Elantion. Valentina Massano
endowed with magical powers.
Elantion, which meant “Abode of the Elves” in Ancient Elvish, was unsurprisingly the home of the elves.
According to legend, this world was the first to be created, just as the elves were the first of the sons of the divine. The Elantion of today was the result of a whirlwind chain of events unfolding over the millennia that compelled the elves to learn to live with humans and dwarves from the time of the Great Exodus onward.
The vast and bountiful territory of this world was divided into two massive continents, Vestur in west and Austur in the east, permitting the elves—originally a single sizeable People—to split into three different groups. The nalnirs remained the same as the First Elves, and inhabited the forests of Draelia and of Sahelica in Vestur. Their rosy skin could take on green hues when they were deep in the verdure, and their yellow eyes allowed them to ascertain everything, even within the thick undergrowth. There were also the essenirs, the ice-elves, who lived in Austur’s coldest regions. Their skin turned quite pale indeed, much like their hair, and their eyes were blue or purple. Finally, there were the denennirs, the desert-elves, who populated the most arid areas of Vestur, called the Desolate Sands. Their skin darkened with the passing of generations, along with their eyes and hair. They were always the most insular and narrow-minded, and they tended not to distance themselves from their desert home.
The sheer expanse of the territories of Elantion and the powerful elven magic that permeated the ancient world allowed other races to grow and prosper as well. In the canyon adjacent to the Desolate Sands settled the fashratas, a reserved and timorous population of anthropomorphic foxes, while in the nigh impassable mountains of Darish south of Vestur dwelt the mysterious tuecas, anthropomorphic falcons with astonishing abilities. In Austur’s far southeast corner lay the vast land of Eborian, (whose name meant “the Dragon Plateau” in Draconic), where these legendary creatures resided since time immemorial.
Tesgaran, Lysirdor, and Elantion coexisted in peace and prosperity for many years. Dwarves, humans, and elves lived out their daily lives alongside the gods in their respective worlds, and all was well. The giantess Th’ta, unknown even to the gods and born of Odnir on the forgotten and far-off world of Alceas (which was peopled by a lineage that was also unknown), unleashed the ire of her children on the three worlds that blocked her entry. And the titans’ attack spawned utter chaos.
Karak the Shrill shook the depths of Tesgaran with her voice, triggering the collapse of the dwarven cities and tunnels. Atasin the Souleater enveloped Lysirdor with his death aura, sucking the life force out of his victims. Vidan the Wicked released plagues upon Elantion, killing countless scores of elves in the throes of atrocious suffering.
Lysirdor and Tesgaran were devastated by the titans’ overwhelming might, and humans, dwarves, and trolls were permitted to leave their abodes and share the world of Elantion with the native elves. Following the Great Exodus, the new Peoples kept spreading out, and the progressive abandonment of some areas by the elves made their magic inexorably weaken in those territories. Human communities flourished, but were soon marked by strife and civil war.
The trolls traveled to Elantion’s far north, and disappeared into the immense and barren Frostlands, causing Elantion to forget about their presence for many an age. The dwarves took possession of the Celestial Summits, rich as they were in minerals and precious stones. In so doing, they flouted the elves’ imposition to go further north, which only made the balance established between their two Peoples all the more precarious.
Alceas was the last world of Nemnairil, forever isolated on the edge of the abyss, and unremembered by all. It originally became the home of the titan Odnir, after he was driven away by the First Goddess on account of the schemes and tricks he perpetrated at the expense of the gods and the other titans. Tak’Rah, the Fist Goddess, wrapped Alceas in a veil so that it remained isolated from the other worlds.
Odnir, a titan of elemental shadow, and one dominated by primordial darkness, created a companion for himself by the name of Th’ta. She was the utmost shadow, infinitely evil and bereft of scruples. The two titans gave birth to Atasin, Karak, and Vidan, each as dark and as ruthless as them.
The tulvars lived on Alceas, and they were the only race who recalled their creation (at Th’ta’s hands). Different from humans, dwarves, and elves, they were fashioned to be superior. Their civilization hinged on the worship of Th’ta, who turned from a titan to their sole deity. The chronicles of these millennia were written and preserved in the Th’ta Temple, located on the Goddess’s Isle, where she died. It consisted of a mound of black earth bordered by three large teeth of rock. The High Priestess and the Minor Priestesses lived inside the Temple, which was also where female tulvaren nobles spent their days serving the Goddess and learned to interpret the messages in the shadows Th’ta sent them.
As the tulvars were a warrior race, their whole society was pervaded by a militaristic culture centered on discipline and rigor. The populace was guided by a king who dealt with matters military and material. All the sons of the noble Houses were enrolled at age six and sent to the camps. Upon their thirteenth year, they were categorized by skill and sent to complete their training as infantry, archers, or knights. Those who developed magical abilities left the fields to join the Sorcerer Caste and become necromancers or seers. The former could summon spirits and bend life and death to their will. The latter took on an important task through their power of Sight, enabling them to plot the course of events. Their duty was to check on the Veil and inform the priestesses of any alterations.
As for the daughters of nobility, they were obligated to serve as priestesses, although they did have the right to flex their will and go down the martial path. It was exceedingly rare for a young female noble to choose the harsh life in the training camps as opposed to the comforts of the Temple, and when it did come to pass, the female in question had a much tougher path ahead of her, as no one would teach her how to harness her powers, instead leaving her to learn by herself. These tulvaren women were dubbed Ivetis, and forced to live isolated and forgotten until they proved able to wield their power, thereby demonstrating that they had already developed some measure of military prowess. Only then could they access the training camps for archers, warriors, or knights.
After the King of Alceas and the High Priestess came the Supreme Necromancer, the Archons of the various Houses, and other nobles who were the Commanders of the Legions. The rest of the population was made up of resvas, or the commoners. They were the peasants, the craftspeople, and the merchants, and they, too, were trained in special military camps, forming the backbone of the army. The lowest caste constituted the uggars, or the slaves, which were tulvars quite different from the others. As this was a very rigid society, all those who showed unique characteristics at birth were locked up in what were called ranches. They were short in stature, puny with pinkish-pale skin; the normally red eyes of their race were rounder than usual, and completely black. Moreover, their foreheads were characterized by wrinkles. They were compelled to shave their hair and wear collars that underscored their condition. Raised as slaves, and indoctrinated into complete subjugation, they were given all the hardest tasks, and repaid only with scarce portions of food served in a large common dish on which they all threw themselves to snatch as much as possible. Obviously, mating between uggars was encouraged—their frequent deaths due to accidents, malnutrition and disease necessitated ever higher numbers of slaves.
The world the tulvars inhabited was arid and gloomy, and always under cloud cover. The few points of elevation had been eroded by the heavy sand-laden winds that, over thousands of years, shaped the mountains into spurs. The tulvars learned to live with the extreme climate of their world by building massive stone cities capable of withstanding sudden sandstorms, as well as the torrential rains, which washed over Alceas once per year for a whole week. They learned, too, how to take advantage of these rains by collecting the water in large tanks and using it in small doses to irrigate the fields. As the generations passed, they grew weary of needing to hunt for fresh meat, and managed to breed some animals suited for this purpose. Some of them, such as minor and major hedgots, also became valuable heavy forces in their army. Hedgots were a kind of lizard; the lesser ones were used for their leathery skin (which was a fundamental ingredient of excellent armor), and they also were employed as assault