Stone Elfiry

The Stone Elfiry.

 

Forged with Mortar, Magic and Maths

    The Stone Elfiry are extremely controversial species that have forged themselves in steel and steam on the world stage, as they are the most techniogically advanced species entering a early age of steam and magical inovation, thier history is marked with brutality in the same of "survival and progress" including sending several species to excitintion mass slavery as well as going so far to kill a Elemental god.   Suffice to say the Ego of the Stone Elfiry is paramount sadly to some degree they have the right to be.
  Size: all Stone elfiry male or female reach 7.532 foot tall all stone elfiry are exactly the same height, having a bulky bodyshape to match the height.   Body Description: The stone Elfiry all have the identical body and look, bodies looking like they were chiseled out of stone with square heads, no hair for both male and female and body shape with limbs having sharp angles, if you were not a Stone Elfiry it would be impossible to tell them apart, however Stone Elfiry are able to identify each with ease even with the house the belong to, how? a tiny tattoo on their chins to others race it looks like a small dot, to the Stone Elfiry how can see the how the skin is elevated in certain places can see the House symbol and the Stone Elfiry name, Other races can tell them apart however due to the extravagant clothing Stone elfiry wear including jewelry to stand out from each other, piercings are discouraged along with tattoos as it seen to be uncivil and brutish, this is why military and Stone elfiry Gang houses adorn themselves in such things, though Stone elfiry with scars use gold material and small jewels to fill in the cracks of their skin and can be seen as glamorous to many Stone Elfiry (similar to the method of kinsugi for teapots)   Clothing: As with the names the Stone Elfiry use a style of dress reminsance of victorian and edwardian era clothes, with Core houses preffering victorian style clothing and Crust and Cloud houses preffering the more pratical edwardian style of dress, the clothes are ordaned with runic patterns, using bright colours and sparkling jewels.    

History of Chains

  History: The Stone elfiry origins are not well understood, not for lack of information but the exact opposite as all the Stone Elfiry Houses, use that specializes in story telling or for what really is "propaganda" they have recited 50 different versions of origins of the Stone children, stone children being another name for the stone elfiry, some regaling that the Tilgratzi a ancient progenitor race that shaped and dominated auralira in the era of the draconic seeing the end of their people created the stone elfiry with their own hands to be their successors, another tells that it was the stone elfiry that killed off the remaining Tilgratzi claiming their power for their own, regardless of the truth one key figure is mentioned.   Deimos, the "Bri-mark" the first and only king of the stone elfiry led them to Sharllion a grand metropolis that spanned for hundreds of miles upwards and downwards being a city the size fo a country in itself, however the stone elfiry wanton need to fabricate and contradict themselves comes into play with how this story goes, as with one story it suggests that Deimos and the Stone elfiry built sharllion, others claim they found it, while some histories claim that the stone elfiry lauched a decade long siege to claim it from the last of the tilgratzi.     All of these fantasitical stories end with Deimos going mad with power and in a effort to save the stone elfiry people, the Five stone Stewards arose to cast the mad Bri-mark down and establish a new system of government creating the houses system,from which the stone stewards preside over with thier small but powerful House's and the Tungsten Guard, the Stone stewards themselves being somewhat of a mystery, being Stone elfiry who managed to break free of the 300 lifespan that other stone elfiry face and gain a form of immortality allowing them to become eternal stewards of Sharllion.   Since this time the stone elfiry have amassed power, tech and magic using their intelligence, organisational skills and inventiveness to become one of the most powerful mortal races on Aurelia and although infighting between the houses stops the reach of the Stone children from ever fully expanding more settlements outside Sharllion many races dread the day the stone elfiry are able to come together as one, cause if that day were ever to occur, the world will be in the hands of those that do not treasure the sunlight's warmth, or the soothing winds, just the cold hard grasp of stone, iron chains and endless steam.   Sharllion shall be Our Foundation, the world our Clay. "Deimos, upon taking over Sharllion       Culture: In the Current Culture the Stone elfiry are divided into three tiers of noblity, The Core, Crust and Cloud houses, with Core houses having more prestige and Renown while Crust and Cloud Houses must expand outward from Sharllion in a attempt to earn achievements to be elevated, the Core houses typically consist of the oldest houses as well as houses that have performed remarkable achievements or skill, such as inventing new methods of technology, expansion, economy or slave labor.   The Entirety of Stone elfiry culture is based around the houses of Sharllion and by extension Sharllion itself as few stone elfiry live apart from thier house system and even fewer outside Sharllion aside from the exiles, the unwanted and the castaways as even criminals have a house to belong to in Sharllion, each facet of governance, each shred of handling day to day life is handled by several houses of Sharllion each one believing they are the best of what they do, This however has made it so that the stone elfiry have become bureaucratic to the point of absurdity, paperwork, laws and rules that govern everything from warfare to marriage proposals,to even what diet is best for the season and each situation comes with it set of contracts and subclauses, what is even more strange is how adept stone elfiry are at managing all this information, a good example is a dinner party among the Crust houses, a normal occurance would be to have a assassin kill the host and escape, as long as the proper papers were filled after by the assassins house, no law or actions could be taken against the assassin's, while as long as the identity of the ones who hired the assassination remained a secret nothing could be done, if it were found out they would be charged with murder, but that would also rend a contract with the assassins guild null and void and so forth in a ever moving web of intrigue and politics.   The culture of the tone Elfiry revolves around four things, Duty, The House you belong to,Make Sharllion greater and finally to advance yourself, that is at least what is taught to the Elfiry in their "nurseries" the nursery are basically where all newly born house Stone Elfiry go for education, the Crust and Cloud houses tend to share large nurseries while wealthier Core nurseries have their own, in these places the Stone Children are taught all about Stone Elfiry culture, the "true history" which to most outsiders who know history is just propaganda.   The Stone Elfiry are bureaucratic to a point of extremism, the children are born not from love but from political alliances and talent like one would breed dogs for a specific purpose, Cloud to Crust houses would allow their first born to be their heir as long as they held the talents for that role and showed understanding of the role the house performs, for new members and recruits they are bought from "nurseries" who teach young Stone Elfiry the role they fill and find their talents, treating them almost like livestock at times, however the more powerful houses own their own private nurseries that allow a constant source of new recruits, for other species it is best to ignore the reality of where the new recruits come from and where their biological mothers/fathers currently are, as it is horrific but a practical means of manpower in the stone elfiry needs for supremacy, with some even allowing themselves into that role in exchange for providing thier family guarantees into the house they pledge to serve.   Stone elfiry individualism is a touchy subject for the species given how all of them appear to be the same in terms of appearance, stature and girth, they are all the same down to the smallest detail aside from the alterborn/shadeborn who are "blessed" by gods and those outside sharllion who are born without the dot on thier chin, however while lower ranked Stone Elfiry usually try and stand out using simple but practical clothing to stand out, while wealthier Stone Elfiry use jewelry, magical tattoos, fake hair "typically made by using animal fur" and other such things, a common practice among soldiers is when the Stone Elfiry get scars, they fill in the gaps with different materials, the wealthy use gemstones or liquid gold, while poorer stone elfiry use cement and or raw materials, though there is a double standard as these lower caste are mocked for being different due to their scars while flaunting their own sapphire scars and emerald eye replacements.   Government:The Government of the Stone Elfiry is strange to say the least, on paper its a simple process you first have the The Sharllion Privy council who members consists of the Stone lords who act as the stewards of Sharllion, the Commander of the Adamantine Guard who acts as the pinnacle of law enforcement, the 11 Dukes who consist of the most powerful Stone Elfiry houses with the rest being the Counts, the Viscounts and the Barons, with each count ruling over a "House" that serves a specific function , some houses are for transport and logistics, dozens of house are for slavery and warfare and many more.   However this "simple" government structure has become bloated and convoluted beyond all reason in the current age, the houses of the Stone Elfiry who are the backbone of the grand city squabble constantly using espionage, cloak and dagger, mercs, magic, curses and whatever they can to get their house ahead even if it goes against Sharllion and while if they get caught by the adamantine guard they will be punished, though its is basically a open secret just how corrupt and malicious the Stone Elfiry can be if needed to advance their house, while every house has a count viscount and barons, Only 11 houses have Dukes these are the oldest houses with the Twelfth leading the adamantine guard though officially the dukes don't exist, being used as myths and legends to scare the noble houses to toe the line, though the sudden disappearances of houses that try to attain the rank of the mythical duke, leaves credence to this myth.     StoneLords: The Immortal and Grand Stewards of Sharllion when they command the city obeys, they are the threads that bind the city together, these immortal Stone Elfiry are the result of when Stone Elfiry have a "epiphany" about their race and their role in the world and ascend to be akin to psychic demigods, though the cost is to be living statues unable to move unless using magic, but this power granted to them allows them to rule Sharllion, with not a single house even daring to make a slight or move against them or risk fates worse than death, though no one aside from the Adamantine Guard has seen them in person in centuries.     The Adamantine Guard: The Adamantine guard are the main institution of law for the Stone Elfiry, Stone Elfiry recruits are transformed to become members of the House gaining many powerful abilities, but severing all ties to the person they were before, only Stone Elfiry may join this House, they are the second sole reason the houses do not tear each other apart, the guard have mountain sized fortresses dotted across sharllion that makes the royal palace's look like a rundown old shack, the phalanx tactics have never once failed Sharllion driving off attack after attack from within and out, That is all the Information that the public and the world is aware of, their origins are shrouded in secrecy with no one knowing what the ritual to become a member consist of or even how they were founded and how they manage to keep the law of Sharllion so intact despite the actions of the Houses.   Outside Sharllion: while the majority of Stone Elfiry are born within the system of Sharllion there are some cases of houses being exiled or members being cast off their family, and living in the wider world of Aurelia these Stone kin are known as the "Brunknil" which in the Stone Elfiy tongue means "bastard house", strangely enough while these Brunkil Stone Elfiry are still logical and sometimes cold, they are far more welcoming to people than their Sharllion counterparts even considering the Wood Elfiry to be "cousins" something that would get you hanged in Sharllion, These Brunknil will typically stand up for other species if someone tries to harass them, even more strange is their innate sense of loyalty, earning one of the Brunkmil loyalty is a taxing challenge but once earned nothing will break that bond, there have been accounts of Brunknil sacrificing themselves to protect their friends. sadly Sharllion has made its mission to exterminate the Brunknil or indoctrinate them, making these loyal souls rarer and rarer as the times go by Outside Sharllion, an easy identifier for the Brunknil is that they are missing the black dot on thier chin that Stone Elfiry born in Sharllion possess.       Naming Conventions: The Stone Elfiry names typically derive from english names that were used around the victorian and the edwardian era while also spouting the various titles and bureaucratic roles they have been assigned alongside thier actual names, When a Stone Elfiry graduates from the Nursery they can choose thier own name, while core houses are welathy enough to have a contract to allow them to name thier own Offspring. Example of a full name: Stone-Worker Number 44405642344 Designated upper highruck, assigned personal name Richard of house Sogorlond Warehouse Transport, typically these Stone Elfiry also take their house name as their last name, the Brunknil not being raised in Sharllion ignore all the buereacracy nonsense and stick to simple Gaelic names in align to those used in Gaul.     Lifespan-age: Stone Elfiry are raised in nurseries of 30 and reach adulthood at 20 years they are able to reach a age of 300 hundred before dying, not a single Stone Elfiry reaches a age over 300 unless they become one with the Stone which is a sort of mental/spiritual epiphany that turns their bodies into Immobile Stone totems, but grants them immense magical and psychic power allowing them to move their now statuesque bodies through telekinesis, of course wanting to keep such power or "truth they learn" to themselves the Stone Elfiry that do "Ascend" like this keep it a closely guarded secret with the only known being the Privy Council of Sharllion but that does not mean they are the only ones.