered the last words of command, the Gods descended upon the citadel with fire and lightning. The Gods had betrayed their First Born.

The ensuing chaos turned the Morr-Vollak’s skin pale as if touched by death. Their fair features were marred forever as if wasted by disease, their physique turned nearly skeletal. Their fair coloured hair turned as dark as the void. The lands of Morr-Gannakh shattered under the pressure and the rich pastures sank beneath the waves. As the surviving Morr-Vollak fled to the higher ground, their hills turned into jagged peaks, their castles and fortresses were raised high above the ocean, and the world was splintered. The Great Continent destroyed, the entire world fell away to the eyes of the Morr-Vollak.

The sun was shut out from the skies as dark clouds descended upon the lands of the Lordly Elves. Snow, blizzard, ice began to fall upon the populace. The livestock died of the frigid cold, great predators appeared from the bowels of the earth. The fair lands of Morr-Gannakh had been rendered into a collection of large islands. In the darkness, the Morr-Vollak sought answers. The Lords of Magic were of course, not blamed for the disaster. They had warned that the costs would be great, and that survival was not guaranteed. But none, not even the Lord Magus himself could predict the betrayal of the Gods.

It was the Gods that had intervened in the last moments, trying to disrupt the ritual. It had been the Gods who had sent their fair lands beneath the waves. It was the Gods who had robbed them of the Sun, the Sky and the fair weather. Questions and fear turned into self-pity. Self-pity in turn gave way to anger and hatred, anger towards the upstart races for not knowing their place, for refusing to accept their place in the world, hatred towards the Gods for betraying their beloved First Born.

It was then, in the perpetual darkness of the Cold North, that some of the Gods defied their brethren’s’ verdict. Nine Gods of the Night descended upon the frozen lands, led by the chief in their defiance against divine verdict was Naheron, the Omnipotent One, God of the Cold Star, Tyranny and Power. Piercing the dark clouds, they offered the Morr-Vollak light and guidance, in return for their undivided worship. The High King acknowledged this blessing and he shed his title declaring himself the Dread King, his house would take on the name Morr-Naheron, the Lord of the Iron Throne and his eight other Nine Houses would in turn dedicate themselves to the Nine Gods. First to bend their knees before their new patron deity were the Lords of Magic. They presented themselves as they always had since time immemorial, to the God of the Moon, Lenoth, who in turn specifically requested the worship of the House of Magic. The Lord Magus, the new Dread King and Naheron himself acknowledged this contract and thus the Great House of Magic was renamed the Morr-Lenoth, the Lords of Lenoth. For their services in the preservation of their race from extinction, the Dread King declared their House the Left Hand of the Iron Throne.

It was an age and a half before the upstart races ever heard from their Dread Lords once again. During this time, the Lords of Elves rediscovered their shattered homelands. They cowed and domesticated the lesser beasts of Darkness and Shadow while they persevered. In every one of these fallen Elves, a dark fire simmered in their souls. Vengeance was a dish best served cold, and there was cold aplenty in their new northern mists.

The warmth of the Sun did not reach them here and yet they still worshipped the Unconquered One. Jaggath, the Yellow Star of Fame and Victory had not abandoned his servants and in turn the House of Warlords, Generals of the High King bent their knees before his patronage, pale as it had become in the bitter cold of the North. The House of Generals thus declared themselves Morr-Jaggath, the Right Hand of Morr-Naheron, leaders of his Noble Army.

Yet war leaders need soldiers to fight and while the common levies of the lesser races no longer rallied to their banner, the honour sworn vassals of the Great Houses supplied their greatest warriors and knights in the Dread King’s service. Chief amongst their numbers stood the House of Warriors, who knelt before Dukhal the Bloodthirsty One and declared their House Morr-Dukhal.

The Dark Elf Deities

Of the many Gods that the Elves once served, in their greatest hour of need, only these nine are said to have answered the Lordly Elves' pleas. Starting with the chief amongst those Gods who defied their fellow deities' demand to annihilate the Elf Lords, Naheron, the Nine Great Houses have adopted a God each to serve as their patron. To this end, they have changed their names to reflect their allegiance.

Naheron – God of the Cold Star, Tyranny and Power, the Omnipotent One
The Patron Deity of the Iron Dynasty, Naheron is the Tyrant of the Gods.
Corresponding Celestial Body: Jupiter

Lenoth – God of the Moon, Knowledge and Fortune, the Arcane One
The Patron Deity of the Warlocks, the left hand of Naheron.
Corresponding Celestial Body: Moon

Jaggath – God of the Yellow Star, Fame and Victory, the Unconquered One
The Patron Deity of the Warlords, the right hand of Naheron.
Corresponding Celestial Body: Sun

Dukhal – God of the Red Star, War and Glory, the Bloodthirsty One
The Patron Deity of the Warriors, the Bloodhounds of Naheron.
Corresponding Celestial Body: Mars

Kormaragh – Goddess of the Bright Star, Slaughter and Vengeance, the Unforgiving One
The Patron Deity of the Slavers, the mate of Dukhal.
Corresponding Celestial Body: Venus

Savli – God of the Pale Star, Murder and Subterfuge, the Hidden One
The Patron Deity of the Assassins, the Enforcers of Naheron.
Corresponding Celestial Body: Mercury

Arlasdim – Goddess of the Green Star, Famine and Disease, the Envious One
The Patron Deity of the Spies, the mate of Savli.
Corresponding Celestial Body: Uranus

Nazhgaul – God of the White Star, Grudges and Betrayal, the Remembering One
The Patron Deity of the Justicars, the Guardian of the Underworld.
Corresponding Celestial Body: Saturn

Iktavara – Goddess of the Blue Star, Death and Mourning, the Spiritual One
The Patron Deity of the Undertakers, the mate of Nazhgaul and Lady of the Underworld.
Corresponding Celestial Body: Pluto

Most everyday commodities can be bought for less than a Ferrag. As only the nobility deal in currency amongst the Morr-Vollak, the Dark Elves lack a smaller denomination, the lesser castes and slaves deal in commodities in case of trade. The Morr-Vollak do not support a vibrant mercantile economy, though a powerful Merchant Caste does exist that caters to the nobility. From the perspective of the lesser races, the prices of the Morr-Vollak may be highly inflated. For example, where one Argag is enough for families of the lowest castes to survive for a single month, a single Argag to the noble castes may last one dull afternoon.

Their denominations are as follows:
100 Ferrag = 1 Argag
100 Argag = 1 Aurag
100 Aurag = 1 Hidrag

Thus:
1 Hidrag = 100 Aurag = 10’000 Argag = 1’000’000 Ferrag

The coins of the Morr-Vollak are thin, metal circular disks stamped and engraved with the Crest of Morr-Naheron, the Lords of the Iron Throne. The “tail” always has the same crest, but the “head” is adorned with the portrait and motto of the reigning Dread King. Each and every Noble Houses acknowledge the value of these coins and it is considered treasonous to question the value and validity of these currencies. Those found guilty of forgery or devaluation of these coins, illegal minting or other such crimes, no matter how influential their House, the Dread King’s justice is brutal and swift. The most merciful Dread Kings have in the past simply rounded up every kin, be they man woman or child, of the offending House and impaled them alive in the market squares for all to see throughout the Shattered Realm.

Ferrag are coins made of iron.
Argag are coins made of silver
Aurag are coins made of gold
Hidrag are not coins but metal vials with mercury sealed within it, the crests and portraits are imprinted onto the vials themselves. To attempt to open these vials is also considered treasonous.