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The World of Xantera
Dark Elven System of Government
After the Dissention and subsequent split in the Elven Nation, the people later termed as the Dark Elves, or Xaal’Culltur by the Elven people meaning Death-Callers, moved into the vast mountain ranges of Northern Alderia. Taking the natural caverns fixed into the mountainside, they delved as deep as they could, leaving behind the green plants and the bright sunlight they so detested. Down below, they used a mixture of magic and manpower to delve out a vast cavern almost two miles high and which spread for miles in all directions. At it’s heart sat a series of towers called the Spires of Arachnidae, their patron Goddess. The center tower housed the matron-mother of the Dark Elven people, the leader and Queen of all of the Xaal’Culltur. The shorter spires held the mothers of the other numerous noble houses that had come along, numbering in six all together. Spiraling around the Spires was the city, lit by magical lamps of violet flame, the city kept in an everlasting night time. Because of their long stay in the dark, they’re skin - despite seeing no light for millennia - darkened to a charcoal gray and their hair changed to different shades of silver or white. Their eyes, however, changed for a totally different reason.
They lost the lore that would have taught them the other spheres of magic, lost during the Dissention and burned like many others during those dark days of war. They were left with one sphere of magic: Fire, spells of destruction and wrath. After the Dissention, the people believed in was the fault of all men that the war had begun, for the Elven people were led by men at the time. So, much to the disfavor of the male population, the female Dark Elves took the government over by force, many of the previous leaders executed publicly or were killed in their sleep. None survived. Afterwards, the lady who had pieced the rebellion together named herself the Matron-Mother, Queen of all Xaal’Culltur and second only to the Goddess Arachnidae, Lady of Spiders and Poison. The leaders of the noble houses - now females due to either killing their husbands or subjecting them to slavery - took their roles of leadership as well and were named Matron-Mother’s of their respective houses, all those under her were her subjects and all males her slaves.
At the time, only the female children were taught magic. Numerous schools were opened to teach the children of the Matron-Mothers, many smaller houses sending children there for it was law for every female to learn some form of magic. At later dates, men were taught as well but that wouldn’t be until the next civil war, when every male in the Dark Elven city would rebel against their female captors and attack everything in sight. Afterwards, the males were put in charge of the defense of the Dark Elven capitol, the first male ever put in charge being the Lord-General Xetesk and his five Generals under him. That is, even now, the only leadership roles men were allowed. They were freed from slavery, but are still considered the lowest of the low unless they joined the military, which would give them special honors unless that man somehow lost those honors. However, only men in the military were taught magic. Females were allowed to join, but never given leadership roles unless deemed so by the current Matron-Mother, currently Queen Sal’Teria val Derr’Ani, Mother of the house Derr’Ani and Queen of Xaal’Culltur.
Women still hold places of nobility over the men, something that is not bound to change any time soon unless another revolt is planned, but any next revolt would have to wait until after the War of the Black Roses, the first time in over a thousand years after the Dissention that Dark Elves would leave their homeland to battle above ground. It is here that the first Xaal’Etur - Death-Bringers - would be seen. The elite of the elite, mighty warriors and assassins trained for a single purpose: To kill Darklings. There was only about a dozen of them trained, all masters of the Fire sphere and all the most deadliest ever trained. Six men, six women, all of equal rank and all of equal honor. The first time in the Dark Elven history that either sex would be equal. After the Xaal’Etur arrived, the vast armies of the Dark Elven people appeared, all of them covered from head to toe in black cloth to protect them from the sun, dark armor and helmets on their soldiers and black hoods and scarves on their sorcerers.
The infantry had a mixture of spears and swords - curved and wicked blades meant for painful rending and tearing - and shields embossed with the spider of the Goddess Arachnidae. The cavalry, however, did not ride on horses, but rode on dragon-like reptiles called Fe’Draak, or Little Dragons. They had no wings, were about the size of a horse, but ran faster than any animal on the planet, and they were deathly quiet. Machines designed to look like spiders or other spider-like creatures were designed but were never used. Many of the Fe’Draak were used for the numerous sorcerers of the Dark Elves to spirit them in and out of combat to cause the most damage in one single area as they could and get away.
They were set to not bother with the upper world when the Darklings first appeared above. However, when the creatures began to invade into their underground home, they had unintentionally felled one of the Matron-Mother’s of one of the noble houses. The retribution was swift and very painful, a tide of black-armored assassins and warriors rising to the fore and butchering every Darkling in their path in the most horrible ways possible. The Dark Elven armies were massed and were marching within days, the quickest timing to form up an army in the history of Alderia. Some half-million Dark Elven soldiers marched to Westguard. The Alliance formed between Human, High and Wood Elves, and Ti’Darrii was weak and was not prepared to stand up to the vast legions of Darklings marching towards them. All together, they were some three-hundred-thousand strong up against almost a million creatures. With the arrival of the Dark Elves and the Xaal’Etur assassins, the day was won. To this day - almost thirty years later - the Dark Elves believe that the battle would’ve been lost at Westguard had they not shown up.
 Lord Arimor Darkheart · Tue Jan 18, 2011 @ 01:12am · 1 Comments |
