Nirnaeth

Physical Appearance/Night Goddess’ Curse: The Nirnaeth are elves that stand between 6 and 7 feet tall. They have smooth, dark skin, long, pointed ears, and striking yellow eyes. The males generally have stark, ivory-white hair, while the females have thick, charcoal-black hair. But what truly sets the female Nirnaeths apart from their male counterparts is the branched, silver tattoo that graces the supple skin of each of their faces. As I will outline in more detail shortly, this facial tattoo is bestowed upon female Nirnaeths shortly after birth. Many will choose to expand upon this primitive tattoo later on in their lifetime—for example, you will often see depictions of stars, moons, and other phenomena outlined on an adult Nirnaeth’s muscled back or running down her slender fingertips—but these supplementary tattoos must be regarded in a completely different category than this first branched facial tattoo.
Female Nirnaeths aren’t born bearing tattoos. They come into this world much like any other humanoid individual, their skin pure and unblemished. But this state of undisturbed, infantile purity doesn’t last long. If a baby girl is born strong and healthy, she is taken from her mother within minutes and whisked to a temple somewhere deep within the heart of Arminalѐth, the floating “City in the Heavens.” The temple is a sacred place, and one of the Nirnaeth’s most well-kept secrets. It would appear to me, after having spent hours unsuccessfully scouring libraries on the subject, that only a handful of individuals possess the knowledge of the exact whereabouts of the temple and the means of entering it. What is known is that the baby girls enter the temple unmarked, and leave with the branched white facial tattoo considered to be the defining/unifying feature of all female Nirnaeths. It is rumored that the temple contains a priceless reserve of concentrated moonbeams obtained during an incredibly rare astrological event known as a blood moon. The concentrated moonbeams resemble small, blood-red pearls and are believed to be the source of the female Nirnaeths’ ability to perform the ancestral form of magic known as Moon Magic, which I will describe in more detail later. After the newborn baby girl is taken to the temple, a single moon-pearl is retrieved from the reserve and pressed gently into the center of her forehead by a Nirnaeth Elderwoman. After a few seconds, the pearl begins to soften and seep into the pores of the baby’s soft, dark flesh. In accordance with the astrological phenomenon during which the moon-pearl was created, the concentrated moonbeam enters the young girl’s bloodstream, where it quickly spreads through her veins, leaving behind the quintessential white branched facial tattoo. Some say that it is at this moment that an ancestral curse, known as the Night Goddess’ Curse, is bestowed upon the female Nirnaeths. Many centuries ago, it was believed that the Nirnaeth were created by one of the six founding deities: Cujokra, Goddess of Dreams/Nightmares. Cujokra wasn’t ever the type of goddess to give freely without expecting something in return. So, in return for bestowing the Nirnaeth with Moon Magic, she cursed them. The Night Goddess’ Curse is a cruel thing indeed. The moment the moon-pearl enters the baby girl’s bloodstream, a piece of her identity is made permanently indeterminate. If I’m to describe this curse in a manner comprehendible to even the simplest of common folk, it’s as if Cujokra rolls two dice every time a baby Nirnaeth girl undergoes the moon-pearl ceremony: one to determine whether or not the girl will someday undergo a soul-stripping transformation, and the other to determine when in her lifetime this transformation might occur. Naturally, neither of these crucial pieces of information is known by the baby girl herself. The aforementioned soul-stripping transformation is a brutal and hideous thing to witness. Not that I’ve ever witnessed one, personally. Nor would I ever care to. But from what I’ve heard, one moment, the female Nirnaeth stands as a perfect specimen of the proud, strong-willed, dark-skinned, beautiful elven race that so many of us have come to love and respect. She might be laughing heartily at a joke, engaged in a training session with her fellow Nirnaeth warriors, or brushing the long, black hair of her young daughter. Or she might be the young daughter. Regardless, one minute, she is herself. And the next, she’s not. She begins to convulse with such sudden force that her bones begin to splinter right where she stands. Her muscles—which only moments before were toned and taut—are torn away from the skeletal frame of her body. She is twisted, snapped, and contorted in ways that I cannot even begin to fathom. The sounds of tearing muscle and snapping bones are muffled only by the unadulterated screams of agony coming from her mouth. As the transformation progresses—which, fortunately for her, it does rapidly—her screams begin to change in pitch and tune. The initial high-pitched wails are replaced with something much lower, guttural, and… animalistic. Something like a howl. A thick coat of black fur sets in, her face is pulled into something resembling a snout, and a set of razor-sharp teeth rips through the tender flesh of her gums. Her eyes are the last part of her to go. I reckon that Cujokra wanted her subjects to witness the transformation run its course… wanted them to see with their own eyes the monster they were becoming. When the transformation is complete, the Nirnaeth is no longer an elf, but rather a large, dark wolf known to us as a Tarculu. The only feature that she shares with her former, humanoid self are her striking yellow eyes, which some say retain an unnerving resemblance to what they were prior to the transformation. Apparently, if you stare into the eyes of a Tarculu, you can see her inner turmoil. Rage, sorrow, remorse, shame, pain, loneliness, and, above all… hunger. The first sensation that any Tarculu feels upon its “rebirth” is hunger. An unrelenting, insatiable desire to feed. And feed she does. There have been more than a few graphic tales of newly-transformed Tarculu mothers viciously tearing their infant children apart… but for your sake and mine, I will spare you the details.
The Nirnaeth are a proud people, recognized as some of the world’s most accomplished warriors. Yet they live in perpetual fear of the fate that has befallen so many of their friends and loved ones, and which could just as easily befall themselves. Their dreams are plagued, which I suppose is exactly what Cujokra intended. Yet Cujokra’s curse was calculated. She knew that if too many Nirnaeth were being afflicted by the transformation, that sooner or later, they might choose to relinquish their ties to the moon altogether. So she toyed with probabilities until she landed upon what she believed to be the perfect balance. For centuries, the Nirnaeth have studied themselves in hopes of better understanding their seemingly-incurable affliction. It is estimated that for every 100 unafflicted female Nirnaeths, one Tarculu is born. Because the Nirnaeth are a worldly people involved in global affairs, many have chosen to settle on the continental mainland, rather than the floating city of Arminalѐth. And wherever Nirnaeths can be found, so too can Tarculus. Given their insatiable hunger, the Tarculu pose a threat to civilizations ill-equipped to deal with the desires of powerful, blood-thirsty wolves. Most of the mainland Tarculus have taken to roaming the denser forests and mountainous regions of the continent, and over the years, some have banded together in packs. At night, their howls can sometimes be heard echoing through the trees. I’ve heard a few howls myself, and they are a bone-chilling thing. Yet they are also a thing of beauty, if such a thing can be said. Each time that I hear the lonesome howl of a Tarculu, I am overtaken by a feeling of great sorrow. I am reminded that these feral creatures were once individuals much like myself. Travelers who have seen Tarculus from afar report that—as sorrowful as their howls might be—nothing is more pitiful than the sight of a lone Tarculu sitting in a pool of its own, milky-white tears. They are always crying, a friend of mine once told me. It is as if they have been condemned to a life of self-loathing and grief. Grief for the people they once were and for the lives they once lost. Some say that the perpetual tears of the Tarculu possess magical properties. Others claim that they are liquid silver. Others postulate that the tears are the very moonbeams that once coursed through the Nirnaeth’s blood. I don’t know which theory I believe. Perhaps someday, someone will dare to find out. History/Lore: I’ve talked a lot about the curse of the Nirnaeth[1], but to focus solely on this aspect of the race would be a grievous crime. For they are so much more than cursed people. They are a warrior-people, much like the female Amazonian warriors known on your own Earth. Their skill in hand-to-hand combat is astonishing, and many a ballad has been written about the battles fought by the Nirnaeth armies over the centuries. Some Nirnaeth warriors—perhaps those most dedicated to their role as a fighter—choose to sharpen their canines and file their long, black fingernails into dagger-like claws so that in many ways, they resemble an animal. This has always struck me as a bit ironic, though I’d never say so aloud. It is a point of tension between the Nirnaeth and some of the other continental races that during the Glass Wars, when entire cities and civilizations were ravaged by insectoid Akari armies, the Nirnaeth refused to intervene. The Nirnaeth leaders of today, if asked about the subject, will undoubtedly claim that their ancestors were simply waiting to see which of the continental civilizations would prove worthy of their aid. If you ask my opinion, I’d say that the early generations of Nirnaeth were proud to the point of arrogance. But as subsequent generations of Nirnaeth have since assumed positions of leadership, this arrogance has subsided a bit. Nowadays, it is much more commonplace for a Nirnaethian army to come to the assistance of an ally. Male and female Nirnaeths now mingle with races once considered to be “lowly commonfolk” by their rather pigheaded ancestors, and Nirnaeths can be found in nearly every sizable city on the continent. Nirnaeth Civilizations/Cities: There are two primary civilizations of Nirnaeth: ________, a city located within the northwest Pillar Desert, and Arminalѐth, the capital city and “heart” of Nirnaeth culture and civilization. The former is located within one of the desert monoliths rumored to have been placed in the earth thousands of years ago by Hysteria the Teller, another of the six founding deities. Early generations of Nirnaeths carved the stone monolith to resemble Nairobi, the first Nirnaethian queen. You can imagine that having been built within a stone pillar, this civilization is relatively small. According to history, it is from the summit of this monolith that the Nirnaeth first began their construction of the floating city, Arminalѐth. Arminalѐth is undoubtedly the city that comes to mind when you think of the Nirnaeth people. Located above the clouds, this floating “City in the Heavens” was constructed entirely using Moon Magic. Towering, elaborate, silvery-white buildings the color of moonlight comprise the Arminalѐth skyline, and inside the city walls, you will find a booming civilization. There was once a time when the Nirnaeth prohibited the permanent residence of non-Nirnaethian peoples within Arminalѐth, but those times are long past. Nowadays, members of nearly every major continental race call the floating city their home. Whether it be the entrancing silver architecture, the surreal location among the clouds, the fascinating history and culture of the Nirnaeth people, the booming economy, the fine dining, or… the music, I can think of a hundred reasons why someone might decide to remain in Arminalѐth permanently. Now that I’ve mentioned the music on Arminalѐth, I feel that I must elaborate a bit. See, the Nirnaeth—in addition to being a proud warrior people—have a reputation as being some of the world’s most gifted musicians. Ever since the first Nirnaethian queen assumed the throne (and it is for her that the monolithic civilization of _______ was built), the Nirnaeth have served under a powerful (and sometimes ruthless) matriarchy. The modern-day Nirnaeth queen is named Sachiel.

[1] **Disclaimer: It should be noted that thus far, I have used the term “Nirnaeth” primarily in reference to the females of this noble race. I have chosen to do so because it is the females who have traditionally undergone the moon-pearl ceremony described above. This is not to say that no males in the centuries-long history of the Nirnaeth people have undergone the ceremony and been bestowed with the ability to perform Moon Magic, but it is common knowledge that the females generally have a stronger affinity for the ancestral magic. I speculate that this might be due to the feminine nature of the moon itself; not only do the moon’s cycles correspond to the reproductive cycles of female mammalian races (such as the Nirnaeths), but the moon has also universally been considered a symbol of fertility and motherhood. I will go into more detail about the nature of Moon Magic and the special Nirnaethian tattoos later.