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Aelf

Player Strain

The Aelfes (🔊 ALF ) are a northern strain occupying the mountains, forests, and seas. Legend tells that the first Aelfes were created by Woden the All-Father.

Strain	Aelf
Scientific name	Homo Aestheticus
Plural	Aelfes
Possessive	Aelfen
Substrains	Brimaelf, Dunaelf, Friggaelf, Wodaelf, Wyrmaelf
Eyesight	Farsight, Deepsight
Location	Aelfgarad,Aelfwode
Language	Aelfen Language,Otani Language
Climate	Temperate
Height	9-11 Kol (140‒170 cm)
Weight	4-6 Tas (37‒68.9 kg)
Skin Color	Porcelain, Fair
Hair Color	Blonde, Brown, Auburn, Red, Blue, Aqua, White
Eye Color	Blue, Silver, Brown, Green, Hazel, Gray
Build	Slender
Distinctions	Air of distinction. Slender build. Pointed ears. Often very physically attractive.
Disposition	Aesthetically driven.

The Aelfes were created and scattered upon the lands of Otan by Woden the All-Father. The Aelfes soon found that they were driven by their preferences, and a schism developed between them. The Wodaelfes preferred the forests granted to them by Woden, decrying that nothing on Otan was more beautiful than Woden's creation.

The Friggaelfes had meanwhile come to the conclusion that art was the dominant aesthetic and that Aelfen art was certainly more beautiful than Woden's creation; Woden simply provided the tools to create art. The schism advanced until the two main tribes separated completely. Wodaelfs stayed mainly in the forests while Friggaelfes preferred coastal shores.

Society and Culture

Aelfen society is heavily vested in aesthetics. The bodies that form Aelfen governments concern themselves with aesthetics above all but the most dire needs of their charges. Securing a village from an impending attack, for example, would involve two parts setting up defensive archers and blockades. One part would be devoted to making those blockades and ambuscades "look visually interesting".

The governments of the two nation-states controlled by Aelfes are Aelfgarad and Aelfwode. Aelfgarade's Council of the Arts makes all but a few decisions for the nation, the remainder of which are made by the king (or queen). Decisions too small for the Council of the Arts are made by smaller and smaller councils. Few decisions in Aelfgarad are made by a single individual.

In contrast, Wodaelfes are satisfied to let nature take its course. Believing that the only true aesthetic is that which is produced by nature itself, they are content to let things slide. Individuals in Aelfwode are more likely to take initiative in big decisions and trust in those decisions is handed over to nature or the gods.

Physical Characteristics

Aelfes could easily be mistaken for Humans if not given a second look. They are generally more slender than their Human cousins and sport small pointed ears. Their biology is similar to humans and they are able to survive on both plant and animal protein. Aelfes are more agile than Humans, though this is a generalization as they do not possess super-human agility.

Natural and Latent Abilities

Perhaps the greatest of all Aelfen abilities is to create the perception that they are more able than others at all things. While they almost certainly exceed the rest of the realm in their aestheticism, it's commonly believe that Aelfs are more agile, resilient, wise, intelligent, psychic, and beautiful than any of the other strains of man. While this is patently untrue, a typical Aelf does not deny a jot of this.

History

For Aelfes as all the people of Otan, history began in the first year IM. After the Great Erasure, the Aelfes woke to find their people split into two countries. They quickly realized why as the Wodaelfes and Friggaelfes had very different views about how an Aelf should live.

The Wodaelfes did eventually side with Humans in the Grendel War, where the Grendel had ravaged human settlements in the North. The Aelfes may have acted from compassion or possibly because they believed that they would be the next victims of Grendel aggression. Since that war, Aelfes and Humans have been less reluctant to trade and interact.

Aelfen Substrains

Wodaelf Substrain

Description:The Wodaelfes (🔊 WOAH-dalf) grew distant from their Friggaelfen cousins due to an aesthetic rift. They prefer natural beauty to anything artistic. They reside primarily in Aelfwode.

Overview:The Wodaelfes are the traditionalist heart of the Aelf strain, defined by their unwavering devotion to the natural world. While their cousins, the Friggaelfes, believe that art is the dominant aesthetic, the Wodaelfes maintain that nothing on Otan is more beautiful than the raw, untamed creation of Woden the All-Father. This philosophical rift led to a total separation between the tribes long before the Great Erasure, leaving the Wodaelfes to dwell in the deep forests while their kin moved to the northern coasts.

Even with their history lost to the Great Erasure, Wodaelfes woke with an innate preference for the aesthetics of the wild already etched into their souls. In Wodaelfen society, the "Great Masterpiece" is not something to be built, but something to be protected and inhabited. Their culture is deeply insular and rooted in the ancient groves of their domains, where they live in harmony with the flora and fauna provided by Woden.

Unlike the structured hierarchies of Aelfgarad, Wodaelfen life is governed by the rhythms of the forest, leading many outsiders to view them as primal or mysterious. However, this simplicity is deceptive; they possess a fierce, protective grace and are known to produce "Brutes" who, while strikingly beautiful to behold, are horrifically dangerous when the sanctity of their woods is threatened. Physically, the Wodaelfes mirror the slender, pointed-eared appearance of the Aelf strain, yet they carry a wilder, more organic presence than the curated Friggaelfes.

In the wild, they are often accompanied by the great beasts of the forest, and it is said that their most skilled hunters and warriors can move through the undergrowth with a silence that borders on the supernatural. For a Wodaelf, every tree, river, and mountain is a divine work of art that requires no further refinement from sentient hands. They remain the silent sentinels of Woden’s original vision, preferring the rustle of leaves to the grand spires of the city.

Dunaelf Substrain

Description:The Dunaelfes (🔊DOON-alf) grew distant from their Aelfen cousins due to a difference in aesthetic sensibilities. They reside primarily in Aelfgarad.

Overview:The Dunaelfes are a striking contrast to their Friggaelf kin, defined by a mahogany-dark complexion and a cultural obsession with the higher aesthetic of engineering. While they share a lineage with the Friggaelfes, the Dunaelfes have turned their intellect away from the sea and toward the forge, the gear, and the blueprint.

They believe that the ultimate expression of Frigg’s wisdom is found in the perfection of the machine. They take delight in transforming raw materials into complex, functional wonders. To a Dunaelf, a well-tuned engine or a perfectly balanced clockwork mechanism is as beautiful as any sunrise.

Living primarily in the industrial and urban hubs of Otan, the Dunaelfes are the preeminent architects and inventors of the realm. Their society is a meritocracy based on technical skill and innovation; status is earned not through land or birthright, but through the efficiency and elegance of one's designs.

They view the Wodaelfes’ "stewardship" as a passive waste of potential, believing instead that the natural world provides the components which sentient minds must refine into a more orderly, productive existence. Their homes are often filled with the rhythmic ticking of prototypes and the low hum of experimental power sources.

Despite their focus on cold iron and brass, the Dunaelfes maintain a deep sense of social duty, often providing the infrastructure. They are known for their aqueducts, bridges, and defensive siege engines, which keep their cousin Aelfen substrains safe. They are the "builders of the framework," providing the skeleton of civilization upon which others live.

Brimaelf Substrain

Description:The Brimaelfes (🔊BREEM-alf) are the coastal sea Aelfes, who live off the coast of Aelfgarad. Their habitats are primarily underwater, with occasional beach habitats.

Overview:The Brimaelfes are the sovereign masters of the Otan depths, possessing a sleek physiology that mirrors the shifting moods of the sea. From the shimmering teal of a sunlit bay to the deep, ink-like indigo of the abyss, they add an entirely new dimension to what is Aelfen.

Though they are expert swimmers capable of enduring the crushing weight of the deep, they maintain a unique dual nature. They are a people of two worlds, occupying the vast waters between Aelfgarad and Araldar, they are governed by a rigid Monarchy and swearing fealty to a single King or Queen. The royal throne sits within sprawling underwater citadels of glass, pearl, and living coral, serving as the heartbeat of a hidden empire that remains a mystery to those who dwell under the sun.

While these grand cities are submerged, they are designed with a profound understanding of Aelfen comfort. Many districts consist of enclosed air-habitats, pressurized vaults kept dry for those who prefer to use their lungs while they labor at their crafts or retreat into the restorative silence of sleep.

These architectural marvels allow the Brimaelfes to maintain their terrestrial refinements even in the heart of the ocean, creating a culture that is as intellectually sophisticated as it is physically formidable. To a Brimaelf, the "dry" home is a sanctuary where the mind is sharpest, surrounded by the muffled, rhythmic thrum of the exterior currents.

For the Brimaelf, the ocean provides the only aesthetic relevance worth pursuing. They believe that true beauty is not invented by hands, but harvested from the tides; their art, fashion, and architecture are entirely defined by iridescent shell-work, bioluminescent blooms, and the mathematical perfection of reef-growth.

To them, any beauty born of the dry land is static and lifeless, lacking the fluid grace of the water. This singular focus allows them to walk the surface docks of Otan with a regal, detached confidence, knowing that the terrestrial world is merely a shallow shore compared to the infinite, tide-crafted empire they command below.

Friggaelf Substrain

Description:The Friggaelfes (🔊 FRIGG-alf) grew distant from their Wodaelfen cousins due to a difference in their art-driven aesthetic sensibilities. They reside primarily in Aelfgarad.

Overview:The Friggaelfes are the primary artistic and cultural branch of the Aelf strain (*Homo Aestheticus*), defined by a fundamental philosophical schism that likely occurred before the Great Erasure. While their kin, the Wodaelfes, believe that the natural world created by Woden the All-Father is the pinnacle of beauty, the Friggaelfes maintain that art is the dominant aesthetic.

To a Friggaelf, nature provides only the raw tools; it is through sentient craftsmanship and the homage paid to the goddess Frigg that true perfection is achieved. This dedication to manufactured beauty is so deeply ingrained that even the loss of historical records during the Great Erasure could not diminish their innate drive to create.

In practice, Friggaelfen society is entirely structured around this pursuit of aesthetics, with its government, the Council of the Arts, prioritizing visual and symbolic excellence above nearly all else. This cultural mandate extends even to the most utilitarian tasks; for instance, a military fortification in their northwestern nation of Aelfgarad is rarely built for defense alone. Instead, engineers are required to ensure that blockades and defensive positions are "visually interesting," treating a battlefield as a canvas for symbolic expression.

This fixation on high art and rigid theory eventually led to further internal rifts, such as the Dunaelfes, who broke away to pursue a more whimsical style of creativity.

Wyrmaelf Substrain

Description:The Wyrmaelfes (🔊 VERM-alf) are a variety of the Friggaelfes, but infected by Draconic Essence. They resist becoming full Aydahar through prayer and force of will.

Overview:The Wyrmaelfes are the tragic scions of a spiritual and physical blight known as "dragon seed". While humans who are tainted by draconic essence succumb entirely, warping into the fully draconic strain known as the Aydahar, the Aelfen spirit is resilient enough to forestall this corruption. The result is a lineage caught in a permanent state of transition.

Wyrmaelfes are not marked by hardened scales and transformative bone structures, but rather more subtle changes. For the Wyrmaelf, their very blood is a battlefield where Aelfen grace and draconic savagery fight for every inch of their identity. The visible change is often limited to a violet complexion and snow-white hair.

Their inherent duality defines Wyrmaelf society as one of simultaneous pride and self-loathing. They are a people born of a violation, possessing a strength and longevity that make them formidable warriors, yet they view these gifts as symptoms of a terminal rot. While a small, radical few "accept the fire" and willingly descend into the Aydahar form, the majority live in a state of hyper-vigilance.

Wyrmaelfes treat their draconic kin with a complex mixture of reverence and bitter resentment, acknowledging the power of dragons while loathing the "seed" that stole their purity. To survive the daily encroachment of the beast, the Wyrmaelfes have turned to Frigg with a desperation that borders on the fanatical. They do not worship for mere comfort; they pray for stasis. They use their religion as a shield against their own marrow, and their rituals are designed to cleanse the spirit in hopes of one day purging the flesh.

Aelfen Occupied Regions

Aelfgarad

Description: Aelfgarad (🔊 ALF-ga-rahd) is a country in the the northwestern corner of continental Otan. It is predominantly populated by the Friggaelf substrain of Aelfs.

Overview: Coming Soon

Aelfwode

Description: The central landlocked country of Aelfwode (🔊 ALF-wode) is almost entirely forested. It is bordered by 5 countries and populated with Wodaelfs.

Overview: Coming Soon

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