The Blood Elves
The Blood elves are the most infamous faction to cling to life after the Second Pantheon shattered. Their path to false immortality was to Drink the blood of the new, young races the gods had created for themselves. This Knowlege was gifted by the goddess of death Naphlan, whose power over death made it impossible to create a new people, but could allow her to stay the hand of death.
The dwarves, whom had been created by the god Qinalel were the first victims of this revelation. As they cruelly forced the dwarves to toil away on increasingly vain megastructures, the elves of the Edlydin gardens took some of the dwarves' numbers to drink their blood and preserve their own lives, even as their lush home withered and died.
Qinalel was appalled at this treatment and gave the dwarves the power to bring statues to life so the dwarves could fight for their freedom.
With no practical source of blood to sustain themselves, the elves made one last gambit to stay alive. Thier greatest magicians went to the five elemental Mana wells at the heart of the dessert. By arcane engineering, they caused the manna to flow in a massive Runic pattern to create a great river of blood to run through their domain.
The intense Mana footprint of the blood caused it to warp the mana of the living creatures that still lived in the desert. The waters are now inhabited by monstrous leeches, while hawklike mosquitos circle over head. Many of the plants will seek out living creatures to capture and consume.
Ruling over this domain, the elves live atop pyramids with grand staircases that lead to palaces. In the bowels of these structures, they keep slaves and undead constructs to serve them. The constructs they create were inspired by the dwarven golems. Without the blessings of Qinalel, they instead imbue them with power using blood. Thier craniums are constructed to hold vials of blood whose mana is drawn out to animate the constructs and the various runes dangling from their forms so they may serve in a variety of tasks.
The slaves are used as a blood supply when the elves' armies go on the march, although some are made to work in the interim. Those with an ideal balance of mana for certain spells will have flesh runes carved into their bodies for the blood based sorceries of the elves. Some of the slaves will have their Mana Humors corrupted whether as a result of being used as a familiar, or simply eating the corrupted food grown along the blood river. This transforms them into half feral beasts called ghouls. They will often be rounded up and used as berserker shock troops in battle, but other wise are considered pests that attack slave livestock during peace time.
The elves themselves have become twisted. these changes vary, with some growing spindly limbs, their skin toughing to a hard carapace, or massive fangs sprouting from their mouths. as part of their efforts to achieve immortality, they sleep in durable stone sarcophagus so harm will not come to them.
They will typically wear bandages either to hide their shriveling forms, or the insectoid features some have developed. They wear Death masks made of gold and adorned with jade, made to look like their appearance before their bodies began to change.
For the most part, they are content to isolate themselves in the desert. They consider themselves superior to the younger races, and despise the fact that they were abandoned and replaced. The only race they have any minor contact with are the mysterious humans that appeared a few millennia after the Shattering of the Second Pantheon. Still somewhat unsure what to make of the humans, they have begun sporadically trading with them for things like gold or diamonds with which to adorn their society. Less scrupulous merchants will make their fortune selling slaves to them.
In an attempt to recreate the former beauty of their withered home, they will craft grand gardens with precious materials, like gold, and craft them to resemble flowers, trees, and even replica animals. The most elaborate of these is in the temple dedicated to Nephlan, located in the middle of a blood lake at the capitol.
Forced labor in this realm , living or dead, is plentiful. As a result even the lowest of peasants will have at least a few skeletal servents tending to them and laboring under them. One sign of wealth, besides the usual things of jewelery and property, is the ability to have living slaves. The extra care and expense to keep them alive requires having other elves serveing under the noble to keep the estate in order.
With their basic needs met with the labor of others, most elves will either take up a craft, or serve in the military. Both are attempts to raise one's status either by showing battlefield prowess or by crafting something that shows enough skill to gain renown and status.
With their basic needs met with the labor of others, most elves will either take up a craft, or serve in the military. Both are attempts to raise one's status either by showing battlefield prowess or by crafting something that shows enough skill to gain renown and status.
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