The Laore-Hoj

The rulers of the Ilderwood Basin, the Laore-Hoj are the most assiduous elves by far, having maintained great wealth and power as their homeland continues to sink ever further beneath the sea. The Hoj remain the last elven group to hold any faith in the idea that their ancient homeland can be salvaged, and view the flight of their elven brethren to be cowardly at best and traitorous at worst.

Despite their arrogance, the Hoj manage cordial relations with nearly every other political entity on the islands, yet tend to hold a slight disdain towards their Northern brethren, the Laore-Glas. Their barbaric nature is the direct antithesis of the Laore-Hoj’s regal and refined tastes, with most Hoj seeing the Haetha way of life as pure degeneracy.

Due to their eccentric nature and love for all things extravagant, the Laore-Hoj may often be described as noble or even snobbish in terms of their personalities. While this mentality is not true for all natives of the Ilderwood, it is not uncommon for a handful of Hoj families to see themselves as royalty within their settlements, and even perhaps outside them. With ancestry spanning back to the first decades of the Sheshan Calamity, it's often difficult to dismiss their claims of greatness.

The Laore-Hoj typically follow Grecian, Roman or otherwise Classical naming conventions. Players do not have to adhere to this rule but it is recommended.

## Physical Attributes

The Laore-Hoj are typically tall and slender, heads standing higher on average than any of the other elven subspecies at a substantial height range of 5'9" to 6'10". The Laore-Hoj are typically the eldest of the Laore, their aging pauses at age thirty-five and they continue to look relatively the same until their deaths. The eldest of the Laore-Hoj currently alive are nearly halfway through their two-hundredth year of life, however the Laore-Hoj tend to meet their ends around this time if not sooner due to their pridefulness leading them to an untimely demise. Laore-Hoj that live to be this old are most typically decrepit and bedridden.

Their hair is most often straight and silky, ranging from tones of platinum to raven, with other natural tones of browns and auburns in-between. The Laore are typically quite pale, having striking undertones of grey, green, or pink to compliment their near sickly skintones. Deeper complexions are more than possible, however rare to be seen within the lands of Verendell.

The elves tend to have the most striking eyes also, possessing beautiful jeweled tones of red, purple, gold, amber, green, or grey. Any combination of these colors is possible for the Laore-Hoj, creating a wonderful combination of colourful characters in their settlements.

## History

The origins of the elves is one steeped in blood and pride, a legacy that not even the Heitha of old could look upon and not feel a twinge of guilt. The monks of the Three-headed god speak of a time when the festering swamps of the Ilderwood was a pristine woodland, as perfect and incorruptible as the people who called it home. Their crops grew tall, their rivers ran aplenty, and all who laid eyes upon the crystalline majesty of this elven realm could only marvel, jaws agape, at the sheer splendor of it all. For centuries, they remained unopposed. The Talamh cared not for the lands within the sun and the humans were mere infants in the eyes of these early Laore.

This hubris was their undoing. For centuries they allowed mankind to spread across Omnia, confident in the fact that their minds were too feeble and their abilities too few. It was only a matter of time before the humans began to encroach upon elven territory, and this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The Laore burst from their reclusive slumber, slaughtering thousands as they cut a bloody swath across the heart of Omnia. It wasn’t until humanity had reached the brink of extinction that the Talamh, previously unconcerned with the dealings of surface dwellers, felt compelled to act. The war of the Laore and the Talamh claimed countless more lives, and in the end, all participants lay broken and defeated. A brittle peace was bartered between the dwarves and elves, and for a time, all was quiet.
But this peace would not last. When the old Heith made their fatal mistake and awoke the mother of monsters from her long slumber, the elves watched in horror as the EarthShaker split Omnia in two, leaving a wake of crashing waves and death in her path. Those humans who had survived the onslaught of the elven wars were welcomed into the depths of the Low Kingdom, safe from Shesha’s wrath, but the elves were left to fend for themselves. Desperate to protect what they could, they prayed to the Three-headed god for salvation, and low, they were spared.

But not all survived the Sheshan onslaught, most notably the surrounding woodland they had once called home. The ancient city of Verendell remained the only elven possession untouched by the carnage that surrounded them, and as they wandered through the ashes, it was clear that little could be salvaged. Most fled for greener pastures, away from the blight of Omnia’s newly hewn scar. Those that remained found a new purpose in their humility, and vowed never again to let the hatred that had ruled their ancestors rule over them as well. Centuries passed and little of the Ilderwood was reclaimed from the wasted swampland left in Shesha’s wake. Though Verendell still sits as a paragon, a gilded jewel by which to view the world that came before, the miles of ruins around it’s base sour any illusions that it is anything more than a mere shadow of its former glory.

The elves that continue to dwell in this place, the Laore-Hoj, live lives of near pacificity, wary of falling into the ways of their ancestors. Humans (as well as the other races of Omnia) are tolerated with mild annoyance, but the Laore-Glas are seen as traitors, a faithless people who have abandoned their ancient heritage in order to pretend at being heroes. The Laore who ventured out to finding a living amongst the fetid swamps of Ald, the Laore-Tel, remain the only real allies of the Hoj, but only just. Only time will tell if the Laore-Hoj will be successful in reclaiming their ancient city from the stinking marshes which surround it, yet time is not on their side. With each passing year, Verendell sinks ever further into the sea, and unless a permanent solution is discovered quickly, all will soon be lost.