Twilight Kin

Elves are just as capable of evil as good, and although most choose a life of righteousness, there are those that walk a different path, a path of hubris, vice, and wickedness. They are to be both pitied and feared.
== About ==
East of Elvenholme, in the empty places between the remaining lands of the Eastern Kindred and the Kingdom of Ophidia, the desert holds a terrible secret. 
Far from any caravan route the desert hills open up into a vast round hole. Fringed by cliffs and slopes hundreds of feet high, this pit itself is sheer-sided and seemingly impassable. 
To be lost in the desert and reach this place would be torment, as an unbroken carpet of green can be seen, surrounded by a lake. Waterfalls cut quickly and cleanly through the parched air, raising cool mists. 
It is an oasis, a green jewel in the endless brown wastes of Ophidia, but there is no way down to this verdure, no way to wash the bitter sand from the mouth, and it is ringed with the skeletons of those who found it and perished within sight of salvation. The forest is home to huge and terrifying reptiles. This is the Mouth of Leith, also known as the Pit of Despair. It is the site of the former elven city of Ileureleith. 
It is the gateway to the lands of the Twilight Kin.
The once proud and majestic city of Ileureleith was a hub of trade and academic sharing. A portal for the world to the lands and learning of the elves a place of pilgrimages for academics to learn the secrets of the ancients, to philosophise and debate.
Knowledge and wealth were not the only outcomes of this free intermixing of cultures, though. With it came strange ideas, different thinking, and a new curiosity. Despite warnings from their elven kin from outside the city bounds, individuals and groups began dabbling in new sorceries and exploring realms that mere mortals had no right, or understanding, to venture near. The founders and their followers among these mysterious factions became known in whispered conversations as the Twilight Kin.
Twilight Kin are Elves for the most part; depraved, tainted souls that kill for pleasure. Mixing their Elven brethren's battle prowess with a viciousness that is only rivalled by the hatred of the Abyssal beings the Twilight Kin ally with on the battlefield, these dark Elves employ the use of stealth, speed and an unhealthy use of poison when they march to war.
Of these dark-hearted Elves, the other Kindreds will not speak to outsiders, but that they remain a part of wider Elven society is without doubt, for ambassadors of their kind are often found in Ileuthar. The Twilight Kindred are cruel and unforgiving, their hearts tainted by their proximity to the birth of the Wicked Ones during the Sundering. It is said that they believe themselves touched by the fallen gods, and thus fated to one day rule all of Elvenkind as masters.
==History==
Elves are as capable of evil as they of good, and although most choose a life of goodness, there are those to whom wickedness is irresistible. For long time, the Twilight Kin were a network of secret cabals within respectable Elven society whose membership was made up of the jaded and perverse. They would meet under dark skies to celebrate the shadowy sides of the Celestians, for the ancient deities of Pannithor encompassed good and ill within one form.
It was only with the shattering of Fenulian Mirror and the effects on the Conclave of Heaven, that the Twilight Kin gained real influence. As the world fell from perfect balance into violence, certain magically gifted members of these cults sought out the attentions of the Wicked Ones. Flattered by the worship of the most ancient of races, the Wicked Ones provided the mages of the Twilight Kin what they desired – quick and easy roads to power.
With their new-found might, these mage-lords corrupted their kin, appealing to the arrogance of the Elves. They were the first people, they said, they were the true masters of the earth. Too long had they bowed their knees to the Celestians and given too much to the lesser creatures of the world. At such a time, when the world was in uproar, their words found a ready audience. And such Elves who could not be turned by their reason were twisted by magic. The Eastern and Southern Kindreds in particular lost many of their brothers and sisters to the darkness, a secret that is never acknowledged today.
The Twilight Kin want to get the nightstalkers back. They want to free their ancestors and reverse what happened to them. It's a crusade that's built into their psyche. Of course, the nightstalkers are too far gone for it to ever happen, but the Twilight Kin are a bit put off by this mear incedental point, pursuing this crusade into madness.
== The Kin at War ==
The Twilight Kin are not a numerous race. Lacking the ability to field large armies of their own elf-kind, they have become masters of poison, subterfuge, and magic in order to achieve their goals. Assassins walk the cities of others in the guises of less reviled kindreds, murdering those that their seers foresee will cause problems for the Twilight Kin in the future. Their sorcerous crones are terrifyingly powerful and can bring demonic spirits to serve them. Thus when they do take to the field, the forces of the Twilight Kin are packed with all manner of diabolical evil summoned from the Abyss and, perhaps more terrifying, the horrors known as the Nightstalkers. Some insane individuals, those whose minds and consciousness flitter in and out of the mortal realm, even group together to act as fleeting gateways for the terrors from other planes of existence, allowing the ravenous and tortured souls of their ancestors temporary physical bodies once more in Pannithor.
Their knights are mounted on twisted, unnatural creatures.
Gargoyles swarm in the air. Lunatics acting as demonic conduits make the eyes of their enemies bleed just to look at them. Striding among the ranks of wicked halberds, demons, nightmares, and silent archers with their lethal compound bows, their fanatical acolytes perform the killing dance in their wake.
If the Abyss is the opening to Hell, then The Pit of Despair is surely the gateway to suffering and despair—the Entrance to the Underworld. Born from the cataclysmic events that sparked the God War, the Mouth of Leith has been nurtured and moulded in pain and misery throughout its bloody history.
The Twilight Kin are not a numerous people. They preserve their stock by making great use of the horrors and demons they feel such a connection to—something that is unthinkable and utterly alien to all outsiders. The void-twisted monsters formed by the shreds of their ancestors form the core of their armies, summoned with forbidden knowledge or ritual sacrifice. Such practices, and the learnings from the diabolical schemes the Kin are undertaking in the caverns of the Southern Rift, also grant them mastery, of a sort, of the demonspawn from the circles of the Abyss. On the eve of battle, the Summoner-Crones will slaughter as many innocents as required to prepare the gifts necessary to command the Stalkers and Abyssals to advance.
Beyond the domain of the Mouth of Leith, most Twilight Kin are dedicated to the slaver ships that are the scourge of the Infant Sea. On land, few are seen within the ranks of their armies and these tend to be the more elite and specialist warriors, there to plug the gaps in the line while the hordes of crone-bound demons and summoned Nightstalkers feast on the souls and minds of the enemy.
While their generals rely heavily on their sorcerers to summon the warriors they need to wage war, defence of the Pit of Despair is left to dark magic and those elves not manning the vast armada of slaver ships or the elite warriors marching to war. These citizens are not to be underestimated, however; all the Twilight Kin are cruel and dispassionate killers. The Levy may be conscripted to fight from time to time, to press an advantage, or in times of defence.
== Army List ==
Heroes 	Heroes 	Infantry 	Infantry 	Cavalry 	Cavalry 	Special 	Special 	
Named Heroes 	*Mikayel, Lord of Nightmares*La'theal Bleakheart
*Vice Admiral Phoebus Darkheart	Named Basic Infantry	*Captain Horgoth's Horrors 	Large Cavalry 	*Bound Soulflayers	Swarm 	*Cronebound Needle-fangs	
Named Heroes 	*Mikayel, Lord of Nightmares*La'theal Bleakheart
*Vice Admiral Phoebus Darkheart	Basic Infantry 	
* Bound Reapers
* Corsair Fleetwardens
* Corsair Voidwalkers
* Reavers of the Middle Sea
* Veterans of the Celestial War	Large Cavalry 	*Bound Soulflayers	Chariots 	*Corsair Void-Skiffs 	
General Heroes 	*Summoner Crone*Twilight Assassin*Soulbane on Nightmare*Captain on Void-Skiff*Void Captain*Impaler Soulbane*Bound Butcher Fleshripper*Navigator on Void-Skif*Bound Voidlurker*Navigator
*Pride of the Dark Fleet	Large Infantry 	*Bound Ravagers*Bound Butchers 	Large Cavalry 	*Bound Soulflayers	Monster 	*Bound Mind Screech 	
General Heroes 	*Summoner Crone*Twilight Assassin*Soulbane on Nightmare*Captain on Void-Skiff*Void Captain*Impaler Soulbane*Bound Butcher Fleshripper*Navigator on Void-Skif*Bound Voidlurker*Navigator
*Pride of the Dark Fleet	Named Heavy Infantry	*The Gunnery Crew of the Duriel 	Large Cavalry 	*Bound Soulflayers	Titan 	*Goredrake*Bound Terror 	
General Heroes 	*Summoner Crone*Twilight Assassin*Soulbane on Nightmare*Captain on Void-Skiff*Void Captain*Impaler Soulbane*Bound Butcher Fleshripper*Navigator on Void-Skif*Bound Voidlurker*Navigator
*Pride of the Dark Fleet	Heavy Infantry 	*Bound Phantoms*Corsair Wranglers*Voidtouched Mutants*Voidtouched Weavers	Large Cavalry 	*Bound Soulflayers	Titan 	*Goredrake*Bound Terror 	
General Heroes 	*Summoner Crone*Twilight Assassin*Soulbane on Nightmare*Captain on Void-Skiff*Void Captain*Impaler Soulbane*Bound Butcher Fleshripper*Navigator on Void-Skif*Bound Voidlurker*Navigator
*Pride of the Dark Fleet	Monstrous Infantry 	*Impalers 	Large Cavalry 	*Bound Soulflayers	Titan 	*Goredrake*Bound Terror 	
2nd Edition Units	2nd Edition Units	2nd Edition Units 	2nd Edition Units 	2nd Edition Units	2nd Edition Units 	2nd Edition Units	2nd Edition Units 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Retired Units 	Retired Units 	Retired Units 	Retired Units 	Retired Units 	Retired Units 	Retired Units 	Retired Units 	
* Blade Dancers
* Cronebound Fiends
* Twilight Gladestalkers
* Blade Dancer Neophytes
* Soulbane on Dread-fiend
* Cronebound Abyssal Horsemen
* Cronebound Shadowhounds
* Cronebound Butchers
* Cronebound Gargoyles
* Cronebound Mind-screech
* Cronebound Shadow-hulk
* Soulbane
* Cronebound Archfiend
* Cronebound Banshee
* Cronebound Archfiend	
* Blade Dancers
* Cronebound Fiends
* Twilight Gladestalkers
* Blade Dancer Neophytes
* Soulbane on Dread-fiend
* Cronebound Abyssal Horsemen
* Cronebound Shadowhounds
* Cronebound Butchers
* Cronebound Gargoyles
* Cronebound Mind-screech
* Cronebound Shadow-hulk
* Soulbane
* Cronebound Archfiend
* Cronebound Banshee
* Cronebound Archfiend	
* Blade Dancers
* Cronebound Fiends
* Twilight Gladestalkers
* Blade Dancer Neophytes
* Soulbane on Dread-fiend
* Cronebound Abyssal Horsemen
* Cronebound Shadowhounds
* Cronebound Butchers
* Cronebound Gargoyles
* Cronebound Mind-screech
* Cronebound Shadow-hulk
* Soulbane
* Cronebound Archfiend
* Cronebound Banshee
* Cronebound Archfiend	
* Blade Dancers
* Cronebound Fiends
* Twilight Gladestalkers
* Blade Dancer Neophytes
* Soulbane on Dread-fiend
* Cronebound Abyssal Horsemen
* Cronebound Shadowhounds
* Cronebound Butchers
* Cronebound Gargoyles
* Cronebound Mind-screech
* Cronebound Shadow-hulk
* Soulbane
* Cronebound Archfiend
* Cronebound Banshee
* Cronebound Archfiend	
* Blade Dancers
* Cronebound Fiends
* Twilight Gladestalkers
* Blade Dancer Neophytes
* Soulbane on Dread-fiend
* Cronebound Abyssal Horsemen
* Cronebound Shadowhounds
* Cronebound Butchers
* Cronebound Gargoyles
* Cronebound Mind-screech
* Cronebound Shadow-hulk
* Soulbane
* Cronebound Archfiend
* Cronebound Banshee
* Cronebound Archfiend	
* Blade Dancers
* Cronebound Fiends
* Twilight Gladestalkers
* Blade Dancer Neophytes
* Soulbane on Dread-fiend
* Cronebound Abyssal Horsemen
* Cronebound Shadowhounds
* Cronebound Butchers
* Cronebound Gargoyles
* Cronebound Mind-screech
* Cronebound Shadow-hulk
* Soulbane
* Cronebound Archfiend
* Cronebound Banshee
* Cronebound Archfiend	
* Blade Dancers
* Cronebound Fiends
* Twilight Gladestalkers
* Blade Dancer Neophytes
* Soulbane on Dread-fiend
* Cronebound Abyssal Horsemen
* Cronebound Shadowhounds
* Cronebound Butchers
* Cronebound Gargoyles
* Cronebound Mind-screech
* Cronebound Shadow-hulk
* Soulbane
* Cronebound Archfiend
* Cronebound Banshee
* Cronebound Archfiend	
* Blade Dancers
* Cronebound Fiends
* Twilight Gladestalkers
* Blade Dancer Neophytes
* Soulbane on Dread-fiend
* Cronebound Abyssal Horsemen
* Cronebound Shadowhounds
* Cronebound Butchers
* Cronebound Gargoyles
* Cronebound Mind-screech
* Cronebound Shadow-hulk
* Soulbane
* Cronebound Archfiend
* Cronebound Banshee
* Cronebound Archfiend	
== The Twilight Kin Armada ==
Category:Races of Pannithor
Category:Elves