Nytorion Elves

Introduction

The Nytorion Elves are a strange culture of High Elves hailing from the far west, where maps had once shown the Ilusian Continents. Some believe them to be a descendent people of a long dead Empire, fallen to darkness. Nonetheless, the Nytorion Elves are a vigilant martial kingdom ruled by the benevolent House of Elsalor, a family whose recorded history dates back a millennia. They maintain a reluctant approval of the human societies in Reveia, though acknowledging their prejudice as harmful to the vigilance of the Nytorion mission. Common descriptions of their folk label them as “crusaders”, for their posture against dark magic and those who utilize it, believing that any presence of dark magic must be treated with absolute prejudice.

Physical Appearance/Biology

High Elves of Nytorion lineage are known throughout the world for two things, their almost ethereal silver and blonde hair, and their height. Nytorion Elves are very tall, ranging between 6 '3 and 6' 9, featuring slender builds with some exceptions. Their eyes vary between icey blue colors and gray, a further testament to their magical ancestry. The skin of the Nytorion Elves is fair, showing no variance.

Culturally, though not strictly enforced, Nytorion Elves will wear their hair long and let it grow to its full length. They live around a thousand years, affected by age only in the last century of their life.

Culture

Customs

Nytorion society is built on strict politeness and an attention to manners. To offend the house of a Nytorion family is a grave matter. Nytorion families have taken one another to court over such minor offenses as out-of-place revelry or a single, notable disruption at dinner. To say they are strict is an understatement, as Nytorion courts have established by law that Elves who break the rules of polite society can be thrown in jail for it.

To say that their strict customs permit no flexibility is incorrect however. For the Nytorion, there is a culturally established notion ingrained in civic life that there is a time and a place for all things. Loud revelry is permitted at musical gatherings, where Nytorion families gather to sing and enjoy a meal with one another. This convention is called a “Gathering of Unarith”, directly translated as a Gathering of the United.

Greetings and mannerisms are similarly reserved. To needlessly ramble when introducing yourself, or waving your hand incessantly, is seen as strange. Though not offensive, Nytorion Elves count such mannerisms as a sign of someone being ‘untamed’, a word in Nytorion society to denote someone who is uneducated.

Politics

Nytorion politics are dominated by the Nytorion Mandate, so named as the ambition of House Elsalor upon establishing the Kingdom. The Mandate is the belief that Ithryn, the god of the elves, has ordained the Nytorion Kingdom with the duty of rooting out and destroying dark entities that exist in Aethoris. Most families align their politics under the Mandate, with varying degrees of commitment.

The Ilmelir Faction

Families that belong to the Ilmelir Faction are known for their relative pacifism. They are derided as cowardly, naive, and even treacherous by their peers. To call them cowardly however, is far from the truth. The Ilmelir Faction’s historical record tells of several notable heroes that have fought against the darkness, protecting and leading Nytorion armies in battle. Their pacifism derives largely from their belief that Nytorion blood should be preserved from death, and that other nations should take up the burden as the Nytorion Kingdom has. They hold a sincere reverence for the value of life, the value of a good life, and the value of community. Isolation is a common theme among some Ilmelir families, though it is not common enough to be established formally in their platform. The House of Elsalor has scolded the Faction for their failure in cracking down on this sentiment.

The Emrenlond Faction

Families that belong to the Emrenlond Faction are infamous centrists. They are moderates that play a peacemaking role between the pacifistic Ilmelir and vigilant Oshalnor factions. This is not to say that they lack principles of their own. Some of the most passionate political figures in Nytorion politics align with the Emrenlond Faction. Emrenlond Families advocate restraint, believing that there are distinctions to be made between those who embrace the darkness, and those who are victimized by it. The former are deserving of destruction, and the latter are deserving of intervention. They believe in peaceful propagation of Nytorion values to other kingdoms, and possess a uniquely democratic sensibility that the other two factions lack. The House of Elsalor has scolded, and even exiled, Emrenlond Families for delving too far into what they have called a dark influence, that of democracy.

The Oshalnor Faction

The Elven Jingoists, as they are derided by their rivals. Families of the Oshalnor Faction place deep faith in the Nytorion Mandate, and believe that the Kingdom should take an active role in destroying dark influence wherever it exists. They have been accused of foreign influence themselves, some alleging that the Sun Elves have used their deep pockets to buy Nytorion support for Elven imperialism in Nytorion assemblies by way of Oshalnor Families. While there are certainly isolated cases of this foreign bribery, the Oshalnor Faction has a deep-rooted history dating back to the rise of Elsalor and the establishment of the Kingdom. They maintain a more supremacist view of their fellow Elves, some Oshalnor believing that the world ought to be civilized by Nytorion custom and morality. Oshalnor Families are oriented to military service, and hold to a custom of “Alari Prithafel”, translated as the “Sword that is Prepared”. Alari Prithafel dictates that all Oshalnor Families, as a condition of joining the Faction, must devote one of their children to the Nytorion military.

The Oshalnor Faction maintains a position as the largest of the three factions, but not one that commands a majority. They are often forced to work with moderates or sympathetic jingoists in the Emrenlond Faction.

Morality

Nytorion morality is built on strict divine command theory, though is coined in the Kingdom as “Ithrynor Caelora”. Ithryn’s command, directly translated, is the religious and moral backbone that all Nytorion Elves adhere to. Though deviations exist, and certainly the Nytorion are not without a criminal element, it is far and above the dominant world spirit of the Nytorion Civilization. Family life is strictly monogamous, a mother and father, with their children living under the familial home until they receive a blessing from the Nytorion Civil Council. The Nytorion Civil Council is charged by the King with the duty of evaluating Elven children at the age of adulthood (always 18-21) and determining their place in society. It sounds draconian, but among the criteria of evaluation is a consideration given primary weight, that of the family’s wishes. If an Elf under evaluation wished to become a smith, and received approval from his parents to do so, the Council will take that in its considerations. Politics however has infected the institution, and some of the Councilors have taken their political allegiance to a degree of partisanship that has led to friction with other families. Stories of evaluated elves being sent military service because of their parent’s political affiliation are common, a vice that is most prevalent from Emrenlond Councilors.

Nytorion societies believe that marriage is a foundational structure to stability. A strong family is a family where the parents are devoted caretakers, able to encourage and foster the growth of their children into strong citizens of the Kingdom.

Consumption of substances is seen as abominable, and Nytorion society is widely infamous for their practice of alcoholic prohibition. They believe that opening yourself up to your impulses through substance use is a sign of darkness. Attempts to smuggle alcohol into Nytorion society have led to tensions, because of how seriously the Nytorion Elves treat the issue.

All of the prior customs around personal conduct culminate into a culture of moderation. Beyond the absolute prohibition on substance consumption, they believe that all things should be taken in moderation. In disputes with fellow elves, one must never be rowdy or unnecessarily aggressive. To engage in such is considered an immense disrespect to yourself and your cause. Nytorion courts for this reason are known for calm exchange.

The Nytorion Mandate has established a strong culture of respect for military service. Veterans are universally revered, trusted, and receive preferential treatment in civil appointments. Most of the Nytorion government, from judicial to court positions, are filled by former soldiers in the Nytorion Military.

Religion

Nytorion Elves follow and worship Ithryn as their patron god. While some in the diaspora have converted to the Selarian Pantheon, the overwhelming majority remain in the Following of Ithryn. They are zealous, but not violently so against religions that are not considered among the dark pantheons. However, they believe that Ithryn has ordained conflict with the dark gods, and their eternal mission is to fight back against their influence. Zealotry and violence, while justified in limited cases, are regulated strictly in conduct. The Kingdom is one of the few in Reveia that will punish its own soldiers for killing innocent civilians, and they are certainly the only entity with laws against it. Those laws in particular are frequently debated.

Religion in the Nytorion Kingdom is regulated by a state-run entity called the Ahenor. The Ahenor is a church, granted special authority to enforce a subset of law called the Ahenor-Liryn, a sort-of moral law to the layman. The Ahenor is granted judicial authority, but curiously not as judge. Instead, they are called as a sort of jury for judges to rely on. A judge will rarely ignore their recommendations. The Ahenor does not employ a guard, as seen with the inquisition. Rather, they employ overseers called the Fyelin. Fyelin live in Nytorion villages and are consulted for matters of discernment by families, and for dispute resolution. If a moral evil is suspected on the part of a peer, the Fyelin is consulted. If the Fyelin agrees, a report is submitted to the Ahenor and then to the court. The court is required to consult the Fyelin as a witness, and may not rely on the testimony of the accuser.

Folktales and Stories

Nytorion folktale is a key aspect of the culture, as a means of justifying moral instruction by way of heroic examples. In fact, the Nytorion Kingdom itself is named after one of these heroes. Teithedir Nytorion was a reputable captain in the fabled Garrison of Iaechon. Whether the Garrison existed is up to scholarly debate, but the myth remains as a founding motivation for the Nytorion Mandate. The Garrison of Iaechon had been entrusted with guarding the River Penn from a Khudak invasion. Teithedir and his sentinels led the vanguard against hordes of foes, where it was said that Iaechon himself joined the young captain in battle atop a glowing stag. For every elf felled in battle, the story tells, over a hundred khudaks were slain. When the dust settled, not a single Khudak crossed the river into the south, and Teithedir stood in the center of the battlefield with spotless, gleaming armor. The Elves fled west in the wake of the Selarian Heresy, and Teithedir founded the Nytorion Kingdom in the western archipelago of Ilus. His story remains one of bravery in the face of certain defeat, piety in the face of trials, and frontierism in the face of the unknown. Many children in the Kingdom take on the suffix of -edir for their first names, an ode to the storied captain.

History

Compiled by the Fyelin of Inhelond

The history of the Nytorion Elves began with the scattered settlement of Ilus, some thousands of years ago. Fables and stories believe Teithedir Nytorion to be the founder of these settlements, but records were scarce at the time and many among my Fyelin peers do not believe he survived the journey. I happen to disagree as a matter of historical exegesis, and I believe the evidence they discard as insufficient applied elsewhere would lead to the doubt of many of our other, more certain conclusions. Teithedir, the admirable Captain of the Garrison, ordained the House of Elsalor as the first rulers of that cabal of villages and towns. From then on, they would rule the Kingdom until the modern day.

The first King of Nytorion was Esgalion the Guiding. Esgalion built the Citadel of Inhelond, the city I am now entrusted with. Tall, white spires marked the magnificence of the early period of Nytorion history. King Esgalion led expeditions deep into the southern isles of Ilus, making contact with the more savage lizardfolk who lived there. He was a ruler dedicated to the idea of coexistence, for the sake of protecting his people and guiding them under Ithryn’s light. That goal was achieved. Peace prevailed for a thousand years, for Esgalion and his sons.

Historians, from the Othalnor persuasion and charge, assign to this period the descriptor of cowardice. They have decried the ancestors of Elsalor this way, by delegitimizing the families who advised them. I will not comment on their descriptions or accusations, only to explain that the period of Esgalion and his descendants saw the rise of many small conflicts with native groups of beasts present on the Ilusian continents. The records describe them as an amalgamation of beast and man, an unholy manifestation of the old darkness witnessed at the Penn River.

After three thousand years, the Kingdom had seen the comings and goings of Esgalion and three generations of his children. The Kingdom saw relative prosperity under their rule. I depart from my colleagues in delineating the Period of Esgalion from its successor. Others do not establish a break in history between the Line of Esgalion and the Line of Melethron, believing that the spirit that animated the latter had established itself in the interim. The view holds merit, but I believe that the spirit of the period can only be established in the Kingship of Melethron, whose ascent marked a change in rule from the moderation of Emrenlond to the initiative of Oshalnor. His politicking could be described as one of patronage. High-statured Oshalnor families were offered station in the King’s court, to the detriment of traditional understandings that a King should balance his appointments between the factions.

King Melethron expanded the Kingdom’s borders over the next thousand years, conquering three islands belonging to the Kingdom of Ulhethyr. He is responsible, in my summation, for the foreign perception of Nytorion as an expansionist power. Detractors from his political opposition noted his lack of restraint, and he was frequently called to the Ahenor to answer for accusations that he consorted with dark powers to win his victories. Such has been a typical accusation levied at Oshalnor Kings, but has never been proven. I will not dabble in what is considered by most Fyelin as baseless.

The Line of Melethron saw the reign of five kings, who were assigned to the heritage by their commitment to the expansion of the Mandate. They significantly expanded the power of the Ahenor and Fyelin, some kings using the Fyelin to accuse their political foes of collaborating with foreign powers. The Fyelin in Inhelond agree, the Line of Melethron offered pause to an otherwise noble mission. The vice of power corrupted Melethron’s first son, and the son to succeed him. They took their Mandate as a means to erase the power of the other two factions, only stopped in their march by the restraint of Melethron’s great grandsire and his later offspring.