Dark Elves
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A New Song
Perill’ha was a Master of the four Paths of Magic: Life, War, Protection, and Pain. He was a Song Priest in charge of a large Song Shrine in the Fey Realm of Tear’Arlith. During the bleakest times in the Gate War he was already documenting and researching a new aspect of the Song. He and his researchers numbered around 1000, and had been documenting this since the beginning of the Gate War.
During the time of the Retreat, Perill’ha and his people had already isolated this new Song and were beginning to implement it. They hadn’t actually seen it’s full capability at this point, but they were close to its full use.
During the last days of the Retreat, Perill’ha’s wife, Feranella, was killed as she led her forces back to a Gate point on the Nexus. This was a devastating blow for him, and his rage was legendary. He called on the Path of Death and broke through to its deeply primordial form, forging it into a working Song Path.
He took his new Path of Magic to the council of Advisers for the Emperor D’Lleyewin as a means of pushing back the Human intrusion onto the Nexus. His demonstration was awesomely effective, and universally approved. He did not take on any new pupils that were not already a part of his Song Shrine, despite repeated requests.
What he hadn’t shown the Advisers was that in his pioneering of this Path of magic, he had been changed irreversibly. He could no longer bring life to the sick and hurt, as was normal to the Fey. He instead brought only Death. His 1000 devoted Elves were all similarly changed as the Song of Death was birthed. He had nursed it through its pregnant silence, and brought it into fruition instead of letting this harmful Death quietly sink back beneath the waves of the Song.
The Truth of the Song
No Fey, or any other race could have foreseen the effects this new Path would have on the War. Perill’ha’s Elves stepped through, behind the main offensive units where they quietly and efficiently animated the fallen Humans, and sent them through the lines to attack. This unexpected maneuver scattered the Fey around Perill’ha’s unit, and the Humans they were facing broke and routed.
Although this battle was a victory for the Fey, this new Death magic was seen as a perversion of the Song. As the new Death Mages faced the ruling councils representatives, the full extent of their change was brought into light. There was no hiding that Perill’ha’s people had changed, and that they had forsaken the sanctity of life in single minded bloody vengeance.
The Emperor's representative made the pronouncement prohibiting Perill’ha’s people from returning to the Fey Realm until it could be decided what to do with them. It was feared that this tainting of their essence might cause harm to the the Song in the Fey Realms. The alien nature of bringing death instead of life was seen as an abomination, and a perversion of all the Song was.
Perill’ha was outraged, but took the news quietly and with the dignity befitting a Song Priest. He led his people into the depths of the Nexus to continue their assault on the Human forces.
They were effective in ways that no one could have conceived of. It isn’t known if the races they faced even knew what or how their own dead were raised to attack. They were probably histories most effective Elven unit against human technology. It seemed that no matter what the odds, Human superstition led to an easy route when confronted by their own dead.
Often the Dark Elves, as they came to be known, used their gifts to give unasked for help to deluged Fey forces. They never forgot who they were, or where they came from. With quiet dignity they would help other Fey, and melt away into the Nexus without thanks.
The Dead
During the end of the Gate War the Dark Elves noticed that the part of the Song they were using had come to be on its own in the Nexus. There were vast battlefields that housed countless dead from all races, and the innate magic of the Nexus Realm was raising them into an unholy parody of life, without the intervention of the Path of Death.
At first, they documented these occurrences, and the different variations on the way the undead came into being. It was noticed that there were many different types of undead with different powers, from the completely non-sentient ones they raised in battle to quick witted and dangerous monsters capable of raising their own armies.
This proved the point that this magic was indeed a natural occurrence that was in response to the violence on the Nexus Realm. Unfortunately, before this information could be shared with the other Fey the whole realm collapsed. After that, survival was the first order of business, not research.
Today
Currently on the Nexus, the Dark Elves are a minority that hide amongst other Fey populations, and live as any other Elves. Like all Elves, they no longer live for ages as immortal beings, but instead usually live long enough to see a couple thousand years before passing on.
Unlike regular Elves they are forever marked by the Path of Death magic. They cannot heal and give life as other Fey, but instead strengthen themselves by bringing Death. This creates a lot of fear of them in all other races on the Nexus.
Unfortunately, there is a bounty on any Dark Elf found in the Nexus. The other inhabitants of the Realm wrongfully believe that any free roaming undead must be the result of Death Magic, and that all Dark Elves must be well versed in the those blackest of arts.
The truth is that undead occur naturally as a response to the violence of the Gate War, and there are not enough Dark Elves to create the number of undead seen every year. Many Dark Elves actively shun the Path of Death, and seek to distance themselves from their heritage. Many Dark elves master the Path of Life to camouflage themselves from discovery. Many Dark elves master the Path of Life to camouflage themselves from discovery.
Maybe because of this active persecution, some young Dark Elves are embracing what they are. These young Elves call themselves the Black Nightshade for the beautiful but deadly plant. They often wear jewelry, embroidery, or other items that resemble their namesake to help them find others of their kind.
These Dark Elves are responsible for founding Black Song Shrines devoted to the Path of Death. It is said that they also teach other races this damaging magic without any regard to the dangers involved. They often haunt battlefields, and other sites of slaughter to further learn their craft.
Some of the Black Nightshade even seek out old and strong undead to apprentice to in the hopes of regaining that once immortal lifespan of the Elven people through necromancy. These alliances often result in danger to anyone the young Elf is around as they bring more victims to their masters.
Members of the Black Nightshade are everything that the other races on the Nexus fear about the Dark Elves, and the Dark Elven community has begun to talk of dealing with this matter themselves in order to stop their own persecution at the hands of others. It isn’t unknown for a group of Dark Elven Song Priests in the Path of Life to actively hunt down and destroy any Dark Elves they find that actively following the Path of Death.
Dark Elves have a lot to bring to the Nexus, but for the time being they live a secret life in order to survive. It could take thousands of years to wipe away the stigma attached to their race.