Difference between revisions of "Dominion Era/Elledynnë (Characteristics)"

Latest revision as of 04:13, 22 July 2015

Dominion Era Elledynnë
High Elves
Fair Folk, Golden Ones, Two-Faces
Racial Insignia of the Elledynnë
Land of Origin
Continent of Origin	Termalttë
Homeland	D'Satrë Naborra
Capital	Di'Olyrenë Selvë
Racial Lore
Language	Elledyn'ni
Characteristics	Elledynnë (Characteristics)
Culture	Elledynnë (Culture)
History	Dominion Era
Government	Elledynnë (Government)
Military	Elledynnë (Military)
Stats	Elledynnë (Stats)
Racial Relations
Allies	None
Enemies	Tretallë
Neutrals	None

One would be hard-pressed to call the Elledynnë ugly by any stretch of the imagination. Barring standards of beauty unique to certain races, even the Orcish kingdoms of the West begrudgingly admit that there is an appeal to the High Elves. There is, after all, good reason that the Elledynnë are called the Fair Folk by some of their conquered peoples.

Let not their beauty fool the ignorant observer, however. In their vainglorious arrogance, the High Elves decided to call themselves Elledynnë in Elledyn'ni or "Children of the Stars" as translated into Dominean. Were they not so conceited and possessed of a superiority complex to rival even the gods'—simply because of their perceived physical beauty—perhaps they would have created an empire to rival their hated sister race, the Tretallë and the Tretalleri Dominion.

Physical Qualities

Where the Tretallë bear unique appearances because they are odd, the Elledynnë have never come across another race whom they consider even remotely close to their self-declared superior beauty. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that the Elledynnë truly believe that no other people in the world, both explored and yet to be discovered, shall ever come close or even surpass them.

Flesh and Blood

The Elledynnë are close relatives to the Bone Elves, sharing a common ancestor whose civilization descended to ruin as a direct result of the actions of the group that would eventually split off into the High Elves. While the Tretallë are generally taller and possess stronger musculature, the Elledynnë are rather shorter and possessed of leaner, more slender bodies. The Elledynnë pride themselves of their more petite forms, believing that their shape better fits the standard of beauty as set by the Triple Goddess. Males and females tend to stand at around the same height in similar age groups, but even the tallest of the Elledynnë are significantly shorter than the Bone Elves.

In addition, where the Bone Elves are pale and almost ashen in colour, the Elledynnë are fair. The Elledynnë are called the fair folk for a reason. In natural light their natural skin almost seems to glow with an ethereal radiance. However, over the many thousands of years since the diaspora, the Elledynnë have come to favour having bronzed or golden skin tones. Those who are well-off in society spend a lot of their time lounging in the sun, able to tolerate the direct sunlight better than the Tretallë due to the fact that they are not melanin-deficient like the Tretallë

Finally, it is important to note that much unlike creatures that live in the West, the blood of the Elledynnë and their sister race, the High Elves, is blue. Due to the general lack of iron in the environment in Di'Termalttë, for reasons yet unknown, copper is far more abundant and most creatures that evolve in the East are blue-blooded for that reason, with Haemocyanin used in lieu of Haemoglobin.

Facial Features

Easily the most defining feature of a High Elf, few words exist to describe the unearthly beauty that the Elledyn'ni glamour projects. Beyond the augmented magical beauty of the more affluent individuals in Elledyn'ni society, however, lies a beauty that is still, while not unnatural, certainly above average. Blest with slender faces and seemingly eternal youth(at least until inevitable death), there is no denying that the Elledyn'ni deserve the name "Fair Folk."

Much like the Tretallë, the Elledynnë possess long, thin, tapering eyebrows that serve to accentuate the shapes of their eyes. Elledyn'ni foreheads are typically small and certainly less broad when compared to the Tretallë. There is a tendency among the Elledynnë for hair to form widows' peaks in the centre of the forehead, but this is generally regarded with disdain and resolved either through glamouring or expensive thaumaturgical excision.

Where the Tretallë are possessed of somewhat hooked noses, the Elledynnë typically possess straighter, more slender noses. Like most other elves, the Elledynnë have pointed ears, though unlike the Tretallë there is virtually no difference between male and female ears. Elledynnë ears sit at a relatively acute angle with the skull, and thus appear much shorter from the front than they are from the sides.

As wondrous and beautiful as the Elledyn'ni face might be, this is but a thin veneer. There are very few occasions when a High Elf's inner cruelty or viciousness might show through. When an Elledynnë does indeed choose to display anger or cruelty, his face contorts into a visage so terrifying it inspires fear in most dumb creatures.

Eye and Hair Colour

Speaking from a strictly biological standpoint, there is an intense variation in Elledyn'ni eye-colour. The most common colours are gold and sky-blue, while emerald eyes tend to be the rarest. However, Elledyn'ni rarely, if ever, use their natural eye-colours. Only the fortunate few who are possessed of emerald eyes can afford to not spend great sums of money for thaumaturgical surgery to change their eye-colour. Regardless of magical augmentation or not, when an Elledynnë is enraged, their eyes turn as black as night.

It is largely irrelevant to talk about how eye-colour is inherited among the High Elves since it is almost universally changed before an individual has a chance to speak on the matter. However, it is important to note that in certain sections of the Elledyn'ni nobility, particularly the high aristocracy, heterochromia iridium is nigh-on venerated. Heterochromia is considered a mark of greatness granted by the Triple Goddess. In fact, most Stag-Kings of the Silvered Realm possess different-coloured eyes. Were it not considered immoral and markedly illegal to change one's eyes to attain heterochromia, ask any High Elf with noble blood and they will say that they would undergo the necessary procedures.

Elledyn'ni is also, similarly, naturally varied. Most of the High Elves, however, choose to undergo procedures to change their bodies into producing hair like fine-spun gold or wisps of silver moonlight.

Physical Capabilities

Being of leaner and more lithe builds than their Tretalleri cousins, the Elledŷnnë are adept at moving through the forest quickly. In addition, their lower muscle mass lends to their footfalls being feather-light against nearly any surface. Unfortunately, however, the Elledŷnnë are more than happy to disadvantage their increased agility.

The Elledŷnnë prefer aesthetic to practicality when it comes to armour, often wearing gaudy and unnecessary decorations upon themselves whenever they take it upon themselves to march. Considering how much of their armour is magically bolstered to begin with, it is easy to see why they do not care more about how well their armour protects them than how well it shows off their wealth and class.

When it comes to stealth, such a level of needless deception is considered boorish and uncultured and often frowned upon openly in Elledyn'ni society. There is, however, something to be said for the more politically-minded of the High Elves who demonstrate staggering pragmatism(for high elves) by being willing to make arrangements incognito under the cover of night.

Where the Elledŷnnë truly shine, however, is archery. Their manual dexterity and upper-body strength is hard to match, especially considering how they can shoot nearly two-hundred feet using a bow that is, on average, a head and a half taller than its user.

Musculature

In Elledyn'ni society, it is considered a rite of passage for a boy to craft not only his first tallbow, but also his first pair of Krisarra, which are rather lengthy, slightly curved blades made of alloyed silver and gold that have been augmented by magic. Because of this emphasis on archery and swordplay, a lot of the muscle density of Elledyn'ni men is concentrated around the upper body, particularly around the arms and the chest. That being said, Elledyn'ni men are likely to stop training for long periods of time if they believe that they are starting to become too bulky to be attractive.

A strongly patriarchal society where sometimes it is considered more elevated for a man to mate with another man instead of a woman, women are often excluded from much of life. They are typically expected to stay at home and take care of the household, though it comes as no surprise that with more time to devote to the arcane arts, all the powerful sorcerers of the Silvered Realm are in fact sorceresses. There is only one place in the army where women are welcomed: brigades of magic-users capable of devastating foes in the blink of an eye. However, this does not lend itself well to women having any significant musculature.

Body Shape

Males tend to have upside-down-trapezoidal torsos, with slightly broader shoulders and a waist that's somewhat smaller than the width of their shoulders. Women, on the other hand, rather pride themselves on their subtle hourglass-shaped physiques. Anything curvier or straighter than the norm by a relatively large margin is immediately considered wrong and thaumaturgically corrected.

Psychology

Since they are often all smiles and pleasantries to the peoples of other nations, it is often easy to forget that the Elledŷnnë are a people arrogant, narcissistic, and possessed of a superiority complex so immense they can often put the gods of other folk to shame. The product of an innate sense of heightened self-confidence and many thousands of years of teachings from the Di'Ovyrë Ohyrda ingrained in the very culture of the Elledynnë.

The Elledynnë like to maintain their supposed reputation as a good people outside of the Silvered Realm for two reasons: it is an ego stroke on a racial level, as well as a deception on a grand scale that would make conquering a people easier should the Elledynnë ever choose to pounce. To those already afflicted with the yoke of the Silvered Realm, the Elledynnë show their true colours as cruel rulers and even more ruthless slavers.

Bred into a society where perfect beauty is the ultimate goal, the Elledynnë possess a revulsion towards anything that conflicts with their standard of beauty. At the same time, the Elledynnë are possessed with a desire to display their affluence, wealth, and beauty at all times. Armour that is more gaudy than practical is often par for the course in the Elledyn'ni military. Silver-and-gold suits of armour specially made to cling to every curve and every bevel of the body, often with empty panels to show off select portions of musculature are pretty much the de-facto uniform of the Elledyn'ni army.

Reproduction and Sexuality

Reproduction and sexuality is a rather complex topic when considered in the context of Elledyn'ni society, and I shall begin with the Masked caste, the Elledynnë condemned to toiling in the fields because they are "ugly" by Elledyn'ni standards. Typically, these folk have sex whenever they can, which is not very often. Man or woman or anyone in between will do, as while working the fields, the Masked are not allowed to take any breaks and are often worked to the point of exhaustion. Considering the higher-than-normal sex drive of the Elledyn'ni, this is downright torturous until the few occasions when they are given a chance to couple, sometimes producing children who are, invariably, examined, evaluated, and more often than not, returned to the fields with new masks.

When it comes to the bourgeoisie, sex is typically viewed as a purely recreational thing. Considering how females of the Elledŷnë can choose when to be fertilized, reproductive sex tends to not happen until both parties are both consenting and ready to bring a child—who may very well end up being one of the Masked—into the world. Once again, with sex being considered as a flippant activity done only sometimes in the privacy of one's bedroom, the gender or sex of the partner is largely irrelevant to most people.

The nobility of the Elledynnë, especially those who believe strongly in the Faith and the Triple Goddess have an entirely different paradigm of sex. In the upper echelons of Elledyn'ni society, a patriarchal system holds a much more powerful sway—so much so that it is considered wildly inappropriate for a man to lay with a woman instead of another man outside of attempts to produce heirs. Truth be told, one would be hard-pressed to find an Elledyn'ni lord walking around without a boy or another man draped around him. In this upper caste of Elledyn'ni society, sex, especially the amount of it that one has, is a direct indication of one's attractiveness. Thus, it is very rare to enter a High Elfin lord's home in the early hours of the night and not hear the sounds of loud lovemaking.