Commencons par le commencement, à savoir essayer d'identifier si c'est un univers décent, ou pas
(On s'entend, original dans le sens ''nouvelle création''. Original dans le sens ''originalité'', c'est vraiment dur en HF/SF
Je m'excuse pour le mélange anglais/français, mais une partie des concepts ont été élaborés pour être postés en anglais..
Alors....
A)Setting géopolitique
Setting : Un monde « fantasy » classique intialement, avec de grosses différences apparaissant par la suite :
1) Une technologie très bien maîtrisée, pas «redécouverte» en pleine progression dans nombre de nations : métallurgie, navigation, explosifs…
2) Les Elfes et autres peuples ont existé…mais plus maintenant.
3) Quatre des cinq nations (Muria, Kiavin, Valence, Ravennian) fonctionnent selon des modèles politiques rationnels….
Au cours des dernières années, les nations de KIAVIN et VALENCE ont été déchirées par une série de guerres civiles. Pour mener une réconciliation nationale, quoi de mieux que d’envoyer Outremer les différentes compagnies, bandes de soldats, plus dangereuses pour les civils amis que les soldats ennemis ? La nation de RAVENNIAN a joué un rôle peu clair dans le conflit. Peu clair, mais peu subtil. Cela donne une bonne raison pour l’envahir, d’autant plus que le nouveau monarque de Kiavin voudrait bien se débarrasser un peu des différents représentants des Maisons Nobles. À la guerre, un accident est si vite arrivé. Seulement, il faut aussi régler quelques questions internes avant de partir. Durant les dernières années de la guerre, une révolution a failli l’emporter en Kiavin, ce qui aurait détruit le pouvoir des Nobles. Le support de l’Église aux autorités en place à permis d’écraser le mouvement. (Le support de l’Église…ou Son support ? Nota : les personnages savent très bien ce que sont les rumeurs à Son sujet. Pas les lecteurs initialement) En tout cas, il importe de récompenser l’Église. Par exemple, un mouvement «hérétique» à fait récemment son apparition, prétendant diverses choses à Son sujet, sur Sa véritable nature. L’Église est enragée à l’endroit de ce mouvement…et puis, arrêter quelques dizaines d’hérétiques, c’est plus économique que de donner des terres. (Comme Céline Dion ou Star Académie ne sont pas encore arrivées, il faut aussi penser qu’un procès, puis des bûchers, ça va intéresser le public) On organise donc une conférence d’explication, on signe des saufs-conduits (avec des clauses en petit caractères) et puis, voilà, on fait confesser à quelqu’un un complot «spontanément», et puis dans un mouvement «naturel», on arrête tout le monde énergiquement….
Évidemment, le point est que ce mouvement ne réussit pas, puisque cinq «nobody» complet parmi les Hérétiques se sont échappés…
Quatre des cinq nations (en anglais)
Unsurprisingly for this kind of project, Ravennian, Lorraine and Kiavin have a state religion quite close to catholicism, with some minor issues about overall control, such almost ritual contestations of elections about the senior figures of the Church (when the Head of the Church is from Ravennian, Lorrainers and Kiavinese complain about corruption, and the like) There is serious doctrinal issues with Damaskia. Muria's religion is different, which plague the relation of the little state.
Each nation, for the sake of comparison (and also have genuine political structures) have an political organization more or less based on an Earth nation at a given time. This said organization means nothing to relation between the states, but it did explain many things to the inner dynamics of the nations. In the exception of Damaskia, there is no really ''bad'' or ''good'' guys.
It's very important to note that actions that each nations are dictated by politics, not more or less subtle messages about the real-life states that they are based on
Here is the presentation of three nations.
KIAVIN
Kiavian recently emerged from a serie of civils wars, which destroyed many Nobles houses, or at the very least weakened their power. The power of the Crown, in any case, have seriously been strenghtened. The King have an ambitious plan for dismantling many inner fortresses, used by staging areas by feudal coalitions, the first step to a severe limitation of the influence of the various Houses, especially in outlying areas. As the King, however, have need of Nobles as officers for his armies, things are not clear-cut : the King still have the need to reward his servants with titles, and the like. All of this change nothing to the fact that repression against popular agitation, especially on fiscal matters, is quite severe. The problem is that, because of the wars, the cost of fielding armies, taxation have increased a lot in the last years. There was a serious revolt, that have been crushed mercilessly. As the Church remained very loyal to the Crown in this crisis, the King also have to reward bishops, and the like: in Kiavin, religion is a major power, but often for quite material reasons. Kiavin, exposed to major sea attacks by Damaskia in the Civil War, have recently began a major naval build-up. The main strenght of Kiavian remains however it's ground infantry, very faithfull to the crown, always standing.
(Kiavin could be easily compared to France under Cardinal of Richelieu)
LORRAINE
The main problem of the Lorrainer crown is that her Queen have some trouble with the most important virtue for a monarch: legitimacy. She have took the throne in rather dubious circumstances, following a low-intensity civil war, in which the other Pretendant, her half-brother, died in a battle. Accordingly, Lorrainer foreign policiy is kinda crippled: all nations have the possibility, rather than holding deals with her, to raise doubts about the pertinence of having her in the first place.
International considerations put appart, Lorrainers actually love their Queen, who efficiency is a welcome change with the past monarchs. Government in Lorraine is a delicate balance. Exploiting skillfully the divisions between the various clans of the Nobles that paralyze the High Chamber of her Parliament, the Queen rule is backed by the Low Chamber, who delegates are nammed by the common people, the rising middle class, provincial nobles, and priests (biships are in the High Chamber). On this point, the Church of Lorraine is renowned for being difficult to handle by the central authorities of the Church. Lorraine's armed forces are very scaled down compared to the huge armies fielded by Kiavin and Ravennian: as a result, the economy is surprisingly healthy in Lorraine (less taxation, again), but this once again limits the liberty of the crown in foreign policy: the traditional alliance with Kiavin is the cornerstone of it. The ground forces that Lorraine have, however, are elite, well trained, and very efficient, and rely less on Noble cadres than the armies of Kiavin. The key of the defense/offense of Lorraine is however her impressive navy.
(Lorraine could be easily compared to England under Queen Elizabeh the First)
RAVENNIAN
Ravennian is not exactly a centralized state. It's a loose association of provinces, fiefdoms, free towns, principalties, that recognize a common suzerainety. In fact, except the immediate region of Taris, their capitol, the Emperors of Ravennian have a rather relative controle over their lands, that are only united thought common religion and common allegiance. In appareance, this is not a very efficient system, but it have it's strenghts: by sheer necessity, the fiscal pressure in Ravennian is rather low compared to Valencia and Kiavin, as the central authority does not have the power to coerce much. As a result, Ravennian is not plagued by constant revolts, like Kiavin or to a lesser extent Lorraine. More or less surprisingly, Ravennians are very loyal to their crown (the fact that crown don't control them much is not alien to that...) Ravennian armed forces have no glaring weaknesses, except that they are difficult to muster, and lack even more uniformity than in the other nations. The elite cavalry troops from Taris herself, however, are highly renowned, even if they did not proved to be very succesful against Muria...
(Ravennian could be easily compared to Austrian Empire)
MURIA
Muria is a small nation, forming an enclave within Ravannian lands, fiercely independant-the fact that they still have a religion very different than the rest of the world is symptomatic of this (neither religion have dogmas much precised. This is just for setting up the context)
....The presence of this “heathen nest” is not supportable for the very radical Ravennian Church (who are not listening to there more moderates colleagues of Kiavin and Lorraine, who point out that Murianeses are probably more hostile to the Ravannians than the Church herself....) Ravennians launched several crusades to wipe without the slighest success ; it’s humiliating defeat after humiliating defeat. Most armies did not even manage to reach the border citadels of Hiigara or Nova...It’s not because Ravennians are poor soldiers, or badly led-their troops are the equal of any army on the world. The thing is, Murianeses never play the game of the Ravennians...First of all, their armies don’t work the same way than the others ones. Lorraine, Kiavin and Ravennian fought with troops raised with their Osts-feudal units-backed with some levies and mercenary groups-mottled, not-cohesive, but often suprisingly effective, while Damaskia fight with huge armies raised by coercition...Muria, on the other hand, have troops that are entirly made out of popular levies-altought the training of those soldiers is first-class. Every nation have elite infantry troops, with standardized gear, good morale and training...while in Muria, all soldiers are on the same value...
The Murianese best know battle tactic is the dreaded dark rain. There is nothing surnatural in the Dark Rain-the name is coming from the fact that the sky become almost black when the Murianeses began to unleash their volleys of heavy, armor-piercing arrows from longbows (and when the Murianeses strike, it’s usually in masse-several thousands of archers) No infantry or oisellery can stand long against those barrages, espcially considering that Murianeses often use this in ambushes or surprise attacks...In addition to being quite deadly, Murian troops are extremly cohesive-for instance, Murians troops are not averse for retreat, but they never rout-this despite what is seen as a catastrophic lack of discipline (let’s just say her that, for a rather obvious reason, Murianeses commanders are not exactly paternalists with their soldiers-things like protocol are not even existing...)
Murianeses also showcase a complete lack of regard for the rules of war that are more or less followed in other nations ; Murianeses use deception, treachery, and attrition to weaken their foes, before engaging the decisive battle, and one of the weapon they use the most is the huge network of spies that they have implemented in every Ravennian city...While Rovannians had never managed to get a single agent into Muria proper (the capital), Taris can’t move a single soldier without the Murianeses being warned about it...Murianeses also use psychological warfare-it’s not rare that Ravennians cities bordering Muria actually open their gates to Murianeses troops, since Murianeses have very strict orders to pay for lodging and food-which is obviously a huge improvement over billeting Ravennians forces, who have trouble with the concept of friendly civilians...And there is a very peculiar trait about Murian armies...which will be a surprise-however, everyone (characters) knows very well this critical point-it’s just that it’s so obvious that they do not mention it...
Murianeses have been approched by Kiavin, for the upcoming invasion of Ravennian-and they have really mixed feelings about it. If the relations of Muria with Kiavin and Lorraine are rather warm, the Murianeses find that the statu-quo-which is highly favorable to them-is maybe preferable to a risky adventure in Rovannia-altought the rumors of consolidation of the Ravennian alliance with Damaskia could very well push them to join forces with Kiavin-Murianeses have are very hostile to Damaskia...
(Muria, well, is in the same situation than a certain Earth state of 20th century: a tiny country among hostile neighbours, sometimes prone to overeaction when threatened...)
Those rational political models arrive in a word that is NOT Earth-Like, however.
B)Huit personnages
Voici huit personnages décrits sommairement. Il y en a d’autres. Ce ne sont que de brèves présentations. Notez que les cinq personnages qui se sont échappés ne sont pas des héros standards de fantasy. Ils se défendent pas trop mal aux armes….mais ce sont des intellos plutôt qu’autre chose (exemple : durant leur fuite, l’ennemi les poursuivant tombe sur le bon vieux drap-mis-en-corde-pendant-par-une fenêtre…Un ennemi stupide regarde, et se retrouve quelques secondes plus tard épinglé sur un mur par un trait de baliste : on avait disposé des machines de siège dans la cour pour éviter les évasions…)
1)Corail
On apprend assez vite que Corail, en dépit de son jeune âge (elle dit qu’elle à dix-huit, mais personne ne la croit), est une sympathisante de la révolution. Corail est le personnage central : c’est aussi quelqu’un, comment dire, très en demande. Voyez vous, c’est dit de but en blanc dès le départ : une des conseillères du Roi, Loth (mental note : trouver un autre nom) présente un trait physique similaire à Corail : des yeux rouges. Et elle voudrait bien la «voir» (Corail n’est pas la fille, la mère, la tante, la cousine, la belle-sœur, etc, etc, etc, de cette personne….) Ce trait, en passant, est NOTÉ par tout ceux qui connaissent à la fois Loth et Corail (c'est-à-dire, en fait, pas grande monde initialement….) Le fait est que l’Église à une peur mortelle de Corail : elle est en quelque sorte une hérésie vivante (l’hérésie supposée dont elle est accusée, c’est de la gnognote comparé au problème qu’elle pose par sa simple existence…) Corail est très sympathique prima facie, et elle le demeure-elle est d’un optimisme à toute épreuve. Comme les autres nombreux personnages féminins, sauf Valentine, c’est pas une nouille. Corail se défend pas trop mal à l’arc ou à la dague, mais elle n’a pas été entraînée,
2) Flora
Flora, la sœur jumelle de Renaud, a rencontré Corail dans des circonstances initialement peu claire. Quoiqu’elle se débrouille aussi très bien question tractations, elle est plus douée au niveau du combat, surtout à l’arc (en raison d’un entraînement poussé plus que par des capacités naturelles). L’histoire tourne en grande partie autour du fait que Flora et Renaud, durant les dernières années de la guerre civile, ont réalisé quelque chose n’allait pas au sujet d’une des légendes les plus courues de leur monde, celle des Neuf Preux….
3) Renaud
Renaud est une nullité absolue au combat (bah, il peut utiliser pour tirer sur une cible à cinq mètres de distance en la ratant une fois sur deux), mais il est remarquablement formé pour la diplomatie et la négociation. Mais comme lui et sa sœur ne sont pas nobles, personne n’a écouté leurs suggestions pour essayer de ne pas trop prêter flancs aux arguments de l’Inquisition. Renaud utilise des méthodes peu conventionnelles pour un personnage de fantasy ; par exemple, au lieu de risquer gros pour aller voler des documents compromettants…pourquoi ne pas fabriquer des documents encore plus compromettants ? (en mettant vraiment le paquet….) Point intéressant, Flora et Renaud ont une enfance des plus agréables, mais, comment dire, hors normes, ce qui est parfois révélé par des lapsus involontaires qu’ils font…Les deux sont plus intéressés à vérifier ce qu’ils ont appris au cours de la guerre qu’à l’aspect financier-ces questions sont importantes pour eux, mais pas centrales.
4) Saphirre
Hommage aux traductions massacrées des FF…Saphirre, on ne peut pas dire grand-chose sur elle à prime abord, si ce n’est qu’elle semble avoir des goûts dispendieux, vu que la maigre solde dont elle dispose disparaît assez vite (encore que comme Renaud en fait le commentaire, être «hérétique», c’est pas le meilleur moyen de faire du cash…) Saphirre est la seule des cinq personnages qui ne se sortirait pas trop mal d’un engagement conventionnel de fantasy : elle est une escrimeuse douée. (Ce qui veut dire qu’elle peut engager DEUX, TROIS, ennemis. Pas quinze…)
5) Singleton
Singleton est le seul des cinq qui à un passé limpide…et monstrueusement ennuyeux : ses parents faisaient dans l’élevage de volailles !) Singleton, qui n’est pas stupide, est une sorte de «nerd» médiéval : en dépit des suggestions de ses collègues, il persiste à se prendre pour un futur archimage. Singleton est réellement doué pour «l’alchimie», mais sa spécialité, ce sont les trucs qui marchent…À un niveau plus amusant, Singleton a aussi une mère un peu…prenante. Persuadée que son fils à besoin d’aide pour avoir des succès avec la gente féminine, la mère de Singleton est plutôt insistante à cet endroit
6) Valentine
Issue d'une maison Noble, Valentine est connue comme une excellente combattante (dans l'optique du temps : ça veut surtout dire de la bravoure) Cela dit, Valentine, malgré tout ses martiales qualités, n'est pas exactement une spécialiste en matière de politique : elle est même assez naive et manipulable sur ce point. Elle a été utilisée à outrance par les différentes factions de la guerre civile, en particulier dans l'écrasement de la Révolution : quoi que réellement clémente, Valentine a été intégralement roulée par les Nobles. en premier lieu sa famille : ses victoires ont été attribuées aux Nobles. En revanche, les Nobles lui ont laissé ''généreusement'' le crédit de quelques campagnes s'étant terminées en massacre. Valentine n'est pas stupide, elle est consciente de la situation, mais elle se dit qu'elle n'a pas vraiment le choix. Durant les derniers mois de la guerre civile, les forces de Valentine, en prenant une forteresse, ont découvert quelque chose au sujet de Celui que l'Église vénère. Valentine est tellement choquée qu'elle n'a pas spécialement penser à DIFFUSER l'information, mais l'Église est néanmoins au courant. Valentine ferait une ''Hérésiarque'' parfaite : elle est accusée d'avoir fomenté de toutes pièces l'hérésie (les Nobles voient d'un bon oeil l'élimination de quelqu'un pouvant dire des trucs sur leur compte). Valentine va se faire encore une fois manipuler : très attachée à ses deux pages, Valentine va accepter de signer à peu près n'importe quoi, en échange de promesses de clémences pour elles
7) Eleonore
La vie d'Eleonore n'a pas été tellement acceptable : native de Damaskia, elle a toujours été catégorisée comme une ''Gypsy'', c'est à dire que ses droits sont particulièrement limités. C'est tout juste si elle a le droit d'exister (et encore, nombreux sont ceux qui ne sont pas d'accord). Les ''Gypsies'' sont considérées en Damaskia comme étant destinées à être voleuses, mendiantes, ou prostituées (et probablement les trois ensemble), ce qui en dit long sur la vie qu'elles peuvent avoir...Eleonore, qui vit maintenant en Kiavin avec Lyvia, ne parle pas tellement de ce qu'elle a du faire pour quitter ce charmant pays-qu'elle hait au plus point.
(La conception de Gypsy en Damaskia est évidemment liée à un concept du monde réel, mais plus concrètement, ''Gypsie'' est un terme que les Damaskiens donnent à toutes les Humaines dont le morphotype-en particulier la mélanine-est différent de la norme supposée des Damaskiensé. Le terme est très méprisant. Cette vision est celle des Damaskiens-les personnages la trouvent (à juste titre) stupide et criminelle, et l'attitude raciste des Damaskiens indispose au plus haut point les autres nations : les relations entre Damaskia et les quatres autres nations sont en général limitées à des raids esclavagistes Damaskiens, et à des actions navales des autres nations contre les ports Damaskiens)
8) Lyvia
Lyvia est Damaskienne aussi, mais elle a eu à vivre avec un autre aspect de cette société : son père la hait parce qu'il la trouve ''inutile'' : il pense qu'elle a ''volé'' la place de son fils. Et ce n'est pas un sentiment qui s'atténue avec les années. Il a toujours ignoré Lyvia, cherchant à la renier, ne lui adressant pas la parole. Lyvia vivait dans des conditions matérielles très supérieures à celle d'Eleonore, qu'elle a rencontré dans des circonstances non précisées initialement. (Note : Il y a évidemment une sorte de ''message'' là dessous, en ce qui concerne Damaskia) Eleonore et Lyvia, qui ont toute une dent contre l'Église, ont été plutôt enthousiastes lorsque fut découvert quelque chose pouvant la détruire-il est sous entendu qu'elles ont poussées un peu Valentine, dont elles sont les pages, à pousser ses recherches....
Eleonore et Lyvia (il est sous-entendu aussi qu'elles sont...proches) ont raconté à Valentine une sorte de conte bleu concernant leurs origines. Valentine ne les a pas crues, mais n'a pas posé de questions. Les deux se sentent très redevables vi à vis de Valentine, qui leur a permis d'avoir une vie à peu près normale....
C)Quelques exemples de ''lore'' de ce monde.
Succube (Créature)
The Succubi...a classical creature for fantasy realms-that have unfortunately been badly exploited. I attempt to improve on this. First of all, the Sccubus in the project have clothes on them-which helps a lot to make them look more serious. All the usual seduction part have been cut to the fact that the lips of Succubis are poisonous. Succubis indeed seduce Humans, but not by being half-naked in front of them....They promise to Humans power-wealth, magic, military domination....A typical deal, is to be as the pretorian guards of powerful figures-they are among the most powerful of Demons...Succubis are damned female Humans-generally, they go insane within a few centuries-you know, being damned is an unpleasant thing. An handful remains sane-and they are the most dangerous, since they are usually the smartest ones....Most Succubis that are that way chose this path for vengeance. For this reason, Succubis prefer to avoid killing their Human “sisters”-they have some sympathy for them. A rather surprising point is that Succubis are generally very kind with Human children they met-especially female. Despite what the Church thinks on that matter, it’s not because they hope to lure them in damnation-it’s the remaining Human part of them. Thus, a child accidently falling on a Succubi usually risk nothing-while somebody threatening her risk A LOT...And the most startling traits is that Succubis are genuinely loving-in a normal way-their children, the always female Tieflines The Human father is completly out of the question. Succubis class Human males in two categories : the one they have a liking for (a tiny minority) and the ones they despise (overwhelming majority). The thing is, a Succubi is maybe evil, but this does not means that her feelings go for the bad guys-who are, by definition, not likable....And if a Succubi like an Human, she will not damn him for eternity...To make matters short, especially when considering that the blood of a Tiefline is RUMORED to be the ultimate thing for necromancy (rumored, because having this item is not a smart decision), the Succubi will always find a way to get the father killed-Succubis cannot kill DIRECTLY the people they made a pact with, for not causing the slighest risk to her beloved daughter. Tieflines have Human abilities, Human train of thoughts, Human lifepsans....Their only particularity is an immunity to anything demoniac-someone summoning a Demon against a Tiefline is in for a nasty surprise, as even the worse Pit Lords would never dare to attack a Tiefline-the mother would tear him appart if her daughter have a little scratch...Tieflines being mortals, they are generally raised by Humans-their mothers can’t stay long with Tieflines which seriously affect them especially considering that for a Succubi, the whole life of her daughter is nothing more than an eyeblink...) Tieflines are not evil, but they have a tendency to have violent-and premature-they have marks on their bodies pointing their origins...Tieflines are so rare-maybe one or two by centrury-that it’s not only their mother that care for them. If there is violent power struggles between various demoniac factions, Tieflines are considered completly off-limits targets-any Succubi meeting a Tiefline will go to great lenght to please her-even if their attentions are often a bit ackward, they are genuinely well–meaning...Summoned Succubis are not infrequent (altought it’s considered a top-class of dark arts), but most of the time, the summoners perish in a quite spectacular way-Succubis, quite logically, don’t like to be forced to do things. They are much more efficient when they are willing to help....
(Évidemment, il y a une Tiefline quelque part. C'est pas Corail)
Elfes (History)
Elves were a fully sentient specie, with an lifespan far exceeding Humans. Originally, Elves lived in relatively small nations, strife with permanent conflicts with the also sentient Lizardman (mental note :find another name). If their civilization produced a lot of masterpieces in art, it never progressed much on the tech level-simply because the Elves did not needed it. For instance, they had rather impressive forms of magic, which was far than enough to repel most ennemy armies...Some centuries before the great war, the Elves were in serious crisis, as they were traversing a period of civil conflicts, clerverly exploited by their ennemies...It’s a that time that they saw an chance of turning the tables on their opponents, with the arrival of newcomers : the Humans. When the first Exiled (the name that the Elves gave to the first Humans they saw-and apparently, the Humans described themselves like that) arrived, in Elven land, initial contact was rather friendly-what Elves identified as the protecting Goddess of Humanity-despite her numerous protests on that point-bought from them a small continent, at an outrageously exagerated price, and gave them some strategical advices concerning their war
All in all, a quite good exchange, for everyone. Humans and Elves soon grew out close allies, and their ennemies soon realized that the Goddess of the Humans was lending to the Elves powers that were ridiculizing their strongest magic. However, the relations get somewhat strained when Humans began to outnumber Elves by always increasing numbers-in less than two centuries-a lot less than the lifespan of a single Elve-the Human cities expanded from their small continent to the whole world. Elven society, that was rather conservative, changed at a rapid pace during those years, for multiple reasons-one of them was chiefly economic. Humans had not real interest in the product of Elven “industry” (weapons like bows, swords, artifacts like amulets...) short for the artistic value. On the other hands, the Humans had to offer to the Elves a lot of interesting things, all of them technology-related....As a result, in a short time, the formerly independant Elves were heavily dependant from Humans for a lot of things. If Humans needed Elves for things that were not critical, Elves needed Humans for extremly criticals things-especially foodstuffs, since Human agricultural output was much more impressive than their own...The progressive integration of the Elves to Human society was seen very darkly by some of their traditionnal leaders, but also from a lot of Elves, who felt-not wrongly-that the Humans were certainly good neighbours, but a little too expansive..
And the disasters that fell down on the Humans centuries later also affected Elven opinion on Humans-since the said little problems-major wars, mass destruction, disease outbreaks-also hit them quite heavily. And if the Humans were first weakened during the Dark Years, leading to a temporary restoration of the Elves as a dominant power, the Elves realized with astonishement than the quick minded Humans started to develop their own forms of magic, to make-up for the loss of their technology. This was another card lost for the Elves-in the first Dark Years, the Humans needed their magic-now, they had their own. And especially, Humans rather casual approch of magic (in the style, most Humans use it like a tool, but Elves have a dangerous fascination for it...) was another source of tension-Elves thinking that Humans cared about nothing, Humans thinking that Elves were a little too mystic...
If Elves returned mostly to their independants ways from the day before the arrival of the Exiled, things did not returned exactly like there was in this time, that was now being seen by Elves as their lost golden age-and a lot of them began to think that the Humans were really a problem. The birth of several Human nations was another step in the decline in power of the Elves-if some major powers made alliance with Elves, this made the Elves adversaries in the eyes of the other nations-and wars against (or with) Humans provided to be incredibly deadlier than any war with the .Lizard-man..The numbers of troops involved in minor battles was often more important than whole Elven armies from the past, and Human weaponry (siege works, airships...) was extremly deadly..and the Humans fought against themselves without restraints...
As a result, Elven numbers began to steadily decrease-they were generally better trained than Human soldiers, but one Human could defeat one on one a Elven soldier. And for each Elve soldier, there was easily ten, even twenty Human opponents..Most of the Elves went with Damaskia.... And most of those communities were wiped out during the pogroms organized some time after...Aince that time, there was only some thousands of Elves alive, who were then forced to live in Humans cities. They slowly disapeeared from that point...
Now, the situation is extremly humiliating for the last of the Elves, who are now not more than an handful...Most of them live under Murianese protection-an very well kept secret...However, a faction of them survive in the desolate areas in Southern Kiavin, barely settled by Humans, where they have recently took control of a large underground ruin-and recovered there what they seeked ; a thing nammed by Humans a Craddle...Those Elves, angered by milleniums of disasters, are quite completly insane. This, of course, is not preventing them to be extremly dangerous. The goal of this faction, whose name is already quite a program-the closest Human traduction would be Grim Reaper....-is to wipe out Humanity, which they call the Scourge from the Infinite Ocean (BTW, some Human words have not really a traduction in Elven, whose concepts were radically different than Humans. For instance, what the Elves means by Infinite Ocean...) And with a Craddle at their disposition, it’s a thing that’s fully within their power...if they manage to bypass the guardian...
Goddess
This is the (not terribly original) name Elves gave to the Goddess that always protected Humanity. The mere fact that they gave this name (they see her as the Goddess, and not an Goddess) indicate how they consider the situation. The thing is, their traditionnal gods have not exactly standed well the competition toward Goddess. First of all, the aid Goddess gave to Humans (but also to Elves) is simply uncomparable...both in the past and present. Even now, as Humans have forgotten everything about Goddess, she still continue to protect them with efficiency and skill. While, to put things midly, Elven gods, despite frantic prayers, had been pretty much silent for milleniums. Sure, they grant sometimes moral support, but Elves found that this is pretty cheap compared to what Goddess had gave to Humans over milleniums (the Elves, who were very pious, undestdanbly hate Goddess a lot, thinking she killed their own gods) Humanity is barely aware of the existence of Goddess, but the surviving Elves are very hateful toward Goddess, who fooled them....
