Halign Mak'kai

The Dark Elves of Halign Mak’kai have troubled pasts. Through the adversity they’ve faced, the Dark Elves have become experts of stealth and cunning. Halign Mak’kai is treated as absolute evil by many nations, but they are beloved by many others. Perhaps their strangest, and certainly their strongest alliance lies with the Dendroids of Drehr Behrkán. The Dark Elves have a deep resentment towards the High Elves of Sivverlynn.

Dark Elves demonstrate a greater deal of sexual dimorphism than many other races. Women tend to be between 5’2” and 5’8” while men are typically 5’8” to 6’2”. Women have more sylphlike bodies. Men are much more muscular and less fragile. Regardless of gender, Dark Elves are invariably pale-skinned, sometimes white as a ghost, though sometimes with a subtle grey undertone. Dark Elves may have dark grey or black markings on their bodies or faces. These markings can be small and simple, such as a stripe on the face or chest.They can also be large and intricate, twining down the body and around appendages. Dark Elves have dark brown or black hair, and their eye colors include dark greens, blood red, icey blue, midnight blue, deep purple, dark browns, and greys.

Politics
Halign Mak’kai, home to the Dark Elves, is a matriarchal society where only women may rule. The throne may only be held by the stealthiest, most cunning Dark Elf, and the Queen has complete rule over the nation with no underlings. The current Queen is named Qora Ru’ushaco. Queen Qora is both ruthless and truly awe-inspiring. She has truly earned her position, her supporters, and her reputation. She punishes law breakers in cruel and unexpected ways.

Halign Mak’kai’s governmental system is designed to ensure that the most cunning Dark Elf is always queen. Only by slaying the current queen can a new queen arise. This requires great skill in the arts of subtlety, combat, and trickery, as queens are often surrounded by guards in the safety of their palace. Qora is known to walk around in the open unattended, she’s relieved many of the palace guards, and she’s the first queen for hundreds of years to allow weapons into the palace. She is utterly confident in her capability to fend for herself. For this reason, many Dark Elves believe that Qora is one of the greatest queens in history. Others believe that Qora is too self-absorbed and that she does not care for her citizens. This has caused some strife throughout the nation. Regardless, despite their efforts, none have been able to usurp Queen Qora Ru’ushaco.

The Dark Elf army is not great in number, but the nation of guile and stealth does not fight like traditional armies. Male Dark Elves are used as cannon fodder, but they are quite important nonetheless to the Dark Elf battle strategy. These men wear heavy armor and wield a sword or spear and a shield. They are used to distract the opponent or lure them into traps. Women are the real strength of the army.

Halign Mak’kai favors maneuverability and speed over heavy armor, and as a result the nation is fast and dangerous but rather fragile. Women infantry consist of spear phalanxes known as Dreadspears, swordsmen known as Bleakblades, and repeat crossbow archers known as Darkshards. Dark Elf military assassins are known as the Sisters of Slaughter. They are experts in the arts of stealth and execution. Their efforts are rarely wasted in battle. They are used to infiltrate camps, gather intelligence, and eliminate high-priority targets. Calvary play a key role battle as well. Stygimoloch riders are particularly threatening. These Dark Elven priestesses of Syra bond with the hellish stygimolochs. In battle, the swift beast darts across the battlefield with grace, trampling any who stand in the way while its rider spears foes. The Stygimoloch riders are often deployed alongside the Dark Riders, fast and highly maneuverable warriors swathed in black robes atop Elven horses known as Dark Steeds. Dark Steeds are also used to pull warchariots. Most, if not all, of the Halign Mak’kai military is armed with dark magic to blur their movements and make their strikes even more deadly.

Halign Mak’kai’s only long ranged attackers are their Blood Witches, devotees of Kira’Zhin. Through the Goddess of death’s will, the Blood Witches rain destruction upon their enemies. Their magic can also be used to strike fear into the hearts of their foes, causing them to flee in horror. The Blood Witches are an invaluable aspect of the Dark Elf army, as they incite bloodlust in their allies, lay waste to their enemies, and offer crowd control to tip the battle in their favor. The Blood Witches are even more powerful when adjacent to the Cauldron of Blood, a movable altar to Kira’Zhin. The altar is used to catch the blood of sacrifice victims. Elf Witches will also slit themselves and bleed into the cauldron as a form of prayer to Kira’Zhin.

Halign Mak’kai has but one warmachine, but they’ve never needed more than what they’ve got. Their warmachine is known as the Reaper, a ballista-style shooter which can fire one large harpoon with tremendous force, or dozens of small bolts in a volley.

The Dark Elves use misdirection, fear, and unpredictability to truly terrorize their enemy and create a living hell. Paranoia runs rampant for those who oppose the Dark Elves. When one feels secure is when he is in the most danger. Dark Elves have been known to disguise themselves through magic as a member of the enemy. This is a way to discover enemy plans and destroy morale in the enemies. Combat with Halign Mak’kai is torturous.

Halign Mak’kai has but one true ally, and quite an unexpected alliance it is. The Dark Elves are allied with the Dendroids in Drehr Behrkán. The Dendroids are driven by peace and abhor violence, while the Dark Elves are vicious killers. Perhaps the old adage is true, opposites attract. Dendroids and Dark Elves have bred to create Wood Elves. Halign Mak’kai has an agreement with the Greenskins of Grumlok, but the Dark Elves certainly don’t consider these primitive creatures allies. Grumlok and Halign Mak’kai simply have a shared enemy. Halign Mak’kai is also quite fond of Bretonia, but they are not great friends.

Halign Mak’kai’s only enemies are Utopia and Sivverlynn. The Dark Elves have hated the High Elves since before the Dwarven calendar. They despise the Utopians only because the Utopians are allied with Sivverlynn. The Dark Elves are generally self-kept people, and not well understood by much of the rest of the world. They have few friends and would prefer to keep it that way.

Population: 415,900

Size: 20,100 square miles

Capital city: Hallosh

History
Elves once roamed all of Guero. Known as Primal Elves, these Elves of old were at one with nature, holding a deep understanding of Chi, the life force that flows through all animals. Primal Elves were wild and free. But somewhere along the line, the Elves evolved into two separate races: the High Elves and the Dark Elves.

When the High Elves were introduced to the civilized world in western Guero, they quickly took to it. Soon coin was the only thing on their mind, and they learned straightaway that when it came to collecting coin, spare hands were indispensable. Unfortunately, High Elven workers expected payment in return for their toil. To cut back on costs, High Elves began taking their once-brethren Dark Elves as slaves.

The Dark Elves countered by sharpening their soft-stepping skill. A Dark Elf that cannot be found cannot be enslaved. Furthermore, the Dark Elves became more vicious in order to fend off the slavers. Soon the hunters became the hunted. As the High Elf slavers marched through the forest in search of Dark Elves, the Dark Elves ambushed the High Elves. Suddenly it seemed fewer and fewer slavers were returning from their trips. The High Elves took off for the northern coast away from their darkened kin, but the Dark Elves never forgot and never forgave.

Though the immediate threat was over, the Dark Elves chose to travel south to avoid any future attacks from the High Elves. The Dark Elves also continued to study the arts of subtlety and violence which had saved their lives and pushed out their oppressors. As they did so, women became prized in society. Their slender bodies made the women naturally more adept at stealth. As civilization began to manifest, women were elected leaders more and more often until only women were able to rule. The Dark Elves spread along what is now Halign Mak’kai, combatting the creatures and races that already resided there. They named their first queen, Queen Lya Cunn, in 256, but they were not recognized as a nation straightaway. This is also when they set their political system of usurping the throne.

In 312, Dendroid cartographers landed in Guero at Halign Mak’kai to begin mapping. The Dark Elves greeted the Dendroids with an ambush, taking them prisoner and dragging them to speak with the queen. Queen Lya asked the Dendroids’ of their intents. The Dendroids explained that they traveled from Skone to map out Guero. They went on to explain that their people were entirely peaceful, refusing to kill even to feed themselves. Queen Lya was shocked and refreshed to meet a race which meant no harm. She sent the Dendroids with Dark Elven scouts to guide the Dendroids through the dangerous land. Later Halign Mak’kai established trade with Drehr Behrkán, and so begun their alliance.

Halign Mak’kai was truly a perilous land. Since Halign Mak’kai was created, the Dark Elves have battled the Harpies in the woods and the Nagas on the coasts. The Harpies reside in caves and in the highest reaches of the trees, making their kind difficult to extinguish entirely. The Nagas build cities in the ocean and raid the shores only on occasion. Because of this, the snakemen have also proven incredibly difficult to thwart. The battle between the Harpies and the Nagas is as old as Halign Mak’kai.

In the fall of 877, Dark Elves all around the nation reported seeing great, green fires popping up from nowhere. The fires burned for a day before hellish creatures began to pour out of the flames. The creatures were all daemonic in appearance, but differed greatly in size and shape. The Beastmen, as they came to be called, were resistant to many of the Dark Elves traditional combat methods. They were immune to the fear tactics and fire magic the Elves employed.

By summer of 878, the war between the Dark Elves and the Beastmen was still waging, and the Dark Elves were losing. Their numbers were beginning to dwindle; many of their kind had been killed or enslaved. Queen Sha’uma Sunn knew the nation was in grave danger, but wished to respect her allies’ peaceful lifestyle. Instead of requesting Dendroid soldiers, Sha’uma sent for help from the Bretonians. Previously, Bretonia and Halign Mak’kai had seldom spoken to one another. They were entirely neutral towards one another. Sha’uma saw no other choice, and prayed that the Bretonians would sense the distress and offer a hand in cleaning out the Beastmen. She sent a messenger to Bretonia’s capital.

Two weeks later Bretonian reinforcements marched into war. The Dark Elves had discovered that the green fires were gates, allowing the Beastmen to transport from their homeland to Halign Mak’kai. With Bretonia fighting at the front lines, the Dark Elves were able to do what they do best: destroy the enemy from behind. Over the next eight years, the Bretonians and the Dark Elves forced the Beastmen back to their hellgates. They then encircled the gates and slaughtered the beasts as they stepped through. It wasn’t much longer before the green flames petered out. The casualties were high for Human and Dark Elf alike, but after nine years the war had finally come to an end.

Halign Mak’kai and Bretonia returned to their old lifestyles. The nations had only grown a bit closer together, still certainly not allied. The Dark Elves and the Bretonians are simply too different in their ideals to grow closely bonded. Bretonia had earned the Dark Elves’ respect and trust, however. As a token of appreciation, the Dark Elves built a monument, a statue 40 feet tall, depicting a Human and a Dark Elf working together to slaughter a Beastman. They gifted this monument to Bretonia in the fall of 887, a year after the war had ended.

Just over 200 years later, Utopia declared war on the Greenskins of Grumlok. in 1112 Sivverlynn announced that it would be joining Utopia on the battlefield in Grumlok. The Dark Elves never cared much for the Greenskins, but Grumlok had never been an unbearable intrusion in Halign Mak’kai. The Dark Elves decided to team up with the Greenskins just for the chance to slit the throats of their abhorred rivals the High Elves.

Trade
Men in Dark Elven society are responsible for labor and raising children. They work in the fields, farming apples, melons, pomegranates, berries, dragonfruit, lemons, limes, oranges, pears, tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, squash, cabbage, broccoli, herbs, kale, mushrooms, onions, peppers, ginger, radish, turnips, and/or nuts. The Dark Elves don’t eat much bread, and therefore don’t generally farm grains. Most of these crops remain within their family, but some are donated to the market place where unmarried men and women can collect them.

Dark Elves enjoy meat, but prefer white meat to red meats. Herders keep pheasants, chicken, turkeys, ducks, and pigeons. These fowls’ eggs also go well on the market. While Dark Elves don’t have much of a taste for red meat, they have developed a palate for blood. Some herders keep sheep, llamas, and rabbits for blood. This blood can be used for boiling food, or spiced for drinking. Dark Elves also enjoy eating fish, so fishermen are essential in Halign Mak’kai.

Halign Mak’kai does not trade with other nations, and Dark Elves do not have set professions. There is very little coin exchange in Halign Mak’kai. Dark Elves typically won’t even carry coin with them. Goods in the city are always up for grabs to women. Women see to it that their children are fed. A Dark Elf will only give her husband food if he has toiled in the field for the day.

Every woman in Dark Elven society is trained to fight and sneak at a young age. From there, any skills they take up are at their own discretion. Most Dark Elves will mine their own ore and forge their own weapons. Sometimes Dark Elves will set their husbands out to collect ore or recruit a friend to forge the weapon. Most Dark Elves, however, believe that there is a special bond created between a woman and her weapon when it is crafted by her own hands. Dark Elves may find a passion for any trade, but the most popular are smithing, tailoring, leatherworking, hunting, enchanting, and jewelcrafting.

While Dark Elves are not accustomed to being paid in gold as their society is communal, they are often willing to accept coin from outsiders.

Science
Halign Mak’kai has only three uses for science. The first and perhaps most important is for simple transport vehicles, such as ships, wagons, and chariots. The second is their one and only warmachine, the Reaper. This ballista-style ranged weapon can fire either a single harpoon with great force, or a volley of smaller bolts. The third use for science is alchemy, which is most commonly used to create potent poisons. Most alchemists do not deeply understand the craft. They either use trial and error to discover new poisons, or stick to old, proven toxins.

Science is quite inaccessible in Halign Mak’kai. There are very few teachers and scientific books are few and far apart. Furthermore, society does not discuss science or care much for it. It’s entirely possible, likely even, that a Dark Elf won’t even know about science until late in life.

Magic
Magic is an important aspect of Dark Elven culture. All female Dark Elves are capable of using basic magic to their advantage. The Dark Elves do not learn magic through studying tomes as many other nations do. They are taught to wield magic by their mothers generally. Those with a natural inclination toward magic often go on to refine their skill to a greater degree.

Dark Elves are experts in shadow magic, extending a bit into other dark magics. They use shadow magic to enhance their stealthiness, blur their shape in combat, disguise or camouflage themselves, and inflict extra damage with their weapons. Some Dark Elves also tap into psychic magic, enjoying the ability to control those around them. Psychic magic can be used to manipulate a person’s actions through curbing judgment, striking fear, seducing, or charming the target. Dark Elves are also likely to use fire, ice, poison, and earth magics.

Witch Elves are the most renowned magic users in Halign Mak’kai. The Witch Elves are priestesses of Kira’Zhin, often also incorporating Vorb and Slyvix in their magical invocations. The stygimoloch riders, too, are priestesses, though they revere Syra. They are capable of using healing spells and connecting spiritually to their stygimolochs. Some are capable of other forms of nature magic as well.

Sorcery is not well understood in Halign Mak’kai society. Beings born with magic in their blood are thought to be prophets chosen by Syra or Slyvix. These “prophets” are guarded carefully and encouraged to meditate, train, and learn to control their gifts. Sorceresses are highly respected, and often become leaders, be it by official title or otherwise.

Magic’s power is seldom harnessed for any reason outside of combative reasons. They may light torches, candles, or fires with their magic, but don’t rely much on magic outside of that.

Religion
Dark Elves as a nation pray to Slyvix. As the god of darkness and secrets, and often associated with guile, he represents the values the Dark Elves hold most dearly. Slyvix is a very prominent facet of Dark Elven culture. Most everyone in the nation worships Slyvix, and those who don’t are often ostracized or even killed. Halign Mak’kai believes that those who do not show their appreciation of Slyvix risk ruining the entire nation’s favor.

The Elf Witches, along with some other citizens, worship Kira’Zhin in addition to Slyvix. These Elves understand pain and pleasure, and demonstrate their devotion to Kira’Zhin by performing sacrifices.

Syra and Vorb are also quite popular in Dark Elven culture, though devotees to these gods practice rituals which are less radical. Dark Elves do not worship Li’ina.

Language
Halign Mak’kai’s national language is Elven. They speak a specific dialect of the language, known as Dark Elven, which is harsher sounding than the Elven spoken by the High Elves. Dark Elven is spoken rapidly, with abrupt breaks and sharp hissing sounds. Despite the coarseness in their language, the Elven language is still quite elegant and beautiful.

Most Dark Elves also speak Common, though they don’t use the language often. Some Dark Elves have made an effort to learn Greentongue in an effort to communicate war strategies with the Greenskins, but this has proven fruitless. The Greenskins are not reliable. Dark Elves who find themselves working with or around the Dendroids often choose to learn Primordial. Dark Elves have some difficulty speaking the guttural language, but they are capable of doing so with a heavy accent.

Culture
Dark Elven culture is based around women and their pursuit of experting stealth and guile. The Dark Elves look after those who have proven trustworthy or useful. On the contrary, those who have wronged them are immediately on the chopping block. Overall, there’s always an air of distrust. Even those who have been long-term friends may eventually backstab. Without incredible intuition, it’s impossible to tell if a friendship is genuine.

Life in as a man in Halign Mak’kai is quite simplistic. Boys tend the fields with their fathers as soon as they are able to lift a ploy. Through the demanding toil, the boys grow strong and fit. They learn how to make their crops flourish and the work ethic required to feed society. As the men come of age, they set off into the villages to mingle and prove their worth.

Men find a mate through shows of strength and worth. Because of this, single men are often very cruel towards one another. They prove themselves to women through fist fights, boasting, and a brawling tradition known as Mercymaker. Mercymaker is only initiated when a woman has expressed interest in two or more men. The men strip down to shorts and duke it out in a duel of kicking, punching, biting, and choking. Whoever cries mercy first yields his right to pursue the woman. To lose in a round of Mercymaker is quite shameful. Some men would rather die than call mercy, which often results in strengthening the attraction to the victor.

Once a man is married, the rest of his life is just about set for him. He is to work the fields and care for the children until he is too old to carry on. Some men view their role in society as discriminatory. Others are pleased to lead a simple life of fathering children and making love to their wife. These men believe it favorable, especially when compared to living in the cutthroat society of the women.

Girls growing up in Dark Elven culture spend part of their day working on the fields with their father and brothers. This is for two reasons. The first is to help the girls grow strong and fit. The second is to make it easier for the father to keep an eye on his children. As men are responsible for the farm and the children, the best way to keep track of kids and maximize work time is to have the kids lend a hand on the fields. At any point during the day or night, the mother may take the daughter to train. This training includes swordplay, dagger wielding, and magic practice.

As women come of age, they begin to integrate into society. They continue to live at home with their parents and grandparents. Through this system, women inherit their parents’ land to raise their own family. When a single woman finds a mate to marry, she brings him home to live with her and tend the field with her own father and brothers.

Couples are careful not to have more children than they can fit in the house at any one time, but it’s common for them to have kids in the house, coming and going, for four hundred years or more.

Halign Mak’kai’s laws are considered more like general guidelines for the most part. Law is upheld by the citizens, unless the crime is severe enough to report to the queen. Should a man violate the law, he is often brought back to his wife, where she will punish him as she sees fit. Men do not break the law regularly, as it has terrible social effects on the wife. A man who oversteps his bounds demonstrates that a woman does not have control of her man, and she’ll quickly become the target of cruel gossip. These men are often whipped, beaten, killed or divorced. Women who break the law also set themselves up for social rejection. Generally, “breaking the law” as a woman means taking more than her fair share of goods, stealing, murder or treason. These infringements are cause for ostracization not because of the harm they cause to the community, but because of the effects on a woman’s reputation. A woman who is caught breaking the law communicates a lack of subtlety or secrecy, two values held very highly in Dark Elven culture.

Because Dark Elves do not have proper professions, their architecture varies greatly. Most Dark Elves are responsible for building their own homes. They may go about this in a variety of approaches. Among the most common (due to its relative simplicity) is building hut-like homes of wood and cloth. Wooden stakes of differing heights are bored into the ground. Long fabrics are then strewn over the stakes creating a living area. This method isn’t prefered, as it is not very resistant to weather, but it is easy and cheap. Handier Elves may create houses of stone or lumber, relatively small in size with two stories most often. Dark Elves don’t spend much time inside except to sleep and eat. Their houses feature little more than a dining table, beds, stored items, a prayer alter, and a few candles for lighting.

Halign Mak’kai does not have cities in the same way many nations do. Their roads are made of dirt. They have no buildings, only canopies.

The women of Halign Mak’kai are very social, but never very trusting. Only with friends of varying hobbies can a Dark Elf obtain the things she wants or needs. It’s never clear where these friends’ loyalties lie, and confiding in a companion may come back to bite. Betrayal is common in Dark Elven culture.

Dark Elves wear dark clothes. They live in a warm climate, and their clothes are often quite shameless and bare. Women wear sturdy brassieres, girdles, or corsets of darkened leather, along with short skirts or bottoms. They often wear high-heeled boots, leather bracers, and jewellry if they can afford or find it. Many Dark Elves are born with dark markings on their pale skin. Many women use makeup to cover undesirable markings, or create new, enviable markings. Some women also wear masks, veils, hoods, or hats. It is less common, but some women also cloak themselves in breathable robes. Men and children wear very simple clothing. Men wear trousers, a pair of work boots, and may or may not decide to wear a tunic.

There are no holidays celebrated nationwide. One of the nations’ most famous traditions, however, are the sacrifices to Kira’Zhin. These rituals may occur as often as several times a season or as rarely as once in ten years. Each ring of Elf Witches has a leader, a powerful priestess known as the Blood Mother. The Blood Mother is said to have the ability to communicate directly with Kira’Zhin. When Kira’Zhin asks for a sacrifice, the Blood Mother clambers out from her den. It is the only time a non- Elf Witch will ever see the Blood Mother. The Blood Mother has red eyes, and when called upon by Kira’Zhin, she wanders the streets searching for the face Kira’Zhin has asked for.

Dark Elves usually act in one of two ways when picked out by the Blood Mother. They either accept their fate with gusto, pleased to be chosen by Kira’Zhin, or they flee in fear. Those who flee never get away. They are restrained by the other Elves and forced to become the victim of the sacrifice.

The ritual is performed by the Blood Mother and her Witch Elves. Each Witch Elf attaches a bloodsucking leech to their arm. The victim is the hung by her hands to an arch over a large cauldron. The Blood Mother recites a prayer to Kira’Zhin as she slits her wrist and that of her Witch Elves. Together, they bleed into the cauldron in utter silence. The Blood Mother patches up the cuts after they’ve bled long enough, then using a glaive-like weapon, the Blood Mother slits the wrists of the victim hanging over the cauldron. She then pierces the weapon through the victim's abdomen, and places the bottom of the glaive into the cauldron, allowing the blood to run down the shaft and into the cauldron. The entire ritual is performed before the public, and often draws quite a crowd. After the ritual, the Dark Elves indulge in drinking. The Blood Mother sits in silent prayer at the ritual grounds for a complete day before returning to her den.