Haldendreeva

[Edena_of_Neith]

THE MODERN ELF

Wait now, I'm not done with the story!

The hundred year 'insanity' and 'love of war' and super-munchkinzing of the Elves of Haldendreeva is not the end in itself. It is the means to the end.
It is why the Elves of Today are like they are.
This whole story is about why the Elves of Today are Haldendreevish, and what Haldendreevish means.

Haldendreevish is about the elven 'love of life' and the elvish 'insanity' - the 'corrupted love of life' - and how they coexist in the elven heart, contesting with each other constantly for dominance.

Remember how I discussed the Delrunian elvish 'love of life'? Remember I said it was instinctual? It was also magical. It was quintessentially Elven. It was a part of Delrunian Elvendom, as it were. Back in old Delrune, it was a fundamental part of who and what the elves were.
Remember how I tried to describe (pathetic as the attempt was) how that instinct became corrupted? The Elves of Haldendreeva loved life so much they insisted on Resurrection and disturbing the rest of the elven spirits in Arvandor, reveled in war and slaughter in the name of life and joy in life, and how they wallowed in the diseased and evil Great Grungy Swamp in the name of cavorting with the natural, living world?

That corruption lives on today in the hearts of all elves who are descendents of the Elves of Haldendreeva: which is to say, a lot of elves ... or, perhaps, all elves.
They could not engage, for a hundred years, in so much depravity and monstrosity, so much slaughter and bloodshed and evil, without leaving a permanent legacy of darkness for their descendents.
Haldendreeva is lost to the ancient past, disappeared countless millennia ago, and none today can name even the Crystal Sphere it once inhabited, but it's legacy still lives in the hearts of today's elves.

I must sidetrack briefly and discuss the original Delrunain elvish 'love of life' concept. If I am trying to describe the corrupted 'love of life' concept, it is only fair I describe what the original concept was like, no?

The Delrunian elvish 'love of life' was an 'alien' concept. It was a concept that falls apart logically if you look at it too closely (like all too many non-human concepts in sci-fi and fantasy, but I do not pretend to be a good writer! I have referred to this as drivel, and do so again.)
The Delrunian elvish 'love of life' meant love of one's own life, a celebration of and cherishing of one's own life, an enthrallment with one's own life, and an ecstasy with just being alive, period. It ALSO meant the same thinking concerning all other living beings and living things, with all that means - literally, implied, and metaphorically.

So Delrunian elves lived in cities of living trees and plants, surrounded by animals and birds, insects and arachnids, animals and parasites, and called it good ... even when much of that life was harmful to them.
Delrunian elves refused to cut down trees for cropland, growing crops only where trees (and even shrubs) had never been, going without food rather than destroying life. They turned to the faerie instead, who helped them with magic to eat a complete diet. Their clerics magically created food. Rarely, they imported food (with discomfort, knowing trees had been removed to grow said food.)
Delrunian elves refused to build or live within homes made of anything non-living. They would have retched at the idea of living in homes made of slain trees.
Delrunian elves had no politics as we know politics, because they figured politics was about hurting others, and thus lessening the lives of others. Delrunian leaders were effectively the leaders of charity organizations, whose sole purpose was to give everything they had to the other elves of the nation. Delrunian leaders lived rather austerely.
Delrunian elves had no mercantile system at all, since they saw business and profit as ways of enslaving others (both literally and metaphorically) and thus lessening the quality of the lives of others. Nobody worked for a living on a 'wage' in Delrune, because that was seen as lessening the value of people by defining the value of people in monetary terms.
Delrune had an army, but it had never fought anything, and was as green as green gets. It's weapons and armor were imported, since the elves would not cut down trees to power forges, or dig for coal to power forges and again have to kill living things in the process.
Delrunian bartering consisted of giving the other guy what he wanted, since it enhanced the other guy's life. If Delrune's neighbors had not been extremely charitable and sympathetic (to what they saw as unsophisticated country bumpkins) Delrune would have sold the farm, as it were.
Delrunian elves were always friendly towards humans and other outsiders, cherishing their existence, and they never could understand what had gone wrong when humans - and even other elves - backstabbed them, as almost inevitably happened. Delrune's neighbors came to Delrune's aid here, keeping watch on who passed through their countries heading for Delrune, turning the more darkhearted away.
Get the picture?

After the first war killed half of Delrune, that 'love of life' instinct was overwhelmed. The behavioral patterns it induced were replaced by new behaviors in the elves. That we know.
It MUST be understood, however, that the instinct was not lost, and it was ever, always, trying - endlessly - to reassert itself, to become dominant once more.
The reason it failed to reassert itself and become dominant again, is because the elves were repeatedly attacked, were never free from assault. The constant assault on the elves kept the 'love of life' instinct suppressed.

After the Great Enemy was killed by Epic adventurers, and the Elves of Haldendreeva had slaughtered his legions and all their other foes (sterilizing much of the planet and Crystal Sphere in the process), they had no more enemies to attack them.
No further enemies were to come, either. For some reason, the Elves of Haldendreeva did not carry 'War Eternal' out into the Multiverse, but stayed in their own Crystal Sphere, waiting for an enemy that never came.
The original 'love of life' instinct, no longer impeded by constant assault, won out over the insanity, the 'corrupted love of life', which had dominated the Haldendreevan mentality and made the elves over into what they had become.
When that happened, the elves began to slowly moderate and revert back to the kind of elves they had been originally, a process that went on for centuries before the elves became calm enough that we would call them 'sane' or 'partially normal' once more.

But as previously stated, that bit about consequences meant that the insanity, the corruption, could never be totally expunged. The legacy of the past could not be undone. The payment for a century of avid violence, evil, and depravity, was exacted, and is still being exacted, and always will be exacted, from the descendants of the Elves of Haldendreeva. The insanity, the 'corruption of the love of life' will always live on in the hearts of the elves.

The Elves of Today have a constant tug of war, a constant internal strife, between their innate 'love of life' and the insanity, the 'corrupted love of life.'
The whole of modern elvish thinking and modern elven society, their whole way of life, is defined by this tug of war.
The elves know this well, and they refer to the word Haldendreevish to define both the 'love of life' and the 'corrupted love of life' parts of themselves, and the battle between the two parts of themselves, which is why they say that Haldendreevish IS Elvish, is the Heart of Elvendom, IS what defines what and who they are.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

Let's see how Haldendreevish, the internal conflict of the 'love of life' versus the insane 'corrupted love of life', and other legacies from Haldendreeva, helps create the High Elf of Today.

These are some of the more obvious, overt examples:

We see elves living in the forests, frivolous and flighty, merry and jovial, singing and dancing and cavorting.
Well now ...
The elves are still Agnakoks. The adaptation of the elves after the Apocalypse was permanent. They are immune to almost all the natural hazards, making the dark forests as safe for them as a comfortable home is for humans.
Humans cavort and dance and sing in their (usually safe) homes and taverns. Elves do this in the dreadful, dangerous forests, immune to the dangers.

We see elves being lazy, spending their time in pursuits unrelated to basic survival, and not particularly interested in working at basic survival, and not getting anyone else to work for them ... when they are not dancing, singing, and otherwise making merry.
Well now ...
The elves are Agnakoks. Leaves are their food. Bugs are their food. There aren't a lot of elves, but there sure are a lot of leaves and bugs. Food is literally hanging from the trees, and in the winter it lays in endless swaths on the ground. And elves can drink any water, fresh, foul, poisoned, or parasite filled, without harm, so water is plentiful.
If humans had such plentiful food, they'd probably be lazy and/or work at non-survival related subjects too!

We see elves tending to stick to forests period, as their homeland.
It's that elven 'love of life' thing. The more life, the merrier. Because they are Agnakoks, life is not a hazard to them. Snakes won't poison them, animals cuddle up to them, bites do not infect them, parasites do not infest them, insects and arachnids are buddy buddy with them, and natural diseases and poisons do not afflict them.
If humans had such adaptation, they could live in tropical jungles and be at home ... instead of being quickly put in the grave.

We see elves being rather lofty, noble, and caring people. Their leadership cares and works for the people, the others take care of each other, and altruism runs rampant.
Well now ...
Elves are just naturally altruistic, noble people. That's that. I'd almost said: Enough said!
However, the legacy of the Great Spell has enhanced things: the elves are still magically unable to contemplate harming or killing each other, much less actually trying to do it (the Great Spell has frayed with time, so some rare elves have overcome this restriction.) The Great Spell required elves to look after each other, and most of them still do.
That's why they are high elves, because their behavior is lofty and ... well ... high. High. Noble. Just. Good. Reasonable. Nice.

We see elves who are thousands of years old, who have fought in countless wars, who are Young at Heart, youthful in behavior, merry and lighthearted.
Well now ...
This is a direct result of the insanity, the corruption of the 'love of life'.
When they were fully corrupted, the elves saw war and suffering as the epitome of joy. Most of the time, they do not think like that now, but when war comes calling, the insanity tends to return, and the usually reasonable elves turn into berserk maniacs once more.
Since they are enjoying themselves so much, the elves become pathologically immune to it's horrors. And afterwards, they remember the experience fondly (even if, once the insanity subsides and their maturity returns, they consider their previous behavior tom-foolery) If they suffered the loss of property, or - far worse - the loss of loved ones, friends, and associates, it hurts (yes, it hurts!) but the hurt is mitigated by the fond memories of the conflict, an unnatural acceptance of suffering (caused by the legacy of the insanity) and the knowledge that the dead can be resurrected to life (whether such resurrections are performed depends on which wins, the 'normal' side or the 'insane' side.)
Elven Nations of Today that are attacked enough, become dangerously like Haldendreeva was, as the insanity intensifies and threatens to become fully dominant. There are Haldendreeva Would Bes out there. However, most Would Be Haldendreevas are not lucky enough to obtain powerful magic in time to save themselves from their enemies, as Haldendreeva itself was.
The less war that is inflicted upon the elves - the more peaceful their existence is - the more maturely and realistically they view war. This more realistic, more sane view intensifies over time. Thus, elven civilizations with a long history of peace might be prepared for a war, but they won't be looking forward to it. After a few years of war, however, those same civilizations will be degraded with the legacy of insanity from Haldendreeva and enjoying the wars throughly.

We see elven bladesingers, who can cast magical spells and wield (primarily) swords simultaneously. No other races can produce a bladesinger.
Well now ...
What would you expect, when the insanity reemerges during wartime, and the elves start to enjoy the bloodbath, that they would not have very specialized forms of committing war? Once you start loving something, you might start working very hard at it. And the more war, the more the elves like war, because of the legacy of insanity. So they studied very hard, and learned how to wield weapons and cast spells simultaneously! (drow, eat your hearts out.)

We see all the elven females diligently studying the arts of combat and war, and more diligently practicing them. Somehow, this does not decimate the elven nation, when it's female population is decimated in wartime.
Well now ...
The insanity was never limited to the men. The women of Haldendreeva got it just as bad, and it passed down to all the elven women of today.
More importantly, the insanity waxes furiously if the childbearers are killed, and the elves go back to the old notion that war is so fun that resurrection is a must. The dead are missing out on the good times! Get them back, and hurry!

We see elves still eating their foes ... sometimes.
Well now ...
This is a case of the legacy of insanity winning out, pure and simple. By a primordial process not evil (but certainly not good) the elves derive nourishment from doing this. A lesser variant of this is the gnawing of wood and the bones of defeated foes.

We see elves still torturing their foes ... sometimes.
Well now ...
This is a case of the legacy of insanity winning out very badly over the normal elven instincts. The darkness in the elven heart, passed down through the ages from Haldendreeva, has won out temporarily. This most often happens after long suffering and hardship without letup, submerging the elven 'love of life' once more, allowing the 'corrupted love of life' to briefly triumph.

Elves are a primarily peaceful people, but they are also masters and mistresses of war, and constantly defeat enemies many times their strength.
Well now ...
It's that insanity again. Most of the time, the 'love of life' prevails, but when the 'corrupted love of life' wins out, Pandora's Box is open. Noble elves turn into bloodthirsty maniacs overnight. Caring, cautious, mature people, turn into psychopathic killers unafraid of pain, torture, hardship, loss, or death.
And since most elves have fought previously, gone insane, then recovered, they have a repetoire of magical items and levels carried over from then to help them survive the onslaught of the next war ... until they turn insane and start building more items, gaining more levels, and getting even better at war.
Because even most of the sanest elves still remember their last war fondly, the legacy of Haldendreeva and it's insanity infecting even the best of elves, they are not as frightened or unprepared or unwilling to fight as their foes think they are ... foes misled by the perception of peaceful elves under the dominance of their normal 'love for life' instincts.

In elves, we see an inherently 'good' people who are experts at committing dark, even evil, deeds:
Well now ...
That should be obvious. Normal elves in whom the 'love of life' instinct and other normal instincts are dominant are good, gentle, peaceful people. But if they are involved in war, the insanity rises in them and creates evil tendencies or turns them outright evil. After the war is over, they revert to being a good people.

We see elves hard at work, obsessed, with one project. Mastering Elven High Magic requires 1,500 years spent to the exclusion of all other things, but some elves do it.
Well now ...
Obsession is a normal trait in many elves, whether they are Haldendreevish or not.
But the legacy of insanity from Haldendreevan exacerbates the obsessive tendencies. The Elves of Haldendreeva were all obsessed maniacs, and their descendants do not escape from the darkness passed down from that time.
This has some very good and noble effects. Some elves have actually refused to leave the world, loving it too much, becoming baelnorn or nymphs instead. The relentless study of one subject for millennia has led to remarkable discoveries, such as bladesinging and High Magic. It has created monuments of incredible stature, songs of such beauty as to literally kill the listener, elven poetry that is the wonder (and dread) of the world, and miraculous achievements in engineering, architecture, the arts, and the crafts.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

The Haldendreevan Legacy, as I pointed out early on, was an idea that did not work in practical play.
I thought it worth a stab, and tried it, but other players didn't go for it.

The basic question is this:

If you must create logical elves, how do you do so without making them into humans?

For those who did not read through my exhaustive posts above, here is a quick summary of what happened in my conception:

The ancient elves were Innocents.
The elves, Fell.
The elves, underwent Travail (Purgatory, really.)
The elves, almost Rose.
The elves, became Mirrors of their world.
The elves became semi-mundane, but retained exotic and conflicting traits.
Current elves retain these exotic and conflicting traits on a lessened basis.

Thus elves are good, but sometimes evil.
Elves are lofty, but sometimes terrible.
Elves are noble, but sometimes depraved.
Elves are nice, but sometimes sadistic.
Elves are wise, but sometimes childish.
Elves are physically adapted to the natural world in powerful ways, creating an array of alien behaviors.
Elves always thought in non-human ways, and this non-human thinking was reinforced and exaggerated by Haldendreeva.
Elves are a mind wracking paradox, and the paradox was multiplied by Haldendreeva.
Elves are ... when all is said and done ... an impossibility. But if you play one, that fact must be ignored.

Edena_of_Neith

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

Comments or questions, anyone? Any comments or questions are welcome (even the inevitable not-so-nice ones.)

 

[Soel]

Analytical to the nth degree...I would love to play at your table, Edena! I still struggle to find a place and chord for elves in my own homebrew as well...This will have the old mind stirring...

And you even mentioned the Anagakok!!!

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

Again, cool. Good job.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

Thank you, Soel. And thank you, John. I appreciate the compliments. Thank you very much. Such praise, on this thread, means more to me than you might think.

The Agnakok entry gave me a set of rules upon which I could make a judgement. I could have just said: they became immune to everything due to their travails. I was uncomfortable with that. I tried to write the story within the context of the 1st and 2nd edition AD&D rules, and/or the spirit of those rules.
Go figure. I guess conforming to the rules for the storyline was an attempt to give it more meaning and credulity. If that was the intent, it worked for me, if not for anyone else.
These *were* AD&D elves, not ... say ... Noldorian elves or Shannara elves or Merilon elves or other types of elves. They were AD&D elves. So, why not use the AD&D rules regarding their storyline?

Noldorian elves, Shannara elves, and Merilon elves, would have all died after the Apocalypse. Not because they were weaker than AD&D elves, but because the rules for them were different according to their unique authorial concepts.
AD&D elves, aided by the AD&D rules, found a way to survive their predicament. This does not mean they were stronger elves, just that they could survive within the context of the AD&D rules. AD&D elves, surviving within the context of AD&D rules, is a comfortable concept for me.

As for the Agnakok, the first time I read that set of rules in the Complete Wizard's Handbook, I knew I had the ultimate concept for elves. This concept, was what made elves possible, if any concept ever did.
It is quite reasonable to rule a temperate forest one of the world's most extreme environments, IF you live within that forest without protection or any attempt at survival.
Spending your time frolicking, dancing, singing, and merry making, definitely counts as being without protection and foregoing attempts at survival (in other words, being ELVISH counts as being without protection and foregoing attempts at survival, if you define ELVISH as behaving like this.)
The elven concept and the Agnakok concept fit together so well, it's like they were made specifically for each other. They might as well be one rule! Agnakok = Elvish, Elvish = Agnakok. The Agnakoks rules were just perfect for elves.
Other rules supported the Elven/Agnakok link: elves are inherently magical, elven wizards are common, it is possible all elves are potential wizards, so it is reasonable to rule that all elves are potential Agnakoks.

Rather than just make them so, however, I wanted to create a plausible reason from the past. I didn't want to make them superbeings (which Agnakoks are) without some form of price paid. Where is the meaning and depth of Elvishness and their Agnakok strength, if it all just came for free?
So I made them pay. They paid terribly. There were 3 million at the start; only 30,000 actually got the chance to begin the ascension to Agnakok strength. Of those 30,000, only 3,000 made it. And even after that, the payment went on, for being Agnakoks aided them into their long trip into insanity and depravity.

Modern elves get their Agnakok powers automatically, and for free.
Or so it seems ... and it would be true if you played them as 'normal' elves. In that case, you the player are placing all the payment required on their ancestors, and placing none of the burden on them. You are giving them a free pass.
If that is what you wish to do, you will have a race of superbeings that most certainly will be attractive choices as Player Characters.

If you require the elves to pay for their Agnakok strength, then the Haldendreevan Legacy is called for. In this case, the elves eat leaves, bugs, and defeated enemies and not normal foods. They are sadists in combat, becoming more so with each new conflict, less so with extended peacetime, even if they are nice, gentle, and 'good' people otherwise. They can connive, scheme, politick, and backstab as they please ... but not against another elf of any kind (even if that other elf does not return the favor.)
Suddenly, the Agnakok superpeople are not so attractive as Player Characters, no?
Suddenly, the players realize that there is an E in the word Elf, and that E means Effort. Effort to play an elf and not a human, effort to make the payments required for Agnakok level powers, effort to appreciate what elves are all about.

The same applies to any race with strong inherent magical powers. The githyanki come to mind here, having a painful past and severely distorted mindsets. The drow are obvious. The fabled yuan-ti are an example. Minotaurs are an example. Krynnish kender are an example, of sorts. And what about planetouched beings? What about undead, in those rare cases where they are Player Characters?

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

(bumps this one up)