Fire Elves
Imara
"Commander Renelle, There are three types of Ishum. There are the Zalan, the Gissu, and the Nimur."
Renelle
Imara
"I am half Zalan."Renelle
History
The Fire Elves, or Ishum, are like any other elf that was created long ago by the Silver Age Cataclysm. Before this event, the humans of The Moon Izi were powerful people and a technologically advanced society. They couldn't last very long on the surface of the world on their own, but they have a great many devices that could assist them. After this event, all their technology stopped working and their civilization collapsed.
These new elves absorbed the Aether of the moon Izi, which is the aether of the fire god himself, Beirunes. This caused the elves of this moon to become the Ishum, or Fire Elves. They could now stand on the surface of the world and didn't need their old technology, but they didn't know how to survive without their technology either. They would have died if not for their God Beirunes.
Beirunes, the great destroyer and the god of fire. He once tried to burn Vreathe to Ash, but was stopped and imprisoned by the Silver Race, the people that turned into the elves. Thanks to the cataclysm, he was able to escape his prison. Instead of burning Vreathe like he originally wanted to, he left and returned to Izi. There, he found more of the silver people, clinging to survival.
The fire god thought of destroying the Ishum, but instead he showed them where the secret prisons were. These caverns were filled with water and life and the Ishum thrived after this. They came to see Beirunes as their God and started worshipping him.
They inherited Beirune's goals, such as finding a way back to Vreathe to burn down Meliheal the World Tree. Their entire religion and culture grew violent and became entirely consumed by war. The Fire God was conflicted about this, as burning the wellspring of souls to ash was his goal for a countless number of years. He meditated and pondered on this for several millennia before he brought a message to his people that they should be peaceful beings instead of being destroyers.
Types
Zalan, the Bright Elves
Bright Elves are the most common variety of fire elves. They have varying shades of orange to tan skin and they have glowing orange hair and eyes. They are noticeably shorter than other varieties of fire elves but are still taller than a human. While they do have Beirune's Blessing and can survive on the surface just fine, they prefer the comfort that the ungerground provides, living near water sources in the many caverns of the world.
Bright Elves used to be quite warlike in their ways and had an entire culture built around strength. They regularly conquered each other's cave cities and they sent the strongest warriors among them to Beirunes to recieve greater blessings. Their entire culture was spent around preparing for an eventual war against Vreathe once the portal was found.
Then when a portal to vreathe was finally discovered, Beirunes told the Elves to leave Vreathe alone. In the two centuries since the Bright Elves have become much more peaceful. Other aspects of their culture finally started developing again though it will be a few more centuries before they reach the level of elegance that the Elves of Vreathe have achieved.
Gissu, the Deep Elves
Deep Elves are secluded beings, living very deep within the world, beyond even the Deep Wilds. Their skin is often a pale pink and their hair is violet. Their eyes glow blue. Very little is known about them, even among other fire elves. They no longer have the blessing of Beirunes and can't survive on the surface without using some other means.
When a Deep Elf is spotted, they are normally seen casting water or ice magic. This makes the others question if Deep Elves are actually Fire Elves at all. They probably were in the distant past, but as they live deep underground inthe frozen caverns below the moon, in the great prisons of Izi, they are distant from the Fire God. Instead they absorbed a different god's aether, and over the millennia they became a different type of Elf.
These Elves are so secluded and distant that nothing for sure can be said about their culture or their ways. They could be as war-like as the Ash Elves and the Bright Elves used to be, or they could have a refined society like the Sengar of Lazulia. It just isn't known.
Nimur, the Ash Elves
Ash elves live directly on the surface of Izi near lava lakes and especially near the Runic Lava Sea. Their skin takes on a dark ashy color and various parts of their bodies glow a bright orange. Their hair is always white and their eyes glow red. Ash elves are vehement worshippers of Beirunes and are always preparing for the day he orders them to invade Vreathe and burn down Meliheal the World Tree.
Unfortunately, when Beirunes ordered the Elves to not invade Vreathe, the Ash Elves felt a little betrayed. Similar to the Bright elves, they spent millennia preparing for the eventual war with the other world, so they ignored their god and kept going anyways. Even after Beirunes shut them out of his palace and wouldn't allow them to worship them anymore, the Ash Elves continued on.
Their culture is completely devoted to war, and they will wage war against anything on Izi, whether its the roaming bands of Ogres, the roosting Drakes, or other Elves. Some say the Ash Elves found a new source of magic, one that will completely upend the balance of power on Izi.
This is one of the coolest takes on Elves I've seen in a while. Excellent read!