Diz'res Ethnicity in Zameen | World Anvil

Diz'res

City Elves of a Lost Empire

The Diz'res are the people who pop to most people's mind when the word "elf" is used in Rhyduania, and they are by far the most populous of all elven races. They're also the only elves with no lands or cities, or even culture, to call their own, populating the cities of other races. Their name means "The Lost People."   Cultures and attitudes of Diz'res are often defined largely by the cultures of the cities they grow up in. Because of their excellent eyesight and darkvision, they often make a niche for themselves as city guards, manning walls and patrolling streets during night hours that are difficult for some of their neighbors to see in. Diz'res are pretty universally accepted in all lands, the only exceptions being Scytharia (where the rarity of elves makes them a curiosity) and among the halfling tribes of Al-gon (where nearly all intelligent life is treated with hostility.)   The Diz'res people are mostly descendants of Lon'res commoners who stayed in their cities after the Adlon Empire collapsed. Over time, the waning influence of the few nobles to survive the Sundering caused them to slowly merge into the Diz'res majority over the centuries. It is fashionable to claim descent from these minor nobles, but even more fashionable to claim one of the other more exotic elven minorities. No special status is ever accrued by these claims, and they seem to be mostly used as a source of interesting stories to talk about.  

Diz'res in Orbarrow

  The barge life of Orbarrow leads to most Diz'res to take on tasks that require feats of agility, making themselves useful in events like docking barges to each other and to the floating cities, leaping from boat to boat carrying ropes, and setting up cargo ziplines. Diz'res and half-Diz'res folks with a predilection for academic pursuits usually leave for Nehemen as young adults.  

Diz'res in the Karthin Cities

  The Cities feature the least amount of cultural distinction between people of different ancestries in all of Rhyduania. The elven ability to see in the dark makes them more likely to work night shifts, but they are otherwise distributed through trades and professions at about the same rates as most intelligent beings.  

Diz'res in Scytharia

  As far as anyone can tell, the frozen peninsula has always been under the stewardship of the bearfolk. The Adlon Empire seems to have mostly treated them as a client state, and elven colonization never really become popular. Sages seem to generally agree that the land being winter ten months of the year might have also been a factor. Khal'res elves are rare immigrants from the Khalvarn Mountains, and Diz'res elves are almost non-existent. The few Lon'res that did exist in Scytharia after the Sundering appear to have been completely absorbed into local human culture, if they ever existed at all.  

Diz'res in Druugheim

  The Adlon Empire found most of the land that is now called Druugheim to be utterly useless. What little land isn't swamps is rocky, and all of it is just chilly enough to be unpleasant. The Druugheim Pilgrimage that claimed the land in 1836 AS was formed of peoples who considered elves and humans their main oppressors, so elves of any kind living there is completely unheard of, and there are no obvious reasons for them to want to.  

Diz'res in Noctabia

  A handful of large businesses in the Noctabian capital are centered around Diz'res families, like Gilvyre Garments and Balvalur & Sons. The mostly Nomoi population has a tendency to value exotic and rare things, and the involvement of a Diz'res is often used as a marketing ploy in luxury goods and experiences, like restaurants and tailors. A rebellious Diz'res youth movement has sprung up in response, resenting this state of affairs as racial fetishization, and intentionally seeking the most mundane employment possible as a reaction. Ironically, with humans being relatively rare in Noctabia, elves dominate the heavy labor field (especially outside the city), providing a solid majority of the employees of most construction, mining and logging efforts.
Parent ethnicities
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