Daski: Dark Elves

For most of history the Daski Elves remained a mystery. They never ventured from their realms deep underground and most on the surface were not even bothered by their existence. This changed when large amount of Daski Elves moved to the surface and essentially took control of Deldirom. Now a new faction with advanced weapons is spotted. Could something new be coming?

— High Sage Syronikir

Thousands of years ago the ancient Elven population migrated from central Farlis to various regions. The Dark Elves, or Daski , are the descendants of the Elves that moved underground into the Lower Realms. The name of Dark Elves originates from the fact that the Daski live in the dark underground. This name is often used by Humans but among Elves the name Daski is used.
Before moving underground the Daski Elves had skin tones similar to the ones from the surface. After living underground for centuries they developed dark purple or blue skin tones. So far no one understands why the Daski are so different from the other Elves.

Biology

Physiology

Just like all Elves the Daski have long ears with pointed ends. In general the Daski have darker dark purple skin but sometimes they can have dark blue skin as well. Almost all of the Daski living above ground tend to have blue skin tones whereas those living underground tend to have purple skin tones.
In almost all cases the Daski have either white or gray hair colours. Among the Daski the eye colour is also often the same violet or blue color although their can be some variations to this.
Other characteristics that sets them apart from the other Elves is their ability to see well in dark environments as well as their good cold resistance.
On average an Avar lives up to 800 years which is the longest lifespan of all Elves.

Climate

The vast majority of the Daski Elves lives underground and most of the in the dangerous Lower Realms. In this rather hostile environment they have manged to thrive and their species is the largest group of the Lower Realms inhabitants. But due to their good cold resistance some of the Daski Elves have once again ventured to the surface where they especially like to settle in colder environments. Many Daski Elves are now living in the surface nation of Deldirom.

Reproduction

The Daski Elves, unlike the Avar Elves use their long lifespans to have many children. It is not uncommon for a Daski Elf to be the parent of over a 20 children. Some of them the children don't last very long of course due to the many dangers of the Lower Realms and the frequent warfare between Daski factions.
On the other hand the Daski Elves living on the surface have slightly less children but still much more than the Aina Elves. This has caused a significant shift in the demographics of Deldirom. Currently the original Aina population inhabiting the region has become a minority.

Additional Information

Lofior Dark Elf by Kefkejaco with Herforge

Scientific Name

daski (Daski)

Geographic Location

Lower Realms, Deldirom

Language

Lasman

Favoured Climates

Underground, cold climates

Average Height

1.8m

Lifespan

On average 800 years

Society

Yamaderis misplaced this image by Kefkjaco with heroforge

Relgion

Unlike most other Elves, the Daski do worship many gods of the Eregr pantheon. Some are still important to them but none are as worshipped as the god Lofior. In the common Erergr pantheon he is seen as somewhat of an evil god who likes to manipulate and betray the other gods. To the Daski Elves he is the protector god and is said to even have ensured that the Daski Elves could live underground. Some even belief that the god still resides in the Lower Realm and even now continues to protect them.
One faction of the Daski Elves is the Loforia, named after their main settlement, who claim to be the chosen of Lofior. Although other factions refute this claim the fact still remains that they are the most powerful faction. According to those who fought them they even have advanced weapons that could possibly be of Prime Asmer design.

Culture

Factions

The Daski Elves living underground are divided into various factions. Each of these factions tries to gain as much power as possible which often results in conflict. Wars between the various factions is quite common and is also one of the main causes of death among the Daski. If they were united the Daski would most likely outnumber any of the surface living Elves.
Their society is rather military based and all Daski need to learn to fight from a young age. Of course this is not only to fight against other factions but also against the various dangers of the Lower Realms.

Gender

Unlike the Mofae and the Avar Elves gender is not as fluid because the Lower Realms have no large supply of the Leaf variant of Falls. This however does not mean that there is not some degree of equality. The Daski Elves can't afford to not use every Elf that they can during their conflicts. Men and women are therefore just as likely to join the military. Because of this the leader of a faction is not limited to any gender.

by kefkejaco with midjourney

Architecture

The Daski Elves have a different architecture if compared to the Elves on the surface. Whereas the Elves on the surface often try to emulate nature the Daski Elves are more pragmatic. They try to use the environment of the various caves as much as they can which often leads to part of a settlement being hewed out in the cave walls. Some settlements tend to use large cave pillars as some form of tower. The building that are not hewed out are made from stones of various sizes held together with mortar. Decorations are scarce but the more important buildings of a settlement often display often have decorations made out of expansive metals such as gold.

Loforia

The Loforia faction is the largest faction of the Daski Elves and , according to themselves, the chosen of the god Lofior. No one on the surface knows exactly where their settlement of Loforia is but going by the rumors it must be quite large and an impressive sight to behold. Some even claim that it is the final resting place of a Divine Vessel.
Most of the time they kept to themselves but in recent years reports have begun to surface about scouting expeditions from Loforia. In all of these reports they mention high tech gear possibly belonging to the Prime Asmer. If this is indeed true and if the faction would try to attack the technology of some nations would be no match.

History

Niorath

Open full size

This map shows the world of Niorath and its various biomes and nations. The north and south pole areas are still rather unexplored because they are frequently covered in ice. Various species live there but they have not played any major role in the history of the planet. The other continents are much more populated and have seen their fair share of changing occupants.

Some areas of the world are quite different from the normal natural biomes. These are chaos areas, region affected by the dangerous Chaos Tempests who can corrupt the land beyond recognition. Many of these are the result of forbidden magic going very wrong and have often meant the end of the empires that performed the related rituals.

Origin

Due to a still unknown event the original Elves living in central Farlis were forced to move. In the end this would result in several different species of Elves as they spread in all directions and even underground in the case of the Dark Elves. The ancestors of the Daski are believed to have travelled underground to the Lower Realms.

Avaronian Time

During the Avaronian time the Daski Elves were not commonly mentioned in historic records. The only history we know of that time period is that the Daski Elves became the dominant species in the Lower Realms after the fall of the Deep Gnome empire. Other than that we do know that there was some contact with the Avaronians who sometimes went to them for slaves.

After Empire

After the fall of the Avaronian Empire the Daski Elves did not venture from the Lower Realms for several centuries. Eventually some moved to the area that is currently Deldirom. Although the region was mainly populated by the Aina Elves up until that point the Daski Elf communities quickly grew there. This let to some conflicts but eventually the Daski communities were able to settle. They the nation of Deldirom which still had quite a large population of Aina Elves. Today the Aina Elves in Deldirom are a minority and the nation expanded much further which caused many Aina Elves to migrate west across the sea.