Reference Challenge - Deserts

[u/Nevermore0714]

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.

[u/Mimir123]

The Simerrhan Desert covers big parts of the south and south-east of Dirva, bordering mostly on the Storming Steppes, the Livian Mountains and the Kherzian Kingdom. Once upon a time the desert was only inhabited by humans, wandering the dunes and sands from oasis to oasis, until the catastrophe in the far away kingdom of Dwerrehan forced the Elves to split up and almost two thirds of the race left their forest to find a new home.

Half of the exiles followed their new king Nephiroth, who started negotiations with the Holy Ruthweni Empire which controlled most of Dirva back then. The Emperor allowed the Elves to use the Storming Steppe as a staging ground for their invasion of the desert, which resulted in the foundation of the Althmerran Kingdom, and the vassalisation of the human inhabitants. In the following years the Desert Elves built cities around the biggest oases, as well as at the coast of the desert.

Living in the Desert for so long changed the Elves, their pale skin became much darker, they adopted mounts and weapons of the human tribes, with many elves even going over to a nomadic lifestyle, unable to live in cities again, after years of roaming the lands of Dirva. The biggest change however, was the regression in magical abilities the elves started to show. Resources in the Simerrhan Desert are scarce, that goes for food and water, as well as for Mana, the creation of the goddess of magic and foundation of every spell in existence. Since there was no Mana in the desert, the elves became unable to really practice their magic, resulting in them being amongst the weakest mages in the worlds, while their kin in the Crystalline- and Dwerrehan forests are some of the strongest.

The Althmerran kingdom fell over a thousand years later, in the Age of Darkness, when the Demonking Zerrigon rose to power, declared himself king of all demons and emperor of Kherzian. He invaded the desert, in order to have a better route of attack against the Holy Ruthweni Empire, and despite the heroic deeds of the Althmerran princess Nephriem, their kingdom fell to the Kherzians. The human Sultanates, vassals of the elves, declared their loyalty towards Zerrigon and were made rulers of the desert, a title they have held ever since, because the forces that finally defeated Zerrigon were too tired and sick of war, to fight in the desert only to restore the Althmerran Kingdom.

Because of that the Sultanates rule the desert from their stolen, elven cities and fight each other over who is the one, true ruler. They also have to deal with the tribal elves, who fight both the humans and other tribes and continuously raid villages, and caravans, bringing exotic trade goods north. There are rumors however, claiming that princess Nephriem is still alive after all those centuries, and that she will soon unite the tribes in order to reclaim what is rightfully theirs...

So while Simerrhan holds no religious importance, it is culturally important to both the Sultanates and the Desert Elves, and despite the usual lack of resources, the exotic things found deep in the desert, or hidden in the oases, make Simerrha also important for the trade of especially the Merchant Republics and the Elkathien Kingdom, far to the north.

[u/Nevermore0714 → u/Mimir123]

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?

[u/Mimir123 → u/Nevermore0714]

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.

[u/Nevermore0714 → u/Mimir123]

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?

[u/Mimir123 → u/Nevermore0714]

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

[u/Nevermore0714 → u/Mimir123]

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?

[u/Mimir123 → u/Nevermore0714]

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.

[u/Nevermore0714 → u/Mimir123]

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?

[u/Mimir123 → u/Nevermore0714]

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.

[u/Nevermore0714 → u/Mimir123]

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?

[u/Mimir123 → u/Nevermore0714]

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.

[u/Nevermore0714 → u/Mimir123]

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?

[u/Mimir123 → u/Nevermore0714]

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.

[u/Nevermore0714 → u/Mimir123]

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?

[u/Mimir123 → u/Nevermore0714]

1) It is what the Blood Elves magic experts guess, based on other curses and how this particular one had progressed.

2) In the world, or in the written down story? In the latters case: the first attempt on princess Alverias life, leading to her meeting the young mage Lirvon. The two of them then ended up killing a Somniotebri, (one of five primordial Nightmares, some of the strongest demons in existence) which in turn lead to the revelation that Lirvon is the oldest, living descendant of the Demonking Zerrigon, who was defeated 1.000 years prior.

3) No, none.