"We executed thousands of the Dark Ones after the conquest. But
when the last Arahk fell and the blood reached the mid of my boot, I
wondered who were truly the Dark Ones."
-Seghoh Ahl, Collected Essays, 4,9012 BR
Inn the far East is a continent, well across the sea from the Human Essaria that is only
known as the Old Lands in the tongue of man. To the south, a great crack
in the Earth divides the Elves from the Dwarves, and to the east, a
huge chain of mountains blocks both species from the Dark Ones on the
other side, the Shadowed Mountains, for no one can see anything but
darkness when they peak through Artol's Wall.
The Dark Ones live in a land of jungles, shrouded in mystery. Arahk,
Soharn and Disre are the three known sentient species in the land, and
together they formed a great horde with the purpose of pouring over the
mountains and conquering the lands of the Elves for their own.
Little is known about the species as no living thing has ever
journeyed over the mountains and returned. Arahk are large and burly
creatures with two large eyes dominating their faces and a set of
smaller ones just under them. They have no nose and the average Arahk
stands at nearly 9 feet, they are the most well armed and armored of all
the Dark Ones.
The Soharn are smaller, thinner, averaging at 6 feet. The Soharn are
believed to be smaller servants of the Arahk due to their smaller size
yet the two work well together in the hordes and the Soharn actually
tend to lead the hordes, as their brains are much larger than the Arahk.
The Soharn are hunched over, constantly crawling and possessing the
ability to climb walls, yet will stand straight up when it feels it is
threatened. They have nearly fifteen eyes, all a different color and all
never blinking.
Disre are the workers of the Dark Ones. They bring up the humble
fortifications and shelters that the Dark Ones use, make the food and
gather supplies. They have only one eye and vary wildly in size and
shape. Some are fat and some are skinny, and all range from 3 feet to 9.
Disre will still fight when they must, though normally they prefer
solitude from other beings.
Despite the differences, the Dark Ones seem to rarely fight each
other or attempt to claim dominance. The leaders of their horde hail
from all three of the species and even some unknown ones. Why they want
to take the lands of the Elves is unknown, though many believe that the
demon Artol lead them over in order to destroy the Elves. In reality,
the jungles they inhabit are dangerous and difficult to live in even for
the Dark Ones, and they were most likely attempting to mass migrate.
--
Artol was one of the four gods of the Elves, along with Shania,
Hibenaa and Colia. Artol was the god of Elven emotion, while Shania was
the goddess of the Elven forests, Hibenaa of the Elven body and Colia of
the Elven feast. When the Dark Ones began to pour over the Shadowed
Mountains and invaded the Elven lands, the Elves found themselves
reeling and quickly losing ground.
Shania, Hibenaa and Colia wept as the forests burned, the Elves who
made them their home starving before being massacred. Artol only felt
the Elven emotion, fear, sadness, but also anger. Although the gods were
not meant to interfere with their creating, Artol stepped from the
heavens in order to lead the Elves against the hordes.
With him leading the Elves, Artol was crowned the first Elven King
and managed to push back the tide of the Dark Ones. Thousands of Elves
died, yet they took many more of the Dark Ones and slowly but surely,
the Dark Ones were forced to flee back over the Shadowed Mountains and
back into the jungle wasteland they called home.
After their final battle, Artol had captured thousands of Dark Ones,
all began to beg for mercy. The Elves were amazed, they had never seen a
Dark One speak, all had assumed they were dumb creatures who were
simply meant to kill. Artol cared little however, and the anger of the
Elves still rushing through his veins, he had each one executed.
The Elves despised the Dark Ones, yet they were disgusted at the
executions. Were they no better than the Dark Ones? If the Dark Ones
could talk, could they have been reasoned with?
Artol wished to lead the Elves over the mountains to find the homes
of the Dark Ones and destroy them, but the Elves refused to follow him.
He was their hero, their savior, yet they wouldn't follow him into the
horrors of the jungles. Not even a god could lead them into those
mystified lands, and no one wished to witness another massacre.
Dismayed at his followers abandoning him, Artol attempted to go back
to his sisters and return to their side, yet they shunned him. Artol had
broken the laws that all gods abide, he had touched the mortal world
and thus tainted it with his power. The Elves slowly began to learn the
use of powerful magics from where Artol had fought or slept. Artol had
been banished from his home.
Vengeful at the Elves, his emotions still tearing him apart, and even
angrier at his sisters, Artol set off over the Shadowed Mountains. His
magical powers were draining, spilling all around him and tainting the
land, but he had one last thing to do. Artol journeyed to the highest
peak in the Shadowed Mountains, and there he formed the Wall of Artol.
The closer he was to the heavens, the more powerful his magics were,
and thus Artol expended his energy to create his wall. The wall
prevented magical beings from crossing it, which he had realized the
Dark Ones were. Not natural beings, but magical abominations. Closing
the wall behind him, Artol left his mountain and crossed into the lands
of the Dark Ones. He would wage his personal crusade against the Dark
Ones, and leave the wall open for the Elves for when they finally chose
to join him.
Elven philosophy after the war stated that when the Elves conquered
their emotions, reunited and became brave, they would cross the
mountains to once again crown Artol as their King and to destroy the
Dark Ones once and for all.
As the years passed, thousands after thousands, the Elves splintered
and slowly began to forget of Artol. Modern Elven legend as of 988 AR
(nearly 50,000 years from the time of Artol) claim Artol is a demon. The
Elves had begun to fight the Dark Ones back over the mountain but
Artol, a demon from the darkest pits of hell, sided with the Dark Ones,
consumed by hatred and hoping the destruction of the Elves would lead to
his own dominion over the land. He slaughtered thousands of Elves, but
they rallied and fought him back.
The great warrior King of the Elves, Saldal, tackled Artol over the
mountains in personal combat. When Artol was forced to the other side, the
great Elven sorcerers used their new found magics (a gift from the
three Elven goddesses) to seal away Artol and his hordes and forever
block him from returning and destroying the Elven people, but blocking
their great King with the savages, who now forever battles with Artol to
prevent him from breaking the wall.
Elven religion, Shaliaa, claims that when Artol's Wall (named due to
its purpose) is finally shattered due to their sins, Artol will return
with his hordes and destroy all Elves. The only thing the Elves need to
do to prevent this is worship the goddesses, respect their rulers and
prevent any foreigner from entering their lands again. Artol is the
great demon, and must be fought through good deeds and subservience to
your betters.
In reality, Saldal was never the great warrior King of the Elves.
Saldal lived nearly 20,000 years after Artol's war and gained his title
by attempted to conquer the Elven tribes in his name. He received an
arrow to his eye for the trouble, but his supporters spread tales of the
great martyr, and slowly they formed with the tales of Artol.
Shania, Hibenaa and Colia all weep for their lost brother and his new
infamy, yet they refuse to go back down to clear his name, for it would
break the very rules they damned him over.
The fables show many things, to the Elves, they believe it shows that
the Elves have the power to defeat any force as long as they rally, and
that they are the most superior of the races due to their ability to
create something as large as the wall. Ironically however, the true tale
of Artol shows that despite it all, the Elves are cowardly as a society
and willing to betray their greatest heroes if it means comfort and not
having to face their own sins.
Although Elven society is not rotten as a whole, their legends have
been perverted from the original events in order to serve for political
gains. This is most likely due to the long lives of the High Elves who
lead Elven society, for they live many times longer than the average Elf
and have the time to manipulate legends over generations.
But now Artol's Wall is crumbling, the High Elven priests no longer
feel the presence of their gods and Dark Ones have been seen attempting
to break through the wall as the shadow slowly lifts. The Elves had
given up their mountain fortresses many generations ago, believing the
Dark Ones to be either a made up legend or a force that would never
return, and soon the Elves will need to face their sin.
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