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{{Info races
{{Info Lineage
|image = Isldarrin.png
|name = Isldar
|pronunciation = Ysel-dar
|test = Yseldaar (in Altalar)
|classification = [[Nelfin]]
|test2 = [[File:Grayflag1.png|80px]] [[File:Grayflag3.png|80px]]
|subraces = None
|test3 = '''Motto:''' "Truth Abides no Weakness."
|nicknames = Frostlings, Frozen People, Frost Horrors
|image = Isldarpslasho.png
|languages = [[Isldarin Elven]]
|state = Life and Death Isldar States
|naming = [[Isldarin Elven]]
|ruler = Tower Councils
|suzerain = Varied
|languages = [[Altalar]]
|religion = Varied
|first_recorded = 100 BC
|demonym = Isldar
|}}
[[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.
 
===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===
* 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.


|distinction = A race of ice-dwelling Nelfin shrouded in mystery and [[Dragon Worship]]
===Mechanics===
|maxage = 200 years
====All Isldar Mechanics====
|body = Often Lanky or Skinny, yet never above Athletic
* 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.
|height = 6’ - 6’10”
* 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.
|weight = 120 - 200 lbs
====Life Isldar Only Mechanics====
|eye = Light blue
* 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).
|hair = Pure white
* 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).
|skin = Sickly white
* 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.


The Isldar are perhaps [[Aloria|Aloria’s]] most elusive and chilly inhabitants who go to great lengths not to be found. Hailing from the colder continent of [[Ellador]], the Isldar are faithful to their common names: Frost Weavers and Wyrm Riders, in that they enforce their isolation with high-level Ice Magic and the ferocity of their [[Frost Wyverns]]. The Isldar guard and protect the last assumed remaining breed of the [[Dragons]] and their great Dragon matriarch, Frostweaver, thought to be the source of all Ice magic and cold climate in Ellador. Many in the world can go a full lifetime without ever seeing an Isldar, but that does not mean they do not exist. They venture out into the world to spy on the other races, to gather information, and to ensure their hideaways and existence in the world remains as obscure as they want it to be, for the future survival of the endangered Dragons and Wyverns.
==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.


==Physical Characteristics==
* '''Example Male Isldar Names:''' Asrel, Henqaan, Nayaal, Novyaan, Anshaar, Ravlan, Marcaror, Sonraal, Narvael, Alrifar.
Isldar are a uniquely homogenous race, meaning they all look very similar in physical characteristics. The most obvious features about an Isldar is the color of their hair, being white, as well as their pale skin, no matter the amount of sunlight they are exposed to. They also exclusively have bright, almost icy blue eyes. Their bodily proportions are very similar to those of the other Elven species, though their faces and tallness often sets them apart from the other Elves. Their face is exceptionally angular, while their ears often bend slightly inwards around their skull. Their eyebrows always appear much stricter, generally giving Isldar a very frigid neutral expression while their whole face looks gaunt. They are often slightly taller than an average [[Altalar]], but only by a few inches.  
* '''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.  


===Frostweaver’s Gift===
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.
Isldar have greater protection against the cold, and in fact, they are completely immune to the effects of frost. Isldar can walk in the middle of winter, barefooted or even bare-chested and their internal body temperature will not suffer from the cold wind on their skin. Isldar cannot freeze, nor will their stamina drain in even the heaviest of blizzard storms. Scholars suspect these traits have come about because of the unique relation the Isldar have with the [[Ice Dragons]], terrifying beasts who have control over [[Primal Magic]] in a way that is not entirely understood. Another unusual ability that Isldar have is that they can speak [[Wyrm tongue]], the language of Dragons, despite never spending any time practicing and learning it. Even an Isldar who has spent their entire life in Regalia, will upon hearing Wyrm tongue, immediately understand it. This Wyrm tongue allows them to interpret Dragon speech up to two miles away, as Dragons themselves can sing into the wind where their words are carried far and wide. When attempting to teach a not-Isldar the basics of this language, however, the Isldar struggles greatly to translate words. The language has a magical base in Primal Magic, which is only granted to the Isldar by the Frostweaver.


==Mental Characteristics==
==Brief History==
Isldar are known to be brutally dogmatic, putting them in the same category as the Drowdar. Isldar are highly intelligent, often considered the most intelligent of the Elven subspecies. This intelligence often showcases itself in their knowledge of tactics and strategy, especially their ability to overpower or surprise their enemies with cleverly hidden traps and ruses that are utilized to gain the upper hand. It should be noted however that this intelligence is not necessarily because of their race, but rather because of their precognitive abilities, where they are shown pivotal events in time which relate to the future of the Dragons. Further explanations on this subject will follow below. In their intelligence, or perhaps in spite of it, the Isldar are untrusting of all other races, including their own [[Elven]] cousins. This remnant of their old thinking has protected them over the centuries as well as kept their exact home location a secret to the world. The Isldar [[Dregodar Council]] is thought to have a much finer understanding of the mechanics of the [[Cataclysm]], the [[Void]] and [[Exist]] and all forces that surround these curious dimensions, though they keep their knowledge close to themselves. As such, Isldar can also be considered enigmatic keepers of knowledge and lore. They deem other races to be too infantile and petty in their childish desires for conquest and competition. Arrogance among Isldar is thus paramount, much like their Altalar cousin, though one could say it is often more justified. Isldar tend to be people of little words often. They speak volumes with their stares of disapproval or anger and communicate few words towards others. As such, Isldar are probably also the hardest to emotionally read. They give off very few non-verbal signals and barely any body language is used in their communication aside from their stares. Isldar are as such also the hardest to become friends with or to gain the trust with. The famous saying goes “Gana will freeze over before an Ice Elf thaws.” Despite their harsh and cold demeanor, the Isldar are also attributed with pure goodness, in that they seem to act with good intent, especially towards Dragons. This intent should not be mistaken for pure coincidence, however. If the [[Bone Horror Crisis]] could have caused the final demise of the Dragons, saving [[Ailors]] and [[Dwarves]] was only a side effect of their actual goal of preserving the Dragons.
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]].  


===Frostweaver’s Visions===
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.
Isldar have a strange precognitive ability that allows them to see events in the near or distant future related to the fate of the Dragons. Rather than triggering the visions themselves, the Isldar all receive the same doomsday vision at the same time, with insights on how to attempt to avoid it. Many Isldar are plagued with minor visions, sometimes with little to no clear meaning that come when they sleep, as Isldar never dream. They witness a world collapsing, order decaying and chaos all around them, and above all, the final death of Dragons, accompanied with the voice of Frostweaver commanding them to deny fruition to these visions. When a great vision is passed, events can clearly be seen in a cause and consequence fashion, thus allowing the Isldar to attempt to alter the course of presumed history by eliminating the source events. (When great visions are passed, these are mentioned in World Progression Posts on the Forum which are canon for all Isldar). Some Isldar go mad due to these visions, the constant dreaming of calamity making them fearful of the night and rejecting Frostweaver’s command. These Isldar that turn away from the Dragon’s call gradually lose their frost resistance and then their visions, while even their hair dulls to a more light gray or light brown tone. These Isldar are referred to as Fallen Isldar, which are highlighted in the Society section.


==History==
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.
The actual history of the Isldar dates back much further than the cataclysm and the other major Elven fracture periods. The ancestors of the Isldar were the first to truly break away from Estel worship around 230 BC through the cult known as the Cult of Dregodar. Around this third century before Cataclysm, Dragons were still seen around Daendroc, but the [[Great Elven Hunt]] had seriously diminished their numbers to the point where the [[Water Dragon]] and [[Green Dragon]] had already gone extinct. The [[Black Scale Mountain Dragon]] was the last Dragonkin left in the entire supercontinent of Daendroc, and some unknown event caused a large population of Elves to abandon the traditional Estel worship and switch over to worship of Dragon Dogma. Rumor has it that the leaders of the so-called Cult of Dregodar could speak to the Dragons in Wyrm tongue and that the Dragons spoke back, speaking prophecies of the future and calamities to befall the Elves. The Elven Empire did not take kindly to the Cult of Dregodar denouncing [[Estel]] worship, declaring them heathens, which in itself is ironic because the Elven Empire’s top class was barely even loyal to the faith of Estel anymore. Around 211 BC, the Cult of Dregodar, with the government on their tail, fled across Jorrhildr to Ellador with the assistance of the Black Scale Mountain Dragons. The Black Scale Mountain Dragons assisted the cult of Dregodar in their flight across [[Jorrhildr]] to Ellador around 211 BC.


In Ellador, the Dregodar thrived due to the long distance from the [[Elven Empire]]. The continent was a fair one during the second century before the Cataclysm, a far cry from the modern frozen tundras and mountains. The Dregodar made little contact with the Dwarves, though lived dangerously close to them as the Temples of Drogon, the traditional religious structures of the Dregodar, were built on top of the tallest mountains which usually housed the Dwarven holds. Their tranquility was not to last, however, as the Elves from the Empire had taken note of their peaceful existence and sent envoys to the Dwarves. With subterfuge, bribes, and blackmail the Elves managed to strike a deal with the Dwarves to form a coalition against the Dregodar under the auspices of them gearing for war to take over the Dwarven holds. This once in a millennia event of Dwarven and Elven cooperation against the Dregodar meant massive destruction and tragedy for the Dregodar. Their temples were torn down and blasted off the mountains, and the Dragons were shot from the sky with iron bolt and magical arrow. The Dregodar were losing badly though the conflict dragged on for nearly a hundred years due to their resilience. The war lasted until around 56 BC when the alliance between the Dwarves and the Elves broke apart due to the Dwarven mistrust of the Elven ulterior motives. It is often theorized that this event caused the Dwarves to completely ignore the void invasion that followed roughly half a century later when the Elves called upon their assistance.  
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.


With the coalition between the Elves and the Dwarves over, the Dregodar weren’t quite in the clear yet. The Dwarves continued the conflict on their own, pushing the Dregodar into a grassland basin called Udilin’s Foot. A major pivotal battle took place there where the Dregodar scrambled to save the last of the Black Scale Mountain Dragons, Sharpwing. Sharpwing was vast and formidable, a Dragon matriarch in her own right and many Dwarves fell to the Dragon’s claws and fiery breath. Ultimately however, the Dwarves used large siege engines to bring the Dragon down to the ground, where once pinned, they assailed her in the hundreds with pickaxes, chipping away at her dark scales. The Dragon’s screams of pain and terror caused the Dregodar to commit to a massive magical spell of which the origin is still unclear to this day. Sharpwing died on that battlefield, but somehow the Dragon turned neither dead nor alive, but not quite undead either. She was reborn as Frostweaver, the great Ice Dragon. With one fell clap of her wings, the restraints blew away, and the Dragon soared to the skies where she channeled a massive spell that caused a huge blizzard. Hundreds of Dwarves caught close were instantly frozen to death as the land around them also started freezing and dying. Snow rolled down the mountains and water froze in a flash as the temperature dropped in the grassland basin. The countryside around it was suddenly struck with a snowstorm that made seeing further than two feet through the swirling ice and the gusting wind impossible. The Dwarves quickly retreated, those that could anyway, and shut the massive gates of their holds down while the climate above ground changed to a frozen hellscape. Thousands of animals, trees, and plants died as the soil became infertile and even the water in the air flash froze. The event was felt all the way to the first Human villages on the southern coastline who suddenly experienced an extreme drop in temperature.
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.


The Dregodar disappeared from the world’s stage after that event. It was not until ten years after the Cataclysm that the first Isldar reappeared, though they were incorrectly assumed to be snow wraiths or undead at the time. The basin that was once Udilin’s Foot was now the Howling Waste, a long stretch of tundra caught in a permanent blizzard that made entry practically impossible. Every so often a band of Isldar would venture out to scout the terrain and disappear with the wind as soon as they met any Dwarf or [[Human]], but not without killing them first. Ellador remained trapped in a tundra climate for the next three centuries, and even in present times, the weather doesn’t seem like it’s going to change anytime soon. Isldar would continue to be seen for the next three centuries as well occasionally, though often in small numbers and hardly ever without causing death wherever they went. Explorers attempting to perilous crossing through the Dragon’s Gorge or Claw Mountains might run into frozen and unfortunate Dwarves caught in by Isldar patrol, their bodies frozen in the snow and the ice spikes used to kill them perfectly preserved through their body.  
==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.


Recent events have alluded to the idea that the Isldar have an understanding of what is going on around the world. The Isldar are known to have attempted to stop the global Bone Horror invasion, though due to Human ignorance were denied the ability to prevent this catastrophe from occurring. Since that event, the Isldar have not come forward to contact any nation or people and have seemingly retreated into the frozen wastes of Ellador with not a single clear reason why. Isldar still roam around the world but are rarely seen. Some are the product of long-term espionage on regional countries; others were unfortunate enough to get somehow separated from the Isldar Frost Spires.  
==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.


==Society==
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'.
[[File:Isldarwoman.png|270px|thumb|right|Isldar women take an important role in Isldar society due to the high number of women serving as Dragon Priests, though their society is otherwise gender equal.]]
Isldar society is perhaps one of the most rigid societies on Aloria, stricter even than the Drowdar and the Regalian Empire because none of the Isldar get any say in the decisions taking of their species. Their society maintains a very rigid structure which never allows for deviations or abandonment, especially when it concerns direct decrees from Frostweaver.  


===Politics===
==Isldar Civil War==
Isldar politics is entirely controlled by two groups, primarily Frostweaver and the Dragon priests and on a more local level, the Ice Councils. Frostweaver and the Dragon priests do not directly rule, rather by the Isldar precognitive ability, Frostweaver sends out warnings of impending doom for the Dragons and the Isldar for her followers to interpret and through it directs the Isldar on a path where they might survive the odds. The Dragon Priests often more concisely understand what visions Frostweaver grants them, as they are unnaturally attuned to the precognitive ability of the Isldar and receive far more visions than any average Isldar. On average only one in a thousand Isldar born is suitable to become a Dragon priest, and so this priesthood has few members, as the mean birth rate of Isldar is relatively small. On a more local level, the Ice Councils rule so-called Wraith holds Isldar castles which contain a mostly military population. Ice Councils function like Human General counterparts, leading the Isldar locally to enact military movements by the will of the Dragon Priests.  
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.


===Culture===
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.
Isldar strongly appreciate song and music, especially string instruments. As the Ailor saying goes: “The best way to thaw an Isldarin heart is to soothe it with strings.” Singing is very strongly associated with their religion, though its exact purpose and importance is not understood. The song of winter is an act purely done by the Frost Singers, comprised of upper-class females. This further emphasizes the strongly matrilineal line within the Isldar culture, as only women are assumed to have the brilliance and voice clarity to produce the Song of Winter. While the [[Drow]] strictly vowed against the excesses and decadence of the Altalar, the Dregodar never made such a strong stand against it. Despite their strong militaristic society, internally Isldar can be very lavish and entertaining, which often provides a strong contrast to how impersonal they are when they are outside of their homes. Isldar have no known technology or education. They generally cannot read or write, they speak a Nelfin tongue that nobody else understands, and their entire society is dependent on magic. Whatever crafts and uniqueness they have is portrayed by their clothing and accessories, favoring carvings and blue dyed fabrics. Isldar are often decorated with brilliant mountain crystals, white or otherwise blue of color with a radiant shine. Their clothes are made of flowing silks that almost seem to defy gravity, streaming like liquids on smooth surfaces. Isldar cloth is extremely hard to come by and extremely expensive, a highly prized material in Regalia and unfortunately only acquired by killing its owner, none being any the wiser how it is even produced. Isldar cuisine is strictly related to fruit, which is also why Isldar often have a hard time adapting to more meat and grain based societies like Regalia. The Isldar eat a particular nutritious fruit that only grows in their homeland, defying the cold temperatures. Attempts to cultivate this fruit elsewhere have all but failed, leading to the conclusion that its growth has something to do with Frostweaver. Finally, Isldar family units are surprisingly loving. Isldar rarely stray from monogamy and have a strong relation with their children, though arranged marriages are still a thing in their culture due to Altalar lineage crafting.


===Religion===
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.
The Isldar’s central belief is that of Dragons, the belief that Dragons gave life to the world. They believe in a holy union between Dragon and Elf, the true harmonious existence of Elves being with the Dragons in unison. This religion is their only religion, as their entire existence is bound to it. The religion itself dates back to the early days of the Dregodar, centered around the Elf “Gondolenna the Singer.” She acted as a prophet, being one of the first to tame a dragon with the power of her voice, spreading prophecies of Elf-Dragon union across the land. She was later killed during a [[Dragon Hunt]], her dragon along with her, but her beliefs lived on in her disciples, eventually giving birth to the Dregodar cult. The religion is as much reverence as it is fear. Despite the fact that the Isldar wish to bring about the union between Elf and Dragon, they believe it is impossible during the current era, and that they are the final bastion against the ending of the world. This end is described as the time when Dragon worship has become so few that the Dragons will decide to simply destroy the world with an ice age to start a new. This is largely also the reason why Isldar do not tolerate outside interference, and why those who leave still hold onto their silence on their origins.


===Isldar around the World===
==Culture==
Because Isldar have such a rigid society, an Isldar living outside of it is always constrained by numerous regulations. Isldar that remain loyal to the Frostweaver always remain secretive of their homeland and refuse to tell outsiders anything about it. More often than not, however, Isldar found in Regalia are the product of outsiders, Isldar that have either been banished from their homeland, fled, or otherwise managed to somehow end up outside of it. Isldar that are born outside of the Isldar homeland no longer have their precognitive abilities, and over time also become Fallen Isldar, as the loyalist Isldar call them, purely because they have lost the connection with Frostweaver. Once this connection is lost, it cannot be regained, which is why Fallen Isldar tend to just blend into an Ailor society where other Nelfin are already present in minuscule numbers. As such, most Isldar found in Regalia are unlikely to be Isldar loyalists and are far more likely to be exiled Isldar, or children born outside of the Frostweaver’s control.
===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.


===Combat and Warfare===
==Recommended Playstyle==
The Isldar use hit and run tactics, though often there is little to run away from as they are deadly accurate. Full battlefield engagements have not been witnessed since the times of the war with the Dwarves, but it is to be assumed that the Isldar make use of the Wyverns in battle and their howling blades, weapons specially made by the Isldar that seem to produce a ghost-like howl when swung around in chilly winds. Due to the existence of the Wyverns, the siege capacity of the Isldar is considered to be tremendous, in fact, the Isldar are assumed to be able to ignore fortifications completely.  This is due in large part to their airborne mobility, and also far outclass Regalian airships in that regard, due to the increased mobility and deadly claws of their flying mounts.
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]].


==Trivia==
==Trivia==
* An exceptionally strong Frost Singer was once captured by a group of Dwarves who used a ploy to draw her out while they lay hidden in the snow. She eventually broke free and used her high Ice magic to freeze herself in a giant spire of Ice. The Ice spire still stands in northern Ellador to this day, being called “The Frost Wall” as it connects two mountains like a giant wall of ice.
* 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.
* Isldar don’t have much in the ways of metal production, primarily because they inhabit mountains that were long stripped bare by the Dwarves who lived there for centuries. As such, one may hardly ever find an Isldar Arrow, as they use Ice Magic to strike down enemies from afar.  
* 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.
* Dragon Priests seem to have the unique ability also to detect Dragon Lineage, a rare trait that enables them to detect a person’s close or distant interaction with a Dragon at any point in time or of their heritage.
* 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.
* There are no known, and cannot be any, Dragon Priests outside of the Isldar Homeland. Dragon Priests must always stay close to the Frostweaver, and would rather die than risk spending too much time away from the Dragon which grants them their powers, as they wane in her absense.  


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[[Category:Races]] [[category:Nelfin Races]]
[[Category:People of Aloria]] [[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.

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