Elder Kingdom of the Aine Saevherne

Between the Silver Kingdom and the nomads of New Hyperborea, in the frozen Tundra, lies the **Elder Kingdom of the Aine Saevherne**, or the "**Enlightened Elders**", as they call themselves in their language.

The neighbouring humans call them "Snow Elves", often comparing them to the Elves some have encountered in the west, such as the Witch Elves and the Drow. The Aine Saevherne, however, claim that they have no relatives to the west, and discard any claim of them being "Elves" and preferring to refer to themselves in a different way. Many scholars from Biblion suggest that the Aine Saevherne split with the Western Elves many eons in the past.

## History

The Aine Saevherne used to rule the majority of eastern Zemyland, often mantaining peaceful relations with the Hyperboreans to the west and ignoring the Nerim of the Desert, but that all changed during the great migration.

Hordes of humans fled North, from the Small Giantstep and the land that today is known as Elanxa. That led to many wars and clashes between the Aine Saevherne and the humans, disrupting the power balance of the region. Even though the humans could not match the physical prowess of the Aine Saevherne, their numbers and "scorched earth" tactics led to the tipping of the scale.

The humans, called the Zemylandians, took control over much of the eastern part of the island. They didn't only fight the Aine Saevherne though, as many bloody wars were fought between them and the Old Hyperboreans. Those ended with the Hyperborean king being taken in shackles, humiliated in front of his own people. When his head rolled to the snow covered ground, Old Hyperborea died, its defeated people scattering Central Zemyland as pasturers and nomads, until recently.

## People

The Aine Saevherne are taller than humans, often reaching heights above 2 metres. They are pale skinned (thus, being nicknamed "Snow Elves" by the Zemylandians and Hyperboreans) and love art, singing and theatre. Even though generally peaceful, a faction of war-minded individuals has sprung after their defeat the hands of the invading Zemylandias, with Elder King Caed Rhuadri being the most prominent of them.

Despite the generally frozen lands that they inhabit, they possess a natural resistance to the cold, often wearing light clothes, with some of the aristocrat women wearing gowns that expose one of their breasts. They don't consider nakedness as crude.

## Government

The Elder Kingdom of the Aine Saevherne, or simply "ártir " as called by its locals, is governed by a single Elder King, aided by his councillors. Such positions include the Spymaster, the Lawmaker, the Magus and the Gesserit.

The position of the "Magus" belongs only to Pureborn Aine Saevherne - individuals who possess a genetic affinity towards magic. The Magi are able to live much longer than the average person, offten serving entire generations of Kings.

The current Magus, Calathan the Great, was responsible for dealing with the menace of the Erlkönig hundreds of years ago. Considered one of the greatest Aine Saevherne sorcerers to have ever lived, he alongside Elder King Caedr Rhuadri plot together in order to restore the status of their people.

The "Gesserit" is a title fashioned by individuals who are reponsible of keeping track of the lineages of the Aine Saevherne, the Royal Family's first and foremost, as well as any Pureborn's. Many genetic programs have been established in order to control the magical gene and incorporate that into the Royal bloodline, although with little success. The current Gesserit is Duach An-Maith, a Pureborn who has earned a sinister reputation as a ruthless Gesserit that will not allow anything to get between him and his goals.

Although often considered a peaceful people, a faction of war-minded individuals has sprung centuries after their defeat the hands of the invading Zemylandians, with Elder King Caed Rhuadri being the most prominent of them. They dress in black clad armor, and due to their strength, the largest of them can carry large battlehammers, halberds and greataxes that humans cannot. They often conduct small-scale raids in the surrounding lands, taking humans as hostages and slaves, their deep hatred for humans making them unable to distinguish the Zemylanders from the Hyperborean nomads.

## Religion

The Aine Saevherne worship a goddess known as Shiora, or Bythol. She is a goddess of nature, fertility and death. She has many forms. One of them is that of a young maiden, one of a fierce amazon and the other of a hunched, old crone. The temples of Shiora are scattered around the land of the Aine Saevherne. Her priests are exclusively female, usually girls who were chosen by the High Priestess from a young age. Those priestesses take a vow of silence, and are known as excellent surgeons and healers.

Shiora is also worshipped by the Hyperboreans, albeit under a different name.

## **Capital**

Their biggest city by far is "Mathair ná Cathraca", whose nickname is "Mother of all cities". Despite being the largest city of Zemylandia, it has been through better times. The river Etheraidd runs through it, and its buildings are described as light, open on all sides (thus resembling gazebos or arbours), seeming so airy, delicate and ephemeral that they actually look don't look like buildings, but phantoms of them. They are built of marble, alabaster, and malachite, and adorned with stucco, terracotta, and mosaics. There are many bridges and terraces, peristiles, cloisters and balconies, sculptures and monuments, with beautiful cascades that flow to the ledrith Bay.

## **Magic**

Some Aine Saevherne are born with a natural aptness at magic. These individuals are known as "the Pureborn". Only a dozen invidivuals have been observed with this trait. Those are highly valued, especially since the Aine Saevherne are distrustful of the Avangar Empire and thus don't send people to be trained there.

However, that natural abillity at the arcane is hard to unlock, let alone understand. Many people only realise that they are Pureborn when they notice that they age much slowly into elderhood than their peers. Even the lowliest of peasant can rise to a millitary commander, advisor to the Elder King or even marry into the royal family because of this trait.

The current ruling dynasty has been trying to incorporate this gene into their bloodline through an extensive eugenics programme, although to little success... as of now.

## Foreign Relations

### Kingdoms of Silver, Copper, Crimson Queen, Platinum Princedom and Collapsed Realms of Rust

The Aine Saevherne harbor a deep hatred for humans, stemming from the invading Zemylandians that ended their vast Kingdom long ago. Since those realms are the descendants of the migrating humans, the Aine Saevherne are hostile to them and conduct raids against them, although a full blown out war would not be in their favor, due to being surrounded on all sides.

### Old Hyperborea and Alltaf Tribes

The Aine Saevherne have managed to co-exist peacefully with them, with some even living in their capital city of Mathair ná Cathraca. Even though they are humans, the invading Zemylandians brought these two races together, since both of their empires came into ruin. Lately, however, the Elder King's xenophobic and aggressive policies have alienated their relationship with the New Hyperboreans and their King Velosod.

### Avangar

Even though they consider Avangar a nest of nastiness and evil, they are, along with Elanxa, their main trade partners. The Elyrians' rapid expansion and warmongering is a cause of concern amongst the Aine Saevherne, although they plan to take advantage of the imminent war between Avangar and the Platinum Princedom for their own gains.

### Biblion

Although not outright hostile, the Aine Saevherne distrust the librarianfolk's endless seeking of knowledge. During the peak of their Elder Kingdom, the Aine Saevherne made a pact with the librarianfolk and the owlmen of Biblion for an exchange of knowledge concerning the elusive magical heritage of the Aine Saevherne. However, Biblion's interest has faded over the years, now secluding themselves in their Grand Library.

### Corteau Canyon

Even though the Aine Saevherne have been on the island of Zemyland for almost two thousand years now, the inhabitants of the Corteau Canyon - as well as the few Valkyries that live on top of the snow covered plateaus - were there before them. The Aine Saevherne have had very few reasons to delve in the frigid deserts of the Corteau canyon, so even though they've coexisted in these lands for millenia, they've barely interacted with each other, mostly fighting against the Nerim as mercenaries.