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VELSEPHAY

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Ælven Free Nation

• Tone: Primordial "savage land" forest full of hidden dangers and outdoorsy Ælves
• Timeframe: -1200 to present
• Artifice Level: Standard, verging into High (due to retained artifacts from before the Xauphinellean split)
• Region: Tears of Vrylakos
• Capital: Velsephay (~150,000)
• Notable Settlements: many scattered settlements, averaging ~10,000 each
• Government: Putatively a Monarchy, in truth its more of a Libertarian free state relying mostly on tradition rather than laws.
• Ruler: Imperator in Exile Darisandra Xul
• Races: Ælf (98%), Other (2%)
• Languages: Ælva
• Religions: Xauphic Pantheon
• Coinage: Velsephayans barter for the most part, though some very old Xauphinellean coins remain in circulation they are mostly a collectors item due to their ancientness.

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Synopsis

A primordial forest of massive trees spanning a spiral of Shards in close proximity, populated by a menagerie of natural beasts grown to gigantic proportions. Settled by the losers of the Ælven Kinstrifing War of old, the followers of Vasrithaella, the Never Queen. The once proud Ælves were left with no recourse but to adapt their lofty mien to the sometimes bountiful, oft-times cruel and ever wondrous land to which their failing sky ships delivered them after their exile from their homes high in the Shards. In the time since the formerly haughty Ælves of Velsephay have developed remarkable tolerance for other peoples.

Natural dangers abound, primarily in the form of larger than normal animals and insects; such as the frightening treebears and the feline predators known as lavenders. The arboreal dangers among the canopy of the huge everleaf trees hide such dangers from the unwary; combined with concerns for survival and sustenance it is little wonder that basic woodlands lore is considered a necessity amongst the Ælves. The path of the ranger is well traveled, and many Velsephayans have walked far upon it.

However, there are other dangers to be considered, and among them are the Velsephayan’s cousins of old, the Imperial Xauphinellean Ælves to the top, and foul servants of the Beneath, Madragat, and Tleyzu to the bottom. Therefore, martial traditions are also not unknown. Individual Velsephayans learn skills of war and killing to protect their resource poor nation from champions of enemy nations and entities. Several warrior creeds have developed across the many Shards of the nation, some based on older teachings tracing back to the days of Empire, others newly developed since the Kinstrifing.

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Magic

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Details

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Adventure Seeds

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Work this in somewhere; might require a separate document due to its length. Killer Shrike, 2009/10/25 12:31

Art of the Razorleaf

One such is the Art of the Razorleaf. The Razorleaf is a strange weapon of Aelven manufacture, comprised of a crescent-shaped blade lacking a haft, but instead grasped in the middle. The weapon is light and difficult to use correctly, but a trained master can wreak incredible damage upon a foe very quickly, literally shredding an unsuspecting foe. In the days of Xauphinelle an older Weaponmaster named Uolle Vhrshevan invented the weapon, supposedly to prove a point. The fell-handed aelf went thru several revisions before settling on the final dimensions, weight, and balance of the weapon. Once he was happy with its construction, he designed a simple but dangerous fighting style around it that concentrated on making many small cuts rapidly, leaving an opponent a bleeding ruin. He called his weapon the Razorleaf, and demonstrated it’s use to several of his peers, who saw it’s merits. Some younger aelves sought to learn the style, perhaps to curry favor with the influential Uolle.

Soon thereafter the Beneath rose forth, the Empire was sundered, and the succession was contested. Uolle sided with Vasrithaella over her brother Tallisindar. Those close to him sided with him as well. In the days to come, Uolle became one of the leading Weaponmasters among the would-be Empresses followers, responsible for training elite troops to combat the forces of Tallisindar. With limited time and resources at hand, Uolle decided to teach his new, untested Razorleaf technique. The Razorleaf’s were cheap, and much easier to teach than subtle Thinblade styles which could take years to develop even the rudimentary techniques. The units he trained proved to be very lethal against the enemy, and made for good light elite skirmishers most able in enclosed spaces such as urban areas, forests, and sky ships.

With the failure of Vasrithaella, those who practiced the style and still lived were exiled with the Never-Queen and ended up in Velsephay. To this day it is a popular technique, and instructors rarely lack for students. The use of the Razorleaf continues to be popular in the resource poor land due to its small size, which requires less metal than a full-sized weapon. The style has no formal hierarchy or overarching purpose. Its practitioners are unrelated and are highly varied in their professions. It is often underestimated by those unfamiliar with it, and practitioners often use this fact to their advantage. Many foes have been shocked and dismayed by the painful havoc a Master of the Razorleaf can unleash upon an opponent.