Dratori

Population	~25 Million
Traits	Tall stature, Dark Skin, Pointed Ears
Homeland	Dalquia, Between Ailizane and Karnor Regions
Leader	Sojourner Konar Stormcaller
Art	[1]

Fast facts

Height: 6’3’’-7’’ Males, 6’-6'10’ Females.

Weight: 230-350(lbs) Males, 170-250(lbs) Females

Lifespan: 200-250 years

Notable Features: Sharp, elongated ears. Body and facial hair appearing in males. Usually well-built frames, agile but strong.

Racial Ability: Spiritwalking: Dratori are naturally inclined to forming bonds with spirits of both natural forces and animal spirits. Through careful meditation a Dratori can enter a trance-like state and with practices and careful contemplation they can gain insight into questions posed to spirits of the natural world. The spirits seldom provide straightforward answers but for those who are practiced in the art of Spiritwalking much wisdom can be gleaned. Over time, a Dratori who masters meditation and understanding of this unique communion can even attract the attention of a specific nature spirit that then serves as their primary guide in times of distress.

Player Restrictions: Berserker: Inside every Dratori there lingers the touch of Ilixidor's dark magic that brought about their creation. While this has evolved to be that of a more fiery and passionate nature as opposed to just abject rage, the risk still remains. A Dratori who becomes overwhelmed with negative emotions runs the risk of entering a berserker state where they cannot distinguish between friend or foe. The Dratori must either be shocked out of this state of mind or it must run its course until they collapse in exhaustion which could take a considerable amount of time depending on the stamina of the individual Dratori.

Population: 25,000,000

History

The Dusk Elves of Ransera are an often misunderstood people. Following their emergence into the world they were immediately faced with terrible adversity. Given to passion and a far deeper connection to their emotions than perhaps any other race in Ransera, the Dratori began their lives in the world under the terrible thrall of a dark master who pushed them to commit terrible atrocities. It was only after breaking away from this troubled origin that they managed to find their own path in the world but even then their prowess as both warriors and a people with deep ties to the natural forces of the world was sought after by the Clockwork Empire. The Dratori are a strong people who have come to distinguish themselves greatly from their cousins the Hytori and Siltori.

Birthed by Rage

In the beginning there was no true distinction between the Dratori and their brethren the Hytori. It was through the works of Ilixidor the Betrayer that this distinction became noticeable. Until the Kinslayer Wars there was no real divergence between the beginnings of the Dratori at all. They were as any other Hytori with the exception being that most did not join with Ilixidor’s forces willingly. As the Betrayer struggled to wrestle control of Sol’Valen away from the Court of Princes after slaying both the Phoenix Queen and several prominent princes of the era, he devoted considerable resources and research into the creation of the perfect soldier. He endeavored to find a means of empowering mundane soldiers with greater strength and stamina who would be completely obedient to his will. This lead him to delving deeply into the black arts he had become known for. Rumors abound that he entreated the assistance of not just necromancy and archmagic but blood sorceries and the binding of spirits of wrath and destruction.

In time, Ilixidor’s efforts proved fruitful as he conducted terrible rituals that stained the skin of his kinsmen and bathed them in the fire of rage and fury. These elves subjected to his experiments were forever changed and marked by them. What he produced was a people completely consumed by their rage that, once unleashed, were utterly devastating on the battlefield. While they proved impossible to control in a direct sense once they were in this state of fury, if that fury was carefully directed it proved highly effective. Ilixidor was pleased with this development and he dubbed them the Drashil’a’tori or “Children of Dusk and Ashes”. He saw them as his crowning achievement as a sunsetting of the old ways brought down in fire and carnage.

The introduction of the Drashil’a’tori saw a complete turning point in the Kinslayer War resulting in Ilixidor gaining the upper hand. The Court of Princes quickly found that despite their power, just a single of Ilixidor’s creations possessed the strength and stamina of a hundred elves while in their wrathful state. They were supremely difficult to defeat as the Drashil’a’tori would not stop, even when gravely wounded. It was only through killing them that one could be truly brought down. As the war pushed onward and Ilixidor gained the patronage of the dark demigod Shaeoth, the Court of Princes were forced to turn to an unlikely ally: humans. It was through this outreach that they learned of Shaeoth’s opposite and hope for the future was rekindled. As the Court of Princes joined forces with the demigod of Light, Justice and Hope, there was a ray of light in the growing darkness.

The Battle of Twin Moons

Outside the shining city of Silfanore, an army of Ilixidor’s forces gathered preparing to lay siege to the ancestral capital of all elves. All that remained of those willing to fight against the Betrayer had gathered in a last attempt to make their stand against the Usurper King. In Ilixidor’s army there stood thousands of Drashil’a’tori, ready to slaughter their kinsmen in a blind fury. But on the battlements of Silfanore, the demigod of Light, Justice and Hope took his place at the helm of Silfanore’s army. As Ilixidor’s general gave the command to begin the siege it is said that Arcas raised his sword high into the skies and the light of the silver and scarlet moon shone down upon the field. As the light touched the eyes of the Drashil’a’tori a great awakening took place. A terrible wail of despair echoed forth from those touched by this power as they realized the horrors of what they had become. The Drashil’a’tori turned on Ilixidor’s army and together alongside the army of Silfanore, the Betrayer’s forces were soundly defeated.

The Day of Mourning

The Drashil’a’tori could never return to what they once were but the thousands of them that had been awoken by the act of Arcas, joined him in fighting against the armies of Shaeoth. It would not be until the demigod’s sacrifice and the defeat of Shaeoth and his generals that they would truly be able to break away from the horrors of Ilixidor’s magic. Following this final act, those Drashil’a’tori that survived adopted the name “Dratori” the Dusk Elves. With their skin marked by both fire and blood they left the lands of Sol’Valen in search of both themselves and a new home.

Bretik Fal’Mar, First of the Spiritwalkers

The newly formed Dratori migrated far to the west away from the lands of Sol’Valen in search of a new home, far removed from others. Though they were free of Ilixidor’s dark influence, they still struggled with a terrible rage that burned inside of them. This drove them to seek a place of isolation away from others in the hopes that this would afford them the chance to find peace. Among them travelled a mighty but brutal warrior, Bretik of the Bloody Hand. Among all the Dratori it was Bretik that was seen as the most consumed by his rage. On the battlefield he had been a force of absolute wrath and carnage, able to crush bones with his bare hands and able to rend limb from limb. The mighty warrior however, had become quiet and despondent in the journey to the west. He was not blind to the atrocities that he committed. Nightly he suffered nightmares of the screams that rang clearly in his ears as he still saw the agonized faces of those he had slaughtered while enslaved by both Ilixidor and Shaeoth’s black sorceries. This drove him further and further away from those around him until one day he sought complete isolation away from all others.

It was as he was wandering a wood, lost in his melancholy that he came upon a wounded bear. The bear was unlike any he had seen before. It was massive in size and coated in both blood and gore. Its dark brown fur was matted with the debris of a terrible slaughter. Rather than recoil from the bear, Bretik looked into the mighty beast’s eyes and saw there a kindred soul. He saw rage, he saw anger, but most of all he saw pain and suffering. After much coaxing, Bretik managed to pacify the beast. Though he was by no means a healer, the elven warrior did his best to tend to the bear’s wounds. He washed the gore from its fur. He bound a broken leg and he hunted to help feed both of them. In time he began to feel a kinship with the bear. When finally the bear was healed, Bretik helped it back to the wilds. The following day, with the sun low in the sky and morning fog covering the lands, Bretik heard a mighty roar and immediately felt a pain in his chest. Spurred on by fear, he realized he knew that roar and sprinted into the vast woodlands.

Bretik came upon a scene that filled him with despair. The mighty bear was once again wounded and surrounding it was a large human hunting party. In this moment of despair and anguish, Bretik felt the rage consume him. He bellowed mightily and charged at the hunters who beheld him in terror. It was their terrified faces and screams of panic that shocked Bretik out of his rage as once again he was reminded of the gruesome life he was desperately trying to turn away from. Though it was a mighty struggle, Bretik managed to restrain his rage and rather than slaughter the hunters he drove them off, crushing many of their weapons. When it was over he turned to the mighty bear just as it was drawing its final breaths. Bretik fell beside the bear and wept. It was as he was preparing to bid his farewells to the mighty bear that he was approached by another Dratori. The other elf looked upon Bretik with sadness and posed a single question.

“You did not kill them. Why?” And he answered.

“Too much blood is on my hands. No more...no more…”

And from one breath to the next, Bretik is said to have beheld a dragon with scales as verdant as the most blessed forest. The winds seemed drawn to the beast’s wings. In its eyes was the fury of a thousand storms and the very world itself seemed to both yearn for this dragon’s attention and bow to its presence at the same time. It was in that moment that Bretik knew he beheld a god but he felt no fear, only awe. The dragon was none other than Aedrin, God of all Nature and for his show of restraint, for his kinship with the bear and for his desperate quest for peace, the Dragon God of Nature bestowed upon Bretik a gift. Aedrin touched Bretik’s brow and showed him the path of the spirits that the mighty warrior might truly find his way to the peace he sought.

As soon as the moment came it was gone and the dragon with it. The great bear was at rest and though it too was gone from the world, Bretik saw that in its final moments it had found peace. The Dratori warrior then heard a soft cry and found two bear cubs. He knew his path then. With the bear cubs at his side, Bretik returned to his people and began to share with them the things he’d been shown and how to find peace in the wilds. It was a long journey but in time, this quest brought them to the vast woodlands in the northern parts of the west. They dubbed this woodland the Wildking’s Forge, honoring the Dragon God of Nature and in its southern most reaches they founded the lands of Dalquia. Bretik became He Who Walks with Spirits. He and his followers have guided the Dratori people ever since.

The Age of Clockwork

By the time the Clockwork Empire had successfully conquered the eastern lands, including the elven homeland of Sol’Valen, Dalquia had become the home of the Dratori. A place where nature reigns supreme in harmony with civilization, the Dusk Elves had become known for both their ferocity as protectors of their home and yet restrained pacifists committed to balancing the rage inside of them. The Mage-Lords of the Clockwork Empire wanted to exploit this inner rage for much the same reasons it was instilled into the Dratori in the first place. In their quest for expansion, the Clockwork Empire witnessed firsthand the ferocity of Dratori warriors and by this time they were the first nation to truly behold the might of the Dratori Spiritwalkers. These exalted members of Dratori society were able to call upon the spirits of the animals of the realm to aid them. As the Clockwork Empire ran into difficulty conquering the western nations, many of these spiritwalkers were captured and their connection to both their fury and spirits was experimented upon. These experiments lead to the creation of the first Proto-Rathari who were more beasts consumed by rage than anything else.

The Sundering of the World

The Dratori were no less affected by the Sundering of the World than any other though some might say they were able to fare better than most. Their home of Dalquia, which was as much part of the natural world as it was a civilization saw the burning and collapse of many of its cities but the Dratori managed to preserve the core of their people and culture. It was during this time that their Spiritwalkers, shamans who communed with the spirits of the world, became crucial to their survival. As other magic became dangerous and unreliable, this unique relationship with the spirits allowed the Dratori to persevere in ways many others could not. Indeed it was this unique relationship that allowed them to help those who had been horribly warped by the Mage-Lords of the Clockwork Empire. It was through the efforts of the Dratori Spiritwalkers and the intervention of Aedrin, Dragon God of Nature, that a balance between the tortured souls of both the Dratori and the affected spirits was found. Through these efforts the Rathari were born.

The Dratori wholly rejected the presence of the Cult of Mending and were able to stave off the worst effects of the Graveplague owing to their spiritual connections.

Present Day

The Dusk Elves are a guarded people. They have spent a great deal of time rebuilding their homes in the Wildking’s Forge. Their unique relationship with the spirits of Ransera allow them to commune with the natural world in ways that other civilizations cannot. As a result of this, their homelands recovered much more rapidly than other places. Though they were reluctant to lend this assistance to other places, they were convinced to do so by members of the Order of the Dawnmartyr. For this intervention, the Dratori are respected in many places in the world due to the lengths they have gone to in their efforts to repair the damage done by the Sundering. This is also one of the reasons why they are one of the few cultures keenly aware of just how devastating the Sundering was. While many Dratori travel the world, those who live in Dalquia and in the Wildking’s Forge are wary of outsiders. They are a people who have been severely abused and extorted in their history and while they are committed to being peaceful, they are not ignorant in the ways of war and bloodshed.

Physiology/Biology

Where their cousins are known for their often ethereal beauty, the Dratori are far more worldly. While still possessing the grace and fairness of all elves, the Dusk Elves are broader, taller and possessed of an appearance that can often be considered wild in some cases. Dratori have skin tones ranging from sun-bronzed to a rich brown and in some cases a dark mahogany. Their features are more rugged with either rounder or more squared facial structure than the regal patrician appearances of their cousins. Their ears have a notably shorter elongation than their cousins but still possess the sharpened point. Eyes color in Dratori tends to shift between green, hazel or blue which some attribute to their close connections with nature. Like all elves they enjoy heightened resistance to natural diseases. Of all the elves, the Dratori are physically the strongest with stamina and endurance that far outstrips their cousins and all but the most athletic of humans. They retain the natural grace and athleticism that is attributed to elves in general.

Psychology

Discipline is the defining trait of practically every Dratori that outsiders encounter. Inside every Dusk Elf is the dark touch of Ilixidor’s twisted magic that has become part of their very essence, the burning rage of the berserker. While the intervention of spirits and gods has caused this rage to evolve into a deeply fierce and passionate nature, the dangers of being consumed by it still linger. For a Dratori, there is a constant balance between controlling the swell of their emotions and devoting themselves to causes of empathy and understanding. The rage can never be removed from them and it is impossible to fully restrain but it can be channeled. From the time that they are young, the Dratori are taught to funnel this burning passion into acts of benevolence over that of violence and carnage. Because of these things, the Dratori have fostered a culture centered around meditation, emotional wellness and forming strong bonds with the community.

As a result of their nature, the Dratori caution their young to be supremely mindful of their thoughts and feelings. They are taught not to ignore their feelings but control them through careful exploration. It is a lifelong quest for balance but one that they come to master well. Of all the races of Ransera, none feel as keenly or as deeply. Dratori are careful in whom they welcome into their lives. The trust of a Dratori is hard won but once gained it is often startling how fierce an ally they become. The same can be said of earning their ire. A Dratori who has been turned down the path of hate toward someone or something will seldom waver from that path. A Dratori that has been brought to anger is a terrifying sight to behold indeed. This anger will either be an all-consuming rage or a sharply cold fury that is wickedly precise in its wrath against those who have wronged them.

Culture

Dalquia is the homeland of the Dratori elves and it is a land of careful contemplation. The Dratori people place an emphasis on the reverence of their elders who are all almost universally Spiritwalkers. To describe Spiritwalkers is to liken them closely to shamans who commune with the spirits of both nature and primal forces in the world. They are seen as those who are touched by the power of Aedrin, the Dragon God of Nature and it is their wisdom that guides the Dratori people as a whole. Spiritwalking is central to Dratori culture as it is seen as through communion with nature that the path to inner balance can ultimately be found. Finding one’s “path” along this journey is paramount and leads many Dratori to become practitioners of Elementalism or Animus and other magic that is closely associated with nature. Dratori society is governed by its elders with the highest of these elders being the Council of Dalquor which is lead by the Sojourner who is largely regardest to be the wisest individual in all of Dratori culture.

As a society the Dratori are perfectionists much like their cousins. This quest for perfection is reflected in their devotion to finding true inner peace and a path toward enlightenment. The constant balance between understanding their emotions and not being consumed by them is a lifelong endeavor that is expressed in many forms. Some Dratori might funnel their concentration into forms of art, into music or into physical perfection through martial prowess. The prevailing sphere of thought is that of balance in all that one does. As a community, the Dratori are very open with others of their kind born from an understanding of the journey one faces. A community of Dratori is extremely social with one another as it is seen as vital and healthy for one to communicate thoughts, emotions and experiences in order to glean greater understanding of them. While the Dratori can be guarded around those not of their race they are not necessarily unfriendly. A careful observation of how others interact with them is undertaken, often in order to understand how best to communicate and avoid misunderstandings. This can lead outsiders to believe that Dratori are aloof when in truth the opposite is true. Once a Dratori determines how best to relate to an individual they quickly go to great lengths to bring them into the fold of their community.

In terms of worldly wealth and status, Dratori are not often concerned with pomp and circumstance. Their civilization emphasizes strong bonds with each other and the world around them leading most of their cities to be monuments to the blending of the two. Dratori fashions tend to be simple incorporating fine leathers, woven cloth and furs in colder climates. They are prone to tattooing themselves with symbols that relate to nature and their quest for inner balance and enlightenment leading many to regard them as a rather wild people. Mistaking this love for simplicity and the wonders of nature as them being barbarians is something that, once made, is seldom repeated. The Dratori find beauty in simplicity but they are far from simple. Their society prizes feats of knowledge and wisdom far above that of most other civilizations.

Technologically, the Dratori emphasize harmony with nature over convenience. While capable of understanding such pursuits they avoid things that clash with this love of the natural world. This has lead their civilization as a whole to be largely viewed as primitive at first glance. The Dratori are not primitive, they prize harmony above all things and often they have found ways of achieving feats similar to other places in the world simply in ways that incorporate nature as opposed to disregarding it.

Religion

Like most elves, the Dratori predominantly worship the Dragon Gods. Chief among their regard is Aedrin, the Dragon God of Nature whom first showed Bretik the ways of Spiritwalking. Next in regard is Keela, the Dragon Goddess of Wisdom who is seen as the patron of their quest toward finding enlightenment and understanding. Raella, the Dragon Goddess of Life is revered in their hearts as the mother of all elven races who emphasizes the importance of a life well lived. Her husband, Wraedan the God of Death, is honored because of his necessity in the circle of Life, Death and Rebirth. Beyond them, the Dratori typically revere animal or nature spirits for the guidance and wisdom they provide to the Spiritwalkers that lead their culture.

Reproduction, Aging and Death

Dratori are the shortest lived of the elven races but even their lifespan far outstrips that of a human. The Dusk Elves live hard but rewarding lives in their pursuit of balance and harmony. The elders of their society are seen as possessing great wisdom. This fosters in them a deference for those who are older than themselves but it is a deference that must be proven by individual merit. The Dratori give respect where it is earned as elder Dratori are seen as those who must live as examples for others to be followed, dishonoring this notion is a quick way to become a pariah in their society. When an elder passes it is cause for great celebration and a dignified sadness. Dratori often ascribe to the belief that the spirits of their elders become spirits of nature or animal spirits that then come back to guide the Spiritwalkers of their people. This is seen as a good thing and the height of a life well lived.

Dratori of middle age often enter the beginning stages of settling into a particular community. It is common for them to be masterful of their chosen path toward finding inner peace. It is not uncommon for middle-aged Dratori to be masters of particular crafts, martial arts, or wise spiritual advisors who commune regularly with nature. The middle-aged Dratori spend a great deal of time teaching younger Dratori and are often taken under the wings of particular elders to be groomed to take their places in the community one day.

Young Dratori are ruled by their passions in the eyes of their elders. The young spend their lives pursuing their chosen path toward finding inner balance with an intensity that many others might find exhausting. They seldom settle in one place for long and are prone to wandering from place to place in search of those things that interest them. Young Dratori live fiercely and fast in their quest to master discipline over the self and of their chosen paths.

Reproduction in Dratori is not dissimilar to human reproduction. Dratori culture at large does not have marital customs in ways that humans would understand. Dratori tend to form exceptionally strong emotional bonds with their chosen partner and remain committed to each other for the duration of their lives. This declaration between each other is seen as more than enough in Dratori society as the affairs of the heart are viewed as an extremely intimate matter. When a couple does declare their partnership to each other it is cause for celebration. Dratori parents are extremely active in the lives of their children with both parents sharing responsibilities equally among each other. There is no real formal expectation for children to ever leave the family unit as a whole which often leads to generations of the same family building and expanding on the same lodge in order to spend time together. However, the nature of young Dratori is such that eventually they often leave home of their own accord in order to pursue their interests.

Language

Like all elves, Vallenor is the ancestral language of the Dratori but after breaking away from Sol’Valen the Dratori developed their own language that has become distinct. This language is referred to as Rivach. Compared to the tongues of their cousins, Rivach is less musical and incorporates as much meaning through body language as it does in what is spoken. The importance of Rivach is understanding the context in which something is being said as a single word can have a dozen different meanings depending on the circumstance. As a result, the language has three forms: that which is spoken, that which is gestured and that which is written. The gestures used in Rivach are a form of sign language that many observers swear animals in the wild can understand. Rivach written script shares similarities with the ancient script of Vallenor but is notably much sharper in shape with its grammatical construction requiring the explanation of context. This has lead it to be a very long handed form of writing.

Dratori names tend to keep some musicality, but can also be short and solid in many cases, such as Lyn, Arel, Kiraen or Myrienne. The meanings are usually related to natural phenomena such as plant names, rivers, stars, mountains and similar happenings. The Dratori have largely abandoned the surname conventions of their cousins in favor of that which most reflects their connection with nature or their chosen pursuits. A Dratori who is a carpenter might bear the surname "Woodshaper" or a hunter might bear the surname "Shadepath".