Dark Elves

History

This is world history from the dark elven point of view. The Circle and the Undercities are convinced the Dark Elven view of events is just myth, the Light elves believe it to be fabrication. The Dark Elves consider these groups ignorant children.

The Fall.

Human had achieved major technological heights, he had explored his own world and the galaxy around it but had not managed to venture out of his own Star system. Technology had made fascinating advances even the simplest devices had spirits infused into them (Ancient-Technology).

However Man never managed to developed a way to breech the veil and achieve interstellar travel even though they were desperate to do so. Man in his arrogance still warred with himself and looked to leave the planet in search of more worlds to conquer and pillage

All the while entities who could sense man's hate and evil came to the planet, they existed on the other side of the veil awaiting a chance to press thru.

Eventually man's experiments with interstellar travel started to progress. The veil would have to be penetrated and travel taken place in the beyond. They experimented and more demons arrived realising that soon they would be able to force their way through.

Other worlds had managed space travel eons before they had visited the humans long before they had attracted the demons. When the demons flocked to the world they attacked anything that passed thru their domain. Some space travelers avoided the world recognising it as a danger. Eventually the problem became worse and no longer could all avoid the region those unfortunates were forced to enter real space and land to repair their vessels.

This was new man's first new contact with alien species and it did not go well. Most hid, others were killed or experimented upon the general public were terrified. The emotional turmoil and fear brought forward more demons.

A species named Dragon who had visit Man eon before saw the destruction and chaos and as a method of cleansing sent forth a bioengineered race of soldiers to wipe the planet clean of humans. A race of soldiers that would survive the time involved in non-warp space travel. Their ship would warp as close as possible but then be forced to continue in real space. It would take decades for them to reach the planet. The Dragon called these soldiers the Ilvarr. (The 'rr' is rolled)

Then the humans unaware of the events in the warp with salvaged alien technology managed to break the veil. Demons
rush thru and possessed anything they could. Thus started the Fall. All the other wars of man disappeared and man fought demon. Minor alliances were made with any unfortunate stranded aliens but their number were so few that only their knowledge was used. Demons took the form of humans, demons created their own forms pandemonium was everywhere.

The Ilvarr eventually arrived. Many years had passed and man had managed to reach a stalemate with the demons the entire surface was a battle zone. The Ilvarr genocide mission commenced. Man desperate to survive allied with demon against the Ilvarr, here was born the Circle. They summoned forth demons to fight their new enemies, they could not control them but it bought them time. The Dragon realised they had created a bigger problem and the Ilvarr orders were changed, they were to fight the demons along side the humans. It was in this period that the now Dark Elvin Undercity was built as a template for the human undercities. The great human Undercities were built and as soon as the populaces were safe and the battle started to turn against the demons the humans attacked the Ilvarr again.

The war raged on for centuries the Ilvarr against the demons the humans against the demons and then when the Ilvarr were not looking or when the demons were on the run the humans would attack the Ilvarr.

Other races sent troops or had their vessels stranded in the region, eventually it was too much.

The Dragon could see that human technology had caused the breech long before he humans were ready to deal with the demons. Their society was far behind their technology. It was decided that they could simply destroy the planet this would make the emotional scaring in the region permanent but then an alternative was found.

The dragons came to an agreement with the remaining humans that to save what was left of the human civilization they would have to forgo their hard won technology. The knowledge would be hidden from them until such a time as man had evolved enough responsibility to use it wisely.

During the war many biologically engineered creatures had been created to fight along side the Ilvarr. Another creature was created a space faring but semi-intelligent creature was bred, in the thousands. The dragons had long ago realised that their Ilvarr were living too long, their sanity could barely contain the experiences of several lifetimes. These space faring creatures would have to await endlessly till the demons had passed ensuring the humans did not break their promise. So their intelligence was only rudimentary. These creatures, these Great Dragons, the size of mountains soared through the skies and burned the planet clean. They killed all life they destroyed everything. They leveled mountains and burned underneath. They melted cities, villages, towns the entire planet was scorched back to nothing.

As part of the deal the humans had packed into the Undercities as many as they could. Into these Undercities also came the races that had been stranded here over the centuries. However the Ilvarr were not welcome. They were left on the surface they had completed their mission and were no longer required, the same too with the other semi-dragons that had fought by their side.

The Burning took years. The Ilvarr were reduced to nothing. Amongst the forgotten were even some of the true-dragon. The great dragons had not managed to destroy all life on the planet but most of it. In corners of the world some managed to survive. Some plants, some rodents, some cattle and even some humanoids.

Most were killed any that survived did so hand to mouth. Some Ilvarr managed to find their abandoned Undercity, they remembered it because they had built it. With great cost to their numbers they penetrated its defences only the children of these once great warriors managed to reach the safety of the original Ilvarr Undercity. They lived there for a while, till the great dragons stopped burning and return to the heavens to sleep and to patrol occasionally. These children were nothing but intelligent savages too young to understand their past. They lived in the great undercity recognising but not understanding anything.

Their populations recovered over the next few centuries, but their culture had been forgotten, they did not understand their Undercity, they had fought against demon with fist and rock for so long they did not understand technology, the elders that did had long ago fallen. They lived in their own great Undercity understanding nothing, thinking themselves transients. They continued to fight demons managing for centuries to keep them at bay, but more of the human Undercities failed and their populaces possessed by the demons. Then the demons forced the elves to leave their home for the surface where there was room to run. The surface was still mostly barren but some plant life had managed to return. Once on the surface the demon wars continued. The numbers of demons were far fewer but so too were the numbers of elves. They recovered and fought on for centuries.

**[The name 'Elf' is a human word spoken to the Ilvarr by the demons that expelled them from their Undercity]

The Elves eventually gained control of the southern continent and the Demons the northern. Each side became complacent with their territories. The Elves weary of thousands of years of war rested for the first time. Their culture blossomed they found the arts and they evolved socially. However some of the Elves wanted to continue the war on the Demons they too were weary of war but they had a duty. A duty that they could feel on a genetic level, a need to war. This started the first elven civil war.

Elf fought Elf for the right to war on the Demons. Eventually the elves of the light won and the dark elves were forced to retreat. The elves of the light chased them and destroyed many of their number. The elves of the light wanted to erase this faction of elves from the planet. The dark elves ran and hid and begged for their lives, no mercy was shown. Eventually as their
forebears before them they followed the instructions in the ancient texts and found the Ilvarr Undercity again and managed to take it back from the demons. The Dark Elves had no want to kill elf they wanted to kill demon. This forever shaped the motivations of the two elven races.

One a race who would kill their own rather than be forced back to war.

The other a race who would eternally be hated and chased for wanting to do their duty.

During this time humans had been forced out of their failed Undercities started to colonise the southern continent with the permission of the elves. These humans had helped in persecution of the dark elves and were rewarded for this with territory by the light Elves.

The humans bred much faster than the elves and rapidly expanded their colonies, eventually the elves were forced to give over more land. Over the centuries human populations swelled and so too their lands. The elves wanting to avoid another war retreated. The humans were at war with the elves but it was a war the elves had never fought before a cold war.

The humans would destroy elven settlements then claim that it was not a 'Circle' sanctioned attack the humans would say sorry, the elves would forgive them and then move further away. Eventually the elves ran out of places to retreat. Some crossed the water to Lohze. The island of Lohze would never be taken by human hands, the elves of lohze declaring that any hostilities would be met with overwhelming retaliation. The humans left them alone. Eventually Illandar was forced to take the same stance as they had run out of land to retreat to and that is where everything has stayed for millennium.

The Light Elves have since found bureaucracy and are finally happy lost in it.

Religion

Dark Elves do not believe in an after life. They know their past and know that they are tools that have no soul. They know their creator was mortal and that they have no Gods. They have come to terms with this and seek only to fulfil their purpose, destroy the demons, knowing after this at least they can rest for eternity.

They seek to die well and to be in that simple moment forever. Without the stress of decision of regret of memory, that moment where they remember nothing and are one with the moment they are in. Some believe in the 'echoing moment'. A belief where their final moment echoes for eternity.

Elves often practice this concept of living in the moment, attempting to reach a state of nothingness only the task at hand. Their long memories and regrets of several lifetimes weigh heavy on their minds, they seek simplicity. The dark elves seek this through action, the concentration on the task at hand allowing them to escape their pasts.

Technology

Dark Elves have access to and can use all technologies. They have almost managed to understand Ancient Technologies but not quite. They can use it but can not repair it. They are only able to create it because their Undercity still has automated manufacturing facilities which they operate but they do not under stand the processes involved.

Mostly they scavenge technology from their Undercity as needed. The city is immense and filled with automated manufacturing and maintenance there is no want. Food shelter clothing is all readily available. The population does not even break the silence.

They do not allow their technology to leave the city lest it fall into the wrong hands but occasionally some is smuggled out.

Lighting levels keep them in a permanent night. They have never sought to change this it feeling natural.

Society

There is no theft as it is senseless. Living space, food, possessions are everywhere. There are ares of the city that have not even been scavenged yet. The undercity is a true utopia.

Birth rate is very low, and those that are born are often deformed. These children are either slaughtered at birth or banished shortly there after. They realise that their races banishment below the surface causes this and many feel trapped. They have no want to leave but they want more of an existence.

Most become preoccupied with death and seek to war to end it but they have not the strength of numbers to war on others, and their comradeship prevents them attacking each other so they sit and wait endlessly for death.

Dance and music is one of their few outlets, Music is often loud and violent, something that can let out their aggression. Military careers are another popular method to release aggression.

Language

Dark Elven is as close to the original Ilvarr as their scholars have been able to research. It is very similar to the language of demons in fact identical. Ilvarr is ancient Elven, nearly as is spoken by Light Elvin scholars. The written language however is based on the Elven alphabet which is not the original. The Ilvarr written language is only understood in part.

Money & Trade

Dark elves want for very little so their currency is used minimally. They do trade with the nearby dwarves for things of the outside world. Real food and beautiful things. To the dwarves they provide simple technologies, mostly steam or pneumatic which the dwarves modify for their own use.