Dorodir Curse

They say that the Dorodir Curse is a mercy in comparison to the executions or imprisonment in other societies. Maybe I do agree that it is not a barbaric way of punishing casters who did something wrong. But on the other hand why would you leave them to go around the world after removing their magic. There have been cases of Elves getting their powers back.

— High Sage Syronikir

High Elves love their rules and breaking them is something that should be punished even if aristocrats break them. Killing someone of high standing for an offense is seen as too barbaric. The Elves of Mervidel and Kavonia therefore have chosen a different path, the Dorodir Curse.
This curse is actually applied by the priests of the Elven pantheon and is said to be named after the mythical Dorodir. Just as was the case in the tale of Dorodir the victim gets a limit on their magical abilities. This effectively prevents them from using any advanced magic. For powerful casters some very limited and weak spells remain and can improve over time but never anywhere near the same ability as before the curse.
Often the curse is combined with a banishment from Elven society. This , however, enables the cursed Elf to spend all of their time on lifting it. But there is only one way to do so and it is not easy.

Extra Information

Affected

Common among Elves as punishment

Transmission

Forced attunement to empty Falls

Incubation

Instant

Lasting Effects

Limited magic use

The Curse

The Dorodir Curse is for many casters in Elven society their worst nightmare. It means the end of their use of most of their magical abilties. And a loss of magic use is a loss of power in the magocracies of Mervidel and Kavonia. This is perhaps the main reason why High Elves are so careful to not break the rules as the curse is the punishment regardless of their previous standing.

Ritual

Someone can not suddenly receive the Dorodir Curse. There is a large ritual involved which is performed by the priests of the Eregr Elven pantheon. After a lenghty trial an Elf can get sentenced with the Dorodir Curse. The reason for it can be anything going from abusing magical powers to (accidental) murder.
During the ritual several empty Falls are used to actually drain magic from the criminal. This process takes a long time and is somewhat painful. At least three priests need to use their magic to perform it and they need to maintain their concentration. Therefore the actual ritual is not seen by many outsider as it is often performed behind closed doors.
According to those who were involved in the ritual the victim often has waking nightmares of all their wrongdoings in the past. So say that in addition to that, they saw directly into the core of the Nervonia and heard an alien voice speaking to them.
After the ritual they person is often to weak to stand for several days. Once they are once again in decent health they are often banished from the land.

by Kefkejaco with Heroforge

Prognosis

Symptoms

After Ritual

• No magical abilities
• Tiredness
• Fever
• Nausea
• Muscle pain

First years:

• No magical abilities
• Weakened strength

After the first years some magical abilties return and phycial power returns to normal.

Living with the Curse

During the first few years living with the Dorodir Curse is difficult for many. Elves in general often live with magical abilities form a very young age. The sudden lose of magic can sometimes impact their mental state and leads many Elves to a depression for the first years. Once a very limited use of magic returns and their physical health returns to normal they once again become more like their former selves. Nightmares of their wrongdoings is something that keeps occuring at certain times.

Madness

Sometimes someone with the Dorodir Curse does not return to their formal mental state. This is most often the case for those that claim to have heard Nervonia speak to them during the ritual. Over time they become mad and start looking for extreme ways to restore their abilities. This often leads them to seek Chaos magic, a path which can lead to Chaos Corruption.

Treatment

Their is a way to restore the powers they once had but it is a very diffcult task. To achieve this they will need to travel to places in the world that are known to have a close connection to the Elemental Planes. The bad part of this is of course that most of those places are located in very dangerous areas around the world. Several of such places need to be visited which means that the journey will take long and can most likely result in death. It would be a big mistake to even try this in the first years after the ritual.
One of the main locations that Elves travel to is the Visar Volcanoes located in the Volker bay. The reason for this is that it is still relatively close to Elven countries and it is a place with a connection to the Fire planes, a type of magic High Elves love. Many Elves, however, do not return from this trip.
For other types of magic the cursed ones would have to travel to other locations. For Tremor magic the cursed would need to travel to the Lower Realms which is just as dangerous. Other types of magic could lead the cursed ones to the frigid northern continent, the deep jungles or deserts.
Those that fulfill this journey and regain their powers are believed to have redeemed themselves in the eyes of the Gods. Afterwards they can once again join Elven society.

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.

Myth

Yamaderis misplaced this image by Kefkjaco with heroforge

First Curse

According to myth Dorodir used to be a High Elf living during the last century of Avaronian rule. He always had a rivalry with Eronkon, another High Elf of high standing. One day during an argument between the two Eronkon lashed out with his magic at Dorodir. However, he missed and accidently killed Dorodir's wife. Instead of waiting for a fair trial, Dorodir could not contain his own rage and decided to take things in his own hands. He killed Eronkon and set fire to his house. The fact that in this rage he also killed the innocent family of Eronkon, made him cursed by the Gods.

Dorodir's Travels

Frelia spoke to him and told him that he would be never be able to use magic again until he was able to redeem himself. As a devout folowwer of Frelia he saw no other option than to obey. So he set out on a journey that would take him around the known world. The tales from his journey would later be brought together in the "Dorodir's Travels", which is even today one of the most read books among Elves. In the end after 100 years of travel he did redeem himself and he was once again welcomed in Elven society.