Dark Elves

Azari'lunn (Dark Elves)
Pronunciation
Classification
Nicknames	Children of the Night
Languages	Azari Linguae, Anjyarri, Common
Average Height
Average Weight
Maximum Age
Stat Bonuses	+2 Strength +0 Defense +0 Agility +1 Intelligence

Introduction:

The deadliest blow is delivered from the shadows. None know this better than the Azari'lunn, they who have drenched the glade of dragons in the blood of countless amounts of ‘cill and pretender Kings of the Azari people.

Let the Azari'cill and the Humans of the Empire shake the earth beneath the tread of colossal armies, playing out their ancient hatred upon a hundred war fronts. Let the Orcs of the red wastes and the pretender kings of Al-Khadir indulge in primitive savagery. Burning and pillaging in an aimless, mindless orgy of destruction.

Amid such calamity, there is a golden opportunity – And the Azari’lunn ambitions transcend mere conquest. While our enemies tear themselves to bloody shreds upon the spears and blades of their rivals, the Azari’lunn will play a more subtle game. Deceit and deception shall be our weapons, betrayal our most potent poison.

Bonds will be broken, alliances will be shattered, and powerful enemies made. And when the dust settles, the Azari’lunn will be left standing.

Appearance

The Azari'lunn, as they call themselves, are, just behind the high elves, who have a slightly taller average height, the tallest race inhabiting Eden. The men grow to an astonishing maximum height of 220cm, while the women reach a still impressive maximum height of 205cm.

Dark elves have dark gray-purple skin, often bordering black tones. Rarely though, more pale skin tones are seen due to crossbreeding with other elven races. Their hair is also mostly colored black or in similar dark tones, but sometimes there are bleach-white hair colors.

Their eye color comprises a range of shades from blue to purple and even yellow. Their ears are comparatively long and pointy, growing to a length of up to 25 cm. Due to this being a feature exclusive to the dark elven race, extremely long ears are considered a sign of superior wisdom.

Male dark elves are surprisingly often hard to tell apart from their female counterparts, owing mostly to the fact that they are, as all elven races, unable to grow facial hair.

Language

Elves generally speak the common tongue. This language has been adopted and normalized in Elven culture through its extreme popularity. A dialect has sprung up in Aerial from a combination of Ancient Elvish and the common tongue. The ancient elven language is a mostly forgotten one. Scholars in Aerial are trying to rediscover their ancient language and bring it back to the vocabulary of the Elves.

Often used ancient elven words that found their way into common speech:

Greetings
Elvish	Common
Vale	Hello/Greetings
Vale’tar	Farewell
Fílo(s)	Friend(s)
Races
Azari	Elf
Azari’cill	High Elf/Pure Elf
Azari’cerr	Wood Elf/Wild Elf
Azari’lunn	Dark Elf/Moon Elf
Azari’soll	Fire Elf/Sun Elf
Dur’arum	Denur
Vari(s)	Human(s)
Ghesiri(s)	Faulskins(s)
De’nevir	Tiefling
Titles
Therri’cill	Guardian of Purity/King
Aeri’cill	Mother of Purity/Queen
Pricecilus	Prince
Pricecili	Princess
Nobicilus	Noble
Visera	Minister
Ar’mágoi’cilus	Arch-Mage/Spellcaster
Ar’mágoi	Mage/Spellcaster
Scinar(i)’cilus	High Priest(ess)
Scinari	Priestess
Scinar	Priest
Scini	(Older) Student
Scin	(Young) Student
Bessi’inn	Blessed one
Kerri’lunn	Bringer of Night
Medi’cilus	Doctor/Medic

“Cilus” is a word without a specified meaning. When someone bears a title with the word “Cilus” in it, it is generally seen as a high-ranking person.

Culture

Structure of Elven Society

The Azari'lunn people are extremely loyal to each other as they want to see their own race strive and work together to improve. Dark elves often stick together and live near each other because they always want to be with the people they trust. They believe a community is only as strong as its weakest member, so they take great measures to elevate each other. This can be seen in their dedication to training the next generation and assisting in work. Although he couldn't give them a better life, their god, Fineall, only wanted what was best for his children.

The Azari’lunn wish to defy their kin by being the superior Azari. They are determined, striving to be the best they can be and bringing out the best in others. The Azari'Lunn are known for having good leadership traits such as; integrity and communication. This is good for the Azari'lunn but also means they do not like following orders from outsiders, especially from the other elves. In these instances, they can come across as prideful and vindictive.

While dark elves are loyal to their race, they are even more loyal to themselves. Having survived the attempted genocide by their fellow elven kin, the dark elves perceive self-love as self-preservation and, therefore, its own act of defiance. As a result, their culture encourages one to pursue mental and physical well-being. Dark elves often surround themselves with things that make them happy, such as fine jewelry, fabrics, and pleasant iconography. In the interest of furthering one's position, dark elves are encouraged to be subtle and resourceful, as the aim is to not resort to violence as their elven kin had. This makes dark elves extremely effective salesmen and politicians.

While loyal and dedicated to each other, dark elves can come across as cunning and vindictive when interacting with outsiders, especially their elven kin. Their values of self-preservation result in being defensive against potential threats. As the Azari'lunn praise cunning and resourcefulness amongst themselves, they are just as wary of it in outsiders. But should their trust be earned, a dark elf is a devoted ally for generations to come. Should one break that trust, they become a very dangerous enemy.

You will often find dark elves being jewelers and tailors. Most of a dark elf's wage will often go back into their well-being and their appearance by purchasing more clothing, jewels, or items that could go into the manufacturing of more materialistic items. The Azari’lunn are a very social race due to their trades. The dark elves are good salesmen and are very persuasive. This is because they influence the Khadan people, the Al-Khadir humans have helped the Azari'lunn adapt more to the Al-Khadir society.

Another part of the Azari’lunn is their markings, this is because they get markings (tattoos) of symbols that have all different meanings to themselves, their family, and their line of work

These markings are so that other Dark elves can see and understand more about a person from these markings. Thus, they do not want to be associated with the High Elves; the dark elves do not care for impurities or differences like the high elves. These markings could mean many things, the most common ones are when a dark elf is married, each of the betrothed gets the same mark somewhere on their body that signifies that they are one. There are markings to show age and standing in the ranks. The nobles of their nations have markings of white to stand out amongst the other people to show that they should be spoken to with the utmost respect.

Criminals also have markings, this helps people know who can be trusted and who to watch out for.

The Azari’lunn are often extremely Vindictive though this isn't always the case. This ties back to the Civil war, the other Azari races blamed them for most things, and after the Azari were unable to remove the ‘lunn , they were exiled.

The Dark elves are big on celebrations, they love coming together as a race to celebrate how far they have come from being the abominations and the outcasts, and now they are a striving race living alongside the humans of Al-Khadir. These elves love music, festivals, food, and all the likes that come along with them. Often their festivals will include a feast and a dance. The Azari’lunn love music and dance, so many festivals will have this included. Do not be shocked if music is played somewhere and a group of dark elves appears out of nowhere. The feast will most likely have some form of sacrifice in which elves in higher standing will get the first choice. One of the main reasons the dark elves love to hold festivals and celebrations is because it is an excuse to put on their fine clothes and fancy jewels and share this time together.

Holidays and Celebrations

• Mereth

A feast that celebrates generations that lived and those that are to come. The entire village will often sit and prepare special dishes during this feast. Each household must prepare at least two dishes of their chosen specialty and share food, and a massive gathering will occur.

• Linnas

A massive parade, a big part of the Azari’lunn’s calendar, is held to celebrate their music and wealth. This means they all dress up in their finest clothing and parade around listening and dancing to the music being played. The music is often from lutes or a drum, their music is very upbeat, and the dances are much more lively.

• Gwinnig

This festival will celebrate new life and elven fertility. Much like the High elves, reproduction is important to the Dark elves. This is why Gwinnig is a festival that takes place three times per elven year to celebrate the younger elves and the fertility of an elf.

Romance & Marriage

Romance is often seen in the Azari’lunn culture because they can be lustful. The ‘lunn are a very social race, and proof of this is that when a marriage is seen in society, a massive celebration is held in the newlywed's honor. A wedding celebration takes place over three weeks, excluding the engagement months.

Weddings

A massive feast in honor of both families, where the village prepares food and beverages as gifts for the couple, wishing them power and wealth in their marriage and future generations. The marking ritual is a ceremony that takes place a few days before the wedding. During this ceremony, The bride and groom are marked with similar markings/tattoos symbolizing their love, dedication, and loyalty to one another. During the wedding ceremony, a horse provided by the bride's family is slaughtered, and the blood is consumed by both the bride and groom to symbolize prosperity, growth, and loyalty. The wedding party is a massive festival that takes up 3 whole days; during this, there is an animal sacrifice, a feast, music, and dancing

Divorce is allowed in the race if either of the partners no longer wishes to be married, but this is rarely the case for a betrothed couple

Life & Reproduction

Dark Elves, as they are a race blessed by Fineall, age in a very specific way. The first 21 Years of an elven life are spent growing up like any other race. However, after that, Elves are long-lived creatures. They don't show any major signs of aging processes until around 500. After the regular aging process has started, elves still live up to a hundred years, with most dying between 550 and 600 years of age. Reproduction is quite important all throughout Azari’lunn Society. Family is often a huge factor even though Romance isn't. A ‘lunn is often very loyal to their family and will put their life on the line for them. Dark elves are usually fertile for around one week yearly, as all elven races share the same reproduction cycle. In honor of a family's pregnancy, a celebration will be held. During a dark elf's pregnancy, the pregnant elf will often pray daily to the son, Fineall. This is seen as respectful, and doing this will signify the baby's bravery, loyalty, and health.

Death & Funerals

Death for the Azari Lunn is often a very sad time for close friends and family. There will be a period where the people will come together for the deceased's family and help out in any way they can. The dark elves would like to see the good in death. This would mean they would mourn the death but then celebrate the life because they believe in death they would go and be with their God Fineall. Most elves can see that the deceased is going to be in a happier place. They would celebrate the achievements and what they accomplished in their life.

The Funeral

Bathing of The Body

Close family members bathe the body of the deceased to physically cleanse the body. This should occur as soon as possible after death, usually done within hours.

Honoring The Dead

The body is usually dressed in the finest clothes depending on political status and wealth. The body is often kept this way for up to 3 days in a blessed building or area, where the village may pay their respects to the deceased and the family.

The Burial

When the head of a household passes on, a tomb is built in honor of the family and the deceased. After the Bathing of the body and the Honoring of the dead, The deceased is placed in the tomb and sealed until another body needs to be buried. Stepping into a tomb without a valid reason for being there is seen as the highest form of disrespect, and you will be executed or Trialed heavily on behalf of the deceased and their family.

Religion

The Azari’lunn follow the religion of the Pantheon of the Phoenix; they follow the God of Fineall, the son of the pantheon. He created the Azari’lunn and protected them from the other gods during the age of the fallen spires. He gave them a chance at life and wanted them to prosper and prove themselves to all other races. The dark elves do not have a temple for Fineall, they believe that they can worship him anywhere and feel better doing so in private. Fineall believes in freedom for his people, and they can choose to live whatever way they want, whether bad or good. Although Fineall’s one rule is that they have to be loyal to their kind, if any were not loyal and went against their kind, they would be considered an abomination to Fineall and would not be gifted with his protection and love. This reasoning was interpreted from Fineall’s last message to his people: ``Let your loyalty lay with your kind.``

History

Origins:

The origins of the Azari are mostly unknown. It is mostly believed that the race of Elves was gifted with life by the gods of the Elven Pantheon. The elven race has its roots in the valley of dragons, also known as Arda. This time is known as the Age of enlightenment.

At this age, the Gods of the Pantheon walked among their children. The gods of the Pantheon each gave the Azari a piece of themselves to shape their children.

The father, Kharash, gifted the Azari strength, courage, and skill of being a father to their families.

The Mother, Aerièlle, gifted her children wisdom, the ways of being the most enlightened and pure being in Eden, and the knowledge of how to wield the sacred blessings of Eden in the form of magical powers.

The daughter, Aestaena, gifted her children fertility, love, and the need to procreate.

And at last, there was the Son, Fineall, he was left with nothing but bad traits for his children, He gifted his children the challenges of life.

The Age of Fallen Spires:

The Gods looked down upon the Azari’lunn, viewing them as abominations. They despised the Azari’lunn and did everything they could to destroy them, body and soul. After all these efforts, they could not destroy the Azari Lunn. Fineall was not to give up on his creation, his efforts protected the dark elves from the pantheon of the Gods.

After their efforts had failed, The gods ordered the Cill and the ‘cerr to finish what they started, their city of Thelkorath was burnt, and the dark kin was attacked. This sparked a civil war between the races as the Azari’lunn fought back with the honor they would not surrender. The earth drank much blood that day, and many good Azari'lunn’s lives were lost. Their bodies lay broken and scattered across the battlefield, like brown leaves blown by the wind.

In the end, The Azari’lunn lost. Fineall, for the safety of his children, took the battle with the rest of the Pantheons to the heavens but left a message to his elves ``Let your loyalty lay with your kind.`` The Azari’lunn were left weak and extremely low in numbers, and their king, Zebrac Torsec, led his people away from the other Azari. Meanwhile, an attack on the Azari’soll wiped them out, and In the end, The blame for such deaths was placed upon the dark elves. No one knows what happened that day except for the people responsible.

The Difficult days of the Azari’lunn:

The Azari’lunn were drained, they had nowhere to go and no one to help them. So they started traveling, all sticking together. They were the gypsies of Eden. Zebrac Torsec then led his people traveling along the lands, trying to find somewhere to call their homes. Often spending time in other towns living in barns and the slums of the land, they would attempt to make coin in any way they could; some would do the labor work, and others got lucky using their skills of tailoring to do repair work, which they learned from traveling, making their own clothing and sleep sacks. They would scrape by, barely able to afford food for themselves; they didn't grow much in numbers because of this, and they did not want to bring loads of children to this unforgiving world. Only enough children to keep them from going extinct.

The dark elves would go between towns and villages to find more work, hoping to find someone to take them in, rekindling their once-striving race. 150 years after the war, they were in between lands heading south; on the roads, they were attacked, and mercenaries or bandits came for blood. On this day, they were still weak and low on numbers; they did what they could. Storm clouds filled the sky with darkness, the rain came, and the four winds blew angrily. Their leader, Zebrac Torsec, was slain, one of the foes had pierced him in the back, and the blade carried straight through him. After his death, the enemies fled them, leaving the Azari’lunn leaderless. This day was a massive loss for all, a great loss had occurred. In the time of mourning, they kept searching for somewhere to rest safely. The day of Zebrac’s death will always be remembered, but Hope was lost.

The Rebuilding Of The People:

200 years after the events of the civil war, the Azari’lunn started to grow larger. They were starting to rebuild their race, traveling in larger groups they were stronger and knew the lands well. They were leaving the lands of Hadriana, and they headed more south, following the coast. They came across a landscape of sand, crumbling rock, and harsh sunlight. They wandered through, attempting to find any sign of life in this barren place. A sandstorm had struck, disorientating them and losing their bearing, this was a hard journey for the dark elves they became dehydrated and exhausted. Some of the older dark elves took charge of the expedition. They wanted to find their way out and come back to this land at a later time, then all of a sudden, their eyes caught a glimpse of a massive palace top. Heading towards it, they all saw the beautiful sight of sandstone housing, colorful banners, the massive palace with a point on top, and the sounds of people cheering and musical instruments playing. The Azari’lunn were in shock, They rushed to the land looking for aid and examining closely to see whether these people would be an ally or an enemy.

Entering the city of Al-Khadar, humans greeted them, they made arrangements to let the Azari’lunn stay in their city. The Dark elves and the humans got on well with each other and grew closer to one another. They exchanged knowledge, the dark elves would show the humans their different crafts, their skills in tailoring and jewel crafting, While the humans taught the elves the secrets of haggling and selling. They both shared their love for music, mixing their different dances and instruments to create lovely, upbeat melodies with a mix of the dances making beautiful body movements. They grew more fond of each other, a strong relationship was built, and the foundation of a great nation was formed. Their beliefs each other were different, but most dark elves can see each other's beliefs and understand their meaning, although some don't like it.

The dark elves are still rebuilding themselves and are working with the humans of Al-Khadir to grow and be stronger than the other Azari. They will help humans with their goals on the way. Their difficulties are exactly what would bring forth success.