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[Kulan] The Lands of Harqual (Updated: Feb 3/2022)
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<blockquote data-quote="Knightfall" data-source="post: 1373090" data-attributes="member: 2012"><p style="text-align: center"><span style="color: DarkOrange"><strong>RACES OF HARQUAL</strong></span></p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: DarkOrange">THE ELVES OF HARQUAL</span></strong></p><p>There are four main races of elves on Harqual as well as several minor sub-races, which are less known and/or very rare. Below are the major races of the elves.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: darkorange">DESERT ELVES</span></strong></p><p>The Elves of the Expanse, or desert elves as they are often called, are descended from a different stock than other elves. They prefer to live a more primitive lifestyle than other wild elves within the barren desert of Harqual known as the Great Expanse, which they call home. They are adapted toward simple survival, and they concentrate on their environment rather than on philosophical debates and the study of magic. They are even more temperamental and emotional than forest and hunter elves. They have yellow to coppery-red hair and brown eyes. Desert elves normally dress in browns and grays — the better to blend in with the desert.</p><p></p><p>Desert elves have life spans similar to half-elves, and they don't actively worship the elven god, Corellon; although, they do respect his teachings and show respect to his followers. Desert elves worship a being they refer to as the Patron, or Chaeon. All that is known about the god is that he is still very young for a deity and almost no one beyond scholars and the desert elves themselves have heard of Chaeon.</p><p></p><p>Desert elves are somewhat of a mystery to the other elves of Harqual as these races have no recollection of a split between rival factions amongst the wild elves of Harqual. In fact, relations between the two societies are cordial. Sages have surmised that the desert elves are from another part of Kulan or maybe even another world.</p><p></p><p>Others suspect that the desert elves might be descendants of the gray elves that fled the destruction of Caer Amylinyon during the Black Wars. However, no proof of this exists and the desert elves shake their heads when asked about the subject. For them, the Great Expanse has always been their home for as long as any of them can remember.</p><p></p><p><strong>Desert Elf Traits</strong></p><p>Desert elf characters benefit from a number of racial traits:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">+4 to Dexterity, -2 to Constitution, -2 to Intelligence.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Medium-size. As Medium-size creatures, desert elves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Weapon Proficiency: Desert elves receive the Martial Weapon Proficiency feats for the longspear or javelin, longbow (including composite longbow), and shortbow (including composite shortbow) as bonus feats.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Desert elf base land speed is 30 feet.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Immunity to sleep spells and effects, and a +2 racial saving throw bonus against Enchantment spells or effects.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">+1 racial bonus on saves against fire effects and a -1 racial penalty on saving throws against cold effects. These adjustments apply to cold and fire effects from any source, whether mundane or magical.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Low-light Vision. Desert elves can see twice as far as a human can in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Social Penalty: Desert elves are loners by heart and shy away from entering large cities, even when traveling with other races that call that city home. A desert elf that finds himself crowded in or lost in a large city has a -2 penalty to all Charisma checks until he finds a way out of the situation. This could also include being imprisoned with large numbers of other people. A desert elf can spend 2 skill points anytime after 3rd level to reduce the penalty to -1 and can eliminate the penalty altogether after 5th level. If the desert elf is traveling with at least three other members of his tribe then the penalty only comes into effect when exposed to the worst case scenario (i.e. being lost in a huge city while a street festival is taking place).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">+2 racial bonus to Search, Spot, Survival, and Listen checks. Desert elves do not have the elven special ability to detect secret or concealed doors. Desert elves can use Survival untrained.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Spell-like Ability (Sp): Desert elves gain the ability to cast create water once per day (caster level equals desert elf’s character level).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Heat Endurance: Desert elves gain Heat Endurance (see page 50 of D&D Sandstorm) as a bonus feat.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Automatic Languages: Elven. Bonus Languages: Dwarven (Torin-dialect), Giant, Gnoll, Halfling, and Terran. Despite their different heritage, desert elves speak the same dialect of elven that the silver and forest elves of the Great Forest speak; although, their accent is much heavier.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Favored Class: Barbarian. A multiclass desert elf’s barbarian class does not count when determining whether he suffers an XP penalty for multiclassing.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Desert elves do not live as long as other elves. They have the Random Starting Ages and Aging Effects of half-elves, as per the D&D Player's Handbook v.3.5 (pg. 109), with the following change to Aging Effects: Middle Age 82, Old 113, Venerable 145.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Desert elves are taller than silver and forest elves. They use human Base Height and Height Modifier, but still use the Base Weight and Weight Modifier for elves.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Level Adjustment: +0.</li> </ul><p>[ATTACH]156528[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: darkorange">FOREST ELVES</span></strong></p><p>Forest elves are tough, reclusive humanoids that originate from the southern area of the Great Forest of Harqual, known as the Knotwood. Forest elves are known for their love of nature and all the creatures in it.</p><p></p><p>Forest elves stand roughly 5 feet 6 inches tall and weigh around 125 pounds on average. They often have tanned skin, deep-green or hazel eyes, and black to fiery-red hair. They dress in dark shades of green and earth tones to better blend in with their natural surroundings.</p><p></p><p>Forest elves tend to get along with most good humans and half-elves but rarely will they consider an individual of one of these two races a personal friend. More often, forest elves will befriend silver elves and the fey of the Great Forest.</p><p></p><p><strong>Legacy of the Knotwood</strong></p><p>The forest elves of Harqual's Great Forest are a people without a land. The Forest City of Woodknot, their ancestral home, stood for over a thousand years against evil forces from without (and even some from within). But nothing could have saved the tree homes and sacred groves of their homeland from the events that unfolded during the Year of the Return.</p><p></p><p>When Clan Therani, the ancestral rulers of the Knotwood, cutoff contact with the outside world during the previous year, all assumed that the forest elves planned to fade to Arvandor in the Outer Planes. No one expected to see any of them again as their patron god, Rillifane, had insisted on isolation from the other races of Harqual to protect them from the human influences of the Eastern Shores and beyond. Rillifane worried that his peoples' distinct society was being endangered due to these influences as more and more forest elves had begun to leave their forest home to find adventure and fame amongst the human lands. At least, that is what the demon pretending to be the Forest Lord seeded in the minds of the Elders of the Clan Council.</p><p></p><p>It would be this demon that would infect the minds of many of the more radical members of the clan, which caused them to descend into madness. The demon soon had the powerful wizards and sorcerers of the clan — under its control — place powerful wards using dark magicks to keep the elves in and the rest of the world out. Some of the more malleable-minded willingly turned to evil for their own gain — the most ruthless being a powerful wizard named Weikir Thunderrain. The demon found a true ally in Weikir, and it molded the young elf into the ultimate weapon against his own people. The demon taught Weikir to cast several dark summoning and warding spells — allowing the demon the ability to gate into the wizard's home. This caused dozens of centuries old wards against evil to fizzle out due to the powerful dark magic used.</p><p></p><p>The demon convinced his young prodigy to destroy those he considered his rivals. Soon word of this came to the attention of the Elders of the Clan Council. They were appalled to learn that their god had not spoken to them but that instead this vile demon had fooled them all and was corrupting their people. They immediately sent their most powerful wizards, sorcerers, and priest against the fiend and those that it had corrupted.</p><p></p><p>The force was able to kill most of the corrupted elves, but Weikir refused to admit defeat. At the behest of the demon, the young wizard cast two powerful necromantic spells to ensure their success. One caused a dark fog to spread out amongst the tree homes of the surrounding clans and reshape anything it came in contact with. This allowed the demon and Weikir to exert their wills upon the clan members affected, and the two of them set loose their creations, called blood elves, on the Elders. By the end of the day most of the Elders were either slaughtered or transformed into blood elves.</p><p></p><p>Weikir then cast the most vile spell that the demon had taught him, dark wish, which merged his very soul with the demon. The Transformation turned the two dark allies into one dark creature, a fey'ri. The demon hadn't anticipated the young elf's true cunning, and when the struggle of minds was over, more elf was left than demon — but pure evil nonetheless. The new being named itself Wyrknari Vok and then began summoning lesser demons into its service. In less than a month the dark being had slaughtered, devoured or corrupted half of the clans.</p><p></p><p>Those that survived the first onslaught decide that if anything was to remain of their people then sacrifices would have to be made. The infirm and dying were allowed to pass on to Arvandor in whatever manner they chose in order to keep the demons from devouring their souls. The youngest elves of all the remaining clans would be taken north to the Kingdom of the Silver Leaves with a small contingent of the bravest warriors and most devote priests to protect them. The rest would remain behind and protect the retreating elves from the demons and blood elves.</p><p></p><p>By the time the retreating elves were safely behind the powerful wards protecting the northern forest kingdom, only about a thousand of them remained and many died afterwards. Now these forest elves live as refugees amongst the silver elves of the north. There are likely hundreds of forest elves still alive and hiding from the demons on the other side of the wards placed around Silverleaf; however, not much hope is held out for them if they do live. Patrols of blood elves watch the edges of the Great Forest and as close to the wards as they dare get ensuring that Woodknot and the southern half of the Great Forest remains under the dominion of their fey'ri king.</p><p></p><p>Eight years have passed since the corruption of the Knotwood, and the number of forest elves left in the region is low. For the first few years after the corruption, the forest elves of Great Forest were considered to be a dying race. There number dropped to near extinction levels in the largest forest of Harqual. Yet, the forest elves, now living in the Kingdom of the Silver Leaves, have managed to survive. Also, forest elves, as a race, exist in other parts of the continent. They are found in the Cadra Forest and the Verdalf Forest as well as the region surrounding Lake Qualitian. They will never be as populace a race as they once were but they are still one of the major races of elves in the Lands of Harqual</p><p></p><p><strong>Forest Elf Traits</strong></p><p>Forest elf characters benefit from a number of racial traits:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">+2 to Strength, -2 to Intelligence.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Medium-size. As Medium-size creatures, forest elves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Weapon Proficiency: Forest elves receive the Martial Weapon Proficiency feats for the longsword, longbow (including composite longbow), and shortbow (including composite shortbow) as bonus feats.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Forest elf base land speed is 30 feet.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Immunity to sleep spells and effects, and a +2 racial saving throw bonus against Enchantment spells or effects.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Low-light Vision. Forest elves can see three times as far as a human can in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">+2 racial bonus to Search, Spot, and Listen checks. Forest elves do not have the elven special ability to detect secret or concealed doors.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Automatic Languages: Elven and Sylvan. Bonus Languages: Barbarian, Centaur, Dwarven, Giant, Gnoll, and Orc.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Favored Class: Ranger. A multiclass forest elf’s ranger class does not count when determining whether he suffers an XP penalty for multiclassing.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Level Adjustment: +0.</li> </ul><p>[ATTACH]156529[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: darkorange">HUNTER ELVES</span></strong></p><p>The hunter elves of Harqual are related to the Westryn Elves of David Arneson's Blackmoor. Why these elves came to Harqual remains a mystery and they never speak of Blackmoor and their Westryn kin living there. The hunter elves do not isolate themselves from the rest of Harqual as much as the Westryn do from the other races of Blackmoor.</p><p></p><p>However, hunter elves do tend to be more isolated than forest or silver elves, and many have never even met one. They mainly live in the deep forests west-southwest of the Great Forest, and only rarely will they live within the boundaries of the Great Forest. They are found mainly in the Guardian Bay Region, living deep within the Verdalf Forest, but they also have been encountered in the Cadra Forest, east of Lake Nest, as far north as the dark woodlands surrounding the City-state of Nikel, and as far south as the Dry Forest, east of the Free City of Deepwater. There are rumors of hunter elves living wild in the northern reaches of the Storm Jungle, but they have never been seen or heard, even by the tabaxi.</p><p></p><p>Harqual has strong ties to Blackmoor, including several magical gates. [The most powerful of these gates links the Verdalf Forest of Harqual with the northern reaches of the Elven Forest (towards Haven's Peak).] The Hunter elves of the Verdalf Forest guard this gate closely and rarely allow other elven races to use the gate. It is also said that several of the more isolated Ways can lead to Blackmoor, if that is what the traveler truly wishes. (More likely they become lost in the Ways and go mad.)</p><p></p><p>See pages 17 to 19 of Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor under the entry for Westryn Elves for the racial traits I use for hunter elves. Hunter elves share most of the same personality, physical, and alignment information listed for the Westryn. However, they do not suffer from the “Black Curse,” they don’t worship Blackmoor deities, and their language is simply Elven, but with a strong accent. The names listed on page 18 are appropriate, although family names tend to follow Harqual standards for elves (i.e. description conjunctions).</p><p></p><p><strong>Hunter Elf Traits</strong></p><p>The following changes apply to hunter elf racial traits:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Automatic Languages: Elven. Bonus Languages: Common, Halfling, Kitt, and Sylvan.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Favored Class: Barbarian or Sorcerer.</li> </ul><p><strong><span style="color: darkorange">SILVER ELVES</span></strong></p><p>Silver elves are graceful, beautiful humanoids that originate from the northern half of the Great Forest of Harqual. Silver elves are known for their love of art and magic as well as nature and all nonmagical, forest creatures. They are less chaotic than other elves and have built a sprawling civilization within the boundary of the Great Forest.</p><p></p><p>Silver elves stand roughly 5 feet 3 inches tall and weigh around 110 pounds on average. They often have pale skinned, deep green or blue eyes, and silver or blond hair. They dress in dark green and brown wool clothing when traveling through the wilderness but also wear fine, brightly-colored garments made from silk when living in the more urban areas of their kingdom.</p><p></p><p>Silver elves tend to get along with most good-hearted humans and some dwarves but rarely will they consider an individual of one of these two races a personal friend. Dwarves are too gruff and humans don't live long enough to become lasting friends. More often silver elves will befriend forest elves, hairfoot halflings, and rockwood gnomes. The forest elves now live alongside the silver elves in their kingdom due to the recent events in the southern half of the Great Forest. The experience has drawn the two races together more than they ever have been before. Hairfoot halflings are considered a kindred race even though they don't live as long, and most of the hairfoots that do live north of the Great Expanse live in the Kingdom of the Silver Leaves. Silver elves remember when gnomes used to live north of the Great Expanse and are glad to meet a rockwood gnome whenever they have a chance. Silver elves find them delightful and as kindred to their race as halflings.</p><p></p><p>Beyond these common races, silver elves have been known to ally themselves with fey creatures of all sorts including brownies, pixies, satyrs, sprites, etc. They get along with a race of reclusive forest giants known as the vonakyndra as well as the following forest dwelling races: centaurs, krenshars, treants, and unicorns. In the human lands, it is rumored that silver elves are aligned with an intelligent race of benign dire wolves with powers similar to that of winter wolves. If these rumors are true then who knows what other allies the silver elves might have deep within the foliage of the Great Forest.</p><p></p><p>But their strangest allies are the wild barbarians of the Northlands. Divided by harsh wilderness and the Greystone Mountains one would think that the barbarians would be the least likely allies to the silver elven people. It is the bond of friendship between their patron god, Corellon, and Cronn — the chief deity of the Pantheon of the North — that has brought about this friendship. Silver elves don't worship Cronn but they do honor him as much as the barbarians of the Northlands honor Corellon.</p><p></p><p>Silver elves are the most literate race of elves on Harqual and often write in a flowing elven script that they invented.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: darkorange">Silver Elf Traits</span></strong></p><p>Silver elf characters benefit from a number of racial traits:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">+2 to Dexterity, -2 to Constitution.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Medium-size. As Medium-size creatures, silver elves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Weapon Proficiency: Silver elves receive the Martial Weapon Proficiency feats for the rapier, longbow (including composite longbow), and shortbow (including composite shortbow) as bonus feats.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Silver elf base land speed is 30 feet.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Immunity to sleep spells and effects, and a +2 racial saving throw bonus against Enchantment spells or effects.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Low-light Vision. Silver elves can see twice as far as a human can in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">+2 racial bonus to Search, Spot, and Listen checks. A silver elf who merely passes within 5 feet of a secret or concealed door is entitled to a Search check to notice it as if she were actively searching for it.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Automatic Languages: Common, Elven, and Sylvan. Bonus Languages: Centaur, Draconic, Dwarven, Giant, Gnoll, Halfling, and Orc.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Favored Class: Wizard. A multiclass silver elf’s wizard class does not count when determining whether he suffers an XP penalty for multiclassing.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Level Adjustment: +0.</li> </ul><p>[ATTACH]156530[/ATTACH]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Knightfall, post: 1373090, member: 2012"] [CENTER][COLOR=DarkOrange][B]RACES OF HARQUAL[/B][/COLOR][/CENTER] [B][COLOR=DarkOrange]THE ELVES OF HARQUAL[/COLOR][/B] There are four main races of elves on Harqual as well as several minor sub-races, which are less known and/or very rare. Below are the major races of the elves. [B][COLOR=darkorange]DESERT ELVES[/COLOR][/B] The Elves of the Expanse, or desert elves as they are often called, are descended from a different stock than other elves. They prefer to live a more primitive lifestyle than other wild elves within the barren desert of Harqual known as the Great Expanse, which they call home. They are adapted toward simple survival, and they concentrate on their environment rather than on philosophical debates and the study of magic. They are even more temperamental and emotional than forest and hunter elves. They have yellow to coppery-red hair and brown eyes. Desert elves normally dress in browns and grays — the better to blend in with the desert. Desert elves have life spans similar to half-elves, and they don't actively worship the elven god, Corellon; although, they do respect his teachings and show respect to his followers. Desert elves worship a being they refer to as the Patron, or Chaeon. All that is known about the god is that he is still very young for a deity and almost no one beyond scholars and the desert elves themselves have heard of Chaeon. Desert elves are somewhat of a mystery to the other elves of Harqual as these races have no recollection of a split between rival factions amongst the wild elves of Harqual. In fact, relations between the two societies are cordial. Sages have surmised that the desert elves are from another part of Kulan or maybe even another world. Others suspect that the desert elves might be descendants of the gray elves that fled the destruction of Caer Amylinyon during the Black Wars. However, no proof of this exists and the desert elves shake their heads when asked about the subject. For them, the Great Expanse has always been their home for as long as any of them can remember. [B]Desert Elf Traits[/B] Desert elf characters benefit from a number of racial traits: [LIST] [*]+4 to Dexterity, -2 to Constitution, -2 to Intelligence. [*]Medium-size. As Medium-size creatures, desert elves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size. [*]Weapon Proficiency: Desert elves receive the Martial Weapon Proficiency feats for the longspear or javelin, longbow (including composite longbow), and shortbow (including composite shortbow) as bonus feats. [*]Desert elf base land speed is 30 feet. [*]Immunity to sleep spells and effects, and a +2 racial saving throw bonus against Enchantment spells or effects. [*]+1 racial bonus on saves against fire effects and a -1 racial penalty on saving throws against cold effects. These adjustments apply to cold and fire effects from any source, whether mundane or magical. [*]Low-light Vision. Desert elves can see twice as far as a human can in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. [*]Social Penalty: Desert elves are loners by heart and shy away from entering large cities, even when traveling with other races that call that city home. A desert elf that finds himself crowded in or lost in a large city has a -2 penalty to all Charisma checks until he finds a way out of the situation. This could also include being imprisoned with large numbers of other people. A desert elf can spend 2 skill points anytime after 3rd level to reduce the penalty to -1 and can eliminate the penalty altogether after 5th level. If the desert elf is traveling with at least three other members of his tribe then the penalty only comes into effect when exposed to the worst case scenario (i.e. being lost in a huge city while a street festival is taking place). [*]+2 racial bonus to Search, Spot, Survival, and Listen checks. Desert elves do not have the elven special ability to detect secret or concealed doors. Desert elves can use Survival untrained. [*]Spell-like Ability (Sp): Desert elves gain the ability to cast create water once per day (caster level equals desert elf’s character level). [*]Heat Endurance: Desert elves gain Heat Endurance (see page 50 of D&D Sandstorm) as a bonus feat. [*]Automatic Languages: Elven. Bonus Languages: Dwarven (Torin-dialect), Giant, Gnoll, Halfling, and Terran. Despite their different heritage, desert elves speak the same dialect of elven that the silver and forest elves of the Great Forest speak; although, their accent is much heavier. [*]Favored Class: Barbarian. A multiclass desert elf’s barbarian class does not count when determining whether he suffers an XP penalty for multiclassing. [*]Desert elves do not live as long as other elves. They have the Random Starting Ages and Aging Effects of half-elves, as per the D&D Player's Handbook v.3.5 (pg. 109), with the following change to Aging Effects: Middle Age 82, Old 113, Venerable 145. [*]Desert elves are taller than silver and forest elves. They use human Base Height and Height Modifier, but still use the Base Weight and Weight Modifier for elves. [*]Level Adjustment: +0. [/LIST] [ATTACH]156528[/ATTACH] [B][COLOR=darkorange]FOREST ELVES[/COLOR][/B] Forest elves are tough, reclusive humanoids that originate from the southern area of the Great Forest of Harqual, known as the Knotwood. Forest elves are known for their love of nature and all the creatures in it. Forest elves stand roughly 5 feet 6 inches tall and weigh around 125 pounds on average. They often have tanned skin, deep-green or hazel eyes, and black to fiery-red hair. They dress in dark shades of green and earth tones to better blend in with their natural surroundings. Forest elves tend to get along with most good humans and half-elves but rarely will they consider an individual of one of these two races a personal friend. More often, forest elves will befriend silver elves and the fey of the Great Forest. [B]Legacy of the Knotwood[/B] The forest elves of Harqual's Great Forest are a people without a land. The Forest City of Woodknot, their ancestral home, stood for over a thousand years against evil forces from without (and even some from within). But nothing could have saved the tree homes and sacred groves of their homeland from the events that unfolded during the Year of the Return. When Clan Therani, the ancestral rulers of the Knotwood, cutoff contact with the outside world during the previous year, all assumed that the forest elves planned to fade to Arvandor in the Outer Planes. No one expected to see any of them again as their patron god, Rillifane, had insisted on isolation from the other races of Harqual to protect them from the human influences of the Eastern Shores and beyond. Rillifane worried that his peoples' distinct society was being endangered due to these influences as more and more forest elves had begun to leave their forest home to find adventure and fame amongst the human lands. At least, that is what the demon pretending to be the Forest Lord seeded in the minds of the Elders of the Clan Council. It would be this demon that would infect the minds of many of the more radical members of the clan, which caused them to descend into madness. The demon soon had the powerful wizards and sorcerers of the clan — under its control — place powerful wards using dark magicks to keep the elves in and the rest of the world out. Some of the more malleable-minded willingly turned to evil for their own gain — the most ruthless being a powerful wizard named Weikir Thunderrain. The demon found a true ally in Weikir, and it molded the young elf into the ultimate weapon against his own people. The demon taught Weikir to cast several dark summoning and warding spells — allowing the demon the ability to gate into the wizard's home. This caused dozens of centuries old wards against evil to fizzle out due to the powerful dark magic used. The demon convinced his young prodigy to destroy those he considered his rivals. Soon word of this came to the attention of the Elders of the Clan Council. They were appalled to learn that their god had not spoken to them but that instead this vile demon had fooled them all and was corrupting their people. They immediately sent their most powerful wizards, sorcerers, and priest against the fiend and those that it had corrupted. The force was able to kill most of the corrupted elves, but Weikir refused to admit defeat. At the behest of the demon, the young wizard cast two powerful necromantic spells to ensure their success. One caused a dark fog to spread out amongst the tree homes of the surrounding clans and reshape anything it came in contact with. This allowed the demon and Weikir to exert their wills upon the clan members affected, and the two of them set loose their creations, called blood elves, on the Elders. By the end of the day most of the Elders were either slaughtered or transformed into blood elves. Weikir then cast the most vile spell that the demon had taught him, dark wish, which merged his very soul with the demon. The Transformation turned the two dark allies into one dark creature, a fey'ri. The demon hadn't anticipated the young elf's true cunning, and when the struggle of minds was over, more elf was left than demon — but pure evil nonetheless. The new being named itself Wyrknari Vok and then began summoning lesser demons into its service. In less than a month the dark being had slaughtered, devoured or corrupted half of the clans. Those that survived the first onslaught decide that if anything was to remain of their people then sacrifices would have to be made. The infirm and dying were allowed to pass on to Arvandor in whatever manner they chose in order to keep the demons from devouring their souls. The youngest elves of all the remaining clans would be taken north to the Kingdom of the Silver Leaves with a small contingent of the bravest warriors and most devote priests to protect them. The rest would remain behind and protect the retreating elves from the demons and blood elves. By the time the retreating elves were safely behind the powerful wards protecting the northern forest kingdom, only about a thousand of them remained and many died afterwards. Now these forest elves live as refugees amongst the silver elves of the north. There are likely hundreds of forest elves still alive and hiding from the demons on the other side of the wards placed around Silverleaf; however, not much hope is held out for them if they do live. Patrols of blood elves watch the edges of the Great Forest and as close to the wards as they dare get ensuring that Woodknot and the southern half of the Great Forest remains under the dominion of their fey'ri king. Eight years have passed since the corruption of the Knotwood, and the number of forest elves left in the region is low. For the first few years after the corruption, the forest elves of Great Forest were considered to be a dying race. There number dropped to near extinction levels in the largest forest of Harqual. Yet, the forest elves, now living in the Kingdom of the Silver Leaves, have managed to survive. Also, forest elves, as a race, exist in other parts of the continent. They are found in the Cadra Forest and the Verdalf Forest as well as the region surrounding Lake Qualitian. They will never be as populace a race as they once were but they are still one of the major races of elves in the Lands of Harqual [B]Forest Elf Traits[/B] Forest elf characters benefit from a number of racial traits: [LIST] [*]+2 to Strength, -2 to Intelligence. [*]Medium-size. As Medium-size creatures, forest elves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size. [*]Weapon Proficiency: Forest elves receive the Martial Weapon Proficiency feats for the longsword, longbow (including composite longbow), and shortbow (including composite shortbow) as bonus feats. [*]Forest elf base land speed is 30 feet. [*]Immunity to sleep spells and effects, and a +2 racial saving throw bonus against Enchantment spells or effects. [*]Low-light Vision. Forest elves can see three times as far as a human can in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. [*]+2 racial bonus to Search, Spot, and Listen checks. Forest elves do not have the elven special ability to detect secret or concealed doors. [*]Automatic Languages: Elven and Sylvan. Bonus Languages: Barbarian, Centaur, Dwarven, Giant, Gnoll, and Orc. [*]Favored Class: Ranger. A multiclass forest elf’s ranger class does not count when determining whether he suffers an XP penalty for multiclassing. [*]Level Adjustment: +0. [/LIST] [ATTACH]156529[/ATTACH] [B][COLOR=darkorange]HUNTER ELVES[/COLOR][/B] The hunter elves of Harqual are related to the Westryn Elves of David Arneson's Blackmoor. Why these elves came to Harqual remains a mystery and they never speak of Blackmoor and their Westryn kin living there. The hunter elves do not isolate themselves from the rest of Harqual as much as the Westryn do from the other races of Blackmoor. However, hunter elves do tend to be more isolated than forest or silver elves, and many have never even met one. They mainly live in the deep forests west-southwest of the Great Forest, and only rarely will they live within the boundaries of the Great Forest. They are found mainly in the Guardian Bay Region, living deep within the Verdalf Forest, but they also have been encountered in the Cadra Forest, east of Lake Nest, as far north as the dark woodlands surrounding the City-state of Nikel, and as far south as the Dry Forest, east of the Free City of Deepwater. There are rumors of hunter elves living wild in the northern reaches of the Storm Jungle, but they have never been seen or heard, even by the tabaxi. Harqual has strong ties to Blackmoor, including several magical gates. [The most powerful of these gates links the Verdalf Forest of Harqual with the northern reaches of the Elven Forest (towards Haven's Peak).] The Hunter elves of the Verdalf Forest guard this gate closely and rarely allow other elven races to use the gate. It is also said that several of the more isolated Ways can lead to Blackmoor, if that is what the traveler truly wishes. (More likely they become lost in the Ways and go mad.) See pages 17 to 19 of Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor under the entry for Westryn Elves for the racial traits I use for hunter elves. Hunter elves share most of the same personality, physical, and alignment information listed for the Westryn. However, they do not suffer from the “Black Curse,” they don’t worship Blackmoor deities, and their language is simply Elven, but with a strong accent. The names listed on page 18 are appropriate, although family names tend to follow Harqual standards for elves (i.e. description conjunctions). [B]Hunter Elf Traits[/B] The following changes apply to hunter elf racial traits: [LIST] [*]Automatic Languages: Elven. Bonus Languages: Common, Halfling, Kitt, and Sylvan. [*]Favored Class: Barbarian or Sorcerer. [/LIST] [B][COLOR=darkorange]SILVER ELVES[/COLOR][/B] Silver elves are graceful, beautiful humanoids that originate from the northern half of the Great Forest of Harqual. Silver elves are known for their love of art and magic as well as nature and all nonmagical, forest creatures. They are less chaotic than other elves and have built a sprawling civilization within the boundary of the Great Forest. Silver elves stand roughly 5 feet 3 inches tall and weigh around 110 pounds on average. They often have pale skinned, deep green or blue eyes, and silver or blond hair. They dress in dark green and brown wool clothing when traveling through the wilderness but also wear fine, brightly-colored garments made from silk when living in the more urban areas of their kingdom. Silver elves tend to get along with most good-hearted humans and some dwarves but rarely will they consider an individual of one of these two races a personal friend. Dwarves are too gruff and humans don't live long enough to become lasting friends. More often silver elves will befriend forest elves, hairfoot halflings, and rockwood gnomes. The forest elves now live alongside the silver elves in their kingdom due to the recent events in the southern half of the Great Forest. The experience has drawn the two races together more than they ever have been before. Hairfoot halflings are considered a kindred race even though they don't live as long, and most of the hairfoots that do live north of the Great Expanse live in the Kingdom of the Silver Leaves. Silver elves remember when gnomes used to live north of the Great Expanse and are glad to meet a rockwood gnome whenever they have a chance. Silver elves find them delightful and as kindred to their race as halflings. Beyond these common races, silver elves have been known to ally themselves with fey creatures of all sorts including brownies, pixies, satyrs, sprites, etc. They get along with a race of reclusive forest giants known as the vonakyndra as well as the following forest dwelling races: centaurs, krenshars, treants, and unicorns. In the human lands, it is rumored that silver elves are aligned with an intelligent race of benign dire wolves with powers similar to that of winter wolves. If these rumors are true then who knows what other allies the silver elves might have deep within the foliage of the Great Forest. But their strangest allies are the wild barbarians of the Northlands. Divided by harsh wilderness and the Greystone Mountains one would think that the barbarians would be the least likely allies to the silver elven people. It is the bond of friendship between their patron god, Corellon, and Cronn — the chief deity of the Pantheon of the North — that has brought about this friendship. Silver elves don't worship Cronn but they do honor him as much as the barbarians of the Northlands honor Corellon. Silver elves are the most literate race of elves on Harqual and often write in a flowing elven script that they invented. [B][COLOR=darkorange]Silver Elf Traits[/COLOR][/B] Silver elf characters benefit from a number of racial traits: [LIST] [*]+2 to Dexterity, -2 to Constitution. [*]Medium-size. As Medium-size creatures, silver elves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size. [*]Weapon Proficiency: Silver elves receive the Martial Weapon Proficiency feats for the rapier, longbow (including composite longbow), and shortbow (including composite shortbow) as bonus feats. [*]Silver elf base land speed is 30 feet. [*]Immunity to sleep spells and effects, and a +2 racial saving throw bonus against Enchantment spells or effects. [*]Low-light Vision. Silver elves can see twice as far as a human can in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. [*]+2 racial bonus to Search, Spot, and Listen checks. A silver elf who merely passes within 5 feet of a secret or concealed door is entitled to a Search check to notice it as if she were actively searching for it. [*]Automatic Languages: Common, Elven, and Sylvan. Bonus Languages: Centaur, Draconic, Dwarven, Giant, Gnoll, Halfling, and Orc. [*]Favored Class: Wizard. A multiclass silver elf’s wizard class does not count when determining whether he suffers an XP penalty for multiclassing. [*]Level Adjustment: +0. [/LIST] [ATTACH]156530[/ATTACH] [/QUOTE]
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[Kulan] The Lands of Harqual (Updated: Feb 3/2022)
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