Glass Elves
Shimmering splendor, gilded in a mirage of lies.
"The Sands of the desert flow and run like the grand grains in a cosmic hourglass. The Glass Elves hold this hourglass, and we decide when it must be tilted. With beautiful posture, and thrilling prose, our magnificent armies strike like the fingers of dawn. Sharp, unexpected, and unstoppable, piercing and scorching away any trace of resistance. All of Dasht-e Zerrin shall know of The Glass Elves"-Anonymous Glass Elf High Priestess of the Crystal Truth The Glass Elves of Dasht-e Zerrin are a shimmering species of creatures, their pores produce a shell of flexible, refractive, amber-like material acting as natural armor. Colorful and beautiful to behold, their vanity is matched blow for blow with their upturned noses and xenophobic exclusion of those they deem ugly or unfit to exist among them. Living in grand cities-fortresses that float above the scalding sands of the desert, they perform their magic and study the stars, to further their conquest. Their military might though small compared to others, but it is among the most specialized and ruthlessly effective regimes in the Golden Sands. Within their cities, they even bolster their holdings through alien magics, summoning creatures of myth and folklore to their sides, serving as auxiliary and assistant, forming their magnificent crystal cities.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Glass Elves follow similar anatomy to Aashan humans, with very few differences beyond their crystalline second skin- known as Crystalac, pointed ears, and standing much taller. Their skeletal structure is similarly built, though somewhat lighter and partially hollow, enabling them to utilize airborne monsters as a form of aerial cavalry. Beyond these traits, their hair is more akin to strands of fibrous crystal, twinkling and shimmering in the light. This crystalline second skin is known as Crystalac.
Genetics and Reproduction
Their reproduction method is exactly the same as an Aashan human.
Growth Rate & Stages
Glass Elves are born without their Crystalac skin surrounding them.
By the marking of their first year of life, the Glass Elf's crystalac layer should have grown out, covering most of their form in the flexible material. The cut-off year for this to occur is age three.
As the Glass Elf child continues to grow, the Crystalac material will continue to grow in thickness and layers. Up until their first Scraping is required, around the child's teen years.
By the age of twenty-five, the Glass Elf will have reached their physical maturity, and will thus focus on their social, and magical maturity.
Glass Elves reach the concept of middle age around the age of One Hundred and Twenty-Five, even though their forms would begin to produce less Crystalac, or worse, make too much Crystalac, potentially manipulating what would have once been strong forms.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Omnivorous, with a heavy emphasis on sugary fruits to keep their crystalac strong.
Additional Information
Social Structure
At the top of the totem pole is the Chunarch, the constantly reincarnating leader of the Glass Elf. His dominion casts over all of the Glass Elf Floating cities, strongholds, and even to the outstretched Colonies. Constantly in meditation, and communion with his past lives, the Chunarch prepares for the worst, amidst the intriguing religious planning, and political career.
To be under the Chunarch is a privilege in itself. To be high-class in Glass Elf civilizations is to have a legitimate claim to various amounts of land, to have a prominent history in their particular field of studies- such as a long line of Astral Wizards- or battle.
The middle class of Glass Elf Civilizations front the lines of war, and 'peaceful negotiations' of their nonprotected good, for resources, and especially foreign art.
Uses, Products & Exploitation
From the form of a Glass Elf, Crystalac can be scraped off in order to make the lesser strain of Glassium. This can be claimed without killing the Glass Elf.
Facial characteristics
Elfen, pointy-eared and sharp-faced.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Centralized in the southern reaches, small pockets scattered throughout the entire continent. These encompass conquered lands, their floating cities, and more.
Average Intelligence
Above average, as education is one of the things they take the very greatest pride in, excepting outcasts and exiles.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Their senses are notably more acute than the Aashan, though this is offset by their lack of smell, and slightly numbed sense of touch.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Glass Elf naming conventions have no clear theme, as their names could focus on any manner of sounds and accents. But among the nobility and craftsmen at least, names are often taken that reflect some manner of precious gemstone, and a feat. For example, Blade of Sapphire, Hammer of Topaz, Chisel of Ruby, to name just a few.
Major Organizations
The Crystal Truth
A very superstitious religious organization dedicated to The Father. The most devoted of followersBeauty Ideals
To the Glass Elves, beauty is paramount, and their ideal is an Elf that carries themselves with confidence and prose, drawing all eyes to focus on them. The grandest of elves have carefully etched their second skin with beautiful filigree, and sienna inspired carvings, the skin polished to a mirror finish that shines like dawn. Their features are mirrored exactly, their hair is shoulder length, and bound into a shimmering ponytail. They wear the finest clothes, and their lips are full and luscious, with modestly inset eyes, long ears, and a very faintly pointed nose, impish almost. Their bodies are lithe, women with busts between cups B and C, and both genders with small waists and flat glutes.
Gender Ideals
None to speak of, though females are expected to be more promiscuous, and possess a more well shined second skin to accentuate their luminous beauty. Males, are encouraged to develop their musculature and maintain at a least four pack abs, aesthetically.
Courtship Ideals
Courtship is irrelevant in many Glass Elven circles, as they see no value in long, drawn out romances, preferring instead to flaunt either artistic or academic expertise to seduce their paramours, and usually quickly. With marriage non-existent in their culture, promiscuity and open relationships are encouraged among people in the appropriate social class. It is not at all uncommon for nobility to have multiple romantic and sexual partners before settling on a final choice, to which they are officially bonded with and symbolically referred to as the same individual.
Relationship Ideals
Emphasis more on sexual pleasure, and the constant strive for self improvement, Glass Elves are mercurial with their lovers, and they can often roam between paramours, before returning to their symbolic other half.
Common Dress Code
Of all the human like races, the Glass Elves are undoubtedly the most promiscuous and sexually charged of them all, though they rarely make true effort to sleep with someone. Preferring instead to tease, tantalize, and seduce others into fawning over them, sexual activity is in fact a less accentuated part of their culture. This is reflected in their dress, which is crafted to maximize the exposure of their curves, musculature, and facial features, to truly tantalize others. Even with such emphasis on seduction, the Glass Elves maintain a surprising degree of bare minimum modesty, though their clothing leaves precious little to the imagination. Within in any other, more conservative culture, their manner of dress could be called whorish, or distasteful, but among their race, it is the norm.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Only the Floating Cities are considered home territory, while ground settlements are considered as colonies for the Glass Elves.
These Floating Cities follow set paths, and align with certain high-altitude strongholds. Due to the composition of their material, many spectrums of light can disguise the city, as to lower it's potential of being a target.
The Glass Elven ruler is not chosen through dynastic means; instead, through divine astrology and prediction, the ruler is found and officiated, with Glass Elven Emperors/Empresses looking entirely unnatural. Their skin is clear, shining glass, and they look more like living statues than any sort of organic being. Glass Elf bodies heal without any scarring, but the glass layer turns cloudy instead of clear where the wound was. Often, the glass layer gains small tings of red from the blood that mixes into the layer.
Glass Elven skill is dictated through a system using forms of stones, from the top, and following a route known as a 'path'. The Glass Elf can find themselves rising to become Monoliths in their own right.
The Glass Elven ruler is not chosen through dynastic means; instead, through divine astrology and prediction, the ruler is found and officiated, with Glass Elven Emperors/Empresses looking entirely unnatural. Their skin is clear, shining glass, and they look more like living statues than any sort of organic being. Glass Elf bodies heal without any scarring, but the glass layer turns cloudy instead of clear where the wound was. Often, the glass layer gains small tings of red from the blood that mixes into the layer.
Glass Elven skill is dictated through a system using forms of stones, from the top, and following a route known as a 'path'. The Glass Elf can find themselves rising to become Monoliths in their own right.
- Grain (Of [Insert Master's Last Name]): Apprentices, utterly unskilled or too lacking in knowledge to note
- Pebble (Of [insert master's name]): Below average, but not apprentices, skilled enough to notice
- Stone (Of shortsword, Of Longsword, Of Short/Long Bow, of Plate, Of Fishing, etc.): Average, the norm you'd encounter hawking their wares or in combat
- Boulder (Of Bow, Of Sword, Of Anvil, Of Mines, etc.): Expert level skill and mastery, certainly of note
- Monolith (Of Blade, Of Forge, Of Projectiles, Of Beasts, Of Waters, etc.): The highest level of mastery among a profession or skillset
History
The Era of Heroes [0AS - 275AS]
In large part, the Glass Elves were barbarous. Any magical techniques they had in their possession were the result of divine providence, or extremely primitive. These Glass Elves, recent descendants of the Patchwork Child, and her Saintly children, if not created by the Patchwork Child herself, though Genesis Magic. Despite their more primal nature, the Glass Elves were far more open-minded than their modern contemporaries; they were still learning from other races and cultures. Alas, they were also very few in number, nearly a thousand at most.
- These Glass Elves would travel and explore the world with near reckless abandon, out of a newfound curiosity alone.
- There would be somewhat friendly relations with some more separate Aashan tribes. These interactions did indeed cause many Half-Glass Elves to come into the world.
The Era of Glory [275AS to 450AS]
By the time their forebears have settled into dust, either killed, died of natural circumstances, or disappearing into the depths of Astral development, the new Glass Elves would find their abilities to be far lesser than those who came before. An obsession with growth in power, and living up to their predecessors erupted in many settlements and cities. For some, it was the glitter and protection of their Crystalac, for others it was the magical powers that they had access to. The elves whose crystalac did not manifest were discriminated against, soon even being killed on sight. These elves would split off from the Glass Elves, and form the Sky Elves.
Those that had come before were the pinnacle of perfection, a goal to meet! In order to meet these goals, the Glass Elves would become more selective about their children, as only the creme of their crop was thought to even compete with the previous generation. Past relationships with nations, and even the fringe tribes that were once dearly interacted with. The Glass Elves, in their desire to become strong, had to restructure themselves to become strong, creating various war-focused societies.
The Era of Raids [450AS to 600AS]
With various raiding enclaves scouring the lands, The Glass Elves would pillage in their attempts to expand their land borders. Yet the battles were never so much in their favor, seeing that they were not as numerous as the other races. What magicks, or tactics they may have had were increasingly drawn into a stalemate by their greater numbers. The generation born in the middle of this era started to see that this concept of needless, constant battle, wasn't very productive. Finally, the Glass Elves would mature, going from a large gathering of people to having a united race, and a proper nation. Writing up treaties, and demarcating their territory, the Glass Elves finally created their proper nation.
The Era of Tagig-Alin [600AS-PRESENT]
For the past four hundred years, Tagig-Alin, the official theocratic nation of the Glass Elves has co-existed with the likes of Jivana. Yet unlike their Aashan or even Naga counterparts, Tagig-Alin kept a pension for being a trouble maker, with combat or war being one of the first threats pulled out. Seeing as they border Naga Supremacist territory, the hostility could be seen as understandable nervousness. Just because they're at peace doesn't mean they stop raiding. It's just that now, they have a large enough population and country that a Glass Elf raid on a city cannot just be attributed to the country itself. They just claim that it was a mercenary band, acting alone. In fact, the government turns a blind eye to Glass Elves coming together and forming raiding parties and mercenary bands. They might even secretly assist them as they make moves against other countries and races.
Historical Figures
The Patchwork Child
The first Glass Elf. What is known of her, is that she was a part of the Legendary Dauntless Twilight. However, she's far more famous for being the mother of the Crystal Saints.Crystal Saints
The natural children of the Patchwork child, they were gifted with great abilities, but are better remembered for their actions, and lasting legacies.Saint of Turquoise The Saint of Turquoise was known for her motherly nature and caring demeanor. Earning the title 'Mother to all' for her honored and respected work of caring for, and raising the majority of original Glass Elven orphans. Additionally, that same Saint was in fact a heroic figure responsible for many a great deed to benefit the peoples of Dasht, with multiple lovers across species. Saint of Garnet The Saint of Garnet was believed to be the most loyal of the Saints. This Saint was known for his adoration and care of others, leading much crystalac-clad kin to pursue jobs as doctors or animal herdsmen, whatever would bring prosperity, even if it was amongst the sands. Saint of Bloodstone This Saint was a warrior monk, spending his days in search of worthy opponents. His students were both his lovers and his army. The Saint of Bloodstone conquered and claimed the older Glass Elven lands for their descendants. Saint of Emerald This progenitor Saint was a scholar of immense knowledge, who had a very few select wives, as he had no interest in the fool or those whom throw themselves at others for love. His critical nature has seeped into his descendant families, and they are well known as strict and rigid teachers, though incredibly skilled at what they do. Saint of Ruby Their progenitor Saint was a secretive and many faced bard, who's legendary double-dealings and skilled manipulation of politics, made her far more feared than even the progenitor of Saint of Bloodstone. It's said that she managed to even puppet a descendant of Rotsam to her will. Saint of Diamond This progenitor Saint was quite ruthless, executing his righteous justice and holy fury on any he considered infidel or inferior, giving him the infamous title "The Burning Light."
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Naga
The Glass Elves consider these people to be the most dangerous to encounter.- Really established culture, to a point, that it spurs subconscious bouts of jealousy in properly grown Glass Elves.
- Being some of the most beautiful creatures in Dasht-e Zerrin- by their own record- they would be prized slaves, to which Naga is known for their holdings, and practices in the Slave Trade.
Aashan
While Aashan civilization, like Jivania, is as expansive as the main Naga civilization, they are considered less dangerous than Naga.- Aashan can be fooled and manipulated far more successfully than Naga.
- Glass Elves can even couple with Aashan to produce half Glass Elves. While these hybrids are allowed in civilization, Glass Elves mostly only value them for their numbers to bolster their military.
- Using magebreeding, and the tendency for their connection with animals, Aashan can produce greater bonds with Animals than Glass elves, causing there to be specialized forces in numbers that could challenge them in significant fashions.
Hecklin
Tolerated for their tech, Glass Elves know better than to grow the ire of a large Hecklin band.- The Glass Elves' more ariel forces simply cannot keep up with their anti-air contraptions, and counter-siege equipment.
Rakshi
Typically an afterthought, Glass Elves don't think highly of this filthy, and imperfect race. To be with a Rakshi is a great shame for most Glass Elves.Sandling Sentinels
Being terrible thralls of The Starfell Demon, Glass Elves are typically hostile to Sandling Sentinels, unless they can be proven to have a reason to continue living.
How others might see you-
Glass elves have their crystalac come in three basic colors - ruby red, sapphire blue, and topaz yellow. The gradient varies here and there. The Chunarch is exclusively near-transparent white.
- Vain and haughty, there's no shortage of people who would love to lay you low, spat by your race once upon a time.
- Strange and alien, your people summon monsters from beyond, how do they know that you can't?
- Raiders and cultists, the majority of your race make their stock and trade from pillaging and kidnapping frontier settlements.
- Weak and stagnant, pitifully trying to outlast the storms and hardships of this land, you're happy to remind them how vulnerable they REALLY are.
- You're trying to make your own way in the world, hostility won't do you or your peoples' image any good.
- Everyone and everything is a challenge, with you and your race being so young, proving your strength of mind and body is tantamount to survival.
- Exiled from your own kind, for crossing a superior, showing signs of weakness or pacifism, you've been abandoned to the sands, to make your own story.
- Maybe you're a forward scout or a free agent that owes their allegiance to your people, but you understand the value of coexistence, you'll ply your skills to deceive or lull the other races into naively disregarding you and your people.
- You were sent into the wider world of Dasht, away from your cities and people, to figure out where a "rat" is, someone plying Glass Elf trades and skill for selfish benefit, they need to be eliminated.
Genetic Descendants
Scientific Name
Sab De Puero Daemon Sapiens
Lifespan
250+ years, give or take, outside of premature death from disease, war, or injury.
Average Height
2.1 - 3.0 meters
Average Weight
81 - 90 kilograms
Average Physique
Lithe and "dainty".
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
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