V'Gedra (Before Serenity Era)
Before Serenity arrived in the Red Desert, V’Gedra was the capital city of the Valsharess, Queen of the Davrin Elves, for twenty millennia. It was by far the largest population of Dark Elves in one place, though many smaller towns and settlements existed as well.
With the rise of the fast-spreading and quick-adapting Humans, the Desert became "discovered" and V’Gedra was the crucial, stable hub for new commerce, infrastructural systems, negotiations between peoples, and magical education.
Geography & Climate
The primary Davrin city was founded on the southside of the Edonil Hills, an east-west oriented landmark filled with cliffs, ravines, and valleys which many consider the “gateway” to reach the deep Desert unless one follows the coasts at either end.
North of the Edonil are arid scrublands with coarse grasses and somewhat greater rainfall leading toward the present-day Kurgan Steppes and the taller, craggy spine of the Raguruos Mountains of Paxia. South of Edonil is where the famous red dunes of the Desert begin and remain continuous until reaching the Sea of Fire.
The location of the main Davrin settlement was chosen for one of the largest, deepest sources of water to be found: a massive aquifer. The first core settlement of V’Gedra was built around a spring which had revealed the critical source and later became the Palace of the Valsharess. Water can be accessed in several ways, most hidden and guarded, with one visible to the public: a large, sheltered well upon a modestly risen platform constructed of red stone.
Civil Landmarks
The first public well of V’Gedra soon was encased within the Palace of the Valsharess, the largest and most easily recognized structure in the city. Nudged up against some private ravines leading deeper into the Edonil Hills, the Palace and its state centers rest upon the high ground above the rest of the city spreading into an open valley floor.
Within walking distance of the Palace are other well-known landmarks of the city. Nearest are the ancestral grounds of the two largest families supporting the Queen: House Ja’Prohn the scholarly mages, and House D’Shauranti with the warrior-mages known as Blade Singers. Between these and the main Market are carefully irrigated fields and protected structures growing food.
Next to the public Market, which mingles tangible trades with entertainment, are the barracks for peacekeeping and enforcement of the Valsharess’s Law. Many fire-brick roads connect clusters of homes and extend even farther out to the primary pastures and shelters of the shimmer-hided Hilsav, a breed of horse specialized for the Red Desert and a critical means of travel so far from the coasts.
Politics & Economy
Once water could be guaranteed and protected, V’Gedra became a sprawling government center for the Desert. Tundar Dwarves were some of the earliest caravans to encounter and negotiate with Davrin Elves; their business alliances were strengthened by a common dislike of the raids and chaotic destruction mounted by the Orcs.
The central focus of the Davrin Queen is to defend the Davrin supremacy of the Red Desert and remain involved in the direction and negotiation of trade with other races and lands, in the native agriculture to feed the populace, and to explore and maintain control of sources of precious ores favored by the Dwarves and, later, the Humans.
The city itself has become famous for a broad range of crafts and inventions, entertainments and artwork, magical and scholarly practices, horse breeding, and military training.
In time, tribes of nomadic Humans settled permanently in the Desert and, learning more of their native magic through the elder races, became advanced enough to form their own loose network of city-states called the Zauyrian Realms.
While clear to almost any observer that the Zauyrians had taken the Davrin Queendom as their inspiration for their government, the Realms had no Valsharess but, instead, are each ruled by a Sorcerer King destined through magic to live for two human lifetimes, about a century and a half.
History & Culture
V’Gedra is the seat of a singular and homogenous matriarchy; all Desert settlements founded by Davrin Elves acknowledge the Valsharess and Her authority as the primary keeper of their long history and protector of their magic, secrets, and best interests in the games of survival parallel to other races.
The Davrin culture has long held that their never-wavering appearance of lunar-white hair matched with skin like the night sky makes them children of the Sister Goddesses, represented by the two moons of Miurag. When the Red Desert was given to them, their eyes took on the rust, copper, and scarlet shades of the dunes themselves.
Add to this the practical reality of desert-dwellers often preferring night travel and avoiding the Brother-Sun (the male counterpoint to the Sisters in numerous legends) at the height of his day, and the Dark Elves became staunch goddess worshipers favoring daughters to lead in all major positions of power.
In contrast, their pale-skinned cousins, the Naulor Elves, prize their sons for leadership, especially those born with golden hair and blue eyes, who are said to be touched by the colors of the Brother-Sun during his fairest days. Among Davrin, hair gone blond with eyes faded away from red indicate aged infirmity and blindness; yet, for a Naulor living in forests on the other side of the continent, this is the prime of their youth.
No one truly knows whether the Davrin became a matriarchy in response to the Naulor patriarchy or vice versa, or whether their culture simply happened in isolation without pressure from each other. Not even their leaders seem to have reliable sources for events beyond legend and cultural myth, and each will claim the divine right of their way.
In times of diplomacy, the Naulor ruler known only as the Father has sometimes had a Queen to serve as his ambassador, but this has never settled well with the Valsharess of the Desert. She sees any Naulor female as an insulting puppet without true power, sent by a contemptuous male unwilling to give his true name or show his true face.
Conflicts have periodically arisen between the two Elven peoples throughout their history, but long distance, distracting conflicts with Orcs, and overall different interests has granted them time for flares of temper or grievous affronts to cool and sleep. By and large, the two breeds of Elves have remained separate and distinct, insisting they are separate races.
Something Extra
Patreon exclusive content: Added secrets or insights about the location.Surface, the Red Desert
Population
Roughly 10,000 year-round;
up to 40,000 with transients
Included Races:
Davrin Elves (founders, dominant Elves)
Wilder Elves
Naulor Elves (rare)
Tilabil (rare)
Zauyrian (dominant Humans)
Tundar Dwarves
Paxian Humans
Kurgan Humans (less common)
Noiri Humans (less common)
Yungian Humans (rare)
Excluded races:
Orcs (becoming rare)
Not seen in V’Gedra Before Serenity:
All Deepearth races
Sathoet
Ma'ab
Bogle
Srann
