Isldar: Difference between revisions

From MassiveCraft Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
No edit summary
 
(50 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Info races
{{Info Lineage
|name = Isldar
|test = Yseldaar (in Altalar)
|test2 = [[File:Grayflag1.png|80px]] [[File:Grayflag3.png|80px]]
|test3 = '''Motto:''' "Truth Abides no Weakness."
|image = Isldarpslasho.png
|image = Isldarpslasho.png
|pronunciation = Ysel-dar
|state = Life and Death Isldar States
|classification = [[Nelfin]]
|ruler = Tower Councils
|subraces = None
|suzerain = Varied
|nicknames =  
|languages = [[Altalar]]
*Frostlings (derogatory)
|religion = Varied
*Frozen People (derogatory)
|first_recorded = 100 BC
*Frost Horrors (derogatory)
|demonym = Isldar
|languages = [[Sulvaley]]
|}}
|naming = Fantasy Elven (but not Tolkien Elven)
[[File:Medinkikf.png|294px|thumb|right|Priest Isldar used to turn themselves icy pale blue with Magic to show their dedication. The practice has largely died out, but some still do it.]]
[[File:Deathcool.png|294px|thumb|right|The Rexit have very skilled warriors, this one clad in black metal armor shaped to still mimic Draconic claws and scales.]]
[[File:Isldorihdhdhft.png|294px|thumb|right|Even if Life Isldar are just as closed off as Death Isldar are, they tend to look somewhat more inviting and benevolent.]]
[[File:Vultalarv.png|294px|thumb|right|This Isldar with purple Dragonscale also applied moon-themed war paint before going to battle.]]
[[File:Isldork.png|294px|thumb|right|Vixit do not have an extravagant dressing style, usually preferring muted or simple tones with little skin showing.]]
[[File:Lookatheaddress.png|294px|thumb|right|Rexit death priest head dresses and clothing are some of the most extravagant and alien designed in the world.]]
[[File:Benegesseret.png|294px|thumb|right|Death Isldar always know what they want and that they can get it, and dress to impress.]]
[[File:Darkpriesti.png|294px|thumb|right|The Rexit have a large number of powerful Ordial Mages at their service.]]
[[File:Magicalstorm.png|294px|thumb|right|The Isldar spire towers sit high and pierce the clouds above the distant peaks of Ellador.]]
 
Silent watchers of the frozen mountain peaks, the Isldar are a [[Race]] of Snow-Elves who dwell in the distant continent of [[Ellador]] and guard its endless, icy valleys. With humble origins as a minor religious cult in the [[Allorn Empire]] of old, the struggle of their history drove the Isldar to eventually become their own people and their own nation. Seen as mysterious, reclusive, and barely understood by the outside world, the Isldar are often travelers from their home in one of [[Aloria]]’s few remaining unexplored corners. In recent years their society has been cruelly divided by a religious schism that has boiled into war, and with the road to peace impossible to see, the Life and Death Isldar - now bitter enemies - both pray that they will one day triumph. Though they appear in many of the world’s courts as precious advisors and historians, home and family are always close to an Isldar’s heart, for the roads of all their choices eventually lead back to the glimmering spires of Ellador.
 
==Design==
The Isldar are patient and prudent Snow Elves, taught from birth to keep their feelings and intentions closely guarded. They are die-hard stoics, sometimes seen by others as emotionless for their disdain of vulnerability and the absent coldness written on their faces: much like their homeland, Ellador, which is cast into a perilous and permanent winter. Most Isldar are incredibly religious, with a schism down the middle based on if the Isldar worships Dragons (and is considered a Life Isldar, "Vixit" in their language) or worships the ice Goddess called the Glacial (and is considered a Death Isldar, "Rexit" in their language). They have a deep, sincere, and poetic culture which struggles with any sort of crudeness or sarcasm. The Isldar are just as famous for their beautiful verses as for their inability to laugh at jokes or smile. Physically, Isldar can have any body shape, but tend towards sharp, narrow facial features and angular frames, often lacking the broadness more common in Human descent. They tend to be tall, with an average height around six foot. Isldar usually style themselves in a traditional Elven way, with robes and long hair.
* '''Eye Colors:''' Isldar eyes must be purple if Life Isldar, green if Death Isldar, and blue if Neutral Isldar. Their sclera can be either white or black.
* '''Hair Colors:''' Isldar have very desaturated natural hair colors. Any white, black, or gray tone, or a pale tone like platinum or strawberry blonde, occurs naturally.
* '''Appearance:''' Isldar are mostly pale, but sometimes have a northern tan (see real life Inuit or Tibetans for examples). They can have any Caucasian or Asian features.
* '''Patron Traits:''' Life Isldar can have Dragonscale patches on their bodies, and Death Isldar can have black metal Dragonscale-like patches on their bodies.


|distinction = Snow Elves who guard the cycle of life and death and the memory of [[Dragons]]
===Isldar in Regalia===
|maxage = 500 years
A century ago, Isldar were so rare that they were frequently confused for the more numerous Elven races. Nowadays, however, the schism and civil war in Ellador has led to a massive departure of Isldar from their homeland. Though there are more in some places than others, there are now enough Isldar abroad that most people have heard of them and their culture, with little pockets scattered around the known world. Here are some concepts for player use:
|height = Tall
* The Life and Death Isldar are currently under a truce. Some members of both factions have taken advantage of this to come to Regalia to lobby for the homeland.
|eye = Any shade of purple if Life Isldar, any shade of green if Death Isldar
* The Life Isldar have a refugee colony in [[Anglia]] under the high priestess of the Dragon Regulus, who frequently sends her people to Regalia.
|hair = Black or White, regardless of which cult they belong to
* The Death Isldar understand that there is no better place to cause death than Regalia, the center of the world. It is an excellent place for their work.
|skin =  
* Isldar are famous musicians, poets and court performers. Irrespective of their side in the war, some of them come to Regalia just to perform.
[[File:Skin1.png]]
 
|}}
==Heritage Traits==
[[File:Medinkikf.png|260px|thumb|right|Manifesting Frost allows the Isldar to become one with the ice that they are so defined and themed by.]]
Heritage Traits are free Packs and Mechanics. Free Packs never raise Proficiency Points, just giving the Pack, and obey lock-outs (if something would prevent you from buying the normal version of the Pack, you can't have the free Pack, either). A Character born from two parents with different Traits get the free Packs of one parent, but can mix and match from both parents' Mechanics. Isldar get their two general Mechanics, plus three more depending on what subtype of Isldar they are: Life, Death, or Neutral.
[[File:Isldork.png|260px|thumb|right|The Isldar do not have an extravagant dressing style, usually preferring muted or simple tones with little skin showing.]]
 
[[File:Darkpriesti.png|260px|thumb|right|Because the Bene Rexit was mostly made out of the Shivalëy Isldar, it has on average far more (Ordial) Mages than the Bene Vixit which has mostly warriors.]]
===Free Packs===
* Isldar can choose one [[Athletic_Point_Buy| Athletic]] or [[Magic_Point_Buy | Magic]] Pack for free.
* Isldar can choose one pack from [[Roguery Point Buy]] for free.
 
===Mechanics===
====All Isldar Mechanics====
* Isldar are immune to harm from frost or cold sources (unless they are Magical), and do not suffer decreased visibility or choking hazard in a blizzard/snow-storm.
* Isldar can see things from incredibly far away if they focus, able to spot an eagle landing a kilometer away or a coin being flipped across a town. Ask DM for Event use.
====Life Isldar Only Mechanics====
* Life Isldar can perform the Life Song on a recently deceased person of any heritage or culture, ensuring they pass into the afterlife (with OOC consent).
* Life Isldar can use Farsight to receive vague visions of things happening and existing in faraway lands. (this may require communication with Event DM's or Tickets).
* Life Isldar can see the Soul Rivers of Aloria where the dead pass through, and are able to tap into it, to feel random memories, emotions, or feelings from long ago.
====Death Isldar Only Mechanics====
* Death Isldar can perform the Death Song on a recently deceased person of any heritage or culture, forcibly turning them into an Undead (with OOC Consent).
* Death Isldar can steal non-Player Spirits from other Characters, and force them to be servants. They can only be taken back if the Death Isldar is KO'd.
* Death Isldar can Transform into the Bone Horror Shift, a hulking monster made of bones and rotting flesh, which counts as a Disguise but is obviously a Death Isldar.
====Neutral Isldar Only Mechanics====
* A Neutral Isldar can choose any three mechanics from the [[Teledden]] or [[Fin'ullen]] they want.
 
===Life and Death===
The Isldar descend from a cult of Dragon Worshipers, forced to flee from the Elven Empire they lived in for religious heresy. After a Magical event bathed their new homeland of Ellador in frost and killed the armies sent to hunt them down, they settled down in isolation, not knowing that their Dragon patron had been replaced, her body possessed by a great Demon of a Death God. Recently, other Dragons returned and exposed the Death God's scheme, resurrecting the true Dragon and sending Isldar society into a spiral. This pitted the city people (who stayed loyal to the Death God who had saved them, even if they had lied) against the rural tower people from the spire observatories (who took up the cause of Dragons again and started a rebellion), creating the division between Death and Life Isldar. The Life Isldar would have lost and been driven off or killed if not for the Regalian Empire's intervention, which was enough to bring the two sides to a truce and allow them to focus on fighting off the dark Vampire kingdom of Dorkarth, which borders both of them.
 
At the moment of the Death God's exposure, every Isldar was forced to choose between staying loyal to the Death God, the Glacial, or returning to Dragons. A Death Isldar cannot change into a Life Isldar and vice versa, unless they kneel before the patron God of the opposing side (the Glacial or any Dragon, respectively), and admit that they were wrong (spend a God-summoning token for an offscreen conversion). However, if any Isldar converts away from their patron religion or declares that they will have no part in the war, they become a Neutral Isldar instead, and re-gain some of the biology of their Elven ancestors before they became Isldar. A Neutral Isldar cannot go back to either side. It is considered treason for a Life Isldar to associate with a Death Isldar, or a Death Isldar to associate with a Life Isldar, even though they are under a state of truce. Neutral Isldar can be received by both sides, but are sneered down on for cowardice by fanatics, or those who have lost a lot in the war.
 
Though they share a culture page, Life and Death Isldar are bitter enemies with very different beliefs. The sections below will make it clear what lore refers to what group.
 
==Language and Naming==
The Isldar speak the Elven common language [[Altalar]], but have an incredibly strong dialect called Sulvaley. Sort of like a midpoint between Altalar and the Suvial language Agasi, it has much harsher sounds and different word choice in places that makes it very difficult for most other Elves to understand. Though they are still Elves, the accent of the Isldar gives them an almost Arabic feeling when they talk. Sulvaley additionally has a unique script. Though modern Altalar is written with an alphabet, ancient Altalar had characters for syllables. The Isldar held onto this style and write vertically in a flowing hand, making their lettering appear almost similar to real-world Mongolian writing.


Mysterious, seclusive, and individualist: this and more sets the Isldar apart, guardians of the icy wastes of Ellador, and shepherds of the lost souls left behind by millennia of tragedy. The Isldar originated from the Dregodar in the Allorn Empire, a cult of Dragon worshipers who fled their homeland under persecution. Hard-pressed by both their former kinsmen and their enemies the Dwarves, they barely managed to survive, at the cost of the Dragons they had sworn to protect. Following the rebirth of these Dragons, the Isldar have entered a bitter civil war: half siding with their ancient patrons, and the other half siding with the entity that protected them in their absence.
* '''Example Male Isldar Names:''' Asrel, Henqaan, Nayaal, Novyaan, Anshaar, Ravlan, Marcaror, Sonraal, Narvael, Alrifar.
* '''Example Female Isldar Names:''' Samala, Isavaila, Saaliya, Silyana, Fismeya, Savraela, Veana, Naerassa, Eyfa.
* '''Example Unisex Isldar Names:''' Sil, Aleyras, Asir, Esmeya, Asamey, Manyaar, Qiaan, Feynral, Savaa, Qirnar.  


==Core Identity==
Like other Elves, Isldar usually have quite a few names. First, middle, last, and sometimes their more important parent's name prefixed by "ul-" to show who they are descended from. Clan names are important to the Isldar, as different Isldar houses were always famous for different crafts and skills. Now that their society has been divided by a civil war, some Clans have been destroyed by the division, but the stable and large ones have stayed together and chosen their path almost unanimously. An Isldar named Novyaan A'sil Lorqaar, the son of Anshaar and from a clan called Meyraal, would be called Novyaan A'sil Lorqaar ul-Anshaar Meyraal. Ticket in the Roleplay Discord if you would like help with naming.
The Isldar are a race of ice-themed Elves who like to keep their distance from others. They are stereotyped as grim, stoic, and frosty people, unlikely to make friends, but incredibly loyal once they do. They are also stereotyped as dogmatic: taught a very particular way to see the world, and unwilling to easily split from it. These qualities are useful in a chaotic place like Regalia, because it means that an Isldar is difficult to sway, mislead, or corrupt. The centuries of war the Isldar have faced have left them battle-hardened, an army with a state, and they can boast of being the inventors of guerilla tactics and some of the best archers the world has to offer.


===Life Against Death===
==Brief History==
The two sides in the Isldar Civil War are the Bene Vixit and the Bene Rexit, the Life and Death Cults respectively. The Bene Vixit are loyal to the Dragons who the Isldar originally swore to protect, while the Bene Rexit are loyal to the god of the dead which protected them while the Dragons were slain. Complicating the situation is that this god of the dead, Frisit, pretended to be a Dragon until they were exposed by the return of the actual Dragons. The religious divide is so profound that they should be treated as separate cultures, and are described in more detail below.
Over the course of the Allorn (Elven) Empire’s existence, it imported new ideas from abroad as well as developing its own, creating diversity of opinion and religion in its formerly single-minded population. One of these diversities was [[Draconism]], or the act of showing favor to Dragons, the oldest beings on Aloria. Draconism in the Allorn Empire rallied around the Creation Dragon Aurora, a patron of craftsmen and living things who forged life into the world’s many creatures within her Craters of Creation. It originated when an innocent archaeological society began to dig up Dragon ruins scattered around the Allorn Empire, learning that Elves had worshiped Dragons before the Empire's creation and the arrival of new prophets. Converting one by one, the society soon became the Dragon-worshiping so-called Cult of Dregodar, earning the enmity of the Allorn Empress’ inner court and the over-powerful clerics of the state religion, [[Estelley]].  


===Silent Observation===
Persuaded by manipulative advisors and secret Cultists of yet other religions who hated Dragons, an Allorn Empress outlawed the Cult and Dragon Worship around 1000 BC. This ignited a large-scale Dragon worshiper uprising across the Empire. It might have been kept to a local rebellion had the Dregodar not chosen to both aid the [[Eronidas]], Dragon-worshiping Orcs who had invaded the Allorn Empire in its north-west, and rapidly free and then arm all of the [[Asha]] slaves they had formerly kept to join their side in the war. These escalations eventually led to the Allorn army being mobilized against the Dregodar, beginning a hopeless war they could not survive. Though the Eronidas won and kept their state, in the end the Dregodar lost and were forced to cross the water to another continent with Aurora in tow, while any Dragon worshipers left in the Allorn Empire had to go into hiding and the Asha they had armed disappeared into the Asha resistance.
The Isldar love watching. They construct observation towers where others do not go to take note of conditions around the world, and carefully gather information. All Isldar know the value of a good plan, and how important it is to study a situation from every angle and perspective before making a move.


===Occult Heritage===
They arrived in the lush and vast continent of Ellador, where they would meet the locals, the Dwarves. Though they began on good terms, Allorn ambassadors soon followed the fleeing Cult and manipulated the Dwarves into declaring war on them. A hundred-year series of wars followed in which Allorn Archmages and Dwarven mechanical ingenuity together brought the Cult of Dregodar to its knees. Yet, at the final battle beneath the mountain of Udillin’s Foot, Aurora supposedly cast a great spell in revenge, turning the once green Ellador into a frozen wasteland and slaughtering the Allorn and Dwarven armies where they stood, but transforming her Cult into the Race now known as Isldar. Casting the spell changed her, turning her withered and bloated, Undead in appearance. Unbeknownst to the Isldar, she had fallen to her fear and been possessed by a a great Demon of the Death-God called the Glacial.
Before the return of the Dragons, the Isldar freely practiced Magic, being mostly Exist Mages. Both Bene Vixit and Rexit Isldar still retain a large number of Exist Mages, but both would like to alter their Magic type to their respective deities’. New Bene Vixit magic users favor Primal Magic and the Archon affliction, while new Bene Rexit magic users favor Ordial Magic and the Geist affliction. Over time, it is expected that most will convert or be cleansed, but since the civil war began very recently, there are quite a few Exist Mages left.


===Qfizat Hadre===
Still believing they served Aurora (now visibly turned Undead, and renamed to Frisit), the Isldar took advantage of their newfound immunity to the cold to take control of most of Ellador. Mostly ignoring the [[Cataclysm]] which wracked the wider world, the Isldar soon came into conflict with the Vampire state of [[Dorkarth]] which came to exist in the north of Ellador, along with parties of [[Velheim]] Ailor colonists and Dwarves looking to reclaim lost Holds that had been destroyed by the Glacial’s scheme. Brutal ambushers who could melt into the snows and reappear at any moment, the Isldar acquired a fearful reputation, becoming hated by the rest of Ellador’s people over centuries of war. This would continue until very recently, when two powerful Dragons appeared above the Isldar capital and slew Frisit where she stood, revealing the Glacial’s trickery and reviving the true Aurora, who immediately left the Isldar to return to one of her Craters of Creation instead.
Qfizat Hadre is Isldarrin for “being everywhere at once.” While most Isldar live in Ellador, there is a large Isldar diaspora around the world serving as advisors in the courts of major Kingdoms and Empires. Both Bene Vixit and Rexit have made themselves indispensable, offering valuable advice on the machinations of their respective patrons and the Magic of their dimensions. While it is known they also spy for their orders, this is seen as an acceptable price for their service.


===Isldar in Regalia===
Since then, Ellador has been wracked not just by war between the Isldar and their Dorkarthi, Velheim, and Dwarven enemies, but also between the pro-Dragon Life Cult rebellion and the pro-Glacial Death Cult regime. The Velheim and Dwarves, as well as the Regalian Empire, have grudgingly decided to forgive and side with the Cult of Life, shipping [[Urlan]] shock troopers to Ellador to help them fight off the Death Cult. This worked well enough that the Death Cult was forced to accept a truce with the Life Cult, and turn to fight Dorkarth together for the time being. Both of them would like to re-ignite the war, but cannot do it so long as Dorkarth poses a mortal threat.
Isldar are fairly common in Regalia, because there is a lot to learn there. Not just the noble advisors, but also large companies of common Isldar journey through the land, hoping to find connections and make their fortune. It is implied that Regalia has a better relationship with the Life Cult because its members are often less dangerous (and always less macabre!), but Death Cult Isldar are also welcome.


==Design==
==Conflicts & Alliances==
===Physical Characteristics===
A lot of MassiveCraft's lore is constructed around religious, historical, or societal grievances. This section sets out conflict and alliance points for the Isldar.
Isldar are similar to Teledden (the High Elves). Like all Nelfin, they are more slender and tall than Humans. Isldar specifically have pale skin and long, pointy ears, longer than those of other Nelfin Races. Death and Life Isldar can have natural black or white hair, though many dye it other colors. The only real way to tell Death and Life Isldar apart is that Life Isldar have purple irises with blue specks in them, while Death Isldar have green irises with blue specks in them. Both kinds may also have blue, green, or black sclera.
* '''Allorn Elves:''' Most Isldar hate Allorn Elves, considering their Empire a tyrant state of debauchery. Confusing an Isldar for a Teledden will start a fight.
* '''Asha:''' The Dregodar freed and armed an immense number of Asha slaves, not because they wanted to, but because they had to. The resultant feelings are complex.
* '''Eronidas:''' The Life Isldar remember how much the Dregodar did for the Eronidas, but the Eronidas do not remember or care at all, which saddens them a bit.
* '''Urlan:''' As the Urlan show veneration to Dragons, and even aggressive Ellador Urlan still cooperate with the Life Isldar, they are friendly.
* '''Velheim, Dwarves:''' Isldar have a long history of war with the Velheim, who usually do not trust them. However, there are cases of Isldar converting to Fornoss and integrating.
* '''Vampires:''' Isldar despise Vampires, since they are locked in war with the Vampire state of Dorkarth in western Ellador with its nightmare legions and flying castles.
* '''Each Other:''' The main conflict focus of the Isldar is the civil war. They are at once the same people, and one another's most bitter enemies in every meaningful way.


==Summary of Racial Abilities==
==Religions==
Racial Abilities are usable in combat and for an advantage, while Specials are aesthetic. Isldar abilities are themed around their Life and Death cults, with an overarching ice aesthetic. Half Isldar also get access to the Racial Abilities and Specials.
* '''[[Draconism]]''': All Life Isldar by default must worship Draconism to be considered Life Isldar. They usually favor Aurora, but are found in every Dragon circle: Regulus and Caius both have important Isldar servants.
===Abilities===
* '''[[Evolism]]''': All Death Isldar by default must worship the Glacial, part of the broader Evolist pantheon, to be considered Death Isldar. They prioritize her over the others, but still give favors where they can.
{| class="wikitable"
* '''[[Fornoss]]''': Some Isldar, both Life and Death, turn to Neutral Isldar by converting to Fornoss and living with the Velheim or Dwarves. There are not that many, but the number is not unnotable, especially in Hedryll.
|- style="font-weight:bold; text-align:center; background-color:#c0c0c0;"
* '''[[Baskarr]], [[Estelley]], [[Unionism]]''': There are few Isldar who worship any of these religions, because Baskarr is a homogeneous Asha ethno-religion, Estelley is the religion of the Allorn oppressors that they suffered for converting away from, and Unionism is simply very foreign, far away, and very alien to the Isldar historical narrative. Some Isldar convert away to these religions and become Neutral, but need strong justification.
! Ability Name
! Ability Type
! Ability Range
! Ability Description
! Modifiers
|-
| style="background-color:#cee5ed;" | Frost Immune
| Constant Passive
| {{#simple-tooltip: Self | Self Range means that it applies to the user themselves, or something they can directly touch after casting it.}}
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Frost Immune | The user is immune to any damaging properties of frost, cold, or ice, whether that is from a Mundane Technique, Ability, or Environment. The user can simply wade through a blizzard or freezing water without it hurting them, and their visibility is not reduced in a snow flurry. This does not apply to optional ice aesthetics being applied to Magic Abilities other than Ice Magic Pack, but it does make them Immune to Ice Magic Pack’s Ability. The user also does not feel temperatures when they are cold.
}}
| N/A
|-
| style="background-color:#cee5ed;" | Armor Summon
| Summon Power
| {{#simple-tooltip: Self | Self Range means that it applies to the user themselves, or something they can directly touch after casting it.}}
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Armor Summon | The user can summon any type of Armor on any part of their body. Summoned armor has the same durability as mundane armor, but counts as Ability Armor.
}}
| {{#simple-tooltip: Isldar Modifier | Rather than summoning physical Armor, the Isldar Armor is their hardened scales or twisted metal scales, and they can apply it to their entire body at once, or only part of it. Life Isldar manifest any shade of purple or blue scales, while Death Isldar manifest shiny black metal segments. This Transformation is semi-permanent, meaning it cannot be removed by anyone but the Isldar themselves.}}
|-
|}


===Specials===
Until Evolism is updated to include the Glacial, a basic version of Glacial dogma will be included here. The Glacial is an Isldar Archmage who lived during the war against the Allorn Empire, though it isn't specified when. In desperation to save her people, she delved into forbidden tomes of Magic and accidentally trapped herself within the Death Realm, gaining enough power and Ordial Magic over time until she could reach into the world of the living through Avatars and Spirits as a Death God, though it isn't clear how. The Death Isldar understand that when they ritualistically kill in the name of the Glacial, the souls are sent on to her power in the Death Realm. They believe that if she amasses enough power, she will destroy the Malefica who traditionally rules there, usurp the Dimension, and burst into Aloria to create an Undying Paradise and Empire for the Death Isldar where they languish in her love without suffering, interference, or interruption, from anyone who would seek to attack them, ever again. It is a very Undead- and Spirit- happy religion that encourages the mass use of both of these things as bound legions to wage wars for the Death Isldar, and cultivates powerful and corrupt Ordial Mages as its priesthood. Since its dogma effectively demands that people be murdered to increase the power of its God, most people are not happy to see a Glacial worshiper, but the Death Isldar like to say that "there was always going to be a death, only, it does not have to be you." When the Isldar split into Life and Death Isldar, for the Death Isldar Frisit worship immediately stopped being fake Dragon Worship and started being full-blown Death cultist Magic. Those of them who were not Ordial Mages before have definitely become so now, and their clothes and styling have started taking on otherworldly, malevolent appearances to style after their master's servants'.
All Specials are purely aesthetic and cannot be used in combat.
* '''Scouring of Ellador:''' Isldar gain [[Spell Point Buy]] Ice Spell Pack for free. This does not make them Occult, and is Primal for the Life Cult and Ordial for the Death Cult. If they buy more Spell Packs, it changes to that Magic’s dimension.
* '''Manifesting Frost:''' Isldar may optionally have blue-tinted skin with patches of ice and snow, and turn their hair to ice.
* '''Cleansing Snow:''' Isldar may cleanse their bodies of imperfections and mutations at any time.
* '''Ageless:''' Adult Isldar may appear of any age they wish, so long as that age is also adult.
* '''Frostmancy:''' Isldar have innate telekinesis, and control over snow and ice around them.
* '''Soul Attuned:''' Isldar can see the Soul Rivers of the world, white glowing streams of essence that flow through the air. Life Isldar can repair damaged Soul Rivers, while Death Isldar can bend them around a dying person to ensure they become Undead, as well as remove the ability to read memories from an area in Progressions.
* '''Planar Script:''' Isldar can manifest and remove Primal or Ordial script on their bodies.
* '''Tail Manifest:''' If an Isldar is using Armor Summon, they may also summon an aesthetic armor tail to go with it.
*'''Dragon Speech:''' All Life Isldar can understand Dragon Speech / Wyrmtongue.
*'''Death Speech:''' All Death Isldar can understand Death Speech / Shadetongue.
*'''Isldar Aesthetics:''' All Isldar may choose to apply ice and snow aesthetics to their Abilities.


==Culture==
==Isldar Civil War==
{| class="wikitable"
The Isldar Civil War is so immensely important that it deserves its own section. Before the Civil War, the Isldar were ruled by an entity that called itself Frisit, the Undead Frost Dragon. Frisit was really a Demon of the Death God called the Glacial in a Dragon's body, but was pretending very carefully to be a genuine Dragon, and so operated for the most part within the bounds of Dragon Worship. Other than being oddly Death-obsessed and fighting in the wars across Ellador, the Isldar did not have an unusual society for Dragon Worshipers. Magic was relatively rare but still present and un-persecuted since Aurora lacked other Dragons' zeal for their war against Magic, with just a few Dragon-empowered Archon born from older lineages that dated back to Aurora's actual lifetime scattered through the library towers in the countryside. Although the Death Isldar in the modern day are fierce necromancers and Death Magic spellcasters who fight with legions of the damned, this is an incredibly modern change that only happened once the Glacial was clearly revealed. Even though they are zealous enemies of Dragons and Dragon Worship, the Death Isldar were basically raised Dragon Worshipers of Frisit until the schism, with their expression of belief only changing as the visible nature of their Goddess did. That the Glacial's deceit could not be discovered for so long was not due to the absence of other Dragons, or supposed naive behavior on the part of the Isldar, but because the Demon Frisit was very, very good at pretending to be a Dragon, and did nothing to betray that belief until she was exposed.
{| style="color: black; background-color: #9FAFB7; width: 90%;" align="center"
! colspan="3" |
Isldar Cultures
|- style="background:#eee;"
| rowspan="2" style="width: 7%; text-align:center;" |
'''Bene Vixit'''
[[File:Isldarlife.png|100px]]
|
The Bene Vixit, or Life Cult, are the Isldar who stayed loyal to the Dragons. They are strongly influenced by their religion: their patron Dragon Asaph’s beliefs dictate how they live their lives. The Bene Vixit tend to be more pro-Regalia, because Regalia helped them temporarily in the Civil War. They have a high proportion of warriors among their number, because the soldiering caste of the Isldar threw in its lot with the Dragons upon their return.
|- style="background:white;"
|
* The Bene Vixit are all about staying true to the Dregodar and the ancient values of the Isldar, to safeguard the living.
* The Bene Vixit speak Sulvaley, the Isldar language, which is a Nelfin dialect influenced by real-world Arabic phonetics.
* The Bene Vixit are expected to be stern and taciturn, dependable people who are difficult to read but always show up in a pinch.
* The Bene Vixit are universally Dragon Worshipers, following the Dragon Asaph. Conversion away is very rare, but can happen in diaspora sometimes.
* The Bene Vixit are disinterested in politics, because Ellador does not have kings. They will back anything that supports Dragons’ interests.
* The Bene Vixit are apathetic about Occult, having many Exist Mages left over. They love anything Dragon-related, and hate anything Ordial-related.
* The Bene Vixit love purple, Wyvern-riding, the open air and sky, chill breezes, a good hunt, felling monstrous creatures, and honest soldiering.
|- style="background:#eee;"
| rowspan="2" style="width: 7%; text-align:center;" |
'''Bene Rexit'''
[[File:Isldardeath.png|100px]]
|
The Bene Rexit, or Death Cult, revel in the glory of the slain. Each soul taken by their hands is sent to their patron, the death god Frisit, who eagerly awaits their tribute until the day that she is strong enough to conquer the world for them. Like the Bene Vixit, they too are influenced by their patron’s beliefs. They have many Mages among them, because the old Mage-priest caste of the Isldar proved loyal to Frisit in the end.
|- style="background:white;"
|
* The Bene Rexit are all about raging against the dying of the light, living their lives spectacularly, loudly, and exactly how they want to.
* The Bene Rexit speak Sulvaley, the Isldar language, which is a Nelfin dialect influenced by real-world Arabic phonetics.
* The Bene Rexit are expected to be flamboyant and full of bravado, charismatic people who know their own worth.
* The Bene Rexit are universally Ordial Cultists, following the death god Frisit (the Glacial). Conversion away is completely nonexistent.
* The Bene Rexit are disinterested in politics, because Ellador does not have kings. They will back anything that supports their own interests.
* The Bene Rexit are apathetic about Occult, having many Exist Mages left over. They love anything Ordial-related, and hate anything Dragon-related.
* The Bene Rexit love green, catacombs, dark colors, literature, the beauty of high fashion, feeling in control, and learning arcane secrets.  
|}
|}


==Language==
Almost all Death Isldar come from the gigantic Isldar moon spire metropole cities built atop the mountains, and almost all Life Isldar come from the rural observatory towers and shacks scattered out in the middle of nowhere. The Isldar Civil War has as much of an economic motivation as a religious one, although the Isldar consider any suggestion to that effect a crude form of insult, and would gladly start a fight over it. The fact is, however, that the more powerful Isldar clans in the cities had a lot of political power because of their closeness to the priesthood of Frisit. Joining the Life Isldar rebellion would have meant giving that all up to live in caves and fight on the run against overwhelming force, on behalf of Dragons they had never met, dying for a cause they were not even sure if they believed in anymore. As such, a sizeable majority of the Isldar population (70-30) belongs to the Death Isldar, even if the Regalian popular imagination would depict it the other way around. The Life Isldar, meanwhile, number so strongly from the spire record-keeping towers and empty provinces because these lineages were settled well before the Battle at Udillin's Foot and the end of the War, having been so socially isolated that the entire transformation of Aurora into Frisit went completely over their heads, and their oral and written custom preserved direct proper Dragon Worship as held before without interference.
[[File:Vultalarv.png|260px|thumb|right|This Isldar with Summoned purple scale Armor also applied moon-themed war paint before going to battle.]]
[[File:Lookatheaddress.png|260px|thumb|right|Bene Rexit head dresses and clothing is some of the most extravagant and alien designed in the world.]]
[[File:Isldorihdhdhft.png|260px|thumb|right|Even if Life Isldar are just as closed off as Death Isldar are, they tend to look somewhat more inviting and benevolent.]]
[[File:Benegesseret.png|260px|thumb|right|Death Isldar on the other hand always know what they want and that they can get it, and dress to impress.]]
[[File:Ajred.png|260px|thumb|right|Isldar can grow body hair and facial hair but often have cultural reasons not to. They can also dye their hair (to escape the difficult MCskin white hair)]]


As earlier described, the Isldarrin language, Sulvaley, shares a family with other Nelfin languages. It has diverged somewhat over the centuries the Isldar have spent in Ellador since their departure from the Allorn Empire. Sulvaley is ascribed Arabic phonetics, with glottal stops and harsh consonants not found in most other Nelfin vocabularies.
If the Life Isldar were to win, it would be their goal to achieve the old ideal from when the Isldar first set out to Ellador. The mountaintops to the Isldar, the mountain depths to the Dwarves, and the valleys to be split between the Urlan and Ailor humans depending on historical custom. If the Death Isldar were to win, they would likely turn any remaining non-Isldar prisoners into Shades or Undead and kill, convert, or expel the Life Isldar, then ruling Ellador as an Empire in the Glacial's image until the day of her prophesied return to greet her worshipers in the world of the living. The Death Isldar like to say that the Life Isldar are complacent cowards who are destroying their own nation with treachery for the sake of Gods who do not care about them and never will, and the Life Isldar like to say that the Death Isldar are mindless agents of a cruel, murderous Death Beast who would drown the world for the sake of their own petty selfishness. Even though the Death Isldar are discriminated in Regalia and the Life Isldar are not, both sides have a point to be made. The Glacial did protect and empower the Isldar for centuries, at the same time as she is a Death God, and her followers are murderers.


'''Example Isldar male coded names:''' Arfa, Eriannan, Irifa, Ursal, Arqaam, Arslan, Aryaan, Irsaley, Ercaror, Henqaan. Most Isldarrin male names start with vowels, and double As are common.
==Culture==
===Families and Romance===
Family is incredibly important to the Isldar, whose broader society remains somewhat tribal, strung together by clans. When living in a place as large and inhospitable as Ellador, clans become an easy way to establish relations with someone else: with each clan usually having a trade, a social standing, and a vague place of origin, just learning a name can communicate a lot of information. Unlike the other Elven peoples who keep very small and slow to grow families, Isldar often have many siblings, first cousins, and even more second cousins. While there is not a pre-written list of Isldar families or great clans, it is encouraged for players to think about their Characters' and use them for easy backstory ties with one another. While some Isldar families and traditional clan bonds were destroyed by the religious schism, the more powerful or stable clans were mostly able to stick together. A situation where an entire great clan of thousands of people went Vixit or Rexit together and a situation where a family of four split halfway down the middle are equally possible, depending on the desired story. The Isldar have a very deep but slightly prudish culture around romance. While they are not as conservative as the Lanlath, for example, the usual ideal demands long sheafs of sappy poetry penned in the honor of one's lover. Another common cultural theme is to sacrifice for love: there are many heroes in the Isldar poems and epics, who were forced to lay down their lives for a spouse or forbidden lover, immortalized after death. Needless to say, the Isldar make for very passionate partners under their frigid, emotionless exteriors, if one is able to survive their love for the dramatic and the occasional moonlight saber duel fought with a competitor for a darling's hand.
===Clothing===
Isldar fashion is more pragmatic than most Elven styles, made for Ellador's sub-zero environment. It tends to mix a combination of tighter, simpler underclothes with traditional Elven robes that can be quickly shed if a fight breaks out. While the Isldar still wear embroidery and jewelry, they are considered more on the austere side, with muted dulled colors. Isldar inside wear and underclothes tend to be darker and more vivid, while the opposite is true of their cloaks and shrouds, which are overwhelmingly plain, designed with the empty white tundra of Ellador in mind. Moon symbolism is very common with the Isldar because the pale moon was one of the first emblems of the Cult of Dregodar back in the Allorn days, but the Rexit have mostly discarded this and other traditional Elven symbolism for a macabre focus on bone motifs. Dark skeletal mock armor, black metal plates arranged like scales, giant nails and elaborate headdresses: the Rexit have a head for the ostentatious and sleek, dressing to draw eyes from every room they walk into. The Vixit, meanwhile, have a persistent sort of "ranger" look about them due to their origin in the rural provinces. With belts for field equipment and hidden knives, even their upper class, such as it is, looks ready for a week lost in the snow-covered wilderness. There are a few unique Isldar fabrics, such as Starshimmer fabric that looks like a thin translucent dark purple gauze with white star speckles across its surface, that are quite prized and hard to get in Regalia. Additionally, Isldar are skillful tattoo artists: many show religious devotion, while some others are just stylistic. Most Isldar, at least, have Magical glyphs tattooed at the base of their necks in honor of their patron Gods, that are supposed to ward away the eyes of those who would want to harm them.
===Art===
The Isldar are famous for two forms of visual art: calligraphy, and wall carvings. Their intricate and alien etched designs laid into the permafrost of the deepest Hold interiors can spiral up around the viewer for so high and long that they cannot see the end of them from the ground. Isldar wall carvings are usually renditions of the poetic epics to put them into memory, or more relevantly, religious texts. Many of the countryside Isldar who would later become the Vixit built their crystal towers of observation atop old obelisks and hidden chambers of the gospel of Dragons from the Allorn day. Though some have been destroyed, most yet remain. Isldar calligraphy is prized mostly because of their unique flowing script. While still decidedly Elven, other Elves like to use it in artwork from time to time to make text illegible to the common eye or evoke the distant air of snowy Ellador, while non-Elven cultures see beauty in the twisting, looping shapes, much the same. Otherwise, their poetry and choral song are prized for their intensity, especially the romances. Isldar poetry is often very tragic, dreary, and emotionally heavy: they believe that an honest story must include lows as deep as the highs are tall. Even the Isldar Song of Life and Song of Death, the magical cants that pass the dead on or damn them to Undeath, have been described as a love song to a life and a hate song to a death respectively, begging the listener in swirling verse to accept the beauty of the time they have had, or rage against what was taken from them.
===Other Cultural Habits===
* Isldar cannot stand spicy food, but they have the inverse: very, very strong minty substances that can get so strong as to numb the mouths of those without appropriate tolerance. A common Isldar response to being made fun of for not being able to handle a pepper is offering the offender a sprig of Ellador Blizzardmint.
* Isldar have a very strong tea culture. It is a critical element of any and all Isldar hospitality to offer a guest some tea. Some Isldar even barter with tea bricks. Most famous of all is their black tea steeped for a very long time to be incredibly strong, and then muddled with butter from Ellador mountain yaks, so that it has a buttery and warming feeling to it.
* Isldar alcohol is very sweet and fruity, with bright peach and pear and apple notes. They drink it in shots served in engraved steel cups inlaid with silver. Sometimes Isldar alcohol is flavored with the mint mentioned in the previous bullet point, which gives it a chilling kick in the back of the throat.
* Isldar are [[Wyvern]] riders, both Vixit and Rexit, and fancied to be the best in Aloria. Even though they are excellent riders who form lifetime bonds with their mounts, there is an Isldar saying that "only a southlander would fly a wyvern for everyone to see." Just like one can be ambushed on the land, one can also be ambushed in the sky by those who take offense to one's presence.
* Isldar are not just singers. They also have a long tradition of harp and lyre music, and very deep, wistful flutes carved from the reeds that used to grow on the banks of southern Ellador before it froze over. All the same, it is their choirs that remain the most famous both at home and abroad, usually as a medium for their poetic tradition.
* Isldar enjoy accuracy-based sports like rifle, archery, javelin, and dart competitions with the best shot being rewarded. These take precedence over any kind of organized team sports. On the intellectual side, they are also fond of symposiums, debates, and other kinds of verbal sparring. Anything with a duel theme is bound to be popular.
* Isldar have a very strong concept of guest right and hospitality. If one is enemies with an Isldar, the safest place to be is at their doorstep begging sanctuary. The most common way guest right is given is by offering a glass of ice water. If an Isldar offers one among five captives a drink, then that one should breathe easy, and the other four should start sweating.
* Isldar prize their ornamented, inscribed dueling sabers, which are passed down their family line as an object of honor and dignity. These swords are only intended to be ceremonially used for honor duels, and are so richly decorated that they would not long survive the beating that a tour of use on the battlefield would mark on them.
* Isldar camping and woodcutting blades are short, curved forward at the tip (refer to real-life Nepalese khukuri). In a pinch, it can be a useful sidearm.
* Isldar are one of the cultures of Aloria that sometimes uses gunpowder weapons. They have no native gunpowder artillery, or sidearms like pistols, but make very long metal-banded rifles they call 'jazalya,' for sniping into valleys.
* Isldar do not see honor in standing and fighting. They are relentless ambush warriors who attack their enemies unseen, cover them in a hail of javelin fire, dive in with their moon-glaives, and then turn around and escape back onto their Wyverns and leave. The Isldar saying on this goes, "the men who call you cowards will die."
* Isldar love hunting and wilderness pursuits. They are stealthy and silent hunters, the calculated and chilling opposite of the nature-attuned Urlan. If Isldar and Urlan are hunting together, it is doom for their target.
* Isldar also love parkour and roof climbing and running in urban settings. Rooftops also make space to sit privately and talk about personal feelings without a looming crowd, making them an Isldar favorite.
* Isldar are very adept observers and astronomers, especially with their brilliant eyesight. Their Crystal Spire observatories hidden around Aloria also double as places to chart the stars.
* Isldar are fond of moon and lunar symbolism. In the early days, the Dragon Worshipers disguised themselves as worshipers of Leyon by using a slightly different moon, and this stuck.


'''Example Isldar female coded names:''' Almeya, Cuadhïra, Erthira, Kharaera, Vyara. They can also be made by modifying male coded names. For example, Erianna, Ursaela, Arslanna, Irsaleya, Ercantha, Henqaena.
==Recommended Playstyle==
The Recommended Playstyle section explains some easy-to-enter niches that these people of Aloria function well in.
* '''Isldar Rangers''' are some of the best in the world, investing in [[Ranger Point Buy]] or [[Deadeye Point Buy]].
* '''Isldar Adventurers''' are quick on their feet and good with knives, investing in [[Cutthroat Point Buy]].
* '''Isldar Lifesingers''' are the talented Archon healer clerics and sages, investing in [[Magic Point Buy]] and [[Cleric Point Buy]] as [[Archon]].
* '''Isldar Deathsingers''' are the powerful and corrupt Death Priests of the Glacial, investing in [[Magic Point Buy]], sometimes as [[Geist]]s.
* '''Isldar Glaive Ambushers''' are the larger and stronger frontline troops, investing in [[Bruiser Point Buy]] and [[Magic Point Buy]].


Isldar names are not very complicated. In addition to their first name, most have a last name, but some Isldar do not bother. When decades are spent in the field, many soldiers abandon the difficulty of a second word to remember.
==Religion==
The Isldar are bitterly divided along religious lines. The Life Cult worships Asaph from [[Dragon Worship]], while the Death Cult worships Frisit (the Glacial) from [[Ordial]] Worship. To learn more about these beings’ beliefs and how to worship them beyond the surface level, reading the linked pages is encouraged.
==Families==
===Childhood===
Isldar children are often communally raised. Their parents might be often away at other holds, at observatory centers, or at war. This means that they have a very open-ended perspective from very early on concerning social bonds, and get into the easy habit of forming new relationships quickly. Physical exercise and drills are encouraged, and while outsiders might describe the whole process as austere, Isldarrin children often leave their young years healthy and with a wide range of experiences both inside their breathtaking holds and outside in the wilderness of Ellador, learning what it takes to survive the frost and keep your bearings.
===Adulthood===
The Isldarrin concept of adulthood is dominated by civic duty. With how Ellador has been since their arrival, this usually means military duty. All Isldar are brought in for conscription at the age of twenty, and taught a series of standard weapons, traditionally the bow and the spear. Most do not see active duty immediately, because the style of guerilla warfare the Isldar prefer means that very few units are operating at any given time. However, with the outbreak of the civil war within Isldar society and the upheaval of more intense Vampiric and Regalian invasions, the Isldar of recent years have been exposed to an unusual amount of bloodshed. Upon completing a single mandatory tour, Isldar are given the option to leave Ellador, an option which many take: better to adventure out in the world, than to stay as a footman at home.
===Romance & Gender Norms===
Isldar romance is perhaps one of the most stiff things imaginable: their famous lack of comedy and social wit would make an observer question whether that stiffness is an intentional element they throw in to make things easier. However, on the flipside, it is extremely honest. There are no cat-and-mouse games, veiled declarations of affection, and tree-shade flirting among the Isldar. Intentions are stated openly and honestly, and accepted or declined much the same without contest. The Isldar do not have gender norms: all must learn to fight, all must learn to excel at the same roles in life, and all must do their duty to their country.
==Fashion==
Isldarrin fashion differs between the Bene Vixit and the Bene Rexit. Both follow the basic rules of Nelfin clothing: robes are in style, long sleeves, and flowing, patterned fabric. The Life Isldar favor generally lighter colors and looser, more practical clothes which keep the roughness of the wilderness off of them. Tough cloaks and leather boots are common, as is anything that keeps them safe, and can double as limited protection in the case of an attack. Practicality is key. The Death Isldar, meanwhile, dress to impress - their priests wear outlandish headdresses, while even the laymen have an impeccable sense of style. Black and dark gothic styles are everywhere, impractically high heels as well, and stunning multicolor makeup that can sometimes take up to an hour to apply. The Bene Rexit do not go anywhere without looking on point.
==World View==
World View is optional content that helps give Isldar flavor and depth.
* The historical enemies of the Isldar are the Dwarves, the Dorkarth Vampires, Hedryll, and the Regalian Empire. The Dwarves because they aggressed on them upon arriving in Ellador and because the Dwarves are responsible for Asaph’s original death, and the other three because they have been making steady incursions into Isldar territory in the past hundred years.
* Both Life and Death Isldar keep Wyverns as their mounts of choice, and fancy themselves the best riders in Aloria. The outbreak of the Civil War has seen some breathtaking Wyvernback duels between champion Isldar in the frosty clouds of Ellador.
* Life Isldar form life bonds with their Wyverns. They believe that if their Wyvern perishes, the next they acquire is their reincarnation, and go to painstaking lengths to find a new mount that was born the day their previous one died.
* Isldar are excellent choral singers, and also favor the harp. Their music is credited as holding a certain angelic quality seldom seen, and their hymns are traditionally used as the closing act in famous operas and stagehouses around Aloria.
* Isldarrin sports always have a military angle to them. For example, javelin throwing is popular, but only because being good at throwing a javelin during downtime translates to being good at throwing a javelin when in the front lines of a snowstorm skirmish.
* Isldar love symposiums and debates. They are deeply individualistic, and having a platform to make their positions known to one another is seen as cathartic and relaxing. This tendency to debate for fun can create little social faux pas with those who don’t understand.
* Isldar also love hunting. Life Isldar because it is the divine wish of Asaph that her followers should test the limits of her infinite creations, and Death Isldar because Frisit is pleased by the tribute of souls, even ones that do not come from sentient enemies.
* Isldar are famously blunt, and do not have a concept of irony or sarcasm in their culture. This can lead to two things: firstly, statements on their part can be unintentionally comedic, and secondarily, they can miss or ignore implications in things others say.
* Death Isldar decorate their Undead followers lavishly, offering them tribute in gold, fine silks, and embellished armor so that their good appearance can reflect favorably back on them. Matching outfits are considered in vogue.
* The Isldar live in so-called ‘Moon Vaults,’ ice palaces etched into the sides of the mountains and filled with countless bedazzled halls which shine in the moonlight. They are so named because their inner vaults only open to a particular series of keys when the moon is full.
* The (in)famous metal known as ‘Skysteel’ was recently revealed to be an elaborate ploy by the Bene Rexit to lure gullible Ailor into Ellador to kill them and steal their belongings (and souls.)
* The Isldar mostly subsist on fruits and arctic fauna, but their most famous culinary export is a dessert called a moon pie, two pastries with a thick circle of chilled vanilla icing sticking them together.
* Isldar love hiking and difficult terrain. In Regalia, this means that many Isldar take to parkour, something they invite strangers along on frequently just for the experience. Crookback residents frequently complain about the clatter of Isldar feet on their shoddy roofs at nighttime.
* The Isldar are masters of guerilla warfare. They invented it, and benefit from being immune to the cold on a continent which is hilly and consistently below zero degrees. To challenge them on their own terrain is nothing short of foolhardy.
* The Isldar language is suited for spoken poetry, having a reputation for well-paced emotional reflections on the nature of life and the self among their Nelfin cousin races. Quite a few Teledden, even, have taken to the ‘Isldarriyát’ genre of quatrains.
* Death Isldar consider husky, hoarse voices desirable in both speech and music. They surmise among themselves that this preference comes from the harsh syllables naturally present in Deathspeech leaking over into their other languages.
* Death Isldar courtship rituals involve eliminating all other potential suitors, literally. The road to romance is fraught with saber duels under moonlight.
* The Isldar like to play checkers. Not because it is considered mentally challenging, but because the white pieces are a metaphor for the Life Isldar and the black pieces are a metaphor for the Death Isldar: different colors, but the same shape.
* Life Isldar handle Undead by giving them ‘penance periods,’ a window of grace after which they will hunt them and put them down on the spot. In Ellador, some Undead surprisingly accept this fate with grace, but the same cannot be expected in Regalia.
* Isldar liquor is all berry-flavored and very sweet. Cloudberries, blueberries, blackberries. It is drunk in shots and is always a pleasant stomach-warmer in Ellador’s cold temperatures.
==Trivia==
==Trivia==
* Isldar cannot feel cold food. It all tastes perfectly warm to them.
* The Isldar like to play checkers. Not because it is considered mentally challenging, but because the white pieces are a metaphor for the Life Isldar and the black pieces are a metaphor for the Death Isldar.
* Ellador hosts the world’s only bi-annual Dart and Backflip Tournament.
* The elaborate acrobatic games of the Isldar, like throwing darts and backflipping, have achieved some renown around the world as evidence of the unrivaled dexterity of these mysterious Snow Elves.
* There is a romance novel involving a Maquixtl shieldmaiden and an Isldar huntress.
* Now that the Glacial does not rule all of Ellador, some parts of the continent in the south near the coast are defrosting and turning green again, albeit very, very slowly, valley by valley.
 
{{Peoples}}
{{Accreditation
|Artists = MonMarty
|Writers = Okadoka
|Processors =
}}


{{Races}}
[[Category:People of Aloria]] [[category:races]] [[category:Magus Races]]
[[category:races]] [[category:Magus Races]]

Latest revision as of 18:05, 21 March 2024

Isldar
Yseldaar (in Altalar)
Grayflag1.png Grayflag3.png
Motto: "Truth Abides no Weakness."
Isldarpslasho.png
Nation State Life and Death Isldar States
Ruler Tower Councils
Other Present Varied
Languages Altalar
Religion Varied
First Recorded 100 BC
Demonym(s) Isldar
Priest Isldar used to turn themselves icy pale blue with Magic to show their dedication. The practice has largely died out, but some still do it.
The Rexit have very skilled warriors, this one clad in black metal armor shaped to still mimic Draconic claws and scales.
Even if Life Isldar are just as closed off as Death Isldar are, they tend to look somewhat more inviting and benevolent.
This Isldar with purple Dragonscale also applied moon-themed war paint before going to battle.
Vixit do not have an extravagant dressing style, usually preferring muted or simple tones with little skin showing.
Rexit death priest head dresses and clothing are some of the most extravagant and alien designed in the world.
Death Isldar always know what they want and that they can get it, and dress to impress.
The Rexit have a large number of powerful Ordial Mages at their service.
The Isldar spire towers sit high and pierce the clouds above the distant peaks of Ellador.

Silent watchers of the frozen mountain peaks, the Isldar are a Race of Snow-Elves who dwell in the distant continent of Ellador and guard its endless, icy valleys. With humble origins as a minor religious cult in the Allorn Empire of old, the struggle of their history drove the Isldar to eventually become their own people and their own nation. Seen as mysterious, reclusive, and barely understood by the outside world, the Isldar are often travelers from their home in one of Aloria’s few remaining unexplored corners. In recent years their society has been cruelly divided by a religious schism that has boiled into war, and with the road to peace impossible to see, the Life and Death Isldar - now bitter enemies - both pray that they will one day triumph. Though they appear in many of the world’s courts as precious advisors and historians, home and family are always close to an Isldar’s heart, for the roads of all their choices eventually lead back to the glimmering spires of Ellador.

Design

The Isldar are patient and prudent Snow Elves, taught from birth to keep their feelings and intentions closely guarded. They are die-hard stoics, sometimes seen by others as emotionless for their disdain of vulnerability and the absent coldness written on their faces: much like their homeland, Ellador, which is cast into a perilous and permanent winter. Most Isldar are incredibly religious, with a schism down the middle based on if the Isldar worships Dragons (and is considered a Life Isldar, "Vixit" in their language) or worships the ice Goddess called the Glacial (and is considered a Death Isldar, "Rexit" in their language). They have a deep, sincere, and poetic culture which struggles with any sort of crudeness or sarcasm. The Isldar are just as famous for their beautiful verses as for their inability to laugh at jokes or smile. Physically, Isldar can have any body shape, but tend towards sharp, narrow facial features and angular frames, often lacking the broadness more common in Human descent. They tend to be tall, with an average height around six foot. Isldar usually style themselves in a traditional Elven way, with robes and long hair.

  • Eye Colors: Isldar eyes must be purple if Life Isldar, green if Death Isldar, and blue if Neutral Isldar. Their sclera can be either white or black.
  • Hair Colors: Isldar have very desaturated natural hair colors. Any white, black, or gray tone, or a pale tone like platinum or strawberry blonde, occurs naturally.
  • Appearance: Isldar are mostly pale, but sometimes have a northern tan (see real life Inuit or Tibetans for examples). They can have any Caucasian or Asian features.
  • Patron Traits: Life Isldar can have Dragonscale patches on their bodies, and Death Isldar can have black metal Dragonscale-like patches on their bodies.

Isldar in Regalia

A century ago, Isldar were so rare that they were frequently confused for the more numerous Elven races. Nowadays, however, the schism and civil war in Ellador has led to a massive departure of Isldar from their homeland. Though there are more in some places than others, there are now enough Isldar abroad that most people have heard of them and their culture, with little pockets scattered around the known world. Here are some concepts for player use:

  • The Life and Death Isldar are currently under a truce. Some members of both factions have taken advantage of this to come to Regalia to lobby for the homeland.
  • The Life Isldar have a refugee colony in Anglia under the high priestess of the Dragon Regulus, who frequently sends her people to Regalia.
  • The Death Isldar understand that there is no better place to cause death than Regalia, the center of the world. It is an excellent place for their work.
  • Isldar are famous musicians, poets and court performers. Irrespective of their side in the war, some of them come to Regalia just to perform.

Heritage Traits

Heritage Traits are free Packs and Mechanics. Free Packs never raise Proficiency Points, just giving the Pack, and obey lock-outs (if something would prevent you from buying the normal version of the Pack, you can't have the free Pack, either). A Character born from two parents with different Traits get the free Packs of one parent, but can mix and match from both parents' Mechanics. Isldar get their two general Mechanics, plus three more depending on what subtype of Isldar they are: Life, Death, or Neutral.

Free Packs

Mechanics

All Isldar Mechanics

  • Isldar are immune to harm from frost or cold sources (unless they are Magical), and do not suffer decreased visibility or choking hazard in a blizzard/snow-storm.
  • Isldar can see things from incredibly far away if they focus, able to spot an eagle landing a kilometer away or a coin being flipped across a town. Ask DM for Event use.

Life Isldar Only Mechanics

  • Life Isldar can perform the Life Song on a recently deceased person of any heritage or culture, ensuring they pass into the afterlife (with OOC consent).
  • Life Isldar can use Farsight to receive vague visions of things happening and existing in faraway lands. (this may require communication with Event DM's or Tickets).
  • Life Isldar can see the Soul Rivers of Aloria where the dead pass through, and are able to tap into it, to feel random memories, emotions, or feelings from long ago.

Death Isldar Only Mechanics

  • Death Isldar can perform the Death Song on a recently deceased person of any heritage or culture, forcibly turning them into an Undead (with OOC Consent).
  • Death Isldar can steal non-Player Spirits from other Characters, and force them to be servants. They can only be taken back if the Death Isldar is KO'd.
  • Death Isldar can Transform into the Bone Horror Shift, a hulking monster made of bones and rotting flesh, which counts as a Disguise but is obviously a Death Isldar.

Neutral Isldar Only Mechanics

  • A Neutral Isldar can choose any three mechanics from the Teledden or Fin'ullen they want.

Life and Death

The Isldar descend from a cult of Dragon Worshipers, forced to flee from the Elven Empire they lived in for religious heresy. After a Magical event bathed their new homeland of Ellador in frost and killed the armies sent to hunt them down, they settled down in isolation, not knowing that their Dragon patron had been replaced, her body possessed by a great Demon of a Death God. Recently, other Dragons returned and exposed the Death God's scheme, resurrecting the true Dragon and sending Isldar society into a spiral. This pitted the city people (who stayed loyal to the Death God who had saved them, even if they had lied) against the rural tower people from the spire observatories (who took up the cause of Dragons again and started a rebellion), creating the division between Death and Life Isldar. The Life Isldar would have lost and been driven off or killed if not for the Regalian Empire's intervention, which was enough to bring the two sides to a truce and allow them to focus on fighting off the dark Vampire kingdom of Dorkarth, which borders both of them.

At the moment of the Death God's exposure, every Isldar was forced to choose between staying loyal to the Death God, the Glacial, or returning to Dragons. A Death Isldar cannot change into a Life Isldar and vice versa, unless they kneel before the patron God of the opposing side (the Glacial or any Dragon, respectively), and admit that they were wrong (spend a God-summoning token for an offscreen conversion). However, if any Isldar converts away from their patron religion or declares that they will have no part in the war, they become a Neutral Isldar instead, and re-gain some of the biology of their Elven ancestors before they became Isldar. A Neutral Isldar cannot go back to either side. It is considered treason for a Life Isldar to associate with a Death Isldar, or a Death Isldar to associate with a Life Isldar, even though they are under a state of truce. Neutral Isldar can be received by both sides, but are sneered down on for cowardice by fanatics, or those who have lost a lot in the war.

Though they share a culture page, Life and Death Isldar are bitter enemies with very different beliefs. The sections below will make it clear what lore refers to what group.

Language and Naming

The Isldar speak the Elven common language Altalar, but have an incredibly strong dialect called Sulvaley. Sort of like a midpoint between Altalar and the Suvial language Agasi, it has much harsher sounds and different word choice in places that makes it very difficult for most other Elves to understand. Though they are still Elves, the accent of the Isldar gives them an almost Arabic feeling when they talk. Sulvaley additionally has a unique script. Though modern Altalar is written with an alphabet, ancient Altalar had characters for syllables. The Isldar held onto this style and write vertically in a flowing hand, making their lettering appear almost similar to real-world Mongolian writing.

  • Example Male Isldar Names: Asrel, Henqaan, Nayaal, Novyaan, Anshaar, Ravlan, Marcaror, Sonraal, Narvael, Alrifar.
  • Example Female Isldar Names: Samala, Isavaila, Saaliya, Silyana, Fismeya, Savraela, Veana, Naerassa, Eyfa.
  • Example Unisex Isldar Names: Sil, Aleyras, Asir, Esmeya, Asamey, Manyaar, Qiaan, Feynral, Savaa, Qirnar.

Like other Elves, Isldar usually have quite a few names. First, middle, last, and sometimes their more important parent's name prefixed by "ul-" to show who they are descended from. Clan names are important to the Isldar, as different Isldar houses were always famous for different crafts and skills. Now that their society has been divided by a civil war, some Clans have been destroyed by the division, but the stable and large ones have stayed together and chosen their path almost unanimously. An Isldar named Novyaan A'sil Lorqaar, the son of Anshaar and from a clan called Meyraal, would be called Novyaan A'sil Lorqaar ul-Anshaar Meyraal. Ticket in the Roleplay Discord if you would like help with naming.

Brief History

Over the course of the Allorn (Elven) Empire’s existence, it imported new ideas from abroad as well as developing its own, creating diversity of opinion and religion in its formerly single-minded population. One of these diversities was Draconism, or the act of showing favor to Dragons, the oldest beings on Aloria. Draconism in the Allorn Empire rallied around the Creation Dragon Aurora, a patron of craftsmen and living things who forged life into the world’s many creatures within her Craters of Creation. It originated when an innocent archaeological society began to dig up Dragon ruins scattered around the Allorn Empire, learning that Elves had worshiped Dragons before the Empire's creation and the arrival of new prophets. Converting one by one, the society soon became the Dragon-worshiping so-called Cult of Dregodar, earning the enmity of the Allorn Empress’ inner court and the over-powerful clerics of the state religion, Estelley.

Persuaded by manipulative advisors and secret Cultists of yet other religions who hated Dragons, an Allorn Empress outlawed the Cult and Dragon Worship around 1000 BC. This ignited a large-scale Dragon worshiper uprising across the Empire. It might have been kept to a local rebellion had the Dregodar not chosen to both aid the Eronidas, Dragon-worshiping Orcs who had invaded the Allorn Empire in its north-west, and rapidly free and then arm all of the Asha slaves they had formerly kept to join their side in the war. These escalations eventually led to the Allorn army being mobilized against the Dregodar, beginning a hopeless war they could not survive. Though the Eronidas won and kept their state, in the end the Dregodar lost and were forced to cross the water to another continent with Aurora in tow, while any Dragon worshipers left in the Allorn Empire had to go into hiding and the Asha they had armed disappeared into the Asha resistance.

They arrived in the lush and vast continent of Ellador, where they would meet the locals, the Dwarves. Though they began on good terms, Allorn ambassadors soon followed the fleeing Cult and manipulated the Dwarves into declaring war on them. A hundred-year series of wars followed in which Allorn Archmages and Dwarven mechanical ingenuity together brought the Cult of Dregodar to its knees. Yet, at the final battle beneath the mountain of Udillin’s Foot, Aurora supposedly cast a great spell in revenge, turning the once green Ellador into a frozen wasteland and slaughtering the Allorn and Dwarven armies where they stood, but transforming her Cult into the Race now known as Isldar. Casting the spell changed her, turning her withered and bloated, Undead in appearance. Unbeknownst to the Isldar, she had fallen to her fear and been possessed by a a great Demon of the Death-God called the Glacial.

Still believing they served Aurora (now visibly turned Undead, and renamed to Frisit), the Isldar took advantage of their newfound immunity to the cold to take control of most of Ellador. Mostly ignoring the Cataclysm which wracked the wider world, the Isldar soon came into conflict with the Vampire state of Dorkarth which came to exist in the north of Ellador, along with parties of Velheim Ailor colonists and Dwarves looking to reclaim lost Holds that had been destroyed by the Glacial’s scheme. Brutal ambushers who could melt into the snows and reappear at any moment, the Isldar acquired a fearful reputation, becoming hated by the rest of Ellador’s people over centuries of war. This would continue until very recently, when two powerful Dragons appeared above the Isldar capital and slew Frisit where she stood, revealing the Glacial’s trickery and reviving the true Aurora, who immediately left the Isldar to return to one of her Craters of Creation instead.

Since then, Ellador has been wracked not just by war between the Isldar and their Dorkarthi, Velheim, and Dwarven enemies, but also between the pro-Dragon Life Cult rebellion and the pro-Glacial Death Cult regime. The Velheim and Dwarves, as well as the Regalian Empire, have grudgingly decided to forgive and side with the Cult of Life, shipping Urlan shock troopers to Ellador to help them fight off the Death Cult. This worked well enough that the Death Cult was forced to accept a truce with the Life Cult, and turn to fight Dorkarth together for the time being. Both of them would like to re-ignite the war, but cannot do it so long as Dorkarth poses a mortal threat.

Conflicts & Alliances

A lot of MassiveCraft's lore is constructed around religious, historical, or societal grievances. This section sets out conflict and alliance points for the Isldar.

  • Allorn Elves: Most Isldar hate Allorn Elves, considering their Empire a tyrant state of debauchery. Confusing an Isldar for a Teledden will start a fight.
  • Asha: The Dregodar freed and armed an immense number of Asha slaves, not because they wanted to, but because they had to. The resultant feelings are complex.
  • Eronidas: The Life Isldar remember how much the Dregodar did for the Eronidas, but the Eronidas do not remember or care at all, which saddens them a bit.
  • Urlan: As the Urlan show veneration to Dragons, and even aggressive Ellador Urlan still cooperate with the Life Isldar, they are friendly.
  • Velheim, Dwarves: Isldar have a long history of war with the Velheim, who usually do not trust them. However, there are cases of Isldar converting to Fornoss and integrating.
  • Vampires: Isldar despise Vampires, since they are locked in war with the Vampire state of Dorkarth in western Ellador with its nightmare legions and flying castles.
  • Each Other: The main conflict focus of the Isldar is the civil war. They are at once the same people, and one another's most bitter enemies in every meaningful way.

Religions

  • Draconism: All Life Isldar by default must worship Draconism to be considered Life Isldar. They usually favor Aurora, but are found in every Dragon circle: Regulus and Caius both have important Isldar servants.
  • Evolism: All Death Isldar by default must worship the Glacial, part of the broader Evolist pantheon, to be considered Death Isldar. They prioritize her over the others, but still give favors where they can.
  • Fornoss: Some Isldar, both Life and Death, turn to Neutral Isldar by converting to Fornoss and living with the Velheim or Dwarves. There are not that many, but the number is not unnotable, especially in Hedryll.
  • Baskarr, Estelley, Unionism: There are few Isldar who worship any of these religions, because Baskarr is a homogeneous Asha ethno-religion, Estelley is the religion of the Allorn oppressors that they suffered for converting away from, and Unionism is simply very foreign, far away, and very alien to the Isldar historical narrative. Some Isldar convert away to these religions and become Neutral, but need strong justification.

Until Evolism is updated to include the Glacial, a basic version of Glacial dogma will be included here. The Glacial is an Isldar Archmage who lived during the war against the Allorn Empire, though it isn't specified when. In desperation to save her people, she delved into forbidden tomes of Magic and accidentally trapped herself within the Death Realm, gaining enough power and Ordial Magic over time until she could reach into the world of the living through Avatars and Spirits as a Death God, though it isn't clear how. The Death Isldar understand that when they ritualistically kill in the name of the Glacial, the souls are sent on to her power in the Death Realm. They believe that if she amasses enough power, she will destroy the Malefica who traditionally rules there, usurp the Dimension, and burst into Aloria to create an Undying Paradise and Empire for the Death Isldar where they languish in her love without suffering, interference, or interruption, from anyone who would seek to attack them, ever again. It is a very Undead- and Spirit- happy religion that encourages the mass use of both of these things as bound legions to wage wars for the Death Isldar, and cultivates powerful and corrupt Ordial Mages as its priesthood. Since its dogma effectively demands that people be murdered to increase the power of its God, most people are not happy to see a Glacial worshiper, but the Death Isldar like to say that "there was always going to be a death, only, it does not have to be you." When the Isldar split into Life and Death Isldar, for the Death Isldar Frisit worship immediately stopped being fake Dragon Worship and started being full-blown Death cultist Magic. Those of them who were not Ordial Mages before have definitely become so now, and their clothes and styling have started taking on otherworldly, malevolent appearances to style after their master's servants'.

Isldar Civil War

The Isldar Civil War is so immensely important that it deserves its own section. Before the Civil War, the Isldar were ruled by an entity that called itself Frisit, the Undead Frost Dragon. Frisit was really a Demon of the Death God called the Glacial in a Dragon's body, but was pretending very carefully to be a genuine Dragon, and so operated for the most part within the bounds of Dragon Worship. Other than being oddly Death-obsessed and fighting in the wars across Ellador, the Isldar did not have an unusual society for Dragon Worshipers. Magic was relatively rare but still present and un-persecuted since Aurora lacked other Dragons' zeal for their war against Magic, with just a few Dragon-empowered Archon born from older lineages that dated back to Aurora's actual lifetime scattered through the library towers in the countryside. Although the Death Isldar in the modern day are fierce necromancers and Death Magic spellcasters who fight with legions of the damned, this is an incredibly modern change that only happened once the Glacial was clearly revealed. Even though they are zealous enemies of Dragons and Dragon Worship, the Death Isldar were basically raised Dragon Worshipers of Frisit until the schism, with their expression of belief only changing as the visible nature of their Goddess did. That the Glacial's deceit could not be discovered for so long was not due to the absence of other Dragons, or supposed naive behavior on the part of the Isldar, but because the Demon Frisit was very, very good at pretending to be a Dragon, and did nothing to betray that belief until she was exposed.

Almost all Death Isldar come from the gigantic Isldar moon spire metropole cities built atop the mountains, and almost all Life Isldar come from the rural observatory towers and shacks scattered out in the middle of nowhere. The Isldar Civil War has as much of an economic motivation as a religious one, although the Isldar consider any suggestion to that effect a crude form of insult, and would gladly start a fight over it. The fact is, however, that the more powerful Isldar clans in the cities had a lot of political power because of their closeness to the priesthood of Frisit. Joining the Life Isldar rebellion would have meant giving that all up to live in caves and fight on the run against overwhelming force, on behalf of Dragons they had never met, dying for a cause they were not even sure if they believed in anymore. As such, a sizeable majority of the Isldar population (70-30) belongs to the Death Isldar, even if the Regalian popular imagination would depict it the other way around. The Life Isldar, meanwhile, number so strongly from the spire record-keeping towers and empty provinces because these lineages were settled well before the Battle at Udillin's Foot and the end of the War, having been so socially isolated that the entire transformation of Aurora into Frisit went completely over their heads, and their oral and written custom preserved direct proper Dragon Worship as held before without interference.

If the Life Isldar were to win, it would be their goal to achieve the old ideal from when the Isldar first set out to Ellador. The mountaintops to the Isldar, the mountain depths to the Dwarves, and the valleys to be split between the Urlan and Ailor humans depending on historical custom. If the Death Isldar were to win, they would likely turn any remaining non-Isldar prisoners into Shades or Undead and kill, convert, or expel the Life Isldar, then ruling Ellador as an Empire in the Glacial's image until the day of her prophesied return to greet her worshipers in the world of the living. The Death Isldar like to say that the Life Isldar are complacent cowards who are destroying their own nation with treachery for the sake of Gods who do not care about them and never will, and the Life Isldar like to say that the Death Isldar are mindless agents of a cruel, murderous Death Beast who would drown the world for the sake of their own petty selfishness. Even though the Death Isldar are discriminated in Regalia and the Life Isldar are not, both sides have a point to be made. The Glacial did protect and empower the Isldar for centuries, at the same time as she is a Death God, and her followers are murderers.

Culture

Families and Romance

Family is incredibly important to the Isldar, whose broader society remains somewhat tribal, strung together by clans. When living in a place as large and inhospitable as Ellador, clans become an easy way to establish relations with someone else: with each clan usually having a trade, a social standing, and a vague place of origin, just learning a name can communicate a lot of information. Unlike the other Elven peoples who keep very small and slow to grow families, Isldar often have many siblings, first cousins, and even more second cousins. While there is not a pre-written list of Isldar families or great clans, it is encouraged for players to think about their Characters' and use them for easy backstory ties with one another. While some Isldar families and traditional clan bonds were destroyed by the religious schism, the more powerful or stable clans were mostly able to stick together. A situation where an entire great clan of thousands of people went Vixit or Rexit together and a situation where a family of four split halfway down the middle are equally possible, depending on the desired story. The Isldar have a very deep but slightly prudish culture around romance. While they are not as conservative as the Lanlath, for example, the usual ideal demands long sheafs of sappy poetry penned in the honor of one's lover. Another common cultural theme is to sacrifice for love: there are many heroes in the Isldar poems and epics, who were forced to lay down their lives for a spouse or forbidden lover, immortalized after death. Needless to say, the Isldar make for very passionate partners under their frigid, emotionless exteriors, if one is able to survive their love for the dramatic and the occasional moonlight saber duel fought with a competitor for a darling's hand.

Clothing

Isldar fashion is more pragmatic than most Elven styles, made for Ellador's sub-zero environment. It tends to mix a combination of tighter, simpler underclothes with traditional Elven robes that can be quickly shed if a fight breaks out. While the Isldar still wear embroidery and jewelry, they are considered more on the austere side, with muted dulled colors. Isldar inside wear and underclothes tend to be darker and more vivid, while the opposite is true of their cloaks and shrouds, which are overwhelmingly plain, designed with the empty white tundra of Ellador in mind. Moon symbolism is very common with the Isldar because the pale moon was one of the first emblems of the Cult of Dregodar back in the Allorn days, but the Rexit have mostly discarded this and other traditional Elven symbolism for a macabre focus on bone motifs. Dark skeletal mock armor, black metal plates arranged like scales, giant nails and elaborate headdresses: the Rexit have a head for the ostentatious and sleek, dressing to draw eyes from every room they walk into. The Vixit, meanwhile, have a persistent sort of "ranger" look about them due to their origin in the rural provinces. With belts for field equipment and hidden knives, even their upper class, such as it is, looks ready for a week lost in the snow-covered wilderness. There are a few unique Isldar fabrics, such as Starshimmer fabric that looks like a thin translucent dark purple gauze with white star speckles across its surface, that are quite prized and hard to get in Regalia. Additionally, Isldar are skillful tattoo artists: many show religious devotion, while some others are just stylistic. Most Isldar, at least, have Magical glyphs tattooed at the base of their necks in honor of their patron Gods, that are supposed to ward away the eyes of those who would want to harm them.

Art

The Isldar are famous for two forms of visual art: calligraphy, and wall carvings. Their intricate and alien etched designs laid into the permafrost of the deepest Hold interiors can spiral up around the viewer for so high and long that they cannot see the end of them from the ground. Isldar wall carvings are usually renditions of the poetic epics to put them into memory, or more relevantly, religious texts. Many of the countryside Isldar who would later become the Vixit built their crystal towers of observation atop old obelisks and hidden chambers of the gospel of Dragons from the Allorn day. Though some have been destroyed, most yet remain. Isldar calligraphy is prized mostly because of their unique flowing script. While still decidedly Elven, other Elves like to use it in artwork from time to time to make text illegible to the common eye or evoke the distant air of snowy Ellador, while non-Elven cultures see beauty in the twisting, looping shapes, much the same. Otherwise, their poetry and choral song are prized for their intensity, especially the romances. Isldar poetry is often very tragic, dreary, and emotionally heavy: they believe that an honest story must include lows as deep as the highs are tall. Even the Isldar Song of Life and Song of Death, the magical cants that pass the dead on or damn them to Undeath, have been described as a love song to a life and a hate song to a death respectively, begging the listener in swirling verse to accept the beauty of the time they have had, or rage against what was taken from them.

Other Cultural Habits

  • Isldar cannot stand spicy food, but they have the inverse: very, very strong minty substances that can get so strong as to numb the mouths of those without appropriate tolerance. A common Isldar response to being made fun of for not being able to handle a pepper is offering the offender a sprig of Ellador Blizzardmint.
  • Isldar have a very strong tea culture. It is a critical element of any and all Isldar hospitality to offer a guest some tea. Some Isldar even barter with tea bricks. Most famous of all is their black tea steeped for a very long time to be incredibly strong, and then muddled with butter from Ellador mountain yaks, so that it has a buttery and warming feeling to it.
  • Isldar alcohol is very sweet and fruity, with bright peach and pear and apple notes. They drink it in shots served in engraved steel cups inlaid with silver. Sometimes Isldar alcohol is flavored with the mint mentioned in the previous bullet point, which gives it a chilling kick in the back of the throat.
  • Isldar are Wyvern riders, both Vixit and Rexit, and fancied to be the best in Aloria. Even though they are excellent riders who form lifetime bonds with their mounts, there is an Isldar saying that "only a southlander would fly a wyvern for everyone to see." Just like one can be ambushed on the land, one can also be ambushed in the sky by those who take offense to one's presence.
  • Isldar are not just singers. They also have a long tradition of harp and lyre music, and very deep, wistful flutes carved from the reeds that used to grow on the banks of southern Ellador before it froze over. All the same, it is their choirs that remain the most famous both at home and abroad, usually as a medium for their poetic tradition.
  • Isldar enjoy accuracy-based sports like rifle, archery, javelin, and dart competitions with the best shot being rewarded. These take precedence over any kind of organized team sports. On the intellectual side, they are also fond of symposiums, debates, and other kinds of verbal sparring. Anything with a duel theme is bound to be popular.
  • Isldar have a very strong concept of guest right and hospitality. If one is enemies with an Isldar, the safest place to be is at their doorstep begging sanctuary. The most common way guest right is given is by offering a glass of ice water. If an Isldar offers one among five captives a drink, then that one should breathe easy, and the other four should start sweating.
  • Isldar prize their ornamented, inscribed dueling sabers, which are passed down their family line as an object of honor and dignity. These swords are only intended to be ceremonially used for honor duels, and are so richly decorated that they would not long survive the beating that a tour of use on the battlefield would mark on them.
  • Isldar camping and woodcutting blades are short, curved forward at the tip (refer to real-life Nepalese khukuri). In a pinch, it can be a useful sidearm.
  • Isldar are one of the cultures of Aloria that sometimes uses gunpowder weapons. They have no native gunpowder artillery, or sidearms like pistols, but make very long metal-banded rifles they call 'jazalya,' for sniping into valleys.
  • Isldar do not see honor in standing and fighting. They are relentless ambush warriors who attack their enemies unseen, cover them in a hail of javelin fire, dive in with their moon-glaives, and then turn around and escape back onto their Wyverns and leave. The Isldar saying on this goes, "the men who call you cowards will die."
  • Isldar love hunting and wilderness pursuits. They are stealthy and silent hunters, the calculated and chilling opposite of the nature-attuned Urlan. If Isldar and Urlan are hunting together, it is doom for their target.
  • Isldar also love parkour and roof climbing and running in urban settings. Rooftops also make space to sit privately and talk about personal feelings without a looming crowd, making them an Isldar favorite.
  • Isldar are very adept observers and astronomers, especially with their brilliant eyesight. Their Crystal Spire observatories hidden around Aloria also double as places to chart the stars.
  • Isldar are fond of moon and lunar symbolism. In the early days, the Dragon Worshipers disguised themselves as worshipers of Leyon by using a slightly different moon, and this stuck.

Recommended Playstyle

The Recommended Playstyle section explains some easy-to-enter niches that these people of Aloria function well in.

Trivia

  • The Isldar like to play checkers. Not because it is considered mentally challenging, but because the white pieces are a metaphor for the Life Isldar and the black pieces are a metaphor for the Death Isldar.
  • The elaborate acrobatic games of the Isldar, like throwing darts and backflipping, have achieved some renown around the world as evidence of the unrivaled dexterity of these mysterious Snow Elves.
  • Now that the Glacial does not rule all of Ellador, some parts of the continent in the south near the coast are defrosting and turning green again, albeit very, very slowly, valley by valley.

Accreditation
Writers Okadoka
Artists MonMarty
Last Editor OkaDoka on 03/21/2024.

» Read more