Boreal Elves¶
"Boreal Elves are infused with cold spirits on the day of their birth." — the Snowborn tradition (S005)
Contested
The Boreal Elves first recorded question in Open Questions is pending a ruling; see the account below.
The Boreal Elves are the blue-skinned elves of the cold pine forests of south-western Astia, a people of tribal clans ruled by Warleaders and Elders and guided by shamans of the three Boreal Scions. They appear in the record only in the Fifth Age, first along the White Tower Mountains, and spread north along the White Towers and Cloudspire ranges and into the great forest of Etterwood. They have fought three wars with Proturas and are at war with it again.
Origins and history¶
"First recorded sightings of the Boreal Elves was around 200 AL in the south western borders of the White Tower Mountains. They were named after their bluish skin and icy territory. They fairly rapidly expanded all the way north along the edges of the White Towers and Cloudspire Mountain ranges. They seemed to prefer colder environs and pine forests, especially those found in mountainous areas". The regional timeline of south-west Astia, written the same year, instead enters the Boreal Elves among the major civilizations around 280 AL; the two dates are the open question above.
In the reckoning of the elven peoples the Boreal Elves are a branch beside the Ashen Elves under the Wood Elves, with the Fae alignment "Water & Air," and are associated with the Bleak-rock Citadel. A list of the northern powers of the Fifth Age names them as a nation-state in their own right, beside the Grotto and the Guhvil Strands.
Appearance¶
A Boreal Elf "could be mistaken for a short, slim human from afar, but she moves with an otherworldly grace and her unblemished pale blue skin is a hallmark of her race". The same portrait gives long silvery hair, a narrow face, "long pointed ears" and eyes "a deep cold blue." The Boreal Elves call themselves Snowborn: "infused with cold spirits on the day of their birth," which gives them an innate affinity for everything to do with the cold, from frost magic to survival in cold biomes. Those corrupted in the forbidden depths of Etterwood come to look "a lot like a Dark Elf with bluish-slate colored skin".
Society¶
Boreal Elven culture is organized into "separate clans or tribes, each ruling over a specific region," and within each tribe "a hierarchy is based on strength (Warleader) and wisdom (Elders)"; the order is a meritocracy, "neither Patriarchal or Matriarchal". Shamans, called Than, "guide the tribes, perform rituals, and act as intermediaries between the natural world and their people." Homes "are built in burrows under the roots of trees and natural caves," and "some tribes migrate with the seasons, following game or sacred paths." Legal disputes "are settled through physical trials or duels," under "a strong emphasis on honor, loyalty, and the word of an oath." Body art "tells the story of an individual's achievements, status, and clan affiliation," and traditional music, dance and storytelling preserve history. The tribes "carefully record history in a tribal record" in a variant of Elvish, and the shamans are "responsible for curating and caring for all sorts of information." Education "has a heavy focus on survival skills, hunting, combat, and understanding the natural world," and strength and bravery are "highly valued." The Boreal Elves "prefer to keep to themselves," and their allies are named as treants, ettercaps and spiders.
The Snow-Hunters of the tribe Brae'Dal wear "the skull of your initiation kill as a symbol of your rank," lined with Fae-aligned materials and attuned to the spirits as a totem; one such helm was made from the skull of a captain of Lorsythe. Their weapons are composite shortbows of bone, sinew and nightpine, and obsidian-tipped spears enchanted against the creatures of the Rift. Known tribes include Brae'Dal and the Utinus Domae Tribe, the Sons of the Night, "responsible for guarding northern borders of the forbidden forest" of Etterwood.
Gap
The description of Boreal Elven society is hedged throughout: the economy "may revolve around hunting, fishing, and foraging," monetary systems "might not exist," and some tribes "might form alliances or treaties." Only what the source states outright is given here; the economy, trade, warrior training and treaty-making remain unconfirmed.
Religion¶
The Boreal Elves worship Gelu'lax, "the Boreal Scions ... each is a different aspect of the same being (Elder God) according to their religion. Their name for it is Than Agle, or sometimes just Than. It's natural form is a frozen treant". The three Scions are Gelu'rime, Than Echor, Scion of Hoarfrost, "the maker and provider," a blue tree coated in frost; Gelu'crus, Than Heleg, Scion of Ice, "the preserver and warrior," a brown tree adorned with long dripping icicles; and Gelu'mor, Than Gurth, Scion of Death, "the visionary and knowing," a black tree adorned with skulls. The Scions "are mortal enemies of Teneb'Vari ... also known as the Mother of Darkness to the Elves (Naneth Fuin)."
The elves also keep a patron in the Frost Archon Uiren, whose onyx amulet carries "protective magics"; the cultists of the Primal Union of Ter'Gaia planned "capturing the Boreal Elves Patron: Uiren" in his Glittering Caverns to douse the flame wards of a fire primordial's prison.
Etterwood and the forbidden forest¶
The Boreal Elves of the Ettermore Forest guard the forbidden heart of Etterwood "from a safe distance." There an artifact "holds a portion of Teneb'Vari," whose essence "corrupts everything around it, including the wardens the Boreal Elves put around the ruins to guard it". The forbidden zone "generates many monstrosities," and "Boreal Elven scouts are adept at leading / corralling monstrous entities into the southern forest edges," luring the corrupted feeders out at night and leading them south "which they use as a buffer with the Proturans". The cultists of Teneb'Vari in the forbidden zone are "mostly a corrupted Boreal Elf," and the ruins of Anoth-Urulien hold a "semi-insane corrupted Boreal Elf Vampire" whose trophies are "mostly other Boreal Elves". Boreal Elf shamans and archers have been found scourged and in the company of kobolds, trying to animate a dead dragon.
Relations with Proturas¶
The Boreal Elves "had lived in many of these forests for centuries" when Proturas, "needing to increase food production to feed its increasing population," expanded into the southern forests, "clear-cutting the forest and establishing farms." In the Frontier Wars that followed, "the Boreal Elves suffered from a lack of coordinated tribal response and the Warlocks of Proturas were especially effective at countering many of the elves' Fae-magic and territorial advantage. The wars lasted 20 years ... but ended in a complete defeat for the Boreal Elves south of Proturas. Only a handful of small isolated tribes remain in a few enclaves within cursed territories which have continued to resist settlement". The Great Guhvil War "led to a truce between the northern kingdoms, Proturas and the Boreal Elves in the east."
Along the Ettermore river in the Riverdale region the two peoples afterwards kept "a stable, if uneasy, border," broken by occasional elven raids, until an elven raid slaughtered a caravan carrying the son of the Countess of Wrighthall. The Countess obtained a writ to settle and annex "all unforested areas of the eastern bank," six Proturan Brigades were allocated to enforce it, and the fortified town of Etterdun gave Proturas its first permanent crossing of the river. In the Riverdale War "many parts of the edges of the great forest of Etterwood were cleared and settled and the boreal elves were pushed deeper into the forest." The frontier then went quiet: "conflicts with the boreal elves seem to have largely evaporated and expansion further into the forest has for the moment halted due to other, more sinister obstacles".
The quiet did not hold. After the Sack of Dunharr, the destruction of a town of five thousand with about two thousand civilian casualties, the Proturan Council "declared war on the Boreal Elves in the Ettermore Forest," sending the Silver Wolves brigade and two brigades of conscripts to Etterdun. Many warriors of the Utinus Domae and allied tribes "have been called south to fight the Proturans". To the north-east, the Urok'gar Confederation "practice slavery, favoring human and boreal elf slaves," and its cliffside forests are "well patrolled" by Boreal Elves.
Earlier accounts¶
The Into the Rift material of 2020 describes the frontier a generation before the Proturan campaign, when the hidden city was called Proturus or the Grotto and its people the Exiles. A Snow-Huntress of Brae'Dal recalls that "only 60 years ago" the Kingdom of Lorsythe "laid claim to vast areas your people have used as hunting grounds for generations," and that fifteen years before, after an elven raid "crippled one of their encroaching settlements," Lorsythe "launched a full scale war that lasted 3 years." Driven from their villages, the Boreal Elves "lived off the land while bleeding the kingdom until they were forced to retreat across the Greenfell River and an uneasy sort of peace ensued". The Elders then forced the Exiles west of the river in "a short war ... with the Boreal Elves winning almost every encounter," though the Exiles held the port of Myrgitta on the Desolate Coast, "a blight upon the area that the elves have been unable to remove". From the Exiles' side, the elves "notified Proturus of a claim on all land West of the Greenfell River" and "attacked and razed several villages," and a year-long war recovered only Myrgitta. A Lorsythian officer of the time spent years "dealing with trespassing elves and occasionally forays into their territory for vengeance and retribution". The arrival of the Guhvils from the north, who raided all three peoples "capturing many and taking them away to some unknown fate," drove the Elders to propose peace talks, with Lady Aeshrynn as a diplomat, and the Boreal Elves and Orcs were counted the Grotto's "tentative allies". Boreal Elves were among the slaves of the Ter'Gaia cultists in the Illuri Fold of the Rift.
Gap
No source gives the Boreal Elves' lifespan, numbers, or their relation to the Wood Elves beyond the shared Fae reckoning; nor is it said whether the Boreal Elves of Etterwood and those of the White Towers are one people or several.