Star Elves
- Victoria McKinnon
- May 24, 2022
- 7 min read
Updated: Jun 22, 2022
Overview
Star Elves are one of the newest factions in Ilisara. For hundreds of years, they lived in the Snowpeak Mountains in their secluded capital city Winterheart. During this time, they were known as Dark Elves. After a religious schism and the destruction of their ancestral homeland, the survivors call themselves Star Elves.
Star Elves are stoic, calculating, and prideful. Winterheart was made up of towering, exquisite obsidian palaces full of roaring hearths and bedecked in evergreens. Although the Star Elves had to leave this beautiful city behind, they are rebuilding it on the Crescent Islands as a new port city called Buvalti. Visions of their old, ancient paradise linger in the minds of Star Elves. They are a hard-working people trying to carve out a new space in the world to belong.
Star Elves are led by three prominent clans: Beastmasters, Artisans, and Sages. These clans represent each important part of their culture — a symbiotic relationship with the land and its wildlife, impressive crafting skill and talent honed for hundreds of years in isolation, and of course, worship of Seluna (the moon goddess).
Star Elves are very pious and devoted to their goddess, Seluna. Seluna’s values of honesty, quiet reflection, solitude, and peace resonate strongly with them.
Personality
Star Elves can trace isolationism back to their race’s creation. As a result, most Star Elves like to keep to themselves. They are secretive, untrusting of strangers, and cold to outsiders. Most value peace and quiet. Other races view Star Elves as unemotional and stoic. Smiles, laughter, and jokes are out of place amongst their serious civilization. Only Star Elves who have had a good reason to spend a lot of time outside of Winterheart and/or Buvalti have picked up habits and traits of other races.
Star Elves are very hard workers. Their dedication to family is unparalleled. Many who are driven to leave home do so only because they are following a higher calling, either to their goddess, or to seek something that they can bring back to benefit their society.
Star Elves’ patron goddess is Seluna. They have adopted many of her values, particularly truth. One would be hard-pressed to find a Star Elf willing to lie to their own kin. In fact, lying to one’s family is so abhorrent that it used to be punishable by the removal of fingers.
Appearance and Physical Nature
Star Elves have pale, snow-white skin. Most have dark purple or black hair with a sheen like raven feathers, though other hair colors exist. White hair is uncommon, but not unheard of; children born with white hair are considered blessed by Seluna.
Star Elves wear black tattoos on their face corresponding to their family clan. The section on Star Elf government goes into more detail about these tattoos and clans. They often wear furs, leathers, or cloth. A few special individuals wear plate made from meteoric ore obtained from fallen stars.
Combat and Professions
Star Elves are historically a militaristic society. The various Star Elf clans each have their own fighting style and specialty. Clan Erendwain favors beastmasters who fight alongside animals. Clan Svalbren’s priestesses and spies are formidable social chameleons who prefer infiltrating a settlement without a battle. Clan Vosk’s Shadow Hunters are rangers trained in the art of shadow and stealth.
All three clans use a variety of weapons. Swords, bows, daggers, knives, nets, everything is fair game to a Star Elf. Being physically “tough” and resilient is prized by Star Elves.
Due to their long isolationist period, the Star Elves were able to refine their specific crafts to a level other civilizations did not. Star Elven buildings are sturdier and retain heat better than any other architecture in Ilisara, and their furs, clothes, and bows are highly coveted by other races. Seen as “exotic” and previously unobtainable, there is high demand for Star Elf goods.
Society
For centuries, Star Elves relied on their natural resources, strong leaders, and innovative tools and skills to adapt to the cold, harsh environment of the Snowfell Mountains. Out of respect for the animals and land that Seluna gave them, they use all parts of animals efficiently for food, clothes, and tools. Their inventions range from innovative spears and harpoons to parka coats, blankets, and snowshoes.
To this day, the Star Elves place high value on resourcefulness, collaboration, and decision making through discussion and consensus. While individuals are expected to be self-reliant and fulfill their role in society, each member is also expected to support and help the others.
Star Elves live in small, modest homes and prize minimalist architecture and dress. They use only what they need and do not live excessive lives. Clan Vosk’s members are notably more capitalistic than the other Clans’ citizens. The clans really define Star Elf society.
Some Star Elves are not affiliated with a major clan, mostly due to families simply wanting to go their own way. These families still reap the benefits of living in Buvalti if that’s where they’ve chosen to settle down.
Coming of Age
In Star Elf culture, children must undergo a special trial in order to become an adult and earn their clan’s tattoos. At seventeen years of age, Star Elves venture out on a journey or quest given to them by their elders. For Clan Erendwain, the challenge is often to tame a beast or procure a pair of exotic creatures for the clan to breed. For Clan Svalbren, the quest may be spiritual in nature and involve interpreting signs from Seluna. Clan Vosk prizes making money over everything else. Children who start their own businesses or invent a new craft, object, weapon, or technology earn tattoos in Clan Vosk.
Cuisine
Living high in the mountains with few opportunities to plant crops has made the Star Elven diet primarily meat. Star Elves eat land mammals such as caribou, polar bear, and muskox. Freshwater lakes high in the mountains provide some freshwater fish including sculpin, cod, char, capelin and trout. Now that they have descended to the frigid Crescent Islands, birds and their eggs have become a tasty treat for the Star Elves. Saltwater fish are popular as well, and the traditionally-seafaring Sun Elf nation has shared many recipes with the Star Elves.
Star Elves are especially spiritual when it comes to the customs of hunting, cooking, and eating. They use every part of an animal and leave nothing to waste. They tend to pray before or after meals.
Religion
Star Elves follow Seluna, the moon goddess.
Star Elf priestesses are particularly pious. Temples to Seluna are built in great half-spheres whose the entire ceilings are starscapes. It is very quiet during ceremonies and prayer. Blessings of purity are given frequently, and priestesses are consulted to provide guidance and truth to all members of Star Elf society. They interpret portents and signs and are highly spiritual.
To pray to Seluna, Star Elves look to the sky at night and hold out both hands in a cup-like shape. This represents the collection of moonlight. After their prayer is done, they lift their hands to their chest, pressing the moonlight to their heart.
Government and Politics
By tradition, five noble houses oversaw Winterheart. After the Winterheart Massacre, only three clans remain to rule Buvalti. Members of these great clans refer to themselves as if they were extended families, related by blood. In fact, they're symbolic alliances connected by ceremonies of adoption. Blood families belong to the same clan. The ruler of a clan’s official title is “Knez”.
Though the clans do not openly quarrel with each other, they all have very different views of the world. Rather than resolve issues by vote, the clans make “pacts” to support each other if they believe their fellow clans deserve support in any measure — humanitarian, military, or otherwise. If a clan presents an issue to the others and receives no support for it, they can still carry out whatever plans they wish, and try to convince individuals who are not a part of the three leading clans to support them.
Each clan member is marked by a tattoo on their face, which not only signifies the wearer's affiliation but also supposedly recalls (to historians) some significant detail of the house's past glory.
The three ruling Star Elf clans are Clan Erendwain, Clan Vosk, and Clan Svalbren.
Clan Erendwain
Clan Erendwain Beastmasters formerly led by Zekhan Erendwain, now led by his daughter Kallix Erendwain. Tattoo: Three clawmarks somewhere on the face The Star Elves of Clan Erendwain control the beast trade. In an effort to keep its pens stocked with fresh product, the clan sponsors raids throughout the Winterfell Mountains and visits the lowlands to acquire food to feed the countless reindeer, muskox, and wolves they cultivate. They are careful not to over-hunt the area around Winterfell, and not a single part of any kill goes to waste. The meat from Erendwain herds is a Star Elf delicacy. The beasts Clan Erendwain procures and breeds are a valuable commodity the city of Buvalti could hardly do without. The gathering of resources and trade of winter animals and white fur (facilitated by Clan Vosk) draws the attention of artisans and allies to Buvalti. Despite being Buvalti’s hunter-gatherers, the Erendwain clan has its own strong fighting force that patrols their borders and protects travelers passing through the land. Mighty armored mounts and wolfpacks who attack in sync are their most powerful assets. The well-trained military animals used in Erendwain raids inspire envy and fear in anyone who faces them in combat.
Clan Svalbren
Clan Svalbren
Sages led by the High Priestess of Seluna, Tristela Svalbren.
Tattoo: Crescent moon. Higher level priestesses have additional moon phases tattooed on them.
Seluna’s domains are night, astrology, stars, solitude, truth, and wayfinding. These areas are what Clan Svalbren is organized around. Long ago when Seluna first guided the dark elves to the Path of Stars, it was Clan Svalbren who organized their first settlement and took charge. Anyone looking for spiritual guidance knows to ask one of Svalbren’s sages. Historically, Clan Svalbren used to be very influential. Seluna is mostly silent and sends very few signs for Svalbren to interpret; and so, their influence ebbs and flows. In Year 700 Seluna chose a young elf named Kallix Erendwain and a human named Jard Stonebrook to be her champions. Clan Svalbren saw a resurgence in power after their goddess sent tangible signs to the Star Elves. Clan Svalbren is well-respected. They are considered experts on Seluna and all things religious or prophetic. Members of Svalbren are consulted on when to marry, where to build, and how to enact policy to best please Seluna. In addition to the sages that live in Buvalti, Svalbren’s ranks are filled with priestesses, astrologists, archeologists, and explorers who send aid to the Star Elf forces scattered along the eastern Winterfell Mountains. They are more explicitly religious than the other clans and pride themselves in clinging to the very roots of the Star Elves: being an expeditionary force. Scouts from Clan Svalbren move at night throughout Hellan, charting territory and keeping tabs on enemies and allies alike. Their spies are finer than any other’s, and sometimes work with Shadow Hunters or blend within other races’ civilizations for the benefit of the dark elves.
Clan Vosk
Clan Vosk Artisans led by Ravka Vosk. Tattoo: A fancy curved line around and/or under the eyes
Vosk’s power rests in its skilled artisans and its deep collection of powerful enchanted items. Over recent years it has enveloped several families of up-and-coming traders, forging a new identity as the Star Elves’ preeminent mercantile concern. Clan Vosk’s members were most of who were slaughtered at the Laubrekker Massacre. Ever since taking in the refugee humans who survived, they have maintained relations with unaffiliated humans and others. These relations were once limited to not draw the ire of the now-destroyed militaristic Dark Elf clans. Now, they are the largest Star Elf clan formed mostly of civilian artisans and traders. Most, if not all, half-dark-elves are a result of Vosk’s influence. Humans and half-elves are mostly accepted by Star Elves. The Shadow Hunters are Vosk’s creation, meant to involve humans and other races in Dark Elf culture. Now that the Dark Elves have been vanquished and only Star Elves remain, this organization has become more public and is a diplomatic force to help integrate Star Elves into Hellan. Once an organization kept tightly under control by Vosk’s clan leader, Ravka Vosk, the Shadow Hunters now have so many schemes in play that she cannot possibly keep track of them all.
Notable Star Elves
“When my people were abandoned centuries ago, we hardened our hearts to be as cold as the peaks we live in so that none could harm our civilization. It's why our capital was called Winterheart.” — Knez Kallix Erendwain
“Clan Vosk's connections are vast. While the other clans might balk at the concept of working alongside another race, I do not. I welcome to opportunity to innovate.” — Ravka Vosk, Knez of Clan Vosk
“When I was young, I believed that violence existed only because of people who hated each other for no good reason. I never found a reason to fight anyone, and would never harm a fly. I learned when my town burned down that evil exists in this world, and if we fight amongst ourselves, we succumb to that evil.” — Jard Stonebrook, a human Chosen by Seluna
History
The Star Elves were originally a faction of Dark Elves who lived in the mountains. Dark Elves came to exist hundreds of years ago when a group of Sun Elves adventured into the furthest reaches of the Snowfell Mountains above ground — a feat no other race had ever attempted. The ever-present blizzard that howls through the peaks was thick enough to blot out the sun.
Deep within the mountains, starving, hypothermic, and on the brink of death, the elves prayed for the sun god to save them, but it was the moon goddess who answered with a gleaming aurora borealis that the elves followed to a safe haven. From that point forward, the Dark Elves pledged themselves to Seluna. Centuries away from the sun bleached their skin pale white and they began to build a society in solitude. Believing the sun god abandoned them, the Dark Elves shunned their heritage and adopted traditions to set them apart from the Sun Elves.
Over time, the Dark Elves built a beautiful capital city called Winterheart. It was governed by five Dark Elf clans. Two of these clans turned to worship Vandun alongside Seluna due to the influence of the Dark Dwarves. They believed that, were Selune and Vandun to wed, the Dark Elves could bring about an eclipse to shroud the land in shadow and become Avatars of Night. As Avatars with the power of shadow on their side, the Dark Elves could bring a new dark era of quiet to the world.
Dark Elves committed evil acts such as consorting with demons, eating human hearts, torturing trespassers, and assassinating high-profile Sun Elves. They were considered the scum of Ilisara by almost all other races.
Everything changed when the Winterheart Massacre occurred. The elves underwent a religious schism; traditional moon-worshippers renamed themselves Star Elves and allied with humankind and the Sun Elves to purge the Vandun-worshippers from Winterheart. Winterheart was destroyed in the process. Every since, the Star Elves have been slowly rebuilding their society. Refugee groups of several thousand Star Elves settled in Thrain, Rivelin, and Vestia. However, most of the Star Elves are located in Buvalti now — their new port city in the Crescent Islands.
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