Aldrim

Children of the Earth

The elves of the North, proud and dignified as they are stubborn.

The Aldrim are one of the four northern elven nations. The other three are the Dumul, Shatun and the Geleter. At the moment they are in fact the largest of these nations and thus the only remaining elven nation in the north of Illangar.

History

Age of Askareia

During the Age of Askareia the Aldrim controlled most of the north-western part of Illangar. They called the verdant woodlands of the western coast their home. Down from the land later known as Illodia and to the Mountains of Kaeirt and the seas of the Shores of Lost Glory. One of their most priced possessions was the island of Áhǧëvš. They specialised in the magic of biomancy. The art of to controll the flow of life in every living being. As such they tamed the northern woodlands themself. The most proficient mages of this era were called the Alderpriests.
When the time of war against the Second God came, they sided with the Union of Askareia. Their homeland was damaged, but only slightly compared to the catastrophe, that other nations had to endure.

Age of Decline

The ages following the Age of Askareia are often called the Age of Decline as Elves percieve a general downfall of civilisation. This is however the age during which Dwarves rebuild their civilisations and Humans rose to prominence.
The most important event concerning the Aldrim is the Great Schism of Mages. Following the devastating war against the Second God, many elves questioned their approach to magic. A certain group began to totally reject the way that elves had handled things so far. Instead they sought to learn from the Druids, primordial human mages. This art itself has been lost among most humans over time and is only preserved on the island of Alwaein in its full extant.
The elves who adopted primordial human magic migrated away from their homeland into the east, their new homeland came to be known as the Eastern Refuge.

Age of Dauler

The Age of Dauler or the Second Age of Humanity is named after the human Emperor Dauler the Great, founder of the Daulerim Empire. During the turn of ages, he defeated the last of the Shatun during the Battle of Illangar.
His goal was to unite humanity and usher in an era of peace and prosperity. For this matter he also allied with many dwarven states and the remnant of elven nations. He gained the most substantial support from the Aldrim. Following his victory, many Aldrim decided to continue to support humanity and teach them their ways. Many Aldrim integrated into human society and eventually assimilated. Their descendents are Half-Elves, who make up a substantial part of the population in many regions of the Empire. In most of these, the human ancestry heavily outweighs the elven one, despite this a great lot have partial elven ancestry. The reverse is much rarer. These half-elves call themself Eiler, the Daulerim name applied to all elves. Only a fraction of pure Aldrim elves still lives in the remnants of their homeland. They might not even number ten thousand.

Culture

Magic

Elven societies are dominated by mages, whom humans call sorcerers. As a general rule, older means more powerful. It has been a practice among all elven mages to prolong their lives and gain as much power as possible. Mages who reach over a thousand years of age are called Undying. In the past lived truly ancient individuals like the Empress of Eternal Spring, who lived almost five thousand years and ruled over the first Empire of history.
The Aldrim practice mostly biomancy and some also have specialised in aeromancy. Biomancy is the controll of the innate lifeforce of every living being, that is of all animals and plants and so on. Living in the forests they had always access to a vast array of plants and animals to study and draw from. Different forms of herbology also developed, using the powers of magical plants. Some more gruesome mages also draw their powers from animals. In a fight an Aldrim mage is always cautious to stand on green pastures. Their goal is to heal any attacks on them and their allies as quickly as possible. Physical contact with a skilled biomancer than be lethal as they are also capable to draining their target of their lifeforce. Even a small contact can quickly exhaust them and make them incapacitated.
A special class of mages is called Alderpriests. They only live of the sap of magically powerful trees. Their physical appearance is changed also. Their skin is almost bark-like and white as a birch tree. They are completely bold and their veins, pupils and lips are bright red.

Language

It is a well known fact, that elves despise written language. Instead their entire history is oral and passed down by their elders trough the ages. The puts them at odds with dwarves, who are obsessed with recording history.
The language of the Aldrim is called Aldršłé and represents and oddity among elven languages. Some Half-Elves, who identify as Eiler have begun to learn and study Aldršłé and written books in it. They devised their own script, independent of the existing scripts based on Emat, also known as Classical Dwarvish.
Aldršłé as a language itself is mostly known for its complicated consonants and its complex morphology. This is not a feature of all elven languages. The languages spoken by elves aren't a single family and aren't related to each other on a demonstratable level. There is nothing, which inherently differentiates them from human or dwarven languages. The hallmarks of Aldršłé are therefore particular to Aldršłé itself.

Name
Ald ( Aldršłé )
Eiler / Aldrim (Daulerim )
Aytir (Emat )
Population
~17,000 (Pure)
Substantial Half-Elf population
Language
Aldršłé

Diverged ethnicities

• Alwaeinian
• Daulerim

Encompassed species

• Elves