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Unwritten Legends
Il'lthye Gallery Good mother Vaen brought elves from the womb of Thrael during the time of the worlds awakening. In the elven race's youth, the sylvani and il'lythe were one race. Those distant ancestors lived simply in forest homes and mountain caves about the lands of Thrael, learning the ways of essence and spirit in direct concord with the energies of the lands.
Tall and lithe with great agility and quickness, Vaen's creation were a unique counterpoint to the wyrmkin that inhabited Thrael at the time. At some point in the eons of history that the elves and wyrmkind lived in proximity, a group of elves settled in the area west of the great mountains now called Throne of the Wyrm. This migration was to bode a great change for elfkind.
The wyrmkind took an interest in these elves, living close by them, adoring them and calling them iye ll'ly tihyeye or the Children of the Night (as best can be translated from their tongue), hence il'lthye. Living in caves along the steep-walled valleys, the il'lthye became a source of amusement and delight to the wyrmkind. Wyrmkind loved the elves and viewed them as favorite playthings, erecting a forgetful barrier between the proximate elves and their woodland living kin so as to keep them close. It was this barrier and the latter games and experiments that wyrmkind perpetrated that led to a metamorphosis in the il'lthye. When one speaks of the games and experiments, it is not in terms of generic bending, but rather mind games and experimentation with training of the muscles and sinew that lead to the strengthening of their limbs, the lengthening of their bodies. Thus, the elven race was split between the original elven stock, now called sylvani and the taller il'lthye, mutant work of wyrmkin.
After countless generations, the dragynkin grew bored with their playthings and let fall the forgetful barrier. The il'lthye were forgotten by the wyrms and never known by their cousins, the sylvani. With the haze of forgetfulness lifted from their minds, the il'lthye moved out from the caves of the Throne of the Wyrm in a great hegira. They crossed known Thrael and ventured to some parts never known, reveling in the gifts that the Wyrms unwittingly bestowed upon them in their games.
The il'lthye vary in complexion from darkest black to pale waxen skin. il'lthye elves talents and tendencies lean heavily towards the magical arts, usually the more self-serving essence magic. The average il'lthye elf is tall with long hair and a shadowy complexion. They are very complex beings that often shun other races for their elven brethren. il'lthye Elves speak elvish, common, and dyari.
il'lthye live on average about 300 years (for the Broc Caillaen) to 500 years (for wanderers). It is said that an il'lthye does not die of old age as much as boredom, and that when they choose to pass on they merely leave their bodily shell for someplace else. All il'lthye share an affiliation to the magical arts, an effect no doubt of the Wyrm's tinkering. This affinity is most evident in the il'lthye rite of the mordant spring. The last stage in an il'lthye's maturity from adolescence to adulthood is the tuning of a once vestigial gland that bestows upon them a greater sense of essence or magic, in its most scientific form. il'lthye must search out the place where they are most attuned to the natural flux and there invoke the rites of the mordant spring. This quest, once completed, allows them to focus their resolve upon the state of essence, flux and spirit around them. This awareness is often augmented by the use of mordant stones; gems altered by master il'lthye mages to resonate with the magical auras. The talent of the il'lthye mordancy allows them to detect ebbs and flow and concentrations within the magical auras, even to the point of sensing another being's attunement to them.
There are no known half-bred il'lthye; something the dragonkin did ages ago made them unable to crossbreed and remain il'lthye, as they take the traits and persona of the non-dark elven parent. When two separate houses mate, the result is a Wanderer. Scion of parents from two different houses who have not had permission to intermarry or who sired the child out of wedlock, the wanderer has no real homeland and is shunned by all dark elven houses. On their own they ramble from place to place, never sojourning in one location very long.
The purebred il'lthye live in great cities while their feral counterparts, the shakai, live in caves and deep wilderness. It is said the shakai do not speak at all and are willing to kill interlopers as easily as stalk them through their domains. The third sect of il'lthye is the dyari, the worldly il'lthye. Whereas most il'lthye prefer to live with their own kin in closed society, the dyari are renowned travelers, explorers, and adventurers. Entire il'lthye families are considered dyari by their neighbors and while this is not a mark of scorn, it is always mentioned with a slight derision to the dyari's lesser social graces.
Modern il'lthye are great traders and merchants, commercing principally with the dwarves and to a lesser extent the sylvani and the humans living around them. They are also great collectors (which is evident in the city of Roshanon) and take great pride it their assemblage of cultural artifacts. Their cities are built on grand scales, with intricate architecture and ornate decoration.
* common dress for urban il'lthye are robes and cowls or turbans, laced sandals. Richly dyed color schemes are commonly used to show lineage or affiliation among il'lthye.
* common dress for dyari are loose fitting leggings, tunics and cowls in muted tones befitting a traveler.
* common dress for shakai are short waistcloths. Shakai men go barechested, while women wear coarse-woven shirts. Both go barefoot.
Tattoos are a commonality among all il'lthye, demarking life stages, filial affiliations and political groups, but the xul Abraxas have taken them to another level. They tattoo their young at birth, usually with their zodiac sign, on the back.
House Kynan-Tremaine
House de nox'Ascenti
House xul'Abraxas
THE IL'LTHYE
The Dark Elven Houses
The dark elves of House Kynan-Tremaine represent a long line of nobles who can trace their lineage back to the first of the Daere Vala nation. They are generally theurgists. Their eye colors run the gamut from the softest golds and lavenders to deep violets and blacks with a spectrum of greens, browns and blues in between. Their hair color runs in the the paler tones, matching their skin tones which range from fair to bronze.
Homeland: Quesalia
Stereotype: Nobles
*Special: 1. All characters begin with the title of 'Daere Vala' or in elven, People of the Castle, denoting their descent from royalty.
While known as the Lash, the House of nox'Ascenti is not so much a religion as a culture. Labeled zealots for their ardent following of the lifestyle, they are born with an inbred devotion to Vaen, and while many lose the faith and convert to the beliefs of other gods, they practice that devotion with as much fanaticism as they practice their Vaenean rituals. Looking like true extremists, their eyes range in the reds, from the deepest burgundy through the blood reds to a soft plum gray. Their silvery hair can hit the blue-white tone to the darkest purplish-black and be streaked with blue as well. This compliments their ashy gray to pitch black skin.
Born Theocracy.
Homeland: West Coast of Ziguran
Stereotype: Zealots
Consummate magic users, these dark elves are ruled by consortiums of powerful mage-kings. Hailing from Ziguran, they are commonly known as the fiends. A special trait that distinguishes this group is that they are tattooed on their backs at birth, signifying a particular allegiance with the race of dragynkind. Their traits consist of startling pale eyes in the darkest of faces. Skin ranging from rich mahogany to pitch black is offset by their deep toned hair, with plenty of blue accents.
Dragyn Astrology:
Stereotype: Fiends
Homeland: East Coast of Ziguran
January - Gray Dragyn
February - Glacier Dragyn
March - Silver Dragyn
April - Reef Dragyn
May - Azure Dragyn
June - Cinder Dragyn
July - Sun Dragyn
August - Emerald Dragyn
September - Amber Dragyn
October - Swamp Dragyn
November - Iron Dragyn
December - Mist Dragyn
House Ryt'Tzar
House Ryt'tzar are mostly Warriors. Fierce fighters, the members of this distinguished house have won the title the Savages and they are ruled by a "Tsaliz", who has absolute say as dictator. Their eyes contain lots of greens and blues, best for camouflage in the wilderness, and hair colors go from ash blond to a deep chestnut with skin tones in the reddish family - from ruddy to a deep copper.
Stereotype: Savages
Homeland: Kuthgard
House Broc Caillaen
House Broc Caillaen have been tacked with the nickname the Aenaltis, which literally translated from shakai means one who loses control in the light, or what is known to humans as lunatics, whether it be from their 'new' magic or that they come from the Underearth. It is because they lived so long without benefit of sun that they, in fact, look almost like walking grubs themselves. Sporting the coloring of albinos, their eyes are the most unsettling shades of milky colors, tones from white, pink and pale yellow are eerie against their greasy white skin. Further set off by their light cornflower blue to oily blue-gray hair, they are truly magical to look at. Their habit of appearing to speak in sign language leads many to think they are crazy or strange, but this is just physical emphasis to the telepathy that they use to communicate. Perfectly capable of speaking common or dark elven, the members of this house prefer their special brand of speech.
Stereotype: Lunatics
Homeland: The Underearth
House Tetsu-ko
The Adventurers, as the dark elves of House Tetsu-Ko are known through Thrael, are quite infamous. They seem to make the best rogues, and are renown as being light-fingered and prone to kleptomania, as if they believe that what they see belongs to them. They can trace their homeland to the Vashan isles and have the traits of that area. Eyes of jade green, rich brown and golden yellow are striking contrasts to their onyx or blue-streaked hair. Even orchid streaks can be seen in the coarse texture. Their skin tones are golden and range from yellow to a swarthy yellowish brown.
Stereotype: Adventurers
Homeland: Vash
The Wanderers
Lastly, The Wanderers or Forgotten Ones. These dark elves are truly a mixed, eclectic sort. Off-breeds of the different houses, these scions of parents who did not have their house's permission to marry have to scour the world and have no particular homeland. Unwanted by their parent sects, one would think them the weaker of the houses, yet these pragmatic magic wielders, by their very nature and inability to conform, show the greatest strengths. Their traits are an intermingling of breeds, with eye tones ranging from ebony to palest lavender, with reds, hazels, blues and greens in between. Their hair colors range through all the shades of blonde, brown and gray and goes well with their skin in hues from pale alabaster through dusky rose to ebony.
Stereotype: Wanderers
Homeland: None