Description
Hair with an almost metallic golden sheen hangs down this man's back held
out of his eyes by a simple leather strip tied about his head. Though topping
six feet by a fair margin his clothes fit loosely across his slight frame.
Typical elven facial features are marred by a hard, flinty stare from emerald
green eyes. His clothes, armor and weapons appear well cared for and in
good repair.
Role
The Borderlords
Added Wed Feb 9 11:56:23 2005 at level 7:
Past the eastern gates of Akan, through fog shrouded, craggy mountain passes
lies a land of elves rarely seen in centuries. Nominally swearing fealty to
the house of darsylon, yet all but forgotten by the passage of time, these
people keep mostly to themselves.
The elves of the mountains are similar to the high-elves of darsylon in most
respects. Sometimes called the gray elves, due to thier habit of wearing
clothing suited to blending in with the fog and stony outcroppings of thier
homeland, but more often simply referred to as 'The Borderlords'. The only
real physical difference is that red hair and gmstone colored eyes, though
still a rarity, crop more often with the elves of the mountains. The mental
outlook of the Borderlords is where the major differences come. While not
precisely savage the elves of the mountains tend more toward violence than
thier cousins to the west. Constant skirmishes with the shadow has led them
to lead a far more militant life than most elves. Thier leanings towards
order are strong as a people, acting as a cohesive unit is all that kept them
alive. Most of the Border elves fall to violence while still young and with
such a harsh life much of the love and mercy Darsylon elves have time to
learn is passed over in favor of teaching the next generation how to survive.
The love of the light and the destruction of the shadow are what they are
driven by. An example of thier outlook is that at the time they lost regular
contact with darsylon the battle skill of incarnadine wave was still used
openly, and had yet to be proscribed, The Border elves still keep the
practice to this day. They also tend more towards spears and polearms as
weapons for tight unit formations bristling with polearms has been one of
thier most effective battle tactics against the denziens of the mountains.
For a border elf, to be alone is to die, and this colors thier view of
'honorable combat'.
Even when regular contact was kept between these elves and those of darsylon,
they were viewed as uncouth by many. As one early Darsylonian king stated
'The Borderlords are a rustic lot, barely above the wood-elves in matters of
civilized behavior.'
The Exodus
Added Wed Feb 9 12:04:22 2005 at level 7:
After almost two thousand years it was time for the Borderlords felt it was
time to regain contact with Darsylon. The constant war with the shadow's
creatures was wearing upon them. Embattled on all sides by creatures from
nightmares (formed from a mixture of demon seed and thier slave population of
dark-elves and duergar) and thier armies of slaves. The leaders of the
Borderlords needed to save some part of themselves or to bring in outside
aid, anything that would help in the war against the shadow. The times had
grown desparate. They used the practice of fosterage (sending young nobles to
be raised by others for cementing alliances, teaching thier children to
understand others, and an unbiased view of running thier own lands) as an
excuse to send many to Darsylon.
One such chosen to be fostered was Nimelerionallisan Ar'Dan Dengiliorthas.
The fighting was fierce to break through the shadow's armies to reach Akan.
Most never reached the gats of Akan. As parties of scouts came to trade with
the dwarves once in a while, but never passing beyond the gates, it was a
difficult time to talk thier way past the stubborn dwarves with scouts from
the enemy tracking them.
Darsylon the early years.
Added Wed Feb 9 12:06:46 2005 at level 7:
Upon reaching Darsylon bearing documents from the long forgotten borderlands,
after the shock, and then grilling for information about the distant cousins,
numbers of allies and enemies, they took in the few survivors of the
expedition. Many of the guard sent with them were split among Darsylonian
units of city guardsmen and used to more structure and having faith the men
at thier side would act with them as a single unit most fell in raids. For
all Nimelerion knows he is the last survivor of the original expedition.
Perhaps others have been sent, perhaps the borderlands have already been
crushed outpost by outpost by the swelling armies of the shadow, perhaps no
one will ever know . . .
Name and other bits.
Added Wed Feb 9 12:15:31 2005 at level 7:
Nimelerionallisan Ar'Dan Dengiliorthas:
His family in the borderlands was traditionalist, and kept the naming
conventions of Darsylon, though not all the borderlords still do this.
Youngest son of a relatively low ranking family.
He has spent near to fifty years in darsylon fostered to the house of Elorian
(Ar'dan Elorianthas).
The time spent with those of Darsylon has tempered his hot-blooded nature
some, and given him a greature love of life, but inside he is still only a
step form the near savage he was when he first arrived in Darsylon.
He has recently met elves who have joined the Fortress of Light. Nimelerion
feels if ever a place existed where he would belong besides his homeland,
this may be it.