Races

Shei (Imarelian Elves) - by T.A. Saunders ©2001 v1.5

Racial Articles Lost in the Deep: The Shadow Elves

The last culture to spring from the decimation of the Moon Elvish people is the Shadow Elves, or Tallis-Vyss. These Elves are the descendants of many of the Moon Elves that hid in the catacombs under their great cities during the war with the Shar'Vaire, realizing that their defeat and possible extinction was at hand. These Elves worked tirelessly to build underground complexes deep under their ruined cities, so deep that they could elude Shar'Vaire detection until the time came that the drums of war had silenced and they could once more rebuild their homes.

Years turned to decades and decades turned into centuries. For so long did these Elves remain underground that their skin turned a snowy white and their ears became a bit longer and eyes a bit larger to accommodate hearing things in the deep caverns they had carved out with magic and to see in their dark depths with better clarity.

Despite these massive cities constructed under the foundations of their fallen ones, the Shadow Elves grew more and more curious to what became of their thought-to-be lost world above. Relying on the cover of night and their incredibly advanced illusionary magic, they began creeping back onto the surface world, to find that their ancestral homes were left in ruins…but their would be conquerors were nowhere to be found. Inspired by this, the long forgotten Shadow Elves re-emerged in small numbers and began reconstructing the cities of Am-Vansa and Am-Raynia, the capital. This resurgence as a culture marked the first appearance of the new Kingdom of Vyss.

However, the lessons of the past were not forgotten. When reconstructing their vast and beautiful cities, two important alterations were made. First, the trees that had cropped up around the ruins were left intact, to offer a canopy of shade to their now somewhat light-sensitive eyes. With this in mind, none of their buildings breached or come close to breaching the rather impressively tall tree line.

The second and most important change was both cities have been cloaked in such an intricate illusion, that to walk into either place uninvited is to end up taking a voyage of the mind, where one wanders the ruins of Am-Vansa or Am-Talisa as the Shadow Elves found them, upon their return but end up misdirected, set to wander somewhere in the deep and forgotten forest. It is only of recently have stories of these cities actually existing leaked out in long tales spun in taverns and inns across the Singing Coast and through the lands of Humans. Some expeditions have gone to the forgotten continent of Shalzaar to confirm these stories, but for obvious reasons, almost all have returned empty handed.

Of the three Elvish cultures remaining, the Shadow Elves have almost no Half Elves within their population but have the highest overall pure population, being spread out over the entirety of Shalzaar. The very few Half Elves of this lineage that exist are as secretive as their Shadow Elvish blood would deign and often attempt to pass themselves as Half Elves of Moon Elvish or Wild Elvish lineage.