Post by Head Moderator on Jun 4, 2013 15:52:17 GMT -5
In the depths of the primordial forests, spectral citadels are home to elves unlike any other. Dubbed "ghost elves" for their eerie appearance, this rarely encountered race has given rise to a thousand tales of forest demons and lost civilizations. The legacy of the ghost elves is a tale of conflict, betrayal and vengeance. They are reclusive and welcome very few outsiders into their halls.
Ghost elves silently hunt down their enemies, without remorse. Nearly wiped out by the drow, this ancient sub-race was tricked by a pit fiend into servitude in the Nine Hells of Baator. They eventually escaped to the Ethereal Plane.
Ghost Elves dwelt on the fringe of elven society. They made their homes amid the ancient roots of the forests of Kir'viir, rarely making contact with other races.
Thousands of years ago, during the elven civil war that led to the fall of the Drow, the ghost elves maintained their isolation and remained neutral in the great racial struggle. After the defeated Drow retreated into the Under dark, they schemed against their distant cousins and launched an attack on the Ghost Elves. The very shelter that had kept them safe became fiercely contested battlegrounds. The Ghost Elves were no match for the seasoned Dark Elven troops. They were virtually wiped out in the blink of an eye. The other surface elves were either unwilling or unable to aid their beleaguered kin, something the Ghost Elves have never forgotten or forgiven.
Help eventually arrived-from an unexpected source. As the defenses of the last settlement were collapsing, an alien entity calling itself Thule appeared and offered to save the Ghost Elves in return for their service.
Appalled by the slaughter of their people the Ghost Elven leaders agreed without second thought only to realize they were tricked later on. Thule revealed himself as the Archduke Thulikazt, a pit fiend of almost godlike power, and took the Ghost Elves to his home in the Nine Hells of Baator. There he enslaved them, slowly destroying their spirits and their strong connection with the land. For hundreds of years, they toiled for the archfiend, and thousands were slaughters the savage arena battles and pointless experiments for Thulikazt's pleasure. This is called "The Tempering" in Ghost Elven history.
Countless centuries passed and the archfiend grew lax, allowing his slaves to take up arms and join his forces in the Blood War. The Ghost Elves learned the arts of war and conquest from fiendish generals and hellish sorcerers. They became Thulikazt's elite bodyguards, drawing admiration and envy from other fiends.
The Ghost Elves secretly contacted their master's enemies and offered to serve those lesser fiends in return for aid in destroying their hated master. Greedy for the service of Thulikazt's elite bodyguards, they lay siege to Thulikazt's citadel only to find his mutilated corpse and a thank you note.
Today Ghost Elves live on the Ethereal Plane. Their cities are built deep in the woodlands of Kir'viir and are at least partially underground. Due to their long captivity and the dangers their settlements attract, their society has a strong martial bent. A thousand years has not cooled the anger of the devils humiliated by the "elven treachery" and even today seek they seek out the Ghost Elves.
PERSONALITY
Ghost elves speak rarely, and when they do it is in a hoarse voice. they are serious and cynical, and can use several potent abilities. They are wary; earning their trust namely subtle tests and trials. Dwarves compare them to mithral: beautiful and delicate in appearance, but stronger than the hardest steel.
Ghost elves are extremely fragile, with females being more fragile than the males. This adds much to their beauty, and humans especially are wildly attracted to ghost elves. Inerestingly enough, female ghost elves are also wildly attracted to human males. They are consistently curious to know a human male, and to revel in his physical splendor. However, when they give in to their curiosity and their desire, it can be dangerous to them because of their frailty.
One of the ghost elves’ most important sayings claims that all relationships are a form of love; even hate is simply a perversion of the natural order, and even something as seemingly casual as friendship is fraught with meaning for them. Once they allow themselves to form a bond, they regard it as a sacred trust, unbreakable by the forces of time. The intensity of these bonds makes them reluctant to form them with others, causing them to seem somewhat aloof at first.
DESCRIPTION
Ghost Elves have the same height and weight of elves but are frailer. They reach adulthood at 30 years of age and live to about a 100 years shorter than most elves. Gray hair and pale skin are nearly universal, with the occasional having jet black hair. The eyes are the most striking feature; they are like twin mirrors lacking whith, iris, and pupil.
Their frame is sensuously shapely and incredibly thin and light. Aside from these attributes, the most enthralling thing about ghost elves is that their skin glows with a soft light akin to a candle (this can be suppressed). When they are in this state, they appear almost transparent, non-corporeal, and immensely beautiful. A ghost elf will glow in this fashion one hour for every hour spent in the sun. When in direct sunlight, they still appear to glow because they are merely reflecting some of the light that strikes them. This does not hurt the eyes of a normal humanoid, but it does make for a rather dashing appearance.
Ghost elves prefer light wispy clothing, sometimes made of see-through fabrics that are opaque in all the right places. Some of the greatest seamstresses in the world are ghost elven women who have spent millennia perfecting the art of the perfect clothing.
Ghost elves silently hunt down their enemies, without remorse. Nearly wiped out by the drow, this ancient sub-race was tricked by a pit fiend into servitude in the Nine Hells of Baator. They eventually escaped to the Ethereal Plane.
Ghost Elves dwelt on the fringe of elven society. They made their homes amid the ancient roots of the forests of Kir'viir, rarely making contact with other races.
Thousands of years ago, during the elven civil war that led to the fall of the Drow, the ghost elves maintained their isolation and remained neutral in the great racial struggle. After the defeated Drow retreated into the Under dark, they schemed against their distant cousins and launched an attack on the Ghost Elves. The very shelter that had kept them safe became fiercely contested battlegrounds. The Ghost Elves were no match for the seasoned Dark Elven troops. They were virtually wiped out in the blink of an eye. The other surface elves were either unwilling or unable to aid their beleaguered kin, something the Ghost Elves have never forgotten or forgiven.
Help eventually arrived-from an unexpected source. As the defenses of the last settlement were collapsing, an alien entity calling itself Thule appeared and offered to save the Ghost Elves in return for their service.
Appalled by the slaughter of their people the Ghost Elven leaders agreed without second thought only to realize they were tricked later on. Thule revealed himself as the Archduke Thulikazt, a pit fiend of almost godlike power, and took the Ghost Elves to his home in the Nine Hells of Baator. There he enslaved them, slowly destroying their spirits and their strong connection with the land. For hundreds of years, they toiled for the archfiend, and thousands were slaughters the savage arena battles and pointless experiments for Thulikazt's pleasure. This is called "The Tempering" in Ghost Elven history.
Countless centuries passed and the archfiend grew lax, allowing his slaves to take up arms and join his forces in the Blood War. The Ghost Elves learned the arts of war and conquest from fiendish generals and hellish sorcerers. They became Thulikazt's elite bodyguards, drawing admiration and envy from other fiends.
The Ghost Elves secretly contacted their master's enemies and offered to serve those lesser fiends in return for aid in destroying their hated master. Greedy for the service of Thulikazt's elite bodyguards, they lay siege to Thulikazt's citadel only to find his mutilated corpse and a thank you note.
Today Ghost Elves live on the Ethereal Plane. Their cities are built deep in the woodlands of Kir'viir and are at least partially underground. Due to their long captivity and the dangers their settlements attract, their society has a strong martial bent. A thousand years has not cooled the anger of the devils humiliated by the "elven treachery" and even today seek they seek out the Ghost Elves.
PERSONALITY
Ghost elves speak rarely, and when they do it is in a hoarse voice. they are serious and cynical, and can use several potent abilities. They are wary; earning their trust namely subtle tests and trials. Dwarves compare them to mithral: beautiful and delicate in appearance, but stronger than the hardest steel.
Ghost elves are extremely fragile, with females being more fragile than the males. This adds much to their beauty, and humans especially are wildly attracted to ghost elves. Inerestingly enough, female ghost elves are also wildly attracted to human males. They are consistently curious to know a human male, and to revel in his physical splendor. However, when they give in to their curiosity and their desire, it can be dangerous to them because of their frailty.
One of the ghost elves’ most important sayings claims that all relationships are a form of love; even hate is simply a perversion of the natural order, and even something as seemingly casual as friendship is fraught with meaning for them. Once they allow themselves to form a bond, they regard it as a sacred trust, unbreakable by the forces of time. The intensity of these bonds makes them reluctant to form them with others, causing them to seem somewhat aloof at first.
DESCRIPTION
Ghost Elves have the same height and weight of elves but are frailer. They reach adulthood at 30 years of age and live to about a 100 years shorter than most elves. Gray hair and pale skin are nearly universal, with the occasional having jet black hair. The eyes are the most striking feature; they are like twin mirrors lacking whith, iris, and pupil.
Their frame is sensuously shapely and incredibly thin and light. Aside from these attributes, the most enthralling thing about ghost elves is that their skin glows with a soft light akin to a candle (this can be suppressed). When they are in this state, they appear almost transparent, non-corporeal, and immensely beautiful. A ghost elf will glow in this fashion one hour for every hour spent in the sun. When in direct sunlight, they still appear to glow because they are merely reflecting some of the light that strikes them. This does not hurt the eyes of a normal humanoid, but it does make for a rather dashing appearance.
Ghost elves prefer light wispy clothing, sometimes made of see-through fabrics that are opaque in all the right places. Some of the greatest seamstresses in the world are ghost elven women who have spent millennia perfecting the art of the perfect clothing.