The shadowed Elwens- curalli, (coo-RAY-lee) or "lovers of darkness," in the Primal Tongue- are often considered the scum of the world, if only because the other races have tried to kill them (and failed) so many times. They are stubborn, hot-headed and cold-hearted, murdering bastards and occasional heroes. They are generally counted among the 'darkened races,' and the phrase "curalli's honor" is a joke among most other races. The land Elwens hate them especially, with all the passion of their hot hearts.
Come among them, if you will- the shadowed Elwens, the Children of the Shadows.
PHYSICAL LOOKS
Curalli are born with dark silver skin, and do not tan. However, their skin may vary in shade from as pale as starlight (though this is rare) to dark as pewter (more common). Their eyes and (especially) their hair are generally dark, though curalli with blue, golden, and green eyes are not unknown. Their hair also comes in diverse shades other than black- most often dark blue, indigo, jade-green, dusky red, or tarnished silver. Very, very rarely, it may be white; but such curalli are often considered of mixed blood. Their teeth are usually black, and do not reflect light.
Curalli stand between 5' and 5'5" generally, though taller than this is not unknown. Their build, like that of all Elwens (see Elwens) is slender, and they generally do not weigh more than gaunt humans of the same height (about 90 to 130 pounds). They are more muscular than many races of Elwens, if only because they spend so much more of their time fighting, and very little if anything of that weight will be fat. When they move, they can be compared to snakes, shadows, or cats; their muscles move "like rocks in oil," according to some observers. They generally walk very quietly.
Curalli have white blood, which flows sluggishly, congeals quickly, and does not taste good to vampiric creatures (or almost anything, for that matter), though it is still hot enough to be used as a weapon in battle. They can run about eighty miles an hour for short distances over open ground. Unless slain by accident or violence earlier (and violence is very common among them), they, like most races of Elwens, will live about ten thousand years.
EMOTIONAL MAKEUP
Curalli are generally considered among the most dangerous of Elwens, for, though their emotions are still about ten times hotter than humans', they are much less likely to attack openly than, say, land Elwens. They will often follow an enemy quietly for quite some time and learn all about his weaknesses before striking. Their most feared emotion is a cold, black rage, called by the land Elwens qencu, in which they have been capable of some of the most terrible deeds in recorded history.
Though it is dangerous to make generalizations (since there are diverse curalli cultures), one may also say that most Children of the Shadows are paranoid. Called the Children of Chaos by almost all- and they have proudly adopted the name- they fit it. Most of their cities are deadly, violent places where a moment's unwariness can mean death. Curalli even in safer places often practice this caution as a matter of pride. For example, they can often read an enemy's intentions to kill them before he even draws, and there is among many of them an adaptation in which they no longer descend to REM sleep, finding all the rest they need in the shallower waters. As the curalli themselves say, "Sleep by night, burn by morning."
Another thing that can be noted of almost all shadowed Elwens is their intense loyalty to those they call friends, whether these are of a different race or not. It was supposedly made part of them by the mamanmeia, the race-mages, long ago; but, whatever the truth of the matter, the curalli honor the bonds of love, avenge the deaths of friends, and almost never betray those they hold loyalty to. Among them, the two most terrible crimes are treason and adultery, and almost all who commit them are hunted down, ritually raped and tortured, and slaughtered.
Other emotional and psychological manifestations have been noted; but these are often confined to the curalli of one culture or another, upon investigation.
MAGICAL MAKEUP
It is a matter of course among the other races to speak of the weakness of shadowed Elwen magic; because they are so skilled in fighting with steel, and because untrained curalli have their tendons explode and their eyes bleed black ichor in the sun, it is assumed they must not have many magical abilities.
This is a lie- but it is one the curalli encourage, for the value it has in putting their enemies off guard, and for, as the land Elwens would say, the sheer delight they take in deception.
Common to all shadowed Elwens are:
The ability to endure cold. No matter where they are, curalli love the cold, and so will often pass winters where no one else would dare. Indeed, cold actually heals and refreshes them, while the summer sun drains them; they get heat stroke easily. There are few if any curalli cities in deserts.
Immunity to disease. Plagues simply go around curalli cities, and no known natural disease can affect them. This, too, was supposedly bred into them by the race-mages. Those who can hurl diseases with mind or magic may affect curalli, but even they must concentrate intently.
Clear sight in darkness. Curalli see about ten times better in the darkness than most races (including their Elwen cousins) see in light. This includes even magical darkness, such as the shade cast by midnight elms. Light does hurt their eyes, but they can learn to endure it with a few months of training, and even to go abroad by day.
Hiding in shadows. The Children of the Shadows are well-named. If they walk into a shadow, no one, not even another of their race, can see them. They may be revealed by their scent- black roses- or a noise, but if they have taken precautions against this, no one will realize they are there until they strike.
Curalli-friendship. Any curalli can make a black aura appear about an Elwen who is not himself/herself a shadowed Elwen. This aura is given in honor of a great act of friendship towards curalli, or many such deeds, and tells other Children of the Shadows not to harm the one who bears it. On the other hand, should the person so marked ever betray the curalli, the aura vanishes at once. The shadowed Elwens know this, and often take great delight in hunting down those who were once curalli-friends but are no longer.
Climbing walls. This is one of the few abilities that most enemies of the shadowed Elwens know about. Curalli can climb anything short of sheer glass, their fingers worming out the cracks in the material of the building or mountain. If dropped over a cliff, they can find a handhold in time to stop themselves from descending.
Siren song. This is a dark, enchanting song that most curalli can sing. It makes the listener stand still, contemplating the dark beauty of the world about him, and forgetting any danger. A curalli can paralyze up to ten people at once with his voice. As a side effect of this, shadowed Elwens cannot themselves be charmed by any sort of song, and the shaneeli and the like especially hate them.
Rarer abilities of the curalli are:
Bladebonding. This ability is strictly inherited, so that a curalli must have had at least one ancestor who was Bladebonded to be able to do so himself/herself. Bladebonding is the ability to affect steel- to make it crumple, strengthen it, or shatter it. A shadowed Elwen so gifted cannot be held by steel chains or bars, and any steel weapons coming at him/her will shatter or crumble to dust. Most Bladebonded dwell in the Euras Ataar, the Frigid Waste, in the city of Barak-ugh (see below).
Shadowfire. There may be some truth to the idea that the curalli are literally born of light and darkness mixed to make shadow. About 1 in 1000 can summon a greasy gray fire that seems composed of darkness and light and can destroy almost anything. It weakens them unto death to do it, but there are times a curalli will consider that a small price to pay for destroying an enemy.
Forestry magic. According to legend, the curalli made a bargain with the eluvori or forest Elwens long ago. From this Bargain, say the legends, the eluvori gained the ability to walk through the shadows of trees, and the Children of Chaos gained their forestry magic. Some of them can meld with trees, use birds as sentries (looking through their eyes), and command animals to attack. This especially infuriates the land Elwens, who consider the earth to be their special province.
ORIGINS AND MODERN SETTLEMENTS
The curalli were born on the island where Barak-ugh now stands, in the middle of the great Icaliaa Lake, in the Euras Ataar (the Frigid Waste). Their own legends say that they looked upon the black stars first, taking joy from them before they even noticed the silver ones, and thus they were born of stardark, not starlight. Other stories claim that Lafrenna, most powerful of the black stars, created them Herself, and that that is the source of their enmity towards the munthi, the land Elwens, who were created by Lafrenna's enemy, Laerfren.
The curalli migrated across the continent, though never as quickly as did their enemies. Today, major settlements include:
The Curalli Confederation. This organization of five cities (Barak-ugh, on the island in the middle of Icaliaa, and the four cities on the rivers that flow into the Lake from all four directions) and innumerable villages holds the greatest numbering of curalli in Arcadia (estimated by the land Elwens of Curalliesain at about seventy million). This is considered the ancestral home of all curalli, in the middle of the perfect environment for them. In this northern part of the Euras Ataar, the ice never melts, and a spell gone awry in the Age of Dawn insures that darkness covers the entire northern part of the province, from the Line to the Lorahela Mountains.
The Forbge Forest. A massive forest in the northern Tableland, about five thousand miles both wide and long. Curalli have lived here nearly as long as in the Frigid Waste, and it is adapted to them. Many now say the Forest has a will of its own, and protects the shadowed Elwens who live there as its children.
Turnal. A city in northern Caladariz, center of a curalli farming economy that is more or less peaceful.
Maruss. A city in southern Minamar, named after the greatest curalli hero, who broke the reign of the silverini in the Age of Life. Dedicated to peaceful study and a way of life without fighting.
Mestarall and Jestri. Cities in southern Fhevu, stubbornly enduring the efforts of almost every other race in the Wondrous Land to eradicate them.
Shadows. The oldest surviving settlement of southern curalli, and Rowan's ancient enemy. It clings to survival by the skin of its teeth.
LANGUAGES
All curalli speak Melliran tongues, descendants of the ancient Melli that was born with them on Barak-ugh, and supposedly created by Lafrenna herself. These have changed far more slowly than most other languages in Arcadia, given that the Children of the Shadows have more often fought with other races than intermingled with them; but there are many varieties, given the shadowed Elwens' tendency to segregate themselves in villages and cities. Only the most important varieties are here named.
Rirran. The modern language of the Frigid Waste, the lingua franca of the Curalli Confederation. It has "tainted" the nearby land Elwen tongue of Soramblon, according to many Tree Children who live in different places. The curalli happily ignore all such claims, and often learn the land Elwen language on purpose to annoy other land Elwens.
Melli. The curalli language that most other races think of as the sole tongue of the shadowed Elwens, common to the Forbge Forest and Shadows. Supposedly the "purest" descendant of Lafrenna's Language, it nonetheless does not have a large literature, but remains mostly in oral records. Described by land Elwen listeners as like "poisoned honey."
Alos. The speech of the curalli of Caladariz. More graceful and softer than many other shadowed Elwen languages due to the largely peaceful influence of its neighbors, this language is often used by others interested in its unique uses in poetry.
More to come, I promise.
