Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Restatement Of Purpose

04/25/2006

I felt this recent comment of mine warranted its own post:

Fairly recent discussion in the official Dark Elf forum had Faendryl discussing the ceremonial naming practices of the Patriarchs, and the ensuing (or was it just prior? either way) discussion about Dhe’nar was about getting alterations with halfling skin in them.

That’s just… well, embarassing.

There should be enough cultural depth to the Dhe’nar that discussions can be had about their history, the viability of the multiple paths to Ascendance (the prime goal of their society is to obtain the power of the Arkati, not eat halflings, right?), the conflict between certain sects/orders (warriors of the Inscrutable Order of the Spear discussing their doctrine vs that of the Demon Hand Sect vs the teachings of the Khisari, etc), and any number of other topics.

That’s the kind of cultural depth that will not only make the Dhe’nar interesting to outsiders, but that will further engage the roleplay of current Dhe’nar players.

Friday, February 10, 2006

Slavery And Population Dynamics

02/10/2006

From a post at the Player Forums, regarding the plausibility of creating Sharath as a playable city:

“This game isn’t really set up to support a town like Sharath. Any non-collared pakra’a would be rounded up and enslaved by press gangs, Dhe’nar could kill with impunity, ect.”

It’s constant comments like this that make most Dhe’nar in GemStone a self-congratulating private roleplay society, where they love themselves, and most others groan and try to ignore them when they “roleplay” in public.

Now, ignoring the fact that the prime argument against making Sharath a playable area is that it would utterly destroy the mystique of the Holy Mountain at the heart of the Ash Jungle…

No society with a very low population that gives birth at barely replacement rate could absorb a constant influx of slaves. Period. End of argument. It cannot be done.

Very soon, there would be an order of magnitude more slaves than slave owners, and more resources would be spent supporting slaves than supporting the society ostensibly “controlling” them. The Dhe’nar would “slave-own” themselves into extinction.

Also, how does the constant harnessing of slaves help them reach their goal of obtaining the power of the Arkati? It doesn’t, even though that is ostensibly the society’s prime goal.

The Obsidian Tower version of Dhe’nar isn’t a culture - it’s a B&D power fantasy. It does not even attempt to create a remotely plausible society.

There’s a reason Dhe’nar were excluded from the game’s Dark Elf Cultural Festival.

Dhe’nar are slave owners, yes. But at least this site attempts to present that aspect of their society in a sensible fashion, and it isn’t the defining characteristic of their society. It’s something the Dhe’nar do to survive and accomplish their goals - nothing more, nothing less.
To the Dhe’nar, slavery should be a tool, not an obsessive fetish.

The Dhe’nar as presented on Dhenar.com are cold, cruel (by the standards of other cultures) and heartless, yes, but they’re simultaneously mystical, devout, and noble.

The Dhe’nar -can- be more than a group of leatherbound halfling-disturbers who speak in unpronounceable strings of apostrophes.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Tower Dhe’nar: Poison What Now?

10/09/2005

Who can possibly take this stuff seriously?

Dalliances of a sexual sort with non-Dhe’nar do occur, however the seed of a Dhe’nar male is poisonous to any non-Dhe’nar female, and will render them barren along with causing a great deal of pain and anguish.

::laughs::

Why bother critiquing them, when they shoot themselves in the foot just fine on their own…

Tower Critique: Braids

10/09/2005

The wearing of braids I have no problem with. However...

When a title has been achieved, such as a Council chair, a Dhe’nar earns the right to wear his or her hair woven into plaits of five strands. This not only opens up infinate new possibilities for style, but allows rank to be identified at a glance.

Considering how many Dhe’nar in game have “elaborate braids”, this is pretty much unenforceable. Best to just consider braiding a common style amongst Dhe’nar, and be done with it.

The final “braid rank” is the seven strand weave. This is only worn by the Highlord himself, and the complex braids give the Highlord an inimitable style.

Hey, Starsnuffer - one of my Dhe’nar has far more than seven. Is he super-uber-1337 highlord now?

Tower Critique: Obsidian Council

10/09/2005

The Council.

The Obsidian Council is composed of 5 members: The Emissary (Temple Caste), The Essence (Warlock Caste), the Warlord (Warrior Caste), the Balance (a chair open to any Caste) and the Obsidian Highlord (the Highlord chairs the Council, and may be of any Caste). Each chair on the Council receives a vote on all matters, except the Highlord, who only votes in a tie. Each Council position has no set duration. If a Dhe’nar wishes a seat on the Council, he/she makes their wishes known, then if the Council approves the challenge, a time is set forth for the Decision of Fate. During this ritual, both the challenger and the chairholder are locked inside a special room used only for the purpose of the Deciding. No one knows what goes on inside the chamber. What is known is that there is no disagreement when the Deciding is over. The one who leaves the chamber alive is granted the seat.

Please… Again, I beg you. Stop it with the million deadly pointless rituals. Dhe’nar can’t go five minutes without risking death, it seems.

The only seat that is not gained by this ritual is the Obsidian Highlord’s, the only difference being that the challenger must first hold one of the other seats on the Council.

The Obsidian Council also acts as a tribunal for legal matters. Both plaintiff and defendant will appear before the assembled Council to plead their case. The accused is considered guilty unless proven innocent.

Why? What in their society would demand they treat the accused this way? How does this emulate the Arkati?

Oh, never mind… It’s more eeeeeevil and spoooooooky this way.

If you’re 10.

Once a decision has been reached as to the guilt of the defendant, the Highlord will pass sentence upon them, which often ranges from a public lashing to banishment to death.

Regardless of the crime? Do they just draw random punishments from a hat?

“I find the accused guilty of jaywalking… let’s see what he gets.”

::rummages around::

“Whipped with a badger. Guards, take him away!”

The position and power of the chairholder differs with each Caste. In some cases, the chairholder is merely a spokesperson for their Caste. It is not unheard of for the chairholder to be the “leader” of the Caste, although this is infrequent at best. You should discuss the current leadership and structure of your Caste with your trainer or chairholder, as they will be able to point you in the right direction for information.

Regardless of the various leaders within each Caste, the Obsidian Council is the foremost ruling party in Dhe’nar society. All decisions descending from this panel are as law, and are respected by the Dhe’nar society as a whole.

Even though they’re assumed to be guilty when placed in front of it. If they exist at the whim of the people, and all the people are supposedly so massively powerful, don’t you think the people would demand better treatment?

Tower Critique: The BladeWed

10/09/2005

I really wanted to like these guys. I still think they have potential… But things need to be fixed.

The BladeWed (’flach ri G’kna’a)…

Also known as the ‘f’’sf’df’d’’’f’’d’’fd’’’’df’df’’’

Please, in the name of all that is holy, give the apostrophes a rest. An apostrophe BEFORE the first letter? An apostrophe generally represents a glottal stop. A glottal stop before you even voice a sound is impossible.

...are a religious order of knights essentially devoted to the defense and maintenance of the Temple and its Priesthood.

Sounds good so far… Monastic order of warriors, much like the Knights Templar and Hospitallers…

They are also the leaders for most of the Dhe’nar warriors…

If they’re under the auspices of the Temple Caste, they would not be leaders for most of the Warrior Caste. That would make the Warrior caste subservient to the Temple caste, and again, this would mean there’s no point in having a separate Warrior Caste.

...and function as general officers for Tesachta’a and Dzevachta’a.

Gesundheit.

They are trainers, teachers, scholars and tacticians, and are the elite of the Dhe’nar Warrior Caste.

Even though they serve the Temple Caste.

From sixteen on, they are removed from the status of slave…

I think I addressed this issue under the Warrior Caste section already…

...and instead begin to go through the same rituals of training as do priests and priestesses until their mid-twenties.

So, they’re training as priest and priestesses, and serve the Temple Caste, but they lead the Warrior Caste… Umm, nope!

They are given intense religious and ceremonial training, and are expected to work as much with their heads and souls as with their swords. Whatever latent power abilities…

What, like in Dragonball Z?

...they possess are nurtured and encouraged for future use. From their late teens, these young warriors are also given instruction, lasting into their late twenties, in martial arts of all sorts: weapons, weaponless combat, tactics, strategy, ceremony and planning. They are encouraged to self-reliance and are often sent on long individual missions for the Temple and for training.

This is fine… for a set of elite warriors sponsored by the Temple Caste. But they would have to be separate from the Warrior Caste

BladeWed warriors do not ever participate in any binding ritual. They are discouraged from love, family, and anything which might detract from…

...or inspire them to perform…

...their duty and their calling.

Though encouraged in their relations with the opposite sex, they are beaten ritually and severely for any liaison which goes beyond a week. If this does not discourage them, they may be beaten to death. They are often resurrected

I hope so… low population and all.

...and sent into the Guardians, for their potential may be otherwise utilized by the Dhe’nar.

There are many offenses in Dhe’nar society which may merit death.

Primary among these offenses is “being born”.

The young BladeWed are often utilized as executioners.

Why? Does it take that much skill? Obviously not, so why are the BladeWed chosen?

An opportunity for a real bit of interesting cultural information completely squandered…

Any with feelings of squeamishness or shyness are weeded out early and sent into some other service. Major offenses amongst the BladeWed are handled by ritually maiming the candidate: no empath is allowed to remove the stigma, and the candidate must live with it to teach humility for several years. Blinding, deafening, amputation…

Live with an unhealed amputation for years? I challenge someone to live with an unhealed amputation for an hour…

...the punishment fits whatever transgress of the code of the BladeWed the candidate has made. Those so maimed are, of course, expected to perform in all other respects as well as the rest of their comrades.

Sure, because a blind guy or a guy with a missing limb is going to fight just as well as his buddies. Do they chop the legs off the guys on their Olympic Sprinting Team, too?

Having learnt pain, humility, religion and strategy, the young BladeWed are also taught to love their weapons.

Oh god… I won’t say a thing.

BladeWed are all swordsmen; no less noble weapon is permitted them as a mate.

I’m fine with them only using swords. I’m not fine on the distinction of nobility with weapons. What makes a sword more noble than another weapon? Are they 16th century samurai now? How about a little cultural background to explain this belief? Wait, sorry, I know I’m asking too much.

They are given almost religious…

Almost religious? They’re part of the Temple Caste, right?

...instruction in the forms, care, and tactics of sword combat, from their first days as a BladeWed. Unlike the Guardians, BladeWed are given their personal weapon very early on, and though not yet sanctified, they are taught to woo it as a lover.

Do you know what “woo” means? ‘Cause this is either wrong, or deranged.

The perfection of their relationship with the blade is to use it as best they may, to kill, defend, to delight in its form and function, to exalt in its proper use and artful deadly power. They eat, sleep, and endure all of their daily torments with their blades by their sides. After ten or twelve years of this, they would feel naked and alone without it.

Apparently they’re the only Dhe’nar who don’t have a naked fixation.

Soon after leaving the priesthood training, those warriors who have survived (and many, as reading the priesthood training above will show, do not)…

Again, a society with a dangerously low population WOULD NOT REGULARLY KILL THEIR OWN PEOPLE IN TRAINING.

You’d think that with all the years the Obsidian Tower has supposedly been around, somebody would have pointed out this massive inconsistency already.

...are taken deep into the mountain for their most sacred ritual: The BladeWedding.

I REALLY don’t want to know.

Some, of course, do not survive this ritual.

Naturally. Because not only do we like killing off a whole lot of our children in training, but we like killing off half of our elite warriors too! The Dhe’nar would NEVER survive as a people with this going on.

They are unfit. Those who do are wed to their blades for life, never to take another as a lifetime companion. Stories of those few who have tried abound with tales of warriors found hacked to pieces by their own hands, or their unlucky partners killed by that part of the BladeWed which is controlled by the Blade. Few are attracted to the BladeWed as longtime mates…

For obvious reasons.

...though empaths do sometimes choose them as companions for a few years.

Tower Critique: Warriors

10/09/2005

Warrior Caste.

Not selected at birth or in very early childhood, Dhe’nar warriors are usually the children who show no obvious signs of magical abilities. By the age of four or so, however, they (or their guardians) can choose for them to try for the Warrior Caste. Ferocity and fearlessness are the two traits most highly sought; as adults, Dhe’nar warriors tend to be touchy, cocky, aloof and vicious.

Much like any other professional fighter or soldier. So what sets them apart?

Being passed over for the “power” castes seems to leave in them a smoldering inferiority complex which exhibits itself often in an overt bravery to the point of recklessness on the part of the warriors, as if in proving themselves again and again to be incapable of fear, they might offset their deficiency in the eyes of the Priesthood and Warlock Castes.

So, they’re a bunch of whiny, insecure babies? How inspiring.

Training begins in a yearly competition known as the Dhar’draghta’a, or Death Selection.

Please… Tell me how that translates. I’d love to know.

The would-be warriors are brought to the central square of their village or, in Sharath, the central cavern of the mountain fastness. A selection of small clubs, knives, hooks, hammers and razors is buried in a pile assorted refuse. The children are brought to the meeting place and removed, forever in many cases, from the care of their parents or guardians.

Again, not gonna happen in a culture that reveres the family…

Priests, whom the would-be warriors will ultimately serve…

If the warriors just serve the priests, there is no reason for them to be a separate caste. This is nonsense.

...take over and, in a solemn ritual, abjure them to simply survive the day. They are instructed that this is the only opportunity they will ever have to raise their hand against another Dhe’nar. From this point forward, all that survive are brothers and sisters in arms, and must learn to count on one another in battle and in life. They are then directed to the pile of buried weapons, and told to arm themselves if they can and survive for four hours. The number of weapons is usually half the number of children present.

Again, more rituals where the Dhe’nar slaughter their own children for no reason. Garbage.

Far from being an absolute blood frenzy, as one might expect, the ritual usually results in the intended warriors learning quickly that to survive, they must be smart and immediately band together, selecting amongst themselves those whom they would stand beside in combat. Thus the life of the warrior in Dhe’nar society is played out in miniature. Comrades in arms are their only defense against the world. They are ever at the direction of a seemingly disinterested Priesthood…

Why?

...and their choices in life are immediate, deadly, and require as much insight as those of the other Castes. Inevitably, some children do not survive. Some retreat from the field to the safety of hiding (and obscurity and worthlessness forever in Dhe’nar society), and some emerge bloodied but victorious, weapons in hand and comrades around. These children move on to the next part of their training.

The young warriors spend their next fifteen years as slaves.

Why?

Eventually, you should probably come up with a reason for one or two of these traditions. Using the “They’re EEEEEEEVIL excuse” only takes you so far.

They are cast in amongst the slaves of the Temple, but marked by their Dhe’nar blood, they become immediate targets for the furtive retaliations of the other slaves there. Thus do they learn absolute bonding with their kin, and with their warrior comrades. At this time in their lives, they are in a position lower than that of the children of the dark dwarves, and often find themselves in mortal combat with these children. Being stronger, more durable, and in many cases just as vicious, the dark dwarven children present a formidable opponent for the young Dhe’nar warriors. Again, learning is emphasized here: Dhe’nar are not as strong as dwarves or giants; to survive, and to excel, they must be smarter, more cunning, ever more remorseless in their pursuit of power and victory. The children also learn, at this time in their lives, the ways of the Temple and the society they will ultimately serve. From the age of six on, they are given daily instruction in hand-to-hand combat, but are never allowed to touch weapons. That is a privilege they have not yet earned, and by the age of twelve they hunger for it.

From twelve on, they are given instruction in the care, cleaning, sharpening and maintenance of all sorts of weapons, from crossbows to halberds. They are taught the use of these weapons in essence, but none specifically. That will come later. Until sixteen, they are generalists.

Then comes the ritual of Sia’dhar Hesa’ach: The Choosing.

Which of those two words is “The”, and who deserves a punch for coming up with it?

Some warriors carry a latent, but not stellar, ability to use magics; some do not. During the Sia’dhar Hesa’ach, the Priesthood extensively tests each young warrior for this ability. Those with it will be sent to different training as Esleash Eldha’a, the Dark Scouts. Testing for strength, loyalty, dexterity, ferocity and intelligence are also done at this time. These tests will result in the young warriors becoming candidates for the religious order of ‘flach ri G’kna’a (the BladeWed), or for Khadesh Liastha’a (shadow warriors). Those with no special abilities but many desirable qualities go to the Kodom ‘Sleoth, the Guardians. The vast majority are, of course, Guardians.

The use of random nonsense words with too many apostrophes is beginning to drive me crazy. There are rules for language construction. Use them.

From sixteen on, the pure warriors of the Dhe’nar are given a weapon of choice. It will be that with which they have demonstrated ability, and may be a any weapon, ranged or melee. No allowances are made for breakage or use. They must maintain this weapon under whatever circumstances for the next four years, for they will not get another. With this, and a shield…

Even if they wield a two-handed weapon?

...they are taken from their daily tasks at all hours of the night and day and sent on small missions, alone or in groups, with specific objectives. These may range from simply killing a hobbit…

I think you mean Halfling. Not that I’d mind see Frodo skewered, but I think Hobbit is strictly Tolkien (copyrighted and all), and Halfling is the GemStone word. And why would that be a challenge at all, anyway?

...to escorting a convoy of vegetables to sacking and burning any pitiable wretch who has mistakenly taken up homesteading on Dhe’nar lands. They are almost always observed, however stealthily, by one to four members of the Priesthood or the BladeWed. Failure to achieve the objective, loss of a weapon or a comrade, or failure to obey the sometimes strict and unreasonable rules of the engagement results in severe disfavor on the part of their trainers. Particularly frowned-upon are those offenses which involve fear, failure to follow orders, and failure to back up one’s comrades. Bravery, obedience, and loyalty are strict requisites for the Guardians. They are rarely in a position to use self-determination in matters of strategy (this being done ordinarily by BladeWed or the Priesthood), so its nascent rise is swiftly put down.

After four years of constant daily training, combined with their status and duties as slaves, sleep deprivation, and the ongoing missions, the young warriors that remain are hard-bitten, determined, loyal, brutal, skilled in the use of weapons and molded as tools for the Priesthood and the society. In the Blade Rite, or G’kniasha’a…

If I see another pointless apostrophe, I’m gonna start cutting off fingers.

...they are graduated as members of Society and of their Caste, with limited rights and responsibilities, and their youngster weapon is taken away and ceremonially burned in holy fire. They are given by the Priesthood a new weapon, and assigned to a Tesachta’a…

CHOP! CHOP!

...(ten-warrior group) or Dzevachta’a (a hundred-warrior group)…

CHOP!

Hey, why aren’t the ten-warrior groups part of the hundred-warrior groups? That’s generally how organized military units work.

...for further, ongoing training in tactics, other weapons, ceremony, and specific duties.

Sometimes, during their training in their unit, they are sent out on field work, long term assignments, or extensive self-development missions…

...if you know what I mean!

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

...far afield. These, and their rise in rank to leader of one variety or another (each unit has a slightly different organizational structure)…

So their military is a giant chaotic mess of indeterminate rank and organizational structure. Which is fine if you’re going for, say, a more “barbarian” feel to them, but not if you’re going for an organized, disciplined military.

...depends, of course, on their own abilities and limits of power. Many have risen to become great champions, sometimes chosen by empaths as their personal warriors, or have become great tactical and strategic leaders of the Dhe’nar people.

Tower Critique: The Priesthood

10/09/2005

The Priests.

Traditionally, the priesthood breeds its own members. Very few, if any, children from outside the priesthood are accepted within its ranks.

So, the Dhe’nar prefer stagnation within their castes, ensuring a complete lack of new and inspirational ideas. And should someone born to another caste show more promise for a Temple profession, their talents are wasted rather than utilized. Wonderful.

Of those born to the ranks, few are deemed acceptable to study for the priesthood.

So they don’t accept children from other castes, and very few from their own. So how do they survive? If this is true, they would have much fewer members every generation. Anyone have an answer? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

The remaining children, if blessed with magi potential, are fostered out to families in the Dhe’nar society. The only difference between the young magi and young acolytes is that the children raised in the Temple have an almost eerie sensitivity to the forces of divine power, which is totally lacking in their magi counterparts.

Wow, so Dhe’nar clerics are different from Dhe’nar wizards? How strange. Other races/cultures sure aren’t like that.

When the child is old enough, and if that spark of magic potential has grown to a flame, the child is then reclaimed by the mages’ guild.

Thereby wasting all their studies up to that point.

The children that do meet the standards of the priesthood are raised in a community nursery for the first eight years of their lives.

This from a culture that reveres the family? Not likely. I don’t picture Dhe’nar as raising kids on post-modern hippie communes, but maybe that’s just me.

They are taught the rudiments of Dhe’nar society: speech, dress, proper respect towards elders. At the age of eight, the children are shown the art of survival. They are taught to do whatever it takes to live.

So - eat, sleep, stay out of the rain.

The training process is difficult, ensuring that no Dhe’nar priest or priestess is weak. Of twenty children placed in this training, perhaps one will be suitable for the priesthood. After seven years of this, those that remain are put to work. To be a priest or priestess demands a great sacrifice.

And this sacrifice would be…what exactly?

At this stage, the would-be priests and priestesses are divided by their weaknesses into two different training programs. Those with a low threshold for pain are sent to become empaths. They will learn to live with pain each and every day of their lives. By mastering their weaknesses, it is believed that they will pass on that strength to the next generation. Dhe’nar empaths perform their rites of healing in much the same fashion as other cultures, except a Dhe’nar healer will always go for the most bloody wounds first.

So other cultures’ empaths take the least dangerous wounds first, and let their patients die? “Well, his heart was ruptured, but I decided to take his skinned knee.”

The only other true branch of the Dhe’nar priesthood are the priests and priestess’ themselves.

What are the fake branches?

Very little is known of this, as a Dhe’nar priestess will not divulge any secrets regarding the temple. No written manuscripts are kept as all lessons, histories, and stories are verbal only. This has severely limited the ability of outsiders to get a close glimpse into the life of a Dhe’nar priestess. It is known that a priestess has almost complete power over the common Dhe’nar.

How? Why? Nice cop out. “I don’t know why they have this power, so I’ll just say it’s secret”. Real good society construction there.

In recent times it has been noted that several Dhe’nar mages and powerful warriors, known to have fallen in battle, have been seen alive again. Perhaps the Dhe’nar are breaking with their custom of allowing no intervention between this life and the next. As compared to other races, who seek out the favor of the gods regularly to intervene in death, the Dhe’nar have always believed that anyone weak enough to die deserves to stay dead.

Which makes no sense at all in a culture that is desperately low in population. This would never have become a custom unless all Dhe’nar want to become extinct.

However, a subtle branching of the priesthood seems to be evolving. It would seem as though some priests have begun to experiment with raising the newly dead and restoring life, whether through dark rituals or through the intervention of the gods it is not known.

Yes, it is known, actually. It’s accomplished through the intervention of the arkati. The Dhe’nar are supposed to know more about the arkati than any other culture, remember? Try reading their official history.

Nothing is known of these things, except for the obvious fact that Dhe’nar once dead, have been seen alive again.

So, it has taken the oldest civilization on the continent 80,000 years to come up with an ability that other cultures’ clerics have had for ages? Are you actively trying to make the Dhe’nar look like a bunch of idiots?

Also, it is rumored that the priesthood has always had a fascination with death. That the Dhe’nar priesthood are masters of pain and pleasure, and that all priestess and priests are masters of seduction is no myth.

Ooohh…. Eeeevil and SEXY. God, talk about repressed. This is just lame. I don’t feel like playing a bunch of Goth Vampire Drow, thanks.

Anyone entangled in the web of a Dhe’nar priestess can attest to their almost binding control over a man through dance, graceful speech, and other more erotic arts.

Please. This is childish, not to mention degrading. From comments I’ve received from female players, this is possibly the worst element of the Priest caste, and for many the biggest factor in their decision not to play Dhe’nar priestesses. Can we seperate the culture from adolescent power-sex fantasy?

I could accept this from Ivasians and Oleanians (and to make sense it would involve both male and female devotees), but all of them?

The Dhe’nar priesthood rites of entry are some of the most violent known to all civilized races.

Why?

The acolyte is stripped of all worldly possessions and sent to bring back the skin of a sh’arom. For those not familiar with this most deadly creature of the caves I will describe one.

Oh good. Another “Great Hunt”. Doesn’t this get a little old?

A sh’arom is an entirely magical creature. Rumor has them being bred by the Dhe’nar before the great cataclysm as a hunting beast. That experiment may be one that either worked too well or was a complete disaster, depending on the teller. It is known that the sh’arom feed on pain. A new born sh’arom is mauled by its mother shortly after birth. The mauling, instead of harming the kit, makes it grow stronger.

Then it’s not “mauling”, it’s “weight training.”

This lesson is repeated time and again, with each near death experience almost doubling the stamina, constitution, and violent capacity of the sh’arom. A sh’arom is considered full-grown when it can kill its parents and very few sh’arom get to this stage. Most kill each other as a female sh’arom will give birth to litters as large as 10 at one time. Most sh’arom only whelp one litter.

The full grown sh’arom is about the size of a large timber wolf with scaled skin, a spiked tail, and two sets of extremely sharp teeth. The head resembles a reptile and when standing on its hind legs it can stand as tall as a fair elf. Sh’arom can see in the dark and have a very keen sense of smell. They also seem to be sensitive to magic and extremely resistant to it as well. Magical spells tend to be absorbed and the energy put towards faster healing on the part of the sh’arom.

So, they’re entirely magical, but are large physical creatures. They’re also entirely white, yet black, and entirely ugly, yet beautiful.

For the acolyte to be accepted as a full-fledged priest or priestess, they must succeed in bringing back the skin of an adult sh’arom.

What does this have to do with priest skills? In order to become a mathematician, do they have to bake blueberry pies?

They begin this task unarmed and unarmored.

Yeah, yeah, exactly like the Great Hunt… we know. Would it have killed you to come up with, I don’t know, a different ritual? Maybe one that has something to do with priest-ness? And maybe a single ritual that doesn’t involve being naked?

It does not matter to the priesthood if they kill the sh’arom though magic, might, or even cunning. All that matters is that a skin is returned. It has been rumored that when more than one acolyte is sent on this mission, the high casualty rate may not all be attributable to the sh’arom themselves. Perhaps the final cut for the Dhe’nar priesthood is made among the acolytes themselves as they betray and destroy each other in an attempt to accomplish what would well seem impossible.

Why would they do that? Not only would a culture so low in population not be able to afford constant murderous backstabbing amongst its people, but the Dhe’nar are supposed to be a devout people seeking the power of the Arkati. Why would their priests be murderous, backstabbing buffoons?

Tower Critique: Warlock Caste

10/09/2005

Warlocks.

Dhe’nar Warlocks are handpicked at a young age by the “Shadowy Conscriptors,”

Also known as the “Spooky Guys”.

a special sect of the magi who have a unique talent for detecting those with strong magical auras. This elusive group of magi travels from clan to clan among the Dhe’nar with the sole purpose of recruiting the young into their ranks so they might begin the training process. Most of those selected are male, as woman showing magical aptitude are mostly likely to follow the path to become a priestess; however there have been several female magi among the Dhe’nar over the centuries.

Many fear the Conscriptors. Once selected the youngsters are taken away to the secret academy, where they are stripped of name and clan, never to return to their families.

Not likely, since the official histories talk about how much the Dhe’nar revere family.

No one has heard the Shadow Conscriptors speak…

Okay, is it “Shadow” or “Shadowy”? In the span of two paragraphs, you’ve already changed the title.

...they simply travel from place to place, on occasion pointing out those they have “chosen”. The “chosen” are then put into a deep magical sleep and taken away. Those who watch these proceedings know that they dare not say a word in protest, lest they be burned on the spot by magical fire.

‘Cause they’re EEEEVIL. Sure, it doesn’t make any sense, but it’s EEEEVIL. Hey, why don’t they just find everyone with magical aptitude, and just train them? Why the theatrics? Are all Warlocks failed drama majors?

Once selected the “chosen” are brought deep into the caverns of the Great Mountain. Somewhere within the twisted maze of tunnels and caves lies the Academy; here they will begin the lengthy training process. It is rumored that very few who are selected actually survive the training…

Oh GOD… Just like EVERY OTHER ritual described for the Dhe’nar. Only one out of every hundred children must make it to adulthood in this culture.

...however this is hard to judge as no one outside the Warlocks’ circle is privy to what goes inside the walls of the Academy, or even how many Warlocks actually exist. The first step of training is the “conditioning”. During this process it is said that the chosen are taught to forfeit their feelings and emotions, the first of these being the feeling of pain. Many Dhe’nar warriors, who are famous for their high tolerance of physical pain, would shudder and cry to think of the tortures the students must endure before they are taught to write their first rune.

So I guess the Dhe’nar Warriors are famous for it for no reason, since the Warlocks are better at it…

The conditioning process takes approximately a decade to complete. During this time the student undergoes both physical and mental tests. The trainers and teachers are relentless; to be weak is to fail, to fail is to die.

Oh, of COURSE. And then they take their SATs… If they get below a 1300, they get pencils jabbed into their brain. And then they learn CPR… and if they don’t save Resusci-Annie in time, they get disemboweled. And then they play tic-tac-toe, and if they can’t win in three tries, they’re thrown off a cliff… God, GIVE IT A REST. Nobody would train people like this! Murdering your children if they don’t meet impossibly high standards only ensures that your people are dead within two generations, tops.

Only the strongest and most dedicated make it through the conditioning, and even fewer survive with their sanity intact.

Oh, so not only do few children survive, but some that do are insane. Great. Even fewer to continue the culture. Maybe if elves bred like rabbits this would almost make sense… but they don’t. So it doesn’t.

Rumor suggests that those who go insane are turned over to other magi for experiments, where they are transformed into mindless, horrible aberrations and used for shady purposes.

Such as? The vague spookiness thing does nothing for me. How about some details? A little coherent thought? Internal consistency?

Never mind.

Throughout the conditioning, several basic Dhe’nar principals are taught over and over again to their students. Recited constantly in the minds of the students are the ancient phrases of the Warlock: “Power is Everything” “Emotion betrays Truth” “Truth is Knowledge” “Knowledge is Power” “Power creates Magic” “Magic creates Truth” “Truth is Knowledge” “Knowledge is Power” “Power is Everything”....

This is very bad, means nothing, and sounds like a 13 year old’s attempt to write poetry for his English class. Condense this, or choose another set of mantras.

Those students who survive the conditioning now begin the next step in their training. Here they gain access to coveted Libraries of Sharath.

Wait, don’t tell me - Before they can get their library card, they must hunt and skin a dragon...naked!

Very few people know that these libraries even exist, even fewer have viewed the literature held within. Written documentation is forbidden in Sharath, its practice taboo to all but the Priest and the Warlock. Within the libraries the students are taught not only the histories and philosophies of Dhe’nar people, but also the histories of the known world, the elven nations, and recently the histories of the human empire. Students are also taught politics, etiquette, religion, science, and philosophy, as well as the art of runes and the mechanics of elemental magic.

So only Warlocks are given a basic education? Do the other castes just learn to play checkers for a couple decades? Non-Warlocks are all morons?

One must have knowledge to have power, and possess power before one can use magic;

So… neither knowledge, nor magic, are power. Okay.

...it is only after the students are well versed in the ways of the world and their people that they may advance to the next step of their training, apprenticeship.

The apprenticeship begins when each student is sent off to study with 3 different masters, assigned by the Academy. During this time the student is in complete custody of the master, and is sworn to obey each of his master’s wishes. As payment for this servitude the master shares knowledge with the apprentice. The apprenticeship lasts 20 years. The first 10 years are spent with a master mage, who instructs the students in the ways of elemental magic as well as continuing the apprentice’s historical and philosophical studies. The next 5 years the apprentice is sent to train with the warrior class, where their master trains them in the art of physical combat as well as teaching them strategy, war history, and battle tactics. The final 5 years of the apprenticeship are spent at the temple, where the priests and priestess teach religion, philosophy, and the art of seduction. During the apprenticeship the student has no name, no face, and no standing within society. No one speaks to or even acknowledges the student except the master,

I actually like this paragraph. Why can’t the rest of this make this much sense?

who refers to the student only as “q’hali”, which translates into something between “animal” and “slave”.

Ugh… well, except for this stupidity.

When the 20 years of apprenticeship are passed, provided the student did not displease his masters, the apprentice returns to the Academy. At this time the student spends between 2 and 5 years in study and meditation of their own accord, after which they must stand before the Council of Magi and the Great Warlock to be judged. When the student is brought before the Council they are given the Test. The Test is never the same; it differs for each student. The student will face fear beyond imagination and pain beyond comprehension to a point where each skill learned during the last 4 decades will be stretched to its limits. During the testing process, the student must prove his power to the Council; failure to pass the test means death.

AGAIN with the deadly test for no reason! I SAID STOP IT! BAD CULTURE! BAD! NO TREAT!

Upon completing the test and being deemed worthy by the Council, the student is given a name.

But if it’s a bad name, he’s killed right?

This is the last time in the young mage’s life when a decision will not be his own. Once one is a Warlock in the eyes of the Council, he is above all Dhe’nar law and proceedings, save that of the Council itself.

And if the council sees him sneeze, he’s killed!

From here there is nothing more to say; the legends speak for themselves. Dhe’nar Warlocks know no equal. Their sheer determination in their quest for power, coupled with willpower tougher than rolaren bound glaes has led them to victory time and time again.

And after every victory, they’re killed!

You know, ‘cause it makes them stronger and stuff.

Tower Critique: Teras Craps

10/09/2005

Teras Craps.

It does? Ba-dum CHING! Thank you, thank you… I’m here all week, and don’t forget to tip your waitress. Good night!

Who says the Dhe’nar don’t know how to have fun? Dhe’nar enjoy games just as much as the next elf, although their games are a bit more bloody than your usual way to pass the time.

‘Cause they’re EEEEEVIL. Remember?

The latest sport is a game called Teras Craps, invented by Highlord Starsnuffer Sunslayer. On foggy nights, games are often started in the tower on Teras Isle, open to all who wish to gamble and don’t mind losing an arm or a leg. Here are the rules and instructions for those who want to join in on a game:

The rules for Teras Craps are just like the rules for regular craps. Roll the dice for the first time. If you roll a 7 or an 11, you win. However, if you roll another number, you must roll again, and keep rolling until you roll that number again. If you roll a 7 or an 11 before you roll your number again, you lose.

What makes this Teras Craps is the addition to the rules. If you roll doubles at any time, you get a limb chopped off (or better, blown off if there is a sorcerer handy). If you lose all your limbs, you lose as well (since you can’t roll anymore).

So it’s craps for sado-masochists. Got it, how original. Let’s move on.

Let’s take a look at a sample game....

Oh god… please, no.

Starshadow, Gryphon, Starsnuffer and Rasulis are sitting in the tower playing Teras Craps. Starshadow rolls first. She rolls a 6 and a 5, winning with an 11. Since the winner must roll again, she picks up the dice and rolls a 4 and a 6. To win, she must roll a 10 before she rolls a 7 or an 11. She rolls again, getting a 5 and a 3, and again getting a 4 and a 3, which causes her to lose the game.

Gryphon picks up the dice, being the next to play. She rolls a 3 and a 1. She must roll another 4 before she rolls a 7 or an 11 to win. She rolls again, getting a 6 and a 2, and again, getting a 6 and a 6. Doubles. Rasulis, who is the Official Limb Remover, blows off her arm. Starsnuffer laughs.

::sigh::

Undaunted, she rolls again, getting a 1 and a 2. She rolls again, getting a 2 and a 2. She’s rolled her 4...and doubles again. Rasulis blows off a leg, and Gryphon wins.

And blah blah blah… the rest edited out because WHO CARES? It’s just like normal craps, only EEEEVIL, got it? What other games do they play? Castration Poker? Defenestration Tiddlywinks?

Tower Critique: Skin Color

10/09/2005

The game provides the skin color options during character creation. Do we really need a whole chapter describing what’s available?

Most commonly, Dhe’nar have dark to black skin complimented by silver or white hair.

Apparently, someone’s never looked at the wide variety of Dhe’nar appearances in the actual game. I admit, both my Dhe’nar characters have the stereotypical dark elf white or silver hair, but I’ve noticed that fewer and fewer go this route nowadays. And at least one of my characters has pale skin to go with it.

Some theorize that their time in Rhoska-Tor marked them in this way…

Like those that know anything about the history of the world, and can compare them to the Faendryl, who were affected the exact same way?

It’s not a theory, folks. It’s fact. Rhoska-Tor changed those who have lived there.

...while others state (tongue planted only loosely in cheek) that the black hearts of the Dhe’nar have bled onto their flesh.

Hah, so clever. ::snore:: And nonsensical to boot, since not all Dhe’nar share that skin color.

However, not all Dhe’nar are dark complected. The Dhe’nar village of Eh’lah is nearly filled with pale skinned, dark haired elves.

That’s what happens when your genetic stock is composed of a handful of really lazy scouts who have to interbreed with themselves. Not much diversity there.

No one has yet put forth an explanation for this discrepancy…

Aside from the obvious fact that the genetic base of Eh’lah was a handful of scouts, whereas Sharath had a much higher population.

...although rumors abound, speculating on the more spiritual nature of those living outside of Sharath itself.

But those rumors are put down by anyone with 2 brain cells to rub together, since the reason is so OBVIOUS. Human cultures in the real world have known about the results of inbreeding for millennia, and we don’t have 80,000 years of recorded history like the Dhe’nar. Doesn’t take long for any culture that raises livestock to figure out the basics.

Tower Critique: Sashes

10/09/2005

They’re FAAABULOUS!

Many Dhe’nar wear rune-embroidered sashes to state their rank, and often, lack thereof. Most commonly, when a Dhe’nar is exiled and cast out, that “rank” is displayed on a sash.

Why not just take the sash off? Geez. Why waste time writing “I have been exiled, so I have no rank”. You’re exiled, brainiac.

However, other ranks and insignia can be displayed on a sash as well.

So they’re boy scouts.

“And here’s my self-mutilation merit badge! And here’s my random apostrophe-inserting merit badge! And here’s my happy-naked-fun-time merit badge, and my poison seed merit badge...”

Sashes make excellent badge banners, in other words.

And are almost as lame to wear as headbands. I can just picture a bunch of bare-chested, heavily tattooed, headband and sash wearing Dhe’nar running around. No wonder their population is so low. Would YOU breed with someone who looked like that?

Tower Critique: Eh’lah

10/09/2005

Oh no… It gets bad here, folks.

Nestled deep in the jungles and set on the banks of a wide, wild river, Eh’lah was created by a small party of Dhe’nar just after the Fall of Sharath. In the time since its founding, it has grown into a fair sized community, steeped in ancient tradition and strong in its following of the Way.

Okay, seems fine so far…

Roughly a month before the Fall of Sharath, what is assumed was a scouting party left the shining Jewel of the Dhe’nar for reasons unknown.

Well, if it is assumed that they were a scouting party, then perhaps their reason should be assumed to have been… scouting?

It can be surmised that they were sent out to find lands to conquest…

Lands to…. Conquest? They were such elite scouts, they used nouns instead of verbs.

“We are here to conquest you!”

“Pardon me… Say that again?”

“Uh… Filthy inferior person. We are going to conquest you!”

“Hah! Hey Bob, come check out these jokers. They got no shirts on, tattoos all over their torso, headbands on, and they can’t even speak common. They’re going to “conquest” us!”

“Tell ‘em we’ve already been ‘conquest.’ Perhaps they should ‘scouting’ somewhere else and find someone else to ‘fighting.’”

...or settlements of other races to raid. What is known for certain is what they returned to. As they walked, weary and ready to see their families again, they scented ash upon the air. They crested a hill, in time to see the fires begin to rain down on their beautiful city, and the mountain rend it asunder. They sat on the hill, unsleeping, and watched as what they believed to be their entire race was destroyed.

I kind of assumed they weren’t sleeping if they were sitting there watching. It’s hard to watch stuff while asleep. I know, I’ve tried.

True Dhe’nar, they said their farewells to the ruins of their home and traveled deep into the jungles. All they knew, their race and their families, were dead (as far as they knew)…

So, they didn’t bother checking, eh? Would have wasted too much time?

“Hey, looks like our city’s on fire. Oh well, guess everyone’s dead. Let’s go.”

Apparently Dhe’nar are complete idiots, not to mention extraordinarily lazy.

...and they would not allow the Dhe’nar or the Way to perish in the flames that had claimed Sharath.

Not that they really knew what happened to Sharath, since they never actually went to look.

They finally came upon a spot next to a huge river, and settled down to rebuild the Empire of the Firstborn.

Sure, a small party of scouts in a village next to a river. It should only take a few hundred thousand years of nonstop breeding to repopulate an Empire. Morons. Besides, one city doesn’t make an Empire.

Come to think of it, one city called Sharath wasn’t an empire to begin with anyway. Talk about ego.

And wasn’t the whole founding of the Dhe’nar based on the rejection of worldly nation-building and politics in the first place?

They called it Eh’lah, meaning Hope or Rebirth.

We’re not sure which.

While the rebuilding Sharath focused on learning from the past to create newer ways, those living in Eh’lah clung to the memory of the old, and recreated the old ceremonies faithfully.

Y’know, they could have just walked a few miles away to visit Sharath. Would have saved them a whole lot of work.

Besides, “learning from the past” and “recreating old ways from memory” are the same damn thing.

They also created new ways, made to keep alive the memory of those that had perished in the fires. They never forgot, never allowed themselves to let go the mourning, and never faltered from the Way they held so dear.

And NEVER VISITED SHARATH EVER AGAIN FOR NO PARTICULAR REASON.

“Hey, El’fy, remember that big capital city we saw on fire from a hill? It’s been a couple years… It’s a huge mountain I can see from here. Think we should go check it out?”

“NO, EVERYBODY’S DEAD! WE NEED TO REBUILD EVERYTHING FROM SCRATCH HERE! DON’T LOOK OVER THERE! I SAID DON’T LOOK! I’LL POKE YOUR EYES OUT!!”

“Geez, sorry I asked. Fine. I’ll just get back to breeding now”

By the way, it’s also not difficult to keep memory alive when your lifespan is measured in the thousands of years. It’s about as impressive a feat as a man still remembering his old neighbors 2 weeks after moving to a new apartment.

A comparison of Eh’lah to Sharath shows many similarities.

I hope so… Again, since elves live into their thousands, LESS THAN ONE GENERATION WOULD HAVE PASSED since Sharath’s destruction. There’s absolutely no reason for the cultures to be anything but identical!

There are few fundamental differences in the most basic of rites and traditions, and each city has a “mascot” reptile they consider perhaps the most fierce thing to hunt.

Ours is a gecko named “Zippy”. He dances at all our home games.

In fact, where the oldest traditions of the Dhe’nar are concerned, it seems Eh’lah has simply added their own slant to them, instead of making sweeping changes.

Why would they have made “sweeping changes” anyway? Is that what normally happens when you make a new community a few miles from your old one?

The most notable of the changes, perhaps, is the coming of age ritual, the Great Hunt and the naming standards. Children are still sent, naked and unarmed, into the jungles to return with a prize from the animal they killed.

They just looooove being naked, don’t they?

And seeing as even Giantkin have trouble killing things naked and unarmed, I wonder why these super-killer Dhe’nar don’t have their amazing powers reflected in game stats? Seems quite the oversight. After all, if teenage Dhe’nar can kill vicious jungle predators naked, single-handed, with no weapons, then the multi-hundred year old Dhe’nar walking around the Landing should be a lot more powerful, shouldn’t they?

Of course, I suppose they could also be full of crap… Nah…

However, where Sharath’s young simply go out to return with what they will, the children in Eh’lah must declare what creature they will kill before they leave the village. To return with the skin of another creature is to fail as surely as if they died.

And again I must ask… What happens if they fail? Here’s it’s “to fail as surely as if they died”, and above it’s “as surely as not returning at all.” So not returning is equivalent to dying which is equivalent to failing. Huh?

Me, I’d just assume that the ones that didn’t return moved someplace where the adults don’t want to see them naked so badly, and don’t expect them to kill tigers with their vicious elven fingernails.

When a child returns successful from their Great Hunt, they are taken to the Temple, and the Chamber of Remembrance. They are left alone in the dark room, and after a time of sitting and quiet meditation, the Chamber shows its true colors. The Chamber is designed to show proof of Eh’lah’s belief that the body remembers...that the blood will always recall what has come before, as it is passed down through the years. Thus, each child sits in the dark, and he remembers the Fall of Sharath, seeing it as if he had been upon the hillside witnessing the rain of fire.

Since most of the city DID witness it, this is not that remarkable. In fact, if they’d just WALK ON OVER to Sharath, they could ask the people who LIVE THERE exactly what happened!

Names in Eh’lah are “backwards” by the standards of most cities. Those that live in the village use what would normally be termed the surname, or last name, as the name they are called by, and their first name as a special “true name” to be used under special circumstances. Thus, Gryphon Blackmoone becomes Blackmoone to the populace, and someone like Dhrakyn Ta’Nhilmon becomes Nhilmon, with the prefix dropped.

Why. Why make such an arbitrary naming convention for no good reason, especially if your goal is supposed to be the preservation of your culture. Language and culture do not change dramatically within a single generation.

True names are considered gifts to be given only to your closest friends and most trusted allies.

Spouses exchange them, as do battle companions of many, many years.

Wow… I won’t even TOUCH what THAT implies. Don’t ask, don’t tell.

Thus, at a simple listen, you can tell who is close to whom by what name they call others by, and what name they are called by who.

So true names really aren’t that well guarded, if you can just simply listen and hear the different names a person is called. Well done.

However, further comparison shows several differences between the two places. In outlook and lifestyle, Eh’lah seems at once more spiritual and more tribal.

Wow, more tribal. Being a dinky little tribal village compared to the mountain city of Sharath, yes, that’s assumed. Why it’s more spiritual, however, is a mystery.

Those who live in the village tend to wear less, most especially into battle.

Again with the nekkid. They moved 3 miles from Sharath, and became Picts. Quick, call Had’rian!

Tourneys and tests of strength and bravery tend to be more rough and dangerous than the ones in Sharath. At the same time, the rituals are more heart-felt, opening the soul to closer examination.

And what does that mean, exactly?

The most public ceremony is the Keening. Each evening, the Priestesses come forth from the temple with their assigned Tishi’qa (the Handmaidens, a group of all-female warriors assigned to protect and guard the Priestesses at all times), each carrying a lit torch. They file out in two columns, one to each side of the river, holding their torches high in the air. They speak not a word, and as they take their places, the entire village falls silent. In that deep silence, the Priestesses begin keening, wailing with their voices pitched high in mourning, to sorrow again for the loss of Sharath.

“Guys, it’s RIGHT OVER THERE.”

“SHUT UP!”

Other smaller traditions exclusive to Eh’lah include a massage technique that not only relaxes the muscles, but brings out memories and feelings long since buried.

Ummm…brain massage?

Very similar to the real-life technique of rolfing…

Throwing up?

...this is one way to bring about remembrance of things long past.

Another is to actually think.

The Dhe’nar dialect is also slightly different in Eh’lah than in Sharath. While the two languages are certainly compatible, the language in Eh’lah is often considered of an older variety, and includes many words that Sharathians seem to have forgotten.

Which, of course, makes no sense at all, seeing as Eh’lah is the smaller, younger offshoot of the older, mainstream culture at Sharath.

The village’s dialect seems to contain more contractions, and words with two apostrophes, than the larger city’s.

Words with more apostrophes? So, they’re not representative of glottal stops, but rather, they’re just apostrophes. Well done. I see MUCH studying of language was done here. S’o, do’es th’is’ m’ak’e m’e Eh’lah Dhe’nar n’o’w?

While both Sharath and Eh’lah are set in jungles, the village is more overgrown, more deeply set into the rainforest than Sharath.

Seeing as Sharath is a mountain city, and Eh’lah is a village in a jungle, we probably could have assumed this…

Also, it does not contain any mountainous terrain or cave networks.

Seeing as Sharath is a mountain city, and Eh’lah is a village in a jungle, we probably could have assumed this…

Woo. Deja vu.

Thus, they have no dark dwarf population, although their ratio of human and giantman slaves is higher.

Okay, so now Eh’lah must be a massive city with a higher Dhe’nar population than Sharath, rather than a village, otherwise they would not be able to support any significant population of slaves, never mind a HIGHER amount than Sharath itself.

Folks, a little consistency wouldn’t kill you.

Also, there are no sh’arom, but those in the village do not lack a creature to be wary of.

“Yeah. His name’s Murphy, and he’s right over there. Be wary of him.”

The nhil’mon is a lizard, usually over twelve feet long, adept at swimming and fighting with its long claws and heavy tail. There are two varieties of nhil’mon, the brown and the black. The former are smaller, with muddy brown scales and rings of mustard yellow around their eyes. They are also much less likely to attack without reason, and put up less of a fight than their larger cousins. (For a real-life equivalent, please look at this picture of a komodo dragon.)

And then please forget about it, because your description doesn’t match what a komodo dragon looks like.

The black nhil’mon are something to be feared. They are often several feet longer than the brown variety, with gleaming black scales speckled with yellow. They are a temperamental reptile, known to attack without provocation and kill even the finest of warriors by dismembering them or dragging them to the depths of the river to drown. (For a picture, see this photo of the Nile monitor. She’s a baby Nile, but it gives you the general idea.)

So it looks like a komodo dragon -and- a Nile monitor at the same time. Uh huh. If you squint real hard, it looks like a water moccasin and a Sleestack, too.

Both varieties are hunted to prove bravery and prowess, although in a controlled manner. Seldom are they hunted by young Dhe’nar on their Great Hunt (every so often, generally several centuries apart, someone succeeds). More often, warriors hunt them to prove bravery and skill, or lovers to prove loyalty to their partner. (A common phrase used by Dhe’nar women advising another female on how to rid oneself of an unwanted suitor is, “Tell him to go kiss a nhil’mon.")

Ha ha! That’s so rich! Women are so nutty… And why can’t they check the toilet seat before sitting down?! Huh? Back me up on this, guys! And why don’t they make the plane out of the black box! Huh? Hey, is this thing on?

The nhil’mon is respected and protected in Eh’lah.

Aside from the whole “killing their warriors without provocation” thing, I guess…

But, if you’re a culture that reveres suicide as its highest virture and ultimate goal, I suppose it kind of makes sense…

When first the Dhe’nar settled in the area, they met resistance from the neighboring human villages. While the dark elves were certainly more than a match for the humans, the nhil’mon made excellent guard dogs, protecting their territory from the humans that trespassed upon it. Often, the Dhe’nar set up ambushes and guards in areas that would force the invaders towards nhil’mon egging grounds, leaving the lizards to clean up the intruders that attempted to run away.

So, are they vicious predators that kill Dhe’nar warriors without provocation, or are they guard dogs? Who knows? Who cares?

In conclusion…

Promises, promises…

...the Dhe’nar of Eh’lah were overjoyed to learn that Sharath still stood, even in a changed and rebuilt form.

One can only imagine how long THIS took. I guess somebody from Sharath got tired of watching these idiots, and sent a messenger over.

“Dear Eh’lah.

You’ve been fun to watch, but enough is enough. You see that big mountain over there where our old city used to be? How about you walk over and check it out. You may be surprised.”

A large weight lifted from their shoulders, for they were no longer the only ones responsible for upholding the Way and the Dhe’nar bloodline. They have sent emissary missions to Sharath, and the two towns are rediscovering each other, seeing what the mixing of similar but different cultures will bring. Eh’lah has also begun sending their young to Wehnimer’s Landing, keeping an eye on the expanding empire.

The Landing isn’t an expanding empire, it’s a large urban trade hub. Maybe the Eh’lah Dhe’nar should check their maps better, and aim a little further south… You know, where the only empire on the continent is located?

Only time will tell what the future may bring them.

Well…duh. That’s how time works.

Tower Critique: Headbands and Coming of Age

10/09/2005

Headbands.

Conceivably the lamest fashion accessory ever.

In any case, here we see another description of how the extremely low population Dhe’nar try to kill off all their children… Maybe THIS is why they have these population problems, eh?

Dhe’nar are extremely proud of their headbands,

Dude, I got this when I saw Foreigner at the Meadowlands in ’82! That show KICKED ASS!

...as well they should be. The headband is a symbol of hunting prowess, bravery, but most importantly, a symbol of coming of age.

No no no. A headband? Gimme a break. Headbands weren’t cool even when they were cool. Let’s let 80s MTV fashion die, please.

When a young Dhe’nar reaches an age of adulthood…

-An- age of adulthood? How many are there?

...he or she is sent on a Great Hunt. He is sent from his home without clothes…

Woo! Naked time! Wheeeeeee!

...armor or weapons to bring down a creature of honorable skill and ferocity, or to not return.

Wow, every Dhe’nar, eh? Even those who are to become Empaths? Clerics? That makes sense.

“But I’m in training to be a librarian!”

“Shut up and go kill something with your bare hands, Billy.”

The elf chooses his quarry carefully. It must be something suitably difficult to kill...nothing too easy, or he will be considered a coward without honor.

What do I have to kill to be a coward with honor? Or to be brave without honor? I have so many questions!

But it must not be something too difficult, or he will die.

Well, I guess that stands to reason… Good thing all the creatures in the jungle just stand around in a buffet line and only attack the hunter if chosen.

Once the quarry is chosen, the Dhe’nar hunts and kills it with only his natural skills to rely on.

As opposed to his unnatural skills?

After a successful kill, the Dhe’nar brings back a symbol of the hunt. Most often, it is the hide of the animal killed.

Sensible…

However, grass or leaves from the area of the kill, claws, etc. can also make appropriate items.

WHAT?

“Yeah… I killed a lion. Here’s a bunch of grass as proof. Gimme my headband.”

The items are then woven or braided into a headband,

Huzzah… My leaf headband.

...displaying for the world to see the creature killed bare-handed.

So… You killed a ficus tree, eh? Our hero.

As an interesting side note, those that live in Eh’lah (soon to be described elsewhere in this collection)

I can’t wait!

...have a small twist on the Great Hunt. The creature to be killed must be announced to the assembled peoples of the village. To return with the skin of another creature is to fail, just as surely as not returning at all.

But you said just above that they don’t have to return with the creature’s skin, just with flora from the area it was killed in.

And what exactly happens if you fail? An explanation would be nice.

Also, what if the creature he returned with was way more powerful?

“I know I said I’d kill a kobold, but I only downed this dragon instead.”

“You FAIL! Get out! Or die! Or whatever it is we do when you fail… we’re not quite sure, the law is pretty vague...”

Tower Critique: Tattoos

10/09/2005

Tattoos.

It is hardly a surprise that the painful...yet sensual…

::snores::

First rule of sensuality: If you have to tell someone it’s sensual, it isn’t.

...art of tattooing appeals to the Dhe’nar. Sharath produces many fine tattoo artists, with eyes for beautiful design and needles that delve deeply into the flesh.

Then they don’t tattoo. If you’re delving deeply into flesh with a tattoo needle, you aren’t tattooing, you’re injecting ink into your muscles. That doesn’t do anyone any good. “Dhe’nar colored acupuncture” seems a more appropriate name.

But tattoos are not only a means of beautification for the Dhe’nar. They are also designators of status and rank.

So… they tattoo their foreheads? Or they walk around unclothed? I can’t wait to find out.

Dhe’nari Caste tattoos are made up of several parts integrated into rings of concentric circles. The innermost layer is the individual’s personal symbol. This can be nearly anything, from family crest…

Not very personal…

...to a picture that symbolizes them.

Thus the “personal symbol”, right?

The symbol is chosen very carefully, and is often the result of several years’ ponderance.

“What’s my family crest again? It’ll take me years to remember…”

Oh, and “ponderance” isn’t a word.

The next layer out is the Caste tattoo itself. This is a ring of runes stating various pieces of information. The information differs for each region. Some place only Caste, while others also integrate runes for their teachers, their compatriots in arms and other related personages. This is most commonly the outermost ring in the tattoo.

The third possible layer is added when an additional title, such as a Council seat, is achieved. It provides the seat name and the person defeated to take the seat, and often also includes the date the seat is gained or other pertinant information.

And what they had for breakfast that morning, and what color underwear they had on… Doesn’t this tattooing seem just a tad...busy? There’s only so much room on the body for one’s diary, you know.

The final ring of runes is reserved for the Highlord. It states rank, Caste, person defeated, and like the third layer, other information like date, season, etc.

Blah blah blah… And when you run out of skin, we just start sticking post-it notes with this information onto our foreheads…

Caste tattoos are always placed directly over the heart.

Oh… So all Dhe’nar always walk around with their shirts off? Combined with the headband fetish, Sharath must look like a Rambo cosplay convention.

The ceremony performed when getting the tattoo varies from place to place. Some do not recognize it…

“Oh my god, what are you doing with that needle?!”

...while others hold an elaborate service. In all places, however, the tattoos cannot be done before the Dhe’nar’s Great Hunt and the gaining of the headband.

Well, why waste your time tattooing a guy who’s about to run into the jungle naked and wrassle bars or somesuch?