Silyu: Shadow Elves
Shadow Elf (Silyu)
The Shadow Elves of the Ebon Parallel were victims of Shalsetri's war of unification thousands of years ago. As they attempted to flee the continent of Irakan for the safety of another world - the forests of the Fey - their ritual was sabotaged. Spiteful Shalsetri caused them to be sent instead to the Ebon Parallel, a world of shadow and death, where they have suffered and sacrificed to survive.
The Story of the Silyu
Silyu Traits
Doomed Refugees
The Shadow Elves - Silyu in the Elven tongue - fled their homes long ago, during the time in which Shalsetri, now the god-emperor of Irakan, first usurped the Irakani throne and launched a war against the other tribes. After a decade of all-out war with no end in sight, the leaders of the elves that would become the Silyu feared Shalsetri’s War would annihilate all life on their home continent of Irakan. This group of elves, composed of refugees from several tribes, sought to combine their sorcerous magics to escape the burning continent. As they conducted a ritual intended to sequester themselves in a relatively safe enclave within the wild forests of the Fey, a world beyond Shalsetri’s ambition, they were sabotaged. Spiteful Shalsetri used his mastery of arcane magic to change their destination to the Ebon Parallel instead - a small world of twisted unlife and perverted magics sealed off from the rest of existence by divine fiat. There they struggled and languished for generations before finally establishing something like the homes they left behind. But the story of their survival is hardly triumphant. The Price of Survival
Once they realized they were unable to return to their homeworld, the Silyu sages focused on adapting their disparate peoples to the world on which they were trapped. For a time, they eked out a life as they were, making use of what little knowledge they had of the plane to survive. Food was scarce and hope even moreso. Nonetheless, they managed to survive, wandering the plane of death as a nomadic troupe. However, it was not long before the more powerful and sinister entities trapped within the Ebon - true natives of the plane - developed a curiosity about the newcomers. Curiosity turned to hunger, and the proud elves became nothing more than prey. In a short time, nearly all of the refugees were hunted and slain by living shadows and horrible beasts. In desperation, their leaders cast aside their pride and made bargains with powerful beings that lived within the Ebon Parallel. The Silyu would trade their inborn gifts and magics for abilities that would allow them to survive in a world of living death. As they were reshaped and adapted to the necrotic energies of the Ebon, their skin - Visaka gold, Dreva brown, even Dimna onyx and Zeleza red - turned ash-grey, their hair midnight black or moonlight white, their eyes obsidian-black. In exchange, they gained powers well-suited to thriving on the plane of living death. Hundreds of years have passed. With their powers, the Silyu were able to more than survive, and in time, they were able to settle a village, which grew to a town and then finally a city - in the Silyu language, this called Tor. In the common tongue, Refuge. But they have neither forgiven nor forgotten the God that abandoned them and the home they were denied, and they have an instinctive yearning for their homeworld of Kraynor. A Pyrrhic Return
Thousands of years have passed on the world of Kraynor, and many Eras, while only a scant few hundred years have passed in the sequestered land where Tor-Refuge was established. So when Mila-Mila, an evil ancient to Kraynor but younger than the Silyu offered them a chance to return to their homeworld and to eventually topple the usurper Shalsetri, they had no way of knowing they were being enlisted as shock troops in a war against all of existence. Some Shadow Elves discovered the truth and resisted the warmongering tyrant, but the faction loyal to Mila-Mila staged a coup, crowning her Queen of the Silyu. This allowed her influence to run unchecked through the minds of the Shadow Elves. As they trickle in through portals opened by Mila-Mila’s agents on Kraynor, they are tasked to wander from settlement to settlement, ingratiating themselves amongst the populace, waiting for their master’s orders. However, unbeknownst to Mila-Mila, when Silyu cross the threshold into the world of Kraynor, her hold over them weakens. Some of them have even managed to break free entirely, and they live as adventurers and swords-for-hire, using their dark gifts to navigate an alien world.
The Shadow Elves - Silyu in the Elven tongue - fled their homes long ago, during the time in which Shalsetri, now the god-emperor of Irakan, first usurped the Irakani throne and launched a war against the other tribes. After a decade of all-out war with no end in sight, the leaders of the elves that would become the Silyu feared Shalsetri’s War would annihilate all life on their home continent of Irakan. This group of elves, composed of refugees from several tribes, sought to combine their sorcerous magics to escape the burning continent. As they conducted a ritual intended to sequester themselves in a relatively safe enclave within the wild forests of the Fey, a world beyond Shalsetri’s ambition, they were sabotaged. Spiteful Shalsetri used his mastery of arcane magic to change their destination to the Ebon Parallel instead - a small world of twisted unlife and perverted magics sealed off from the rest of existence by divine fiat. There they struggled and languished for generations before finally establishing something like the homes they left behind. But the story of their survival is hardly triumphant. The Price of Survival
Once they realized they were unable to return to their homeworld, the Silyu sages focused on adapting their disparate peoples to the world on which they were trapped. For a time, they eked out a life as they were, making use of what little knowledge they had of the plane to survive. Food was scarce and hope even moreso. Nonetheless, they managed to survive, wandering the plane of death as a nomadic troupe. However, it was not long before the more powerful and sinister entities trapped within the Ebon - true natives of the plane - developed a curiosity about the newcomers. Curiosity turned to hunger, and the proud elves became nothing more than prey. In a short time, nearly all of the refugees were hunted and slain by living shadows and horrible beasts. In desperation, their leaders cast aside their pride and made bargains with powerful beings that lived within the Ebon Parallel. The Silyu would trade their inborn gifts and magics for abilities that would allow them to survive in a world of living death. As they were reshaped and adapted to the necrotic energies of the Ebon, their skin - Visaka gold, Dreva brown, even Dimna onyx and Zeleza red - turned ash-grey, their hair midnight black or moonlight white, their eyes obsidian-black. In exchange, they gained powers well-suited to thriving on the plane of living death. Hundreds of years have passed. With their powers, the Silyu were able to more than survive, and in time, they were able to settle a village, which grew to a town and then finally a city - in the Silyu language, this called Tor. In the common tongue, Refuge. But they have neither forgiven nor forgotten the God that abandoned them and the home they were denied, and they have an instinctive yearning for their homeworld of Kraynor. A Pyrrhic Return
Thousands of years have passed on the world of Kraynor, and many Eras, while only a scant few hundred years have passed in the sequestered land where Tor-Refuge was established. So when Mila-Mila, an evil ancient to Kraynor but younger than the Silyu offered them a chance to return to their homeworld and to eventually topple the usurper Shalsetri, they had no way of knowing they were being enlisted as shock troops in a war against all of existence. Some Shadow Elves discovered the truth and resisted the warmongering tyrant, but the faction loyal to Mila-Mila staged a coup, crowning her Queen of the Silyu. This allowed her influence to run unchecked through the minds of the Shadow Elves. As they trickle in through portals opened by Mila-Mila’s agents on Kraynor, they are tasked to wander from settlement to settlement, ingratiating themselves amongst the populace, waiting for their master’s orders. However, unbeknownst to Mila-Mila, when Silyu cross the threshold into the world of Kraynor, her hold over them weakens. Some of them have even managed to break free entirely, and they live as adventurers and swords-for-hire, using their dark gifts to navigate an alien world.
Silyu Traits
Ability Score Increase. Increase your Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma ability score by 2. Then increase your Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution by 1. Age. Living in the Ebon Parallel has drastically truncated the lifespan of the Silyu. They mature at the same rate as humans, but they stop visibly aging once they hit their mid-30s. They rarely live past 100. Alignment. Silyu tend to be lawful; those who defy the wisdom of their culture tend to end up dead at the hands of the beings that dwell outside their only city. Evil and good are found in equal measure within the Silyu, but Silyu adventurers are more likely to be good. Size. Your size is Medium. Shadow Elves, male and female, tend to be around six feet tall. Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet. Names. Many Silyu have traditional elven names. However, in Silyu culture, names ending in -tora (such as Antora, Ultora, Desitora) are considered to be feminine-sounding and names ending in -tor or -toru (such as Estor, Otoru, Balatoru) are considered to be masculine-sounding. On Guard. You have a +3 bonus to your Armor Class and Saving Throws during a round in which you are surprised. Ebonflesh. Silyu are warded against necrotic energies. You have resistance to Necrotic damage. Additionally, when you would take Necrotic damage, you can actively intensify this protection, reducing the damage you take by an amount equal to your level. This requires no action. You can reduce damage this way once and you can do so again after finishing a short or long rest. Death Eater. The ultimate adaptation of the Shadow Elves - the reason they have been able to survive the Ebon Parallel - is the ability to draw sustenance from death. When a creature you can see dies within 120 feet of you, you can use your reaction to roll a hit die and regain hit points equal to the result plus your proficiency bonus. You don’t lose the hit die. When you do so, you gain sufficient nourishment to survive for one day without eating. You still need to drink water. You can use this reaction once, and you regain use of it after finishing a long rest. Trance. You do not sleep. Instead you meditate deeply, remaining semi-conscious, for 4 hours a day. The Common word for this meditation is "trance". While meditating, you dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive after years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit a human would from 8 hours of sleep. Keen Senses. You have proficiency in the Perception skill. Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Silyu, which is a language descended from Elven that has combined with Ebontongue, the language of the Ebon Parallel.
Ability Score Increase. Increase your Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma ability score by 2. Then increase your Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution by 1. Age. Living in the Ebon Parallel has drastically truncated the lifespan of the Silyu. They mature at the same rate as humans, but they stop visibly aging once they hit their mid-30s. They rarely live past 100. Alignment. Silyu tend to be lawful; those who defy the wisdom of their culture tend to end up dead at the hands of the beings that dwell outside their only city. Evil and good are found in equal measure within the Silyu, but Silyu adventurers are more likely to be good. Size. Your size is Medium. Shadow Elves, male and female, tend to be around six feet tall. Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet. Names. Many Silyu have traditional elven names. However, in Silyu culture, names ending in -tora (such as Antora, Ultora, Desitora) are considered to be feminine-sounding and names ending in -tor or -toru (such as Estor, Otoru, Balatoru) are considered to be masculine-sounding. On Guard. You have a +3 bonus to your Armor Class and Saving Throws during a round in which you are surprised. Ebonflesh. Silyu are warded against necrotic energies. You have resistance to Necrotic damage. Additionally, when you would take Necrotic damage, you can actively intensify this protection, reducing the damage you take by an amount equal to your level. This requires no action. You can reduce damage this way once and you can do so again after finishing a short or long rest. Death Eater. The ultimate adaptation of the Shadow Elves - the reason they have been able to survive the Ebon Parallel - is the ability to draw sustenance from death. When a creature you can see dies within 120 feet of you, you can use your reaction to roll a hit die and regain hit points equal to the result plus your proficiency bonus. You don’t lose the hit die. When you do so, you gain sufficient nourishment to survive for one day without eating. You still need to drink water. You can use this reaction once, and you regain use of it after finishing a long rest. Trance. You do not sleep. Instead you meditate deeply, remaining semi-conscious, for 4 hours a day. The Common word for this meditation is "trance". While meditating, you dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive after years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit a human would from 8 hours of sleep. Keen Senses. You have proficiency in the Perception skill. Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Silyu, which is a language descended from Elven that has combined with Ebontongue, the language of the Ebon Parallel.
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