File : debook.txt
Date : 20 Feb 2000


Contents:
1. Introduction
2. History
   - The Origin of the Dark Elves
   - Timeline
3. Naggaroth: The Land of Chill
   - The Land
   - Flora & Fauna
   - Towns & Cities
4. Dark Elf Society
   - Society
   - Religion
   - Warfare
5. Dark Magic
   - Spells
6. Dark Elf Characters
   - Character Templates
   - Dark Elves as Villains
   - Dark Elves as PCs
7. Dark Elf Personalities
   - Malekith, the Witch King
   - Morathi, the Seeress
   - Hellebron, the Hag Queen
   - Rakarth, the Beastlord
   - Mengil Manhide
   - Shadowblade, the Master of Assassins
8. Adventure Hooks



1. Introduction

Dark Elves are descended from the High Elves of Ulthuan and share many of their physical attributes. They are tall and lithe, quick in both thought and movement, and possessed of an ethereal beauty unmatched by the younger races of the world. Dark Elves appear paler of skin than their High Elf brothers and the majority have dark hair and eyes. Pure white hair is also common among their kind. Dark Elves are the equal of the High Elves in almost all other respects. Few indeed are the races who could match their skill as warriors, sorcerors, and craftsmen.

The comparisons end there, however. It is often said that the highest have the furthest to fall, and this has proven true in the case of the High Elves. Driven from their ancestral homeland of Ulthuan after a bloody civil war, the rebel Elves fled north, led by the infamous Malekith the Witch King. Settling amid the cold lands of Naggaroth, they prospered and grew strong even as they descended further and further from their noble origins. Merciless, cruel, and malicious, the Dark Elves as a race represents evil in the truest sense of the word. While the minions of Chaos can at least claim to be executing the will of their Gods, the Dark Elves neither need or care for such excuses. 

Clad in cunningly-wrought armour, Dark Elf warriors are feared as formidable opponents, even more so than their High Elf kin. Malicious cunning and ruthless efficiency, allied to the Elven attributes of intelligence and quickness have produced great warriors among the Dark Elves. While the Elves of Ulthuan are the world's greatest practitioners of High Magic, the sorcerors and witches of their dark bethren are the supreme masters of Dark Magic. While the Dark Elves will fight any foe with unconcealed pleasure, they reserve a special fervour when opposing their High Elven brethren. The terrible wars stretching back millenia have bred a racial hatred between the races where no quarter is given or expected in battle. 


2. History

The Origins Of The Dark Elves

The Dark Elves are descended from the followers of Malekith who fled Ulthuan after a bloody civil war more than 5000 years ago. Malekith was the only son of the first Phoenix-King, Aenarion and the seeress Morathi. A great warrior and sorcerer, Malekith experimented with forces of Dark Magic, long shunned by the Elven Wizards. Slowly but surely, his experiments into the dark twisted his noble personality and his sinister demeanour and cruel ways caused many among the Elves to distrust his growing power. Thus it was that with the passing of Aenarion at the Isle of the Dead, the Elven nobles snubbed him in favour of Bel-Shanaar as the next Phoenix King. 

To the surprise of many, Malekith accepted his fate with seemingly good grace and supported Bel-Shanaar in his efforts to rebuild Ulthuan. Soon, his leadership and influence was second only to that of the Phoenix-King, a time he had long awaited. Malekith had not been idle in the meantime. For years, he had trained and recruited a select group of sorcerers and warriors, building a small cadre of followers and allies. Gathering his followers, Malekith denounced Bel-Shanaar as a servant of the Chaos gods. His assassins then poisoned the Phoenix-King whose death Malekith attributed to suicide and thus proof of his accusation.

Stunned by the turn of events, none challenged him when Malekith claimed the throne of Ulthuan. The crowning and test of the Phoenix were duly arranged in the sacred shrine of Asuryan for the new King. In his arrogance, he believed he could walk through the flames of Asuryan as easily as his father Aenarion had done. But while he could fool mortal Elves, the immortals are not so easily deluded. In burning agony, Malekith was consumed by the sacred flames which cast him out a smoking ruin, forever scarred from the ordeal.

In the confusion, Malekith's followers gathered their disgraced lord and fled the shrine of Asuryan, fighting their way clear to his strongholds in the North. While Malekith recovered his strength, his followers emerged from hiding to wreck havoc on the disorganized Elves. During this period of confusion, Caledor the First was named the new Phoenix King. His first task was to root out and defeat the legions of Malekith, whose terrible, scarred appearance had earned him a new name: the Witch-King.

At first, the fiercer and fanatically driven army of Malekith aided by powerful Dark Magic sorcerers won victory after victory against the loyalist forces. But their numbers where few, and slowly but surely, victories became scarcer as Caledor began to rebuild his shattered army. Caledor could also call upon the mighty dragons of Ulthuan whose awakening swung the tide of battle in favour of the Phoenix-King. 

The final battle for Ulthuan was fought in the shadow of the Malekith's fortress where awesome magics were unleashed by both sides. The earth itself was torn apart as earthquakes and tidal waves destroyed a large part of Northern Ulthuan. Malekith survived the cataclysm, fleeing to the North with the tiny remnants of his army. Amid the dark, cold forests east of the Black Spine Mountains in the New World, the followers of the Witch-King made their new home. 

While they knew the Witch-King still lived, Caledor's army had suffered grevious losses in the battle and could not pursue the foe. The Phoenix-King decided to rest his people and began rebuilding Ulthuan.

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