The Elven Problem

For a long while now, I've been trying to develop a take on the elves of the world of Argos. The problem is that I've managed to create a ridiculous amount of anticipation around these sylvans. Back in -06 or so, when the BoW first started up, the elves first appeared as aloof and enigmatic. Back then, it was but one elf, and the rest of their race was only hinted at.


At the time it seemed like a good idea to have the elf toss prophecies and promises around, most notably the famous words, "when all seems darkest, we will buy [humans] time." Since then I've helped myself greatly by enhancing this prophecy by having it repeated. Well, things are seeming pretty dark at the moment, and the dastardly players are now pushing to see behind the smoke and mirrors.


To make matters more complicated, a while back I threw in a group of pissed off, kick-ass elves, the Frost Elves of Fornost, who stayed behind when the rest of them left the world of man. That did little to lessen the hype.


And of course, I don't want to copy/paste the elves from D&D or Middle-earth. Then the other night I checked out one of the blogs on my blogroll, M.S. Jackson's ..lapsus calumni... I really like the balance he's achieved between originality and familiarity. The post in question discussed the races of his own world, Sylnae, and there, among his Hobbins and Ghim, I found what may well be the missing piece of this puzzle, the Sylari. These elf-like creatures are based on the Sylvari of Guildwars2. 


I must also beg Jackson's forgiveness for spamming his comment-field with my half-formulated ideas.


Here is what's known about the elves of Argos so far:

• They are born of a tree (or trees; I’m thinking that the different ‘tribes’ came from individual trees – most of whom have withered and/or died by now).
• They are the oldest of the Younger Races – Man being the youngest of these.
• In the previous Age they fought a great war against Man, and lost, thus leaving the World of Man (going beyond the Horizon, or some such). I’m actually thinking something along the lines of the Earth-Minbari War from Babylon 5 here.
• They have promised that when all seems darkest, they will “buy [humans] time.”
• The orcs are a corrupted breed of elves. Not particularly original, I know. However, instead of Sauron being the corrupting force, I’ve used Cthulhu.

I still haven't sorted it all out yet, but the elves are taking shape. I expect that sometime during this week I'll put up a post with a more comprehensive description on this, the First of the Younger Races. However, should anyone out there have ideas, or suggestions to where I should look for inspiration, I would greatly appreciate your input.


For now, here are some of the images I'm using to inspire my elves.




Sylvari



Sylvari

Awesome elf by Kerem Beyit



Spelljammer

Lastly, here are some links to the most relevant posts on elves so far:
Frostbite - a short story about the Frost Elves' attack on Pendrell.
The Frost Elves of Fornost - fluff-text discussing the elves of Frostbite.
Orbis Hermetica - fluff-text outlining the creation myth of Argos.
The Tower of Heavens - the first document describing the multiverse of the Book of Worlds.


[Picture source: 1 & 2 Guildwars2 Wiki; 3 Kerem Beyit; 4 Silverblade's Suitcase]