Crimson Elves
The elusive Crimson Elves are natives of the Blood Moon planet, Arus . Only those who bathe in the crimson light of the blood moon in the first months of their life are considered to be Crimson Elves. This crimson light changes how their body functions transforming their blood and flesh into conduits for the mysterious, cosmic, and arcane energies that the elves themselves call Blood Magic.
The Estalar were watching Arus even before the first Crimson Elves were born. What they saw was a Chosen family arriving on the planet, running away from their duties to consume their love in peace. The blood moon changed their bodies, allowing them to live on Arus as trueborns. Ever since that time, infants have been placed in ritual sites to bask in the blood magic spilled by the moon, changing them into true Crimson Elves.
As generations came and went, the Crimson Elves’ connection to their Chosen ancestors was fully lost, and the Crimson Elves slowly created their own society which was solely dedicated to the management of the mysterious force produced by the Blood Moon. On Arus, flesh and blood are considered vessels of power and thus, those who can manipulate the moon’s power ascend in both a political and societal sense. The grand hemomancer is crowned monarch of the Crimson Elves and through their rituals, the power of blood sustains those under their care.
Society is religion, religion is magic, and magic is power. Everything in the Crimson Elves’ world flows together and feeds off each other as if it were a living organism. This is because the blood moon’s energy transforms all it touches into carnal bodies which in turn creates a society of bodies bound by magic and rituals stemming from the flesh.
Heritage of Blood
The Crimson Elves are the stewards of Arus as well as its master. All creatures have been touched by the Elves’ blood magic and rituals, and have been shaped to serve their organism-like society, with living beings used as magical implements and bioweapons. Even the food and entertainment of Arus are shaped by those rituals. As long as blood flows in something, it is within the domain of the Crimson Elves. Under the leadership of the Crimson Queen, their current monarch, the Crimson Elves perform their blood magic rituals to guide the flora and fauna of their world to an apotheosis.
Having been blessed by the Blood Mood, the bodies of Crimson Elves are attuned to the red energy that forms in their precious blood, their eyes overflowing and crackling with its power. They have a slender body shape and androgynous facial features due to the light of the Blood Moon kissing all without judgment or hesitation. Crimson Elves tend to decorate their hair and bodies in all sorts of ways in order to stand out. They are very eager to celebrate the beautiful result that is their bodies, which was formed by powerful magic.
Common language is what the Chosen used the most and so it was passed down to the Crimson Elves as well. All blood magic ritual instructions, however, are written in Crimson Script, a language created by scarring the fleshy ground found in Arus. This gruesome style of writing is where most secrets of the Crimson Elves society are kept. Living books made of tissues and meat hold the most powerful blood magic spells in their pages.
The Crimson Elves are mostly carnivorous. They also eat vegetables and fungi, but unless they are additions to their usual meals, then it is beneath them to consume them. Fish is seen as second-grade meat and a sign of impoverishment.
- Ability Score Increase. Increase your Constitution by 2 and your Dexterity or Wisdom by 1.
- Age. Crimson Elves reach adulthood at around 20 years of age and live for around 700 years.
- Alignment. The strange rituals and relationships with creatures and flesh make the Crimson Elves society seem evil in the eyes of most outsiders, but their true intentions are to maintain the balance and perpetuation of the nature of the Blood Moon. Because of those intentions, the Crimson Elves tend to view the world in a rather neutral way.
- Size. Crimson Elves usually range between 4.5 and 6.5 feet tall. Your size is Medium.
- Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
- Crimson Heritage. The stories and myths around the Blood Moon elevate the crimson heritage into spirituality and a form of worship. Through the many tales you have heard, you learned about the anatomy and functions of the body as well as how to study and learn more on your own. You have advantage on all Medicine checks as long as you use it on a creature that you have killed. That creature must be from the same species as one you have absorbed a Soul Sliver from before. Some players and GMs may want to streamline this process, or even remove the explicit description from this trait. For that, simply pick two creature types to apply this bonus to.
- Fey Ancestry. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic cannot put you to sleep.
- Keen Senses. You have proficiency in the Perception skill.
- Blood Ritual - Reaping of Souls. This basic Blood Ritual is taught to all young Crimson Elves as the beginning of their spiritual journey. Whenever you kill a creature, you may spend one minute performing a ritual to siphon the creature’s blood allowing you to obtain power. Whenever you perform the ritual, you gain 1 Soul Sliver. You may spend 1 Soul Sliver as a Bonus Action to heal 1d4 Hit Points or add 1d4 necrotic damage to any damage roll you perform. You can hold up to 3 Soul Slivers within your blood.
- Moon Trance. Crimson Elves do not need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is “trance.”) While meditating, you dream of the Blood Moon; such dreams are a communion with the moon, a form of prayer and tribute.
- Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common as well as the Crimson Language used to describe Blood Ritual knowledge on Arus.
History
The Blood Elves were originally High Elves who, in a desperate attempt to escape the Abomination horde, used perilous portaling magic, and ended up on Arus. Over time the magic of the demiplane changed them into the Crimson Elves. Typically viewed by most other Elves, and several other races as barbaric or evil, they are typically not allowed to enter most societies. This has led to Crimson Elves rarely leaving Arus, and instead briefly travel to other planes for materials and then returning home.
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