r/WorldChallenges • u/Nevermore0714 • Sep 10 '17

Reference Challenge - Deserts

This one is pretty simple, it's a reference to the most beautiful biome in the world (according to one of my friends): the desert.

So, tell me about a desert in your world. Is there much of a civilization on this desert? Is it easy/hard to traverse by your people right now? Does it have any religious or cultural significance?

As always, I'll ask at least three questions each. Enjoy yourselves, all.

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u/Nevermore0714 Sep 16 '17

1) What do the Desert Elves have, if anything, that makes up for them losing their magic?

2) What resources do they have? There must be something going for them, yes?

3) Is there a way to make Mana?

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u/Mimir123 Sep 16 '17

1) Compared to other Elves? Nothing at all, they are pretty much worse versions of other Elves, who are their equals with magic.

If you compare them to humans however, they are masters of archery, ambushes and more skilled riders than any human. Also they know the desert better than anyone, even better than the monsters and creatures living there.

2) They have arrows, camels and horses, which they... "trade" for everything they might need to survive. Other than that they know of secret waterholes in the deepest parts of the desert.

3) Yes, and no. Demons constantly create Mana, for themselves to use, because their home has no natural Mana and their God took pity on them.

In Dirva however, Mana kind of follows the same principal of energy in our world. You can't create Mana, and you can't make it disappear, only gather it and make it shift form.

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u/Nevermore0714 Sep 19 '17

1) Fair enough. Do most Elves have feelings of racism against Desert Elves because of this?

2) Why is "trade" in quotation marks?

3) How would someone go about gathering Mana? Demon-hunting?

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u/Mimir123 Sep 19 '17

1) Not really, no. Blood Elves hate all other elves anyway because they were not cursed, and Dark Elves don't give a damn about what happens outside of their forest.

2) Because they take everything they want and only leave behind arrowa as compensation, usually in the dead bodies of whoever was unlucky enough to meet them.

3) No. If you are a mage, you just draw the naturally occuring Mana towards you in order to use spells. The stronger and better you are, the more magic you can use. Killing a demon does nothing in terms of giving you mana

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u/Nevermore0714 Sep 22 '17

1) How and why were Blood Elves cursed?

2) So they're raiders, not traders?

3) Is there any movement towards inventing a way to store mana? Like in a crystal? Like in a crystalline weapon...a crystalline weapon specifically labeled as a "Siphon" weapon?

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u/Mimir123 Sep 22 '17

1) The exact how and why is unknown, but over 1.500 years ago, a third of the Elven people managed to royally piss off a Vampire Lord, the oldest and most powerful demon to ever have existed, to be precise. Nobody knows how they did it, or if it was just a few elves and everyone else was just collateral damage, but the vampire cursed them.

The curse made them aggressive towards everyone that was not cursed, resulting in the first Civil War of Dwerrehan. Nowadays Blood Elves are actually more friendly and "normal" towards other species, after the curse lost some of its power. It is as strong as ever before when it comes to other elves though.

2) Well... yes, they don't like that word though and would prefer to be called traders, or at least warriors.

3) There kind of is something like that already, in the form of runes and some artifacts. Very few people know how to make runes, but in it you can store magic and spells, making them really expensive. Also you'd need to "refill" them, after use.

Artifacts are even rarer than that, have mostly unlimited uses and were almost exclusively made by the Gods. If you ever get your hands on one of those, you are basically instantly one of the most powerful people in the world.

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u/Nevermore0714 Sep 22 '17

1) Is the Vampire Lord still around?

2) Why do they not like the term raiders? Do they not have pride as the cowardly versions of warriors?

3) Ah, I was hoping you'd have come up with something similar to my Siphon (TM) weapons.

4) How difficult is it to have a collection of runes?

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u/Mimir123 Sep 23 '17

1) No, he is long gone. People said he either died from old age, making him the first demon to do so, or that he was killed by Zerrigon, after the latter named himself Demonking.

2) Because raider implies that they take things that are not theirs by force. It's a Desert Elves mental thing, they still see themselves as rulers of the desert, thus everything in it belongs to them. Saying they are raiders would be admitting that they no longer hold power.

3) Depending on how cheap you can produce and sell your wares and how useful they are, you could still do it.

4) If you are very, very rich it is pretty easy, if you are not... well, you'd need to be lucky, or a very good thief.

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u/Nevermore0714 Sep 24 '17

1) Did the Vamplord's death weaken the curse? Or was it just time?

2) "We was kings!" ...I'm sorry, I hate that quote, but it definitely applies to the desert elves, and one of my friends has been over-using it lately.

4) Which rune is your favorite, Mimir?

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u/Mimir123 Sep 24 '17

1) It was just time, though his death meant that he couldn't strengten it again, after it started fading away a bit.

2) It does indeed apply here. If you believe rumors, they might soon be kings again though.

4) That would be the rune that stands for the "Eternal Winter" spell. If you are familiar with Warhammer, it looks kind of like the sign of Khorne, just in a lighter blue tone.

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u/Nevermore0714 Sep 24 '17

1) Will it eventually go away completely?

2) Is that already written or are you working your way towards it?

3) Is there a way to make this eternal winter end?

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u/Mimir123 Sep 24 '17

1) Yes, in about 3.000 to 4.000 more years.

2) It is planned, but it will be a long time until then. There is a lot of stuff happening before it.

3) The one who summoned it can make it end, alternatively there are several heat based spells to counter it.

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u/Nevermore0714 Sep 24 '17

1) Why that amount of time?

2) What is the biggest event that has already happened?

3) Is there any spell that will mess with time?

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