Role

Chapter 4

The Borderlords
Added Wed Feb 9 11:56:23 2005 at level 7:

Past the eastern gates of Akan, through fog shrouded, craggy mountain passes
lies a land of elves rarely seen in centuries. Nominally swearing fealty to
the house of darsylon, yet all but forgotten by the passage of time, these
people keep mostly to themselves.
The elves of the mountains are similar to the high-elves of darsylon in most
respects. Sometimes called the gray elves, due to thier habit of wearing
clothing suited to blending in with the fog and stony outcroppings of thier
homeland, but more often simply referred to as 'The Borderlords'. The only
real physical difference is that red hair and gmstone colored eyes, though
still a rarity, crop more often with the elves of the mountains. The mental
outlook of the Borderlords is where the major differences come. While not
precisely savage the elves of the mountains tend more toward violence than
thier cousins to the west. Constant skirmishes with the shadow has led them
to lead a far more militant life than most elves. Thier leanings towards
order are strong as a people, acting as a cohesive unit is all that kept them
alive. Most of the Border elves fall to violence while still young and with
such a harsh life much of the love and mercy Darsylon elves have time to
learn is passed over in favor of teaching the next generation how to survive.

The love of the light and the destruction of the shadow are what they are
driven by. An example of thier outlook is that at the time they lost regular
contact with darsylon the battle skill of incarnadine wave was still used
openly, and had yet to be proscribed, The Border elves still keep the
practice to this day. They also tend more towards spears and polearms as
weapons for tight unit formations bristling with polearms has been one of
thier most effective battle tactics against the denziens of the mountains.
For a border elf, to be alone is to die, and this colors thier view of
'honorable combat'.
Even when regular contact was kept between these elves and those of darsylon,
they were viewed as uncouth by many. As one early Darsylonian king stated
'The Borderlords are a rustic lot, barely above the wood-elves in matters of
civilized behavior.'