The Aifon may be extinct, but they may still have descendants?...

smjjames · Jun 16, 2008

This is a thought I've had, since the Aifon and the Elves are descended from humans and can interbreed with humans. Kithra Kyriel (sp?) is half elven. Perhaps some of thier Aifon blood and genes are still floating around.

Full blooded Aifon are extinct, no doubt about that, but consider this. Chances are that a small number of Aifon interbred with humans, producing half blooded Aifon and they had children and so on. What I'm saying is, that there may be some people who can actually trace thier genetic bloodlines to the Aifon. By now the mixture would be so dilluted that they wouldn't be able to breathe underwater like the Aifon did, but they could maybe have a small affinity for water or the sea and so they have a stronger connection than others.

While the lore says that the Aifon were killed off, but this implies full blooded Aifon. Mixed parentage descendants likely escaped whatever it was that killed off the Aifon.

This is just something to think about.

smjjames · Jun 16, 2008

I'm surprised you haven't responded Magister, you usually do to just about every lore thread.

Of course though, this thought of mine really won't affect the lore. It does fit nicely into the theme of the Lanun as bieng sea people, although any genetic descendents of the Aifon don't neccesarily have to be just among the Lanun.

If Kael says that they were such a reclusive race that they didn't interbreed with humans, I'll accept that. Still, it doesn't seem like they were any more reclusive than the elves, probably less.

Trojan Sheep · Jul 1, 2008

The Lanun are another fractured group of the Patrians so they definitely wouldn't have any direct connection with the Aifon. However, given most of the seafaring Patrians became the Lanun, if there was any intermingling between the two races it would have been within them. Might be a good inspiration for a new Lanun hero. I love Guybrush to death when he's in his element, but he just doesn't feel right in a dark fantasy setting like FFH.

Example:

Jael the Aifling
Melee Unit
Strength 5
Water Affinity + 1
Movement 1
Starts with: Boarding, Waterwalking, Hero, Light

“Prepare yourselves men!”

Jael ran amidst her sailors rallying them as she hurried from one station to another. Where their faces were flushed red and beaded with sweat, her own was taking on a light shade of blue and was as cool as the sea itself.

“They’re making a hard turn and the wind is in their favor captain!” The call came from the crow’s nest, but she had already seen their ploy.

The Silver Maiden nearly overtook its smaller quarry as the caravel broke for the open seas.

“She’s too light, we’ll never catch her!” A disappointed crewman, weapon already brandished watched as the now tiny gap between the two vessels began to widen.

“We’ll catch her alright,” Jael reassured her men, as she took a deep breath and sheathed her cutlass. She had promised Falamar she would capture the spy and she didn’t intend to disappoint.

The crew at the fore of the ship spread apart to make room for their captain. Her blue skin was only one of the reasons she was known as the ‘Aifling’, her charge off the front of the ship and the speed and grace as she swept through the water was the other.

A cheer rose through the Maiden as the familiar sight of their captain leapt from the water and landed right behind the helmsman of the caravel cleaving him from his post and turning the ship towards the waiting grasp of her own.

Just a thought

Milosrdenstvi · Jul 1, 2008

Person with that name ought to be a heroic strength worker with +400% against heroes. Complete with hammer, tent peg, and jug of milk.

DuckAndCower · Jul 6, 2008

Trojan Sheep said:
I love Guybrush to death when he's in his element, but he just doesn't feel right in a dark fantasy setting like FFH.

Yeah, the Monkey Island games are definitely in my Top 10 list (except for the fourth one, of course), but I agree that Guybrush feels just a tad out of place, especially in a civ that loves the Octopus Overlords so much. I think he would work much better as an event chain reward, much like Typhoid Mary (or whatever her name is now).

A_Hamster · Jul 6, 2008

Incidentally, is there a approximate timeline for when the Aifon went extinct? Just something along the lines of "they were destroyed 250 years before the end of the Age of Magic, and 2000 years before the beginning of the Age of Rebirth."

Love · Jul 6, 2008

It isn't years in erebus. The time there is weird.

Darksaber1 · Jul 6, 2008

Typhoid Mary=Mary Morbius

sylvanllewelyn · Jul 7, 2008

Don't. I feel they should be totally extinct. It adds to the finality of the disaster. No afterlife, no bits remaining, just forever G-O-N-E. That's what FFH universe is about.

MagisterCultuum · Jul 7, 2008

I agree that there probably should not be any survivors, but I wouldn't rule out an afterlife. Some may have become angels or demons, but most are forever lost in their own dreamworlds within the underworld. (They could still have some importance if Laroth comes to power....)

jimi12 · Jul 7, 2008

If the aifons are all extinct, would they not all just go to Danalins Vault? Then he could spend eternity with them. That makes it strange as to why he would become as depressed as he did.

Kael · Jul 7, 2008

jimi12 said:
If the aifons are all extinct, would they not all just go to Danalins Vault? Then he could spend eternity with them. That makes it strange as to why he would become as depressed as he did.

Danalin and his angels have no idea what happened to the Aifons. There was a prophecy of destruction, a sense of forboding and a coming dakrness that went on for years. Strange events were becomign more frequent, animals that lived in peace with the Aifons turned violent, animals born with deformities, nightmares among the most spiritual.

It was so prevelant their most promising young man was sent to sequester help. To find out something about the omens. What he found was all bad, without exception every prophet fortold his death and the death of his people. Some told of even worse than death, of eternal loss. Some just fell to tears when they tried to augar his future.

Trenton never did find out exactly what could cause such destruction, but he did find a way to stop it. A ritual that would allow Danalin himself to enter creation.

The quest for it was a long one and Trenton met and learned a lot about the godswar, the compact and godslayer. He talked to Branding about the role of the gods, and priests of most of the good and neutral religions. In the end he stood upon the island home of his people the day before their prophecied doom and considered his options. His friends were around him, the ritual was in hand and he had everything he needed to perform it. But he decided not to do it.

Maybe Trenton didn't believe that the threat was real. Maybe he though it was just a trick to restart the godswar. Or maybe he knew that even though what he did might save his people, it would eventually destroy many more.

The next day there was a sudden flood of irrational cries and prayers from the Aifons, then nothing. No souls passed into Danalins vault, none passed into Arawns underworld. They were simply gone.

The islands themselves are uninhabited now, though there is evidence people lived there (both above and below the water) the entire area is tainted with the same influence the Aifons had noticed up until the attack. But there was nothing left of any of the people, Trenton or his companions.

The only thing of real value that was discovered afterwards was the ritual itself, which was later used to summon Mulcarn and start the Age of Ice. If the Illians got it from the island, got it in the same way that Trenton did, or through other means is unclear.

smjjames · Jul 7, 2008

Are these islands the Agean Isles?

It would be sort of like finding the lost ruins of atlantis, there were probably many artifacts and documents that survived the Age of Ice and were rediscovered. Many more probably wait to be rediscovered.

Or are these islands literally uninhabitable for any long period of time? I'm sure a group of adventurers with enough supplies and know-how could survive on them for a while.

I wonder if the Lanun are descended from humans who were close to the Aifon and shared the same love for the sea and probably preserved some knowledge that had been taught to them by the Aifon

Kael · Jul 7, 2008

I never really thought about decendants of the Aifons until reading the OP post. They did trade openly with Patria so its very likely there were at least a few half human half Aifon children running around. Its not even unthinkable that some Aifons would have decided to live in the human cities though this would have been pretty rare (like an elf deciding to go live in a human city).

There were no other significant Aifon settlements other than the island chain that they inhabited, and assuming that their bloodline was spread it would be pretty diluted through all the centuries that have occured since then, especially considering the impact fo the Age of Ice on everyone.

Corlis · Jul 7, 2008

This makes me wonder: were the Aifons physically distinct from humans, or did they look pretty much similar except for the ability to breathe water?

Kael · Jul 7, 2008

Corlis said:
This makes me wonder: were the Aifons physically distinct from humans, or did they look pretty much similar except for the ability to breathe water?

They looked pretty much like humans, I think they had slightly webbed hands and feet. We had a discussion abotu gills at some point, but I dont remember what we decided.

MagisterCultuum · Jul 7, 2008

Kael said:
Danalin and his angels have no idea what happened to the Aifons. There was a prophecy of destruction, a sense of forboding and a coming dakrness that went on for years. Strange events were becomign more frequent, animals that lived in peace with the Aifons turned violent, animals born with deformities, nightmares among the most spiritual.

It was so prevelant their most promising young man was sent to sequester help. To find out something about the omens. What he found was all bad, without exception every prophet fortold his death and the death of his people. Some told of even worse than death, of eternal loss. Some just fell to tears when they tried to augar his future.

Trenton never did find out exactly what could cause such destruction, but he did find a way to stop it. A ritual that would allow Danalin himself to enter creation.

The quest for it was a long one and Trenton met and learned a lot about the godswar, the compact and godslayer. He talked to Branding about the role of the gods, and priests of most of the good and neutral religions. In the end he stood upon the island home of his people the day before their prophecied doom and considered his options. His friends were around him, the ritual was in hand and he had everything he needed to perform it. But he decided not to do it.

Maybe Trenton didn't believe that the threat was real. Maybe he though it was just a trick to restart the godswar. Or maybe he knew that even though what he did might save his people, it would eventually destroy many more.

The next day there was a sudden flood of irrational cries and prayers from the Aifons, then nothing. No souls passed into Danalins vault, none passed into Arawns underworld. They were simply gone.

The islands themselves are uninhabited now, though there is evidence people lived there (both above and below the water) the entire area is tainted with the same influence the Aifons had noticed up until the attack. But there was nothing left of any of the people, Trenton or his companions.

The only thing of real value that was discovered afterwards was the ritual itself, which was later used to summon Mulcarn and start the Age of Ice. If the Illians got it from the island, got it in the same way that Trenton did, or through other means is unclear.

Hmm..it sounds to me like this means the Aifons did not die, but were somehow changed. If we hadn't established that the Overlords are created by the dreams of Hemah, who was created by the dreams of Danalin, who was not yet asleep, then I'd suggest that they had something to do with it. (If someone, whether a god or the Overlords, had some power over time instead of having this power controlled only by The One/Temperance would help out these wild theories, which are almost certainly false)

I'd probably suggest that Hastur was able to create the appearance of a looming disaster where there was none, and thus to cause the Aifons to manufacture their own disaster. Perhaps Trenton wasn't the only Aifon to seek a solution, but the others sought out evil priests and sorcerers to find out how to gain the power to control the hostile animals and prevent the disaster. This power may have involved sacrificing most of their identity and becoming something else to avoid death. ("That is not Dead which can eternal lie...") Of course, becoming the Overlords was the actual catastrophe they has sought to avert.

I hadn't thought much about half-Aifons before either. I suspect the answer to whether there are any part-Aifon survivors depends on what happened to the Aifons.

I too would have guessed that they would appear human but with slightly webbed fingers and toes. I wasn't sure about gills either. I'd guess that they are basically amphibian, which would mean that when they breath underwater they probably do so through their skin. I was also thinking that it might make sense for them to not have body hair.

smjjames · Jul 7, 2008

If they did crossbreed, I'm sure the hybrids would have some hair, mostly on thier head probably

Of course, over time since the dissapearance of the Aifon, any Aifon traits would become dilluted in the descendants of thier half-breed children. A trait that is bieng strongly expressed could pop up now and then though.

There is no doubt that they likely had some intermarriages/crosses with humans, there is at least one half-elf, Kithra Kyriel. I'm not aware of any other hybrids in the game.

Kael · Jul 7, 2008

smjjames said:
There is no doubt that they likely had some intermarriages/crosses with humans, there is at least one half-elf, Kithra Kyriel. I'm not aware of any other hybrids in the game.

There is another...

smjjames · Jul 7, 2008

who would that be?

edit: Amelanchier? He didn't seem half-elven to me.

edit2: Unless it's a surprise....

The Aifon may be extinct, but they may still have descendants?...

Emperor

Emperor

Chu Bosu

Chieftain

Warlord

Small Furry Animal

Deity

Secret Emperor

Perma-newb

Great Sage

Half Jedi

Deity

Emperor

Deity

Warlord

Deity

Great Sage

Emperor

Deity

Emperor

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