High Elves

> "*We are the chosen of Aryan, beloved of the gods. Our armies are the finest in creation; swift where our foes are lumbering, cultured where they are barbaric. Give no thought to failure, nor defeat – we are the High Elves and we shall not fall.*"
> ― Phoenix King Oromis the Mighty
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   The **High Elves**, or the **Arya** as they call themselves, are one of the most ancient and powerful civilizations within the world. Hailing from a mighty mist-shrouded island located within the Great Ocean, the High Elves are a proud and mighty nation of masterful warriors, great mages and lords of the sky and sea. They are an ancient race with powerful armies and even grander magic, building a grand and all-mighty civilization who, fought a long-forgotten, apocalyptic war which saw some of the greatest and most powerful mortal heroes battle against the great darkness that tried to consume the world many thousands of years ago. At the peak of their power, the world was truly theirs for the taking.

Yet their noble nature, which was once one of the Elves greatest and most noble characteristic was soon replaced by a great sense of pride in their own power and superiority. In their blind arrogance, they've only succeeded in shattering their once powerful friendship with the Dwarfs, culminating in a Great War which only crippled these two elder races and shattered whatever bright future there was for this young world. Isolated and alone in a world they no longer control, the High Elves are facing the twilight years of their existence, their cities no longer bustling with vibrancy and life as they used to be but now serve as a gloomy reminder of their ultimate, impending demise.

The time of the High Elves has passed, or so it is said, yet such is their immense pride that they fight on nonetheless, for they consider themselves the true and rightful protectors of this ancient world, and they believe that so long as their civilization persists throughout the ages, this dying world will never fall into complete darkness. If oblivion is indeed to be their fate, they have chosen to face it with arrow aimed and sword held high, defending the world they have loved and protected for so long. So they march to war, banners streaming in the wind and every warrior fighting to death in service of a greater cause; the protection of this very world. Let the servants of destruction beware their righteous wrath.

# History

The history of the High Elves is the history of the world. They were once the masters of the world, and their actions have shaped the fates of many lands. Unfortunately, the High Elves are now passing into twilight, their works and deeds dying alongside them. The empire of the Phoenix Kings, which once ruled entire continents, is now confined to the small islands that scatter the ocean. Cities that once bustled with vibrancy are now nothing but empty echoes of an age long gone, and lands that knew nothing nobility now reek with the blood and fury of relentless war.

## Reign of Gubrannus (-9876 to -9704)

Gubrannus was the greatest and most powerful of all Elf heroes: a doomed champion, a fallen god. He was the mightiest warrior in an age of darkness and constant strife; best-loved of all the Phoenix Kings of the High Elves. Gubrannus reign began in a time of terror and strife. The great gates, once used by the star-walking Old Ones to step from world to world, had collapsed, unleashing a roiling tide of magical energy across the world. In the magic's wake came the daemonic legions of evil, who sought to claim the mortal world for their own. Against a foe such as this the Elves stood no chance, for they were unschooled in warfare and their magic was used only for peaceful pursuits. The Elves were soon ablaze with war and slaughter, and the Elves pleaded to their gods for help.

## The First Phoenix King

Gubrannus was a wanderer who had travelled the length of the world, but who swiftly returned to the Elves in its time of need. Realising that the Elves could not long stand against the unfettered fury of evil, Gubrannus battled his way through the land to the Shrine of Aryan. There he offered himself to the sacred fire, and implored Aryan to save his people. Aryan made no response, but Gubrannus held to his promise and cast himself into the white-hot flames - yet Gubrannus did not die that day. He emerged unscathed from the fires, transformed by Aryan from mortal Elf to the first and mightiest of the Phoenix Kings. Gubrannus began his reign with a truly great victory. Outside the walls of the temple, he faced a howling Demon horde whose black hearts were set on toppling the shrine, that the sacred fires might be forever extinguished.

With a single throw of his hunting spear, Gubrannus slew the Daemon-lord who led the charge. Then, scarcely breaking step, he took up the Daemon's weapon and butchered the rest of that force. Word of Gubrannus' victory swiftly spread across the world. All Elves rallied to him even as the Demons regrouped from the defeat. Syezol Flamebinder, the greatest wizard of the era, with the help of Gubrannus trained the Elves in the art of battle. Whilst Gubrannus bade the smiths to forge mighty weapons of malleable Ithniglar and steel, Syezol began tutoring his fellow mages, teaching them great sorceries to banish and destroy. Thus changed the Elves' fortunes.

With Gubrannus at their head, the Elves took the fight to the Demons, casting down their champions and hurling their armies back into the Realm of Chaos. For nearly a century, the war dragged on without sign of victory, and the Elves began to lose hope. Moments of peace were few, and even these were tainted by the knowledge that the Demons would soon return. Even the great Gubrannus realized that there could be no victory — only a slow and inevitable defeat. Ultimately, it was Syezol, that wisest and most ancient of sorcerers, who would offer victory. He devised a plan to create a great spell that would drain magic from the world, and with it the Demons who rode upon its fury.

It was a desperate plan, with little hope of success, but Syezol, and many like him, thought a last desperate gamble would be preferable to the slow death the Elf people were enduring. Gubrannus opposed Syezol's plan. Although in his heart he knew that the war was unwinnable, the Phoenix King was determined to put off the end for as long as possible, rather than risk Syezol's plan failing. Such were Gubrannus' charisma and powers of reason, that he surely would have changed Syezol's mind entirely. Yet soon thereafter, Gubrannus' greatest friend, Mozrebin was slain when Demons ambushed a High Elf patrol.

## The Widowmaker

Upon hearing of his friend's fate, Gubrannus was overcome with terrible fury. He swore to kill every Demon on the face of the world and declared that he would travel to the Cursed Isle. Dread filled those who heard his words, for it could mean only one thing: Gurbannus intended to draw forth the Widowmaker, a weapon of terrible power that had waited, in the great black Altar of Khianne since the beginning of time. As old as the world itself, it was the ultimate weapon, death itself made it — a splinter of the fatal weapon forged for the death god Khianne, capable of slaying mortals and gods alike. All knew that to wield Khiannes's blade was to invite death, damn your soul and doom your lineage forevermore. Upon learning of his lord's intent, Syezol begged Gubrannus to stop, but he would not be dissuaded.

Ignoring all warnings from mortal and immortal men, Gubrannus vaulted onto the back of Indragunire, the greatest of the Dragons, and set off for the Cursed Isle. The journey was long and tested even Indragunire's might. Winged Demons attacked Elf and Dragon as they travelled, trying to turn Gubrannus from his path. The Elf gods whispered warnings in Gubrannus' ear, but if he heard, he paid no heed. Parting ways with Indragunire just a few leagues from the Altar of Khianne, Gubrannus walked towards his fate. It is said that even the ghost of his departed friend pleaded with him to turn back. Yet, as he stood before the altar, Gubranuus wrenched free the great blood-dripping weapon, sealing his fate, and that of his people.

When Gubrannus returned, those Elves most angered by the war flocked to this side, and he created a kingdom in the dismal land of Nagryne. Soon after, the court of Gubrannus earned itself a dark reputation, and the Elves of other lands were reluctant to go there. Tales of cruelty at Gubrannu's court began to spread across the lands. Even Syezol led his Dragon-riders south to his own land. It is said that Syezol's departure angered Gubrannus greatly, but the Daemons struck. Such was the size and ferocity of the daemonic attack that it became obvious to all but Gubrannus that the war was lost and the world was doomed to eternal darkness.

Syezol, fully aware of Gubrannus' madness, decided that there was only one thing left he could do. He called together a group of the greatest High Elf sorcerers then living, and assembled them on the Isle of the Dead. With Syezol Firebinder intent on performing the banishing spell, Gubrannus was left with no choice. He assembled his forces and moved to defend the mages on the Isle of the Dead. At the centre of the island, the two forces met. Dragons, so numerous that their wings darkened the sky, descended upon the Chaos host. Elves and Demons were slain in their thousands. As the creation of the spell began, the seas churned and a terrible wind blew from the north. The skies darkened, and raw magic lashed the tortured earth.

t the last, Gubrannus, with only the faithful Indragunire beside him, fought a bloody battle against four Greater Daemons of the Chaos Gods as they strove to breach Syezol's spell. It was a battle no mortal could ever win, yet Gubrannus' fury and determination that day set him amongst the ranks of the gods — one by one, the foul creatures fell beneath the Sword of Khianne, though Gubrannus was mortally wounded in return. While the battle raged, the High Elf sorcerers chanted the spell that would banish the demons. Chain lightning flickered. The world shuddered. For a moment all was silent. Then the mountains shivered. Terrible energies pulsed between earth and sky. From the mountaintops, bolts of pure power leapt to converge over the Isle of the Dead.

While Gubrannus and his outnumbered army fought, the sorcerers struggled to complete their ritual. One by one they died, the weakest succumbing first as the magic that they sought to control burned out their minds. Even as Gubrannus defeated the four Daemons, the ritual was finally completed — or at least partially so. The High Elf sorcerers had succeeded in opening the spell to drain away the raging magic, and all demons fell. His foes defeated, but his body ruined, Gubrannus climbed wearily upon the back of the wounded Indragunire and made once more for the Blighted Isle. Barely managing to complete the journey, Indragunire crashed to the ground on the shores of that dismal island.

Trembling from fatigue and the terrible wounds to his ancient body, Indragunire gave one last bellow of defiance and died. Alone, Gubrannus crawled back to the Altar of Khianne. He knew that should anyone take the weapon of Khianne, they could rule the world, and so he thrust it back into the rock from whence it came. Then, it is said, he lay down beside the ravaged and torn bulk of his dragon and passed from that age of the world. The immediate effects of Syezol Firebinder's ritual were a series of magical storms, earthquakes and tidal waves that ravaged the land for three days. Thousands died as the shores of the world were swept by monstrous waves, ships were sunk and the sky was split by lightning bolts. When the storms stopped, though, the great gates were sealed and the daemonic legions were gone. the world was in ruins, but at least it had a future.

High elves are graceful, intelligent beings, with a greater capacity for intelligence than most humanoid races while also possessing an agility comparable with their elven kin. High elves are also unusually strong-willed and have a natural resistance to the effects of enchantment spells. High elves also have no need for sleep in the same way most humanoids do, instead “trancing.” While in a trance, high elves remain fully aware of their immediate surroundings. Furthermore, high elves need only rest for four hours to get the same effect that most other humanoids get from six hours of sleep. Most of the High elves use magic as their weapon but the HIgh elves are also very graceful warriors and can use almost any type of weapon with extreme skill. Their weapons and armor are one of the most strongest in the world coming second to the Dwarves.

Leader of The High elves: HIgh King Oromis

Companion: Dragon. Name: Saphira

Second in command: High Prince Wyrden

Companion: Dragon. Name: Gaze