User blog:Ilniaj/The High Elves

A long time ago, there was once an island continent known as Ulthuan. It is shaped like a circle with a sea in the center of it and floats on the ocean. This once mighty and proud continent was home to the High Elf people and civilization, though they called themselves the Asur in thier native tongue and terminology. With the destruction of the Lizardmen civilization, it was the Asur that expanded to take their place as the stewards and protectors of the world though their civilization still had many interactions with the Lizardmen while it was in it's cradle, which included short-lived military alliances against the Skaven. It was the Slaan that taught the Asur the basics of magic, including the use of High Magic, which expanded for the Asur to create wonders that the Lizardmen had not thought of or had no use for. One of these wonders is The Vortex, a once natural phenomenon that the Asur nurtured and strengthened, drawing a limitless supply of magical energy for their use from the unlimited aether that the world is but a bubble in. This Vortex would be recreated in a weaker form with a magic spell between a mage and a lover to gain strength through sexual intercourse, with the strength requiring a romantic bond to be gained. In the modern day, the Demon Lord has imprinted all mamano with the ability to cast this spell unconsciously.

The Asur have a rich history, for centuries before the current age of today, the Asur have helped keep the peace and balance of the known world. Thanks to their stewardship, many Demon lords had been slain by the Asur either directly or indirectly. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, all that remains of Ulthuan are ruins that have sunk into the sea and the descendents of Ulthuan's inhabitants have split primarily into the Wood and Dark elves, with the small number that keep to the traditions of Ulthuan having attached themselves to societies populated mainly by non-elves.

The golden age of Ulthuan is known as the Age of Colonization where the Asur travelled and explored the world. In some places, they even erected colonies, the foundations of which still exist to this day. Contact was established with other great civilizations to the east such as the human civilization of Cathay, and Nehekhara and the great Dwarven holds, the latter of which impressed the Asur so much that some would even consider the Dwarves to be their equals. As the Asur spread and multiplied across the world, wealth flowed back into Ulthuan and their cities would be built to become even greater in beauty and wonder.

The next great Demon Lord to threaten the world was Malodious Hammerfist, an aggressive conquerer. Deeming that the Asur would be the greatest obstacle to him taking the world, he formed a massive horde of monsters and invaded Ulthuan from the northern provinces of Nagarythe. While the Skaven had launched attacks on Ulthuan before, the majority of their efforts were focused on the Lizardmen so this invasion would be where the Asur would test all that they have learned in the art of war. The Phoenix King at the time was Caledor I, a great warrior and general who fought in many battles alongside his companion, the mighty Roc Zephyrus.

Malodious was not without cunning and the main target of interest was The Vortex. If he could control it, there would be few enemies he would not be able to see immediatly driven before him. The Asur anticipated his plan and launched a clever gambit. For a time, they feigned weakness in magical abilty, only committing to battles where only moderate magical support would be needed and retreating if a battle would need them to release their full arcane might. Thus, they made Malodious think that he could seize The Vortex far earlier than was feasible and when his mages started the ritual that would give him control, they found that the defences provided against their intrusion proved too strong to penetrate and while distracted and lacking in magical support, the Asur struck to sweep his armies into the sea. Malodious himself was slain in battle but roared defiance throughout the whole fight, shrugging off dozens of ballista shots and magical missiles until he was weakened enough for Caledor and Zephyrus to bear down on him, finally being slain by a combination of being pierced by Caledor's lance and rended apart by Zephyrus's talons.

It would be a long time before another force would threaten Ulthuan but the next major enemy that the Asur would fight was their former friend, the Dwarves. A descendent of Caledor was Phoenix King at the time, Caledor VI, who unfortunately shared none of his ancestor's positive traits. He was foolish where his ancestor was wise and rash and impetuous while his ancestor was a great General. Volgar the Patient (also known as Volgar the Sloth by those who mistook his patience and care for a lack of ambition), an aspiring Demon Lord who drew power from guile and cunning had the elven agents loyal to him attack dwarven caravans in the garb of the Asur, stealing the goods and leaving tokens of their passing that would be traced back to the Asur.

Suspicion fell upon the Asur and recompense was demanded by the dwarven High King, Gotrek Starbreaker. Caledor VI's undiplomatic response was to send a message saying that he did not answer demands but granted pleas which Gotrek bluntly responded by saying that he made pleas to neither elf nor god and demanded twice the recompense. When the Ambassador and his retinue entered Caldor VI's court, he had the beards shaved off the men and hair shaved off the women and then sent them back to Gotrek.

Thus began the 400 year long war that the Dwarves would call The War of Vengeance and the Asur would call The War of the Beard. The dour, stalwart Dwarf troops were quite unlike any foe the Elves had faced before. Displaying the tenacity and stubbornness for which they have become renowned, the Dwarfs simply refused to give up or admit defeat, even when hopelessly outnumbered. For their part, the Dwarfs were astonished by the power of the Elf forces. They had judged the strength of Ulthuan by that of the least of its provinces. The huge armies of knights and disciplined infantry were not what they had expected.

The War of the Beard ended when Caledor VI was cut down by King Gotrek who snatched the Phoenix Crown from his corpse and took it as payment for the elves insolence. With this final victory, the Dwarfs withdrew, claiming their honour was satisfied. Any petitions to return the Phoenix Crown were greeted with an invitation to come and plead for it. The first Phoenix Crown remains in the great vault of Karaz-a-Karak to the present day though by this point, no one has a claim to the title of Phoenix King so there is little interest in reclaiming it.

During the War of the Beard, Volgar was able to build up his forces immensely with his two most major obstacles fighting each other. Though Caledor VI's impulsiveness meant that his plan to sow discord in the relationship between the Asur and Dwarves caused far more havoc than he ever anticipated, it did not drag on for as long as he wished. Rather than both the Asur and Dwarfs shattering each other, he would have to deal the deathblow to both of their civilizations. To keep the Dwarves occupied, he had a ritual performed that caused a massive increase in seismic activity in their homeland and the surrounding lands.

While his ritual ravaged the Dwarves, it would not touch the floating island of Ulthuan and thus, Volgar had to defeat the Asur with military might, however, the elected successor to Caledor VI was far more capable. Phoenix King Caradryel was a quiet and unassuming scholar and wizard that proved an able ruler. His very first decree upon attaining the throne was to recall every Asur to Ulthuan. Caradryel knew that it would be many long ages before the Dwarves would consent to reconciliation without demanding ruinous recompense so he prevented further conflict with the Dwarves by trying to ensure they had no elf within easy reach to fight. Thus did Caradryel abandon pride.

He ordered that a new Phoenix Crown would be forged to replace the old one and to let the Dwarves keep the one they had taken. Among the haughtiest elves there was a public outcry but he replied that he would rather lose the crown than the realm and thereafter ignored the complaints. Many Elven colonists also considered this order to be a betrayal. Once more, Caradryel was unassailable in his intent and direct in his rebuttal. He said that if the elves required the protection of Ulthuan's armies, then they should return home where those armies could best offer that protection. Many returned but others did not, refusing to abandon their adopted homeland, they declared themselves independent of the Phoenix King. These elves would be the ancestors of the Wood Elves, in some ways truer to elven traditions and in others, departing from it. Though saddened, Caradryel attempted no forceful repatriation.

Caradryel was an administrator rather than a general and recognized this weakness, appointing many a succession of brilliant field commanders to lead his armies. With his wars governed by veteran hands, Caradryel oversaw the long retreat from overseas. As more troops returned, he strengthened the defenses of Ulthuan and initiated a rotating system of units to the fortresses throughout Ulthuan so that the forces holding these valuable citadels would always be fresh and at full strength. He was in many way identical to Volgar, which is what made them last so long against each other.

As more of Volgar's forces flowed into Ulthuan, their twisted malice could not overcome the disciplined and impeccably trained armies of the Phoenix King. Unlike Malodious who would often take risky but rewarding military actions, Volgar was content with grinding down the elves little by little. Eventually, Caradryel's long elven lifespan, extended by his skill with magic came to an end through old age rather than death in battle.

Caradryel's successor was one of the greatest generals he had appointed, the great warrior Aenarion the Defender. He continued the long war with Volgar in Cardryel's place but at some point, Volgar's forces overwhelmed Avelorn, killing his wife Astarielle, with his children only to be found far later. Upon hearing of his families fate, Aenarion was overcome with a terrible fury, he swore to kill every monster on the face of the world and declared he would travel to the Blighted Isle. Dread filled everyone who heard those words for it could mean only one thing, that he intended to draw the Widowmaker from the Altar of Khaine, the ancestor of Enyo. All knew that to wield Khaine's blade was to invite death, damn your soul and doom your lineage forevermore.

Aenarion's bodyguard tried to stop him but he slew each and every one of them and as he travelled to the Altar of Khaine, the gods whispered warnings in his ear, but Aenarion was blind and deaf to all but his rage. As Aenarion grasped Widowmaker it is said that even the ghost of his departed wife pleaded for him to turn back from this cursed path. Yet, as he stood before the Altar, Aenarion hardened his heart and wrenched free the great blood-dripping weapon, sealing his fate and that of his people.

When Aenarion returned to the battlefield wielding Widowmaker, none could stand before him. The normally cautious Volgar commited everything that he could to stopping Aenarion but could only slow him down until Aenarion reached him and easily struck him down. With the loss of their leader, the rest of the monster host was swiftly routed from Ulthuan. However, it would turn out that the monsters would not be the worst threat to ever endanger Ulthuan.

After the 2nd Great Incursion, the Asur hoped to return to peacetime and hoped to heal the scars that had been suffered during the war. Their knowledge made healing the physical scars comparatively easy but the mental scars of the conflict would not be easily mended. None was more damaged than Aenarion and his court earned a dark, darker, yet darker reputation. Tales of cruelty in his court abound and even Aenarion's closest friends would abandon him in disgust.

Here, the actual events that led to the sinking of Ulthuan are unclear. While events before have largely been consistent in the communications between Asur historians, the Dark Elves, Wood Elves and even Asur descendents is unclear, the biases of all of these groups resulting in irreconciable differences between their stories or even stories that come from the same culture. There are a few details that are consistent however, that the corruption in Aenarion would lead to civil war in Ulthuan, that the Vortex was undone by some faction and it's death throes destroyed Ulthuan, that Aenarion did not survive Ulthuan's sinking, that the Blighted Isle and the Altar of Khaine on it somehow did not sink with the rest of Ulthuan despite all reasoning saying that it should have and that Widowmaker returned to the Altar of Khaine through some unknown means.

One of the few things all descendents of the Asur can agree on is that Widowmaker must not be drawn again. A small but militarily potent faction that is a mix of the Dark Elves, Wood Elves and even a few Asur guard the Shrine of Khaine, keeping it locked behind as many seals as possible. It's contains possibly the largest garrison of elves in existence to guard this single settlement and some have even gone so far as to make a new seal on top of the many that have been erected and then commit suicide so that the knowledge of how to break it dies with them. Anyone foolish enough to try to draw Widowmaker must defeat this garrison, devote considerable time and effort to breaking through all the seals and defend the island from Dark Elves and Wood Elves who try to stop them from breaking through.

Today, the descendents of the Asur can be grouped into three, with one having two sub-groups. The group that fled west became the Dark Elves, reaching and settling in the cold land of Nagarroth, an inhospitable land that the Asur lacked interest in colonizing in previous days. The Dark Elves would build a new society here, largely fighting for survival against the land itself rather than any inhabitants. The group that fled east intended to try to resettle in what were once Asur colonies. What was expected of any society that was formed while they were gone was mud huts, primitive savages and anarchy unbound. Instead, they found mighty walled cities and disciplined armies, capable of fending off monsters and each other and keeping the peace over huge stretches of territory.

The majority of these elves that fled east decided to fight with the inhabitants to carve out a new homeland but with the damage suffered from the loss of Ulthuan, it was quickly proven that this was foolish even in the unlikely event that they were victorious. To their surprise, other elves came to their aid, the descendents of the elves that declared independence from the Phoenix King rather than return to Ulthuan. These Wood Elves lead their cousins to Athel Loren, the homeland they had carved out on their own. Starting with an existing magical forest, these Wood Elves bound themselves to it, nurturing and strengthening its magical nature. Athel Loren was now of many times greater size than it was when Caradryel had called every Asur back and its relationship with the elves that had nurtured it a far greater protection to the elves within than any wall could be. The population of the Wood Elves swelled with the influx of their cousins.

A smaller number of the elves that fled east decided that it would be better to forge good relationships with the local humans. Most notably, Sigmar Heldenhammer was aided greatly by these refugees when forging the Empire of Man. While Dwarfs can be up to 10% of an Empire settlements population, Elves can be up to 1% of an Empire settlements population. Ironically, these elves that have decided to tie themselves to non-elven societies can be considered to be the closest to their Asur ancestors. These Asur try to maintain a degree of seperation from the humans they live with and have formed tight-knit families, many using their long lifespan to maintain standings as skilled craftsmen or important merchants as well as determinably ensuring that skills or inheritances would only be passed on to elves. An Asur who isn't entirely welcome (or worse) among fellow Asur is guaranteed to have an interesting backstory.

It was Caledor that created the Colleges of Magic and taught many aspiring human magicians. Many witches and warlocks were brought to Caledor and his fellow Archmages, Yrtle and Finreir, some were found to have dabbled in immoral practices such as necromancy or fleshcrafting and were ruthlessly eradicated, but the rest would receive much teaching. In addition, Caledor and his colleagues were humbled when they found that the priests and clerics of The Empire's cults could also practice magic in another form, using themselves as conduits for their gods magic, shaping it through ritual, faith and their conscious and unconscious expectations, though none admitted that they had any power or wish to manipulate magic. Despite sensing a great aptitude in many of them, Caledor did not wish to inject doubt into their hearts and left them, though he resolved to study this before unseen method later on. The High Order section of the Colleges is built in imitation of the Tower of Hoeth that once stood in Ulthuan.

Aenarion has only two direct descendents who care about the fact that they are descendents, the twin brothers Tyrion and Teclis. While Teclis was born physically frail and nearly didn't survive to adulthood, he is an immensely powerful mage of the Lore of High Magic and the current patriarch of the High Order. While it is unknown how powerful he actually is, the weakest estimates of his magical might are that he would be a formidable opponent in the competitions between Balthazar Gelt and Thyrus Gormann to become Supreme Patriarch of the Colleges of Magic if he deigned to participate. Teclis is also a prominent diplomat for The Empire, travelling frequently so despite being patriarch, he makes few decisions for the College themselves, having left it in what he believes are the capable hands of subordinates.

Unlike his physically frail brother, Tyrion is a physically powerful master swordsmen, among the greatest or even the greatest warrior in The Empire and the Grandmaster of an unconventional Knightly Order, The Blood of Aenarion. Instead of specializing in one form of combat (most of the time, heavy cavalry), The Blood of Aenarion are more like small groups with each member having varying backgrounds and skills. Tyrion is also a great general and has lead many armies to victory in The Empire, while he is largely unconnected to politics, there are few who would not request for him to lead their armies or listen to his advice in warfare.

Perhaps part of the reason why both Tyrion and Teclis are so notable in The Empire is that both are not entirely welcome among the Asur. Teclis is considered too concerned with what happens to non-elves, and Teclis is aware that most elves likely would not have given him a chance at living had they been his parents or siblings while he was a sickly child. His empathy for shorter-lived people comes partly from having this perspective, being of poor health and standing in the eyes of other elves in a similar manner to how other elves see shorter-lived people. With Tyrion, he is a great warrior but no politician, and is much given to speaking his mind or openly seeking truth where others would prefer only silence. He also doesn't engage in the nepotism that many other elves display, The Blood of Aenarion has rejected elves in favor of non-elves for membership or promotion many times due to Tyrion having a meritocratic mindset, something all but unheard of by other organizations dominated by Asur. But for his lineage and battle record, he would long ago have been ostracised by those nobles who hold themselves to be cleverer and subtler than he.

The rumours and slander about Tyrion and Teclis by their fellow Asur have even taken on a bawdy tone despite elves thinking that crudity is beneath them. While these rumours and slander are expressed far more eloquently, Teclis has very much noticed the irony in the Asur creating such stories about others just as eagerly as humans at the local bar of a hunter's village. Teclis is rumoured to have fathered at least one half-elf bastard in every settlement he has visited during his travels and even accusations are made that his travels are for the purpose of bedding exotic women with spreading knowledge being the means to do so. Tyrion is also not immune to allegations of lechery, the illicit trysts he has had with elven women have given birth to rumors that human women that have joined The Blood of Aenarion are among the unconfirmed trysts. The occasional human women who was found to have joined because she believed these rumours and wanted to join him in bed have only added fuel to this slander.

The last part of the continuation of Asur society came primarily from corrupted exiles from the Wood Elves. With these elves having to move to the Demon Lord Realms, which can include starting urbanized living like their Asur ancestors, they could decide to go back to those roots in a fashion. The most prominent among these is Imrik the Dragon rider. He was a descendent of the Dragon Princes and had great interest in this ancestry. While a Glade Rider, he witnessed a man riding his Wyvern wife into battle. Inspired by this and admiring the bond between mount and rider that seemed to him greater than that of any Wood Elf and Eagle, he left his people to find a dragon to court. In ancient Ulthuan, the Dragon Princes were elite heavy cavalry with a dragon motif in their armour, weapons and barding and Imrik's ambition is to revive the Dragon Princes, but with the name being far more literal rather than a simple motif.