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A History of Elvenkind

Written & Complied by
Arch Librarian Barnivald Belgrath

Commissioned by
Trade Prince Icarus Crane
for his eyes only

Travelers of the darkness, worshipers of snakes, and a dozen hands are but some of the strangeness of the Valari Elves. For all their oddities, a Serpent Sister is possibly the most useful companion one could bring when venturing into the darkness.

Aroish, a Valari Elf

Valari Appearance

The Valari have dark hair, pearl white skin, purple eyes, and fangs. To many, they look eerily similar to each other and can be hard to tell apart. Their face paintings can be used to distinguish one from another, but can we trust they don’t change their identity with a stroke of the brush?

Their most striking feature is, of course, their arms, which split at the elbow into two forearms and hands. Most of them have four hands, but some are born with eight or, in very rare cases, even a dozen. The Valari is a female and seer only species, estimated at four-fifths female and one-fifth seer.

Valari Ability

The Valari has an almost uncanny dexterity and eye-hand coordination. While most elves are ambidextrous—unlike most lesser kin—the Valari takes it to another level and use all their hands seamlessly to complete the task at hand. They are accomplished in hand-to-hand combat as well as with sword and spear.

Some among their number can perform a magic they call “the phantom grasp”, wherein a ghostly shadow of their hand extends their reach. The phantom hand follows the movements of their actual hand and is almost twice as big, reaching half an arm further and doesn’t seem to be limited by their physical strength. How this magic works or what powers it, they will not tell me. But I have reports of Valari catching swords, blocking arrows, and tearing their foes limb from limb.

The Valari are also adept at navigating the darkness, but how they manage to do it without the use of either map, compass, or sextant is a secret many merchants have tried to figure out. When questioned, they tell me they ask their snakes, as if was obvious.

Valari Culture

Most Valari live in one of the several enclaves scattered across the caverns, the closes to Bloodworth is at the base of the Pillar of Wisdom. Each enclave wears their own unique colors; depicted here are the colors of “Wisdom’s Shadow”.

The inner workings of enclaves are not known, as most of their city is closed off to outsiders. What we do know is that they are highly traditional and ritualistic. A quirk of their behaviors is that they are very tactile in their interactions, which many other kin will find invasive of their private space. But letting them touch you and you reciprocating by holding onto one of their arms while talking goes a long way in earning their trust. A fact worth noting is that their black snakes are harmless, so don’t mind them if they want to crawl onto you. (The yellow ones are ridiculously deadly, however.)
Periodically throughout their lives, traveling in small groups consisting of a superior and one or a few apprentices, they embark on pilgrimages across the world, to other enclaves, to ruins of the old world, or to live amongst other cultures. But they will always return to their origin and share their new knowledge.

The Valari are also famed for their assassins, which have a repetition of being as reliable as they are expensive. The saying goes “Hire an army, hire a sister; the result is the same, the cost is the same.”

Wisdom's Shadow Heraldry

Valari History

Because of their secretive nature, it’s hard to know the truth of their history and we have to rely solely on their own account of the story. The apprentice, Aroish, retold the story to me, which I have summarized here.

The Valari was a religious sisterhood of the Ash Elves during the Dark Age of Vision. They were persecuted for their beliefs and accused of stealing young daughter to indoctrinate them into their order. The apprentice assured me that this wasn’t true and that the black of hearth joined them willingly.

On the first day of the new age, the Dark Age of Madness (not named as such at the time), an Ash Elven girl was born with four hands. She was left with the sisterhood by her circle, for they could not bear the shame of raising a child so malformed.
The girl grew up to discover she had an exceptional affinity to darkness, which was rare for an Ash Elf. She received a vision of her hands dividing, multiplying, and reaching out to hold the world in her palms. Shortly after, she found out she was carrying a clutch of eggs without having known the touch of a man. The sisterhood saw the miracle, and the two eldest and strongest of the enclave gave their souls to these children. Five daughters were born, identical in every way to the girl, and, in time, they too had their own daughters.

Once the Ash Elves found out, they called it blasphemy. Already hated, this was a step too far and the sisterhood was exiled. The Valari crossed the desert and settled in the shadow of one of the world pillars, far away from civilization. With no new recruits to the order, the daughters slowly became more numerous as the rest of the enclave aged and gave their souls to the daughters until there were no others.

“What happened to the girl?” I asked, suspecting where this was going, having heard the story before.

“The girl’s name is Aroish.”

“The same as you?”

“I am Aroish.”

A different Valari told me the same thing years ago, ending her story by claiming to be the mythological figure and mother of their entire kin. Obviously, this girl cannot be the real Aroish; she would be nearly six thousand years old by now. If there is even any truth to the story, this girl is just the latest in a long line of a copies going back to the Dark Age of Madness.

Story

Live Specimen

After digging into the histories, researching bygone elves, or trying to get information from the far side of the world, actually having live elves to talk to feels almost like cheating. I’m very thankful that Vio’nath and Aroish have agreed to answer my questions, even if they tell me their people have many secrets they will not talk about.

They are on a pilgrimage to Bloodworth and are currently part of Princess Sejal Crane’s circle. An impressive rank for newcomers to the city and almost unheard of for a non-crimson, but you Crane siblings are hardly known for being conventional.

– Barnivald

Magics

Do you suppose they would share more of their magic if we shared some of ours? I will ask Elize to speak them, she is by far our most knowledgeable blood mage.

-Icarus Crane

Too Risky

Possible, but do we really want them to possess such knowledge? I don’t think any of them have an affinity for blood, but it still feels risky.

– Barnivald

Vionath wearing a green cloak Vionath showing off her magic

Barnivald’s Observations

  • Unlike other elves, the Valari’s age doesn’t show in their eyes. They all have both the luster of youth and the glow of age, as if they were young and ancient at once.
  • Their face paintings can be used to distinguish one from another, but can we trust they don’t change their identity with a stroke of the brush?
  • The snakes tell them how to find their way through the darkness—or so they say.
  • Fighting with four swords carries many advantages, Aroish explains. “Parrying three directions and still having a blade for attack simply can’t be done by a few-hander.” But she was impressed by Sejal during their training. “Girl can fight for sure. I think we both have learned a lot from training together.”
  • The heraldry of Wisdom’s Shadow. The enclave is located south west of Blood­worth, past the Unclaimed Lands, at the foot of the closest World Pillar.
  • “The phantom grasp” they call their magic. Allegedly, the ghostly hands have the strength of a dozen elves.

Names and Titles

  • The Valari don’t have lineage names as we do, but, rather, go by a single name which often sounds like old elven.
  • They aren’t entirely clear with me what their ranks entail, but I take it as a master-and-apprentice relationship.

Valari Fashion

  • Rugged boots fit for long journeys is a staple of the pilgrims.
  • I have no idea what the small black skull is for, nor from what species it originates. Likely, it holds some significant meaning as the skull also appears on their heraldry.
  • Cloaks are common along the more armed Valari as garments with sleeves becomes impractical to both make and wear. They, instead, favor a body suit that they can put on without pulling it over their arms.
  • “I see the new one-legged fashion has caught on with you two, also,” I said jokingly, but Vio’nath explained it was likely the other way around. The one-legged suit has been common with their people for a long time for simple practical reasons while traveling.
    “You don’t have to pull it all off when you need to…”
    “I get the idea—let’s move on…”