ELMAERS

Salorras species: elmaers — the elves’ own lab-clones, pure elven stock shaped lesser than their makers: short-lived, with only a partial share of the elven gift, but uncannily versatile. A 3.5e half-elf variant in chassis only — in canon the elmaer carries no human blood; the “versatility” is engineered, not inherited.

Origin: Khalendianil — a making of the isil elves through entropic magic at the close of the Era of Myths Stature: 1.55–1.80 m, elegant and lightly muscled — faintly pointed ears, unable to grow fat Lifespan: Adult at twenty-two; venerable past two hundred Nations: Ylna’Anor (Asmeda) · Unverkettet (Neluvia) · large communities in Braora Faith: No fixed doctrine — many honor Eone, others worship freely Languages: Native — Colloquial or Elven, by region; local — Elmaerian (Unverkettet), Merylia (Neluvia)

The elmaers are a people of purely elven descent — clones shaped by the very hands of the elves, yet never in their full form. Their kind appeared at the close of the Era of Myths, when the isil elves wrought them through entropic magic, in their own image and likeness. Later, in the Era of the First Moon, history records the elmaers’ role as expendable soldiers against the orilyni — the alien invaders of Salorras of that age. For centuries their place in the world was met with cruelty, for they were never recognized as a “true” seed of Salorras, but as experiments searching for their identity. Though they carry some of the gift of true elves, the greatest difference from their “fathers” lies in longevity: elmaers live about one-fifth the lifespan of elves. Most people in Salorras have never seen a real elf, so the elmaers are called “elves” by many — not far from the truth, since elmaer translates from the elven tongue as “our offspring.” Today they have made their place clear in the eyes of the world; it took thousands of years for the other peoples to grant them that, but the elmaers have built their own culture, customs, and traditions, and live on lands they claimed and won with their blood.

Character

Heirs of the elven kind but raised closer to human societies, elmaers won the grace and calm of the one and the warmth and ambition of the other. They are known for their inventiveness, their minds working out solutions in an “artistic” way; airy and delicate creatures, yet never without the spark and impulsiveness when it is needed. Other peoples’ opinions of elmaer character diverge by region: where they have lived for many generations they took on the temperament of the wider population, chiefly humans, while in purely elmaer regions they adopted a way of thinking close to their elven “fathers.”

Appearance

Elmaers strongly resemble their forebears. Their facial features are nearly identical to those of elves, save for ears that are slightly smaller; their soft skin varies among light shades, their hair most often blond or soft brown, their eyes green or blue. They come of age after their 22nd year, and their lifespan does not exceed 200. Their build recalls the elegant elven silhouette, though somewhat more muscular; males usually stand 1.60–1.80 m and weigh no more than 70 kg, females 1.55–1.75 m at about 50 kg. It is nearly impossible to see an overweight elmaer, for the metabolism and physiology they inherited from the elves prevents it. Elmaers tend to mind their appearance — said to be a way, born of the racism they suffered, to fit more easily into a “foreign” society; they always groom themselves and dress fittingly for the occasion.

Neighbors and Rivals

Elmaer relations with the world differ by region. On the elder continent of Khalendianil, elmaers are still reckoned bastards by the elves and pass indifferently before the eyes of the dwarves; the humans of the Old Kingdoms are more open to coexistence. In the New Kingdoms of the humans on Asmeda — and especially in the state of Braora — elmaers have existed since the state’s founding and are an inseparable part of society; the cosmopolitan capital Skylorn is in any case a child of immigrants of many peoples, and Braora has always had brotherly ties with the elmaer state of Ylna’Anor. On the wild continent of Neluvia, relations with the native eyafen and eyalen ria, and with the dwarven colonists, were baptized in fear when the sidelined elmaers built there the dictatorship of Unverkettet; trust there is scant and mutual, hardened by the elmaers’ own nationalist spirit. The pyrekin, wherever they hail from, hold most elmaers in sympathy, admiring how they won their independence as a people and wrote their own history — indeed, in the pyrekin state of Faeldar, coexistence with elmaers has run harmoniously for centuries.

Faith

Religion varies greatly among elmaers. As nomads and migrants who for years sought their place and ended up scattered across the world, they have served many deities. Elmaers who feel themselves true descendants of the elves more often believe in the Father of Elves, Eone; otherwise they may believe in any deity. In general — even in the purely elmaer region of Unverkettet — there is no teaching that steers the young toward any particular god.

Conscience

As creatures, elmaers tend toward liberalism, justice, and mercy, owing to their elven blood. Even so, theirs is a people of many moral faces, depending on where and how they are raised — seen most clearly in the militarist regime of Unverkettet, where elmaers are raised by the principles the law commands, yet can grow ruthless toward those not of their kind.

Elmaer Domains

For many thousands of years the elmaers were a people without home or identity, all but outcast from whatever society they tried to join while they remained on the elder continent of Khalendianil, always seeking a new beginning. It came with the centuries, and now only a few of their communities remain in their birthplace. Many migrated to Asmeda with the second migratory wave of 506 IE, where most followed the “path” of the north; given the chance, they claimed a great tract of land and later founded the first purely elmaer state, Ylna’Anor. Many elmaers live in large communities in Braora, and fewer in the Free Cities of South. Others fled to the exotic continent of Neluvia, where they built their own empire, that of Unverkettet — a land they so toiled to call “home” and defend in a daily battle against the goblinoids of the Beastlands who spill out to plunder the cities of the south.

Wanderers and Seekers

Elmaers are drawn with perfect ease to the adventurer’s life. Thanks to the harsh evolution of their kind, the art of survival is innate in them; they are keen students of life and their talents unfold very fast, which — together with their sharp senses — makes them remarkably adaptable in most circumstances. Plunging into adventurous places can become second nature, especially when the hunt for some treasure is involved, so one may meet them even in the most remote latitudes of Salorras, never missing a chance to prove their worth where others would turn back. Clients across the world in need of a specialized mercenary adventurer stand a high chance of finding what they need in the daring spirit of an elmaer.

Language

Elmaers usually speak Colloquial or a local tongue, by the region they grew up in. Elmaers of Ylna’Anor prefer Elven, while those of Unverkettet have their own unique dialect, Elmaerian, and often also know Merylia — the Colloquial of the continent of Neluvia. They may, of course, know any other tongue, for their people is many-sided and gifted.

Elmaer Starborns

The only known elmaer recorded as a starborn in history is Aelnesia Arron’Thar — a great personage and eminent bard, whose life was taken by the Self-Slaying God Nerkan Thak’Ar in the year 945 IE.

Names

Elmaer names come most often from the cultures of either human or elven peoples; only the elmaers of Unverkettet use names truly their own.

Male names (elmaerian): Andol, Draknir, Dkardran, Greidnek, Krirdil, Moghas, Rermor, Sythmas. Male names (elven): Aerlathan, Caylor, Entrydil, Feyrith, Haemir, Kelvhan, Nuvian, Saevel, Taegen, Virion. Male names (human): Alfred, Amos, Brisco, Eugene, Lewis, Morris, Nicodemus, Seymour, Aeganor, Daeryon, Kendos, Talenar, Aburan, Jazair, Khalam, Ikarian, Rudollion, Vetharis. Female names (elmaerian): Chashega, Hesedna, Likhigna, Mezhedni, Nassari, Shakhandi, Zhigali. Female names (elven): Arryne, Ena, Fayla, Isilynor, Kaelitha, Lithonriel, Merethyl, Nuovis, Sylmare, Vealatha. Female names (human): Belle, Cornelia, Esther, Genevieve, Olivia, Penelope, Aelyra, Daenys, Lesserah, Vhaenyra, Jeryla, Nasratah, Casiopida, Koranthea, Theisys.

Elmaer Racial Traits

Elmaers carry some of the gifts of the people who made them — though never in their full form. Theirs is an unfinished kind: they bear many of the traits of elves, yet some are atrophied, fallen short of the fullness of true elves.

• Medium: As Medium creatures, elmaers have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• Speed: Elmaer base land speed is 30 feet.
• Elven Lineage Senses (Low-Light Vision): An elmaer can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination, retaining the ability to distinguish color and detail.
• Keen but Lesser Senses: +1 racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks. An elmaer’s senses are sharp, but they lack the elf’s deeper attunement — they cannot, for instance, notice secret doors merely by passing near them.
• Elven Kinship (Elven Blood): For all effects related to race, an elmaer is considered an elf. Elmaers can use magic items usable only by elves, and are equally subject to the curses and blessings that target the elven kind.
• Cultivated Aptitude: Each elmaer cultivates an innate knack — a second lesson taken from the blood rather than from teachers. The elmaer gains one bonus skill-related feat at 1st level, chosen from: Acrobatic, Agile, Alertness, Animal Affinity, Deceitful, Deft Hands, Diligent, Investigator, Magical Aptitude, Negotiator, Nimble Fingers, Persuasive, Self-Sufficient, Stealthy, or Skill Focus.
• Versatile Mastery: The same unfinished nature that long denied elmaers an identity now grants them an exceptional adaptability. They learn whatever they take up faster than most mortals and match a human’s breadth of knowledge (without ever reaching a true elf’s depth): an elmaer gains an extra skill point at each level as a human does, and as their talents ripen they gain 1 extra ability point to their primary ability score at 4th level and again at 12th level.
• Automatic Languages: Colloquial or Elven (one of choice). Bonus Languages: Any (other than secret languages, such as Druidic).
• Favored Class: Any. When determining whether a multiclass elmaer takes an experience-point penalty, their highest-level class does not count — whichever calling they choose, they make it their own with rare ease.