OOC: Yay! When is update, btw?
Btw - are these elves immortal (ala Tolkien) or simply long-living (ala Sapkowsky)?
Darn, how the hell did masons get here? Okay, Capulet, just remember that if the Order of Free and Accepted Masons begins altering history and manipulating the dragon treasure market, it will be your fault.
IC:
Dol Aetteriel
Player/Ruler: das/ard ri Shirael Ettengrem Itil
Age: Iron Age
Religion: Thaelism [1]
Government: Magocratic Monarchy [2]
Income: 2
Army: 500 swordsmen, 500 archers
Navy: 10 fire galleys [if by water, which I probably am not]
Optimal Support: 3/4
Units available: nuclear warheads, ICBMs
Agriculture: Barren
Industry: Barbarian
Infrastructure: Single Track Dirt Roads
Education: Barbaric
Confidence: Beating
Culture: Brutish
Projects: None so far
[1] - Thaelism is so-called for Thael Mirinard Tealtirna, the legendary Elven sorceror who was the first to master the Greater Magic. It could be described as "Magic-worship" - there are no gods, but simply one greater cosmic power, which is Magic itself, it grants magic and determines all. It is "beyond understanding of ordinary elves", and thus is only understood by the "mage lords" and the ard ri.
[2] - Magocratic Monarchy is similar to theocratic monarchy, and in fact is the same, as the mages, apart from freelancers and the specialists, also play the role of the priests. Basically, the ard ri is an "absolute monarch" de jure, but de facto the Council of Mage Lords could veto his decisions if that measure gets 3/4s of the votes. And he is forced to oblige, as otherwise he will probably get struck by a lightning or get turned into a frog. Or, better still, a bottle of elven meya[3].
[3] - meya is essentially vodka with specific magic herbs. Is a national (or speciel (from "species")? racial? ethnic?) elven drink.
I think a "species" or a "race" stat is in order. Place me in... well, don't know where. Prefferably, somewhere in the Great Northern Plain, near a forest, somewhere in between elven and human lands but also somewhere with a small original population, small enough for us to push it out anyway.
Story:
DISCLAIMER: Ziri, her horse and that unicorn, and them travelling in time and space, is a blatant, shameless, copyright-ignoring usage of pan Andzjey Sapkowsky's greatest work. As is much of the local elven language.
---
Through a caleidoscope of times and places, they went. There was a place where giant lizards fought in the arena, a place where a city was burning, a place where the people were dying from a horrible plague...
A peaceful, quiet place, in a clearing in the forest, under the two moons...
A place and time where there was a horrible, decaying corpse, from where they fled immediately.
Many times, many places...
And there was a time and a place where there was a quiet plain by a river the name of which she did not know.
---
Zirael, Ziri, princess of Cintra, a kingdom long ago overrun, a scarred witcheress who fled from Nilfgaardians and Wood Elves alike, who was the Ruler of All Places and All Times and who was weak, scared and despairing in an unknown time and place, who was trying to save those, who once adopted her after Cintra fell, who swore to protect her and who did not save her now, whom she cursed until she found out that they were in trouble due trying to find her, sighed.
She was riding a sleek horse, Celpi, named so for a Skelligean myth (a rather nasty water spirit that often pretends to be a horse) and near her was another "horse". That brown horse had a horn. It, or rather he, was an unicorn whom she called "Horsie", but his real name was Iurrakswaqs, and he was sent by the unicorn elders to accompany her on her journey.
That was, by the way, not as much because they really cared about her or her relatives, but was a careful and well-planned realpolitik move to upset the plans of those darn elves, Aen Elle. Aen Elle, incidentally, wanted to conquer the universe, and tricked the unicorn elders once. The former was a reason to be concerned, the latter was a blatant insult which should be avenged.
But I digress.
This place seemed much more like home. After all, here was a wide river, and here was a great forest... That forest seemed to be Brokilon. There was no other such forest. And the river was Lentochka... But this was probably a wrong time, or a wrong place. That was easy to determine. This placed smelled of old wood and flowers, the river was pure and clean...
Yup. That was it. No reek of death, and not a single corpse in the river or on the ground. In fact, Ziri was quite sure that if she entered the forest, even if she is not recognized, she would not be killed.
"A wrong time, a wrong place..." - she sighed again - "One of the two, or both. We should hurry up."
And they disappeared again, into the stream. And just in time, too, as the three arrows and one dart flew through the air just then.
---
The three arrows and one dart flew through the air just then. The elven scouts who were hiding in the bushes were shocked. What the...
"Blaethe Dhoine![1]" - shouted the elvess, Varoel Athalinne aen Veriel. The others remained silent.
"We must tell the ard ri." - decided the commander, Taolirn Vaerte Grismondir.
[1] - "Bloody human!" (sometimes "Bloody humans!")
---
Ard ri Shirael Ettengrem Itil was a rather confused person. Technically, much like other elves, he was beautiful and seemed wise, but, to say the truth, he was a rather dumb elf and did not understand a whole damn lot of what happened. Not that he was supposed to, as it was Teselea Fessaleth Mateviel, a very influential and very beautiful Mage Lord (or rather, Mage Lady) and Shirael Ettengerm Itil's lover that made all the decisions in this particular elven tribe.
The recent perturbations in the world forced them into exile from their ruined city, by the way, and they were, technically, homeless. And thus they were, as one might expect, looking for a new home.
Right now, in their forest camp, the elves knew that this whole "homesearch" was not going very well. Even the ard ri knew that.
That is, they found some nice places, but wanted to be sure that it was the right place. But as the last local prophet has recently fell from his horse and get stuck in a cave after hearing a very funny joke, and was last seen as a half-eaten corpse in the company of fairly large wolves (large enough to make the elves decide that the prophet wouldn't really want that cremation), there was no sure way to determine way. Okay, so maybe most elves just wanted to settle down already, but enough of them were superstitious enough to want magical approval.
After getting some bribes and throwing a dice, the Council of Mage Lords decided to wait for the first thing that might seem to be a sign created by the Magic, and THEN settle down.
Obviously, the appearence of a brown unicorn, a scarred female human with a big sword and that devilish horse was quickly stated to be such a sign.
Ard ri and his lover were quite happy about this.
[A love scene, a silly conversation and a hunt scene later]
"A sign has been recently sighted!" - declared the ard ri to the Mage Lords and the crowd of elves that gathered in the middle of the camp - "This is it, my people. At last, we have a home to call our own! This plain by the Greatwater river, this valley is magical! A brown unicorn was sighted there, inviting us all to settle there!" - (it was decided to censure out the bit about the female human, as elves didn't really love humans) - "This valley is worhy of our people, Aen Aetteriel! This is Dol Aetteriel, our land, and ours it will stay!"
And so, after ten notable sceptics of this prophecy accidentally drowned in the river at the same time in the same place, the work on the settlement has started.