In the depths of Athel Loren live the isolationist Wood Elves. They care little for the outside world, regarding it with suspicious eyes, and hearts ever willing to avenge transgressions. For millennia, the Wood Elves have dwelt beneath the leaves of Athel Loren, defending their greenwood home from the perils of the world. The Wood Elves are an army of hunters, masters of the arrow and the spear. When the King of the Woods sounds his horn, longbows are strung and spears are sharpened as the hosts of Athel Loren assemble beneath ancestral banners. In the depths of the forests, enchantresses sing songs of awakening, rousing the ancient spirits of the waking wood, and begging for their aid in the battle to come. Let those who would despoil the forest beware; the Wood Elves march to war!
LORE OF ATHEL LOREN
Tree Singing: The Spellsinger calls out to the spirits of the forest, enticing them to move for the Spellsinger's benefit. This spell can cause a large group of trees (perhaps even a whole forest if enough Spellsingers work together) to uproot and move in the direction the mage indicates. Friendly units can be moved with them, holding onto the bark and limbs. Enemy units that are in the woods take damage as the trees run over them. The trees will stop if they come within a few feet of another type of terrain (such as large rocks, a lake, or a mountain). They will also stop a foot away from an enemy. Has a range of 300 meters, but can be upgraded to 1 Kilometer
Fury of the Forest: Tapping into the ancient anger of the trees, the Mage lets them vent their ancient hatred on unfortunate enemies. Enemies struck by this spell will have roots pop out of the ground to try and impale them. If they are within close proximity to a forest, they'll have to deal with that, and tree limbs trying to smack the crap out of them. Has a range of 200 meters.
The Hidden Path: Thanks to their connection with the forest, Spellsingers and other practitioners of Athel Loren's magic have seen the unseen paths of the forest. With this spell, friendly units can walk the path of the spirits. Targets a single friendly unit within 300 meters and makes them ethereal until they engage in combat.
The Twilight Host: The mage imbues his forces with the spirits of warriors long past and wailing forest wraiths, causing all who look at them to recoil in horror. Basically, it makes a friendly unit at 300 meters (or multiple units at 200 meters) cause Fear or Terror in those that look at them. The enemy will either muster their willpower or flee.
Ariel's Blessing: Calling upon the power of the Mage Queen, the Spellsinger grants a unit a portion of her majestic power to heal them of their most grievous injuries. A single unit within 300 meters gains the power of regeneration.
Call of the Hunt: The Wood Elves are filled with the spirit of the Wild Hunt, their limbs flowing with magical energy, they charge down their enemy and slaughter them like the prey they are! Allows a single unit at 300 (or multiple with more effort) to magically charge into combat with the closest unit the effected can see, and then increases their physical strength once they engage in combat.
LORE OF HIGH MAGIC:
Qhaysh, sometimes known as High Magic or Saphery is magic that combines separate strands of the eight Winds of Magic and refines them further into a more advanced and pure form. By doing so, High Magic spellcasters are able to form spells of incredible power and complexity. The greatest High Magic spells ever cast have literally shifted continents and destroyed whole armies at a time. The elite High Elf Archmages are renowned for the use of this powerful form of magic, which they tend to associate closely with their gods. The Slann Mage-Priests of the Lizardmen first taught the Elves how to wield magic and are also capable of casting High Magic spells.
Humans are not capable of learning the practice of Qhaysh, as the human mind is incapable of comprehending the vast complexities of all eight Winds of Magic when they interact as a whole. They are restricted to learning only the comparative basics of each separate Lore of Magic.
Drain Magic: The wizard conjures a vortex of anti-magic to calm the battlefield. Any unit this is successfully cast on within 100 meters has the effects of another spell erased. If cast on friendly units, it removes any kind of hex or curse that was plaguing them. If it targets enemy units, it removes any kind of magical buffs or augments they were using.
Soul Quench: White light burst forth, banishing the spirits of those it touches. Essentially a mix of light and death magic, this is a magic missile attack with a range of 100 meters.
Apotheosis: Waves of pure magic infuse the wizard's ally. Any single character or special unit within 100 meters regenerates damage, and causes fear in enemies who see it due to it being imbued with magic.
Hand of Glory: With a simple sign, the Mage grants his allies the might of old. Allies who have this cast on them find their weapon skill, strength, or speed increased. A more powerful version of this spell increases all of those characteristics, but is twice as hard to cast. It is a low level spell, and even the enhanced version is easier to cast than some of the spells below. Has a range of 25 meters, but the more advanced version is 50.
Walk Between Worlds: This spell turns targeted allies within 300 meters into ethereal units that instantly teleport up to 40 meters from their starting location. With increased effort, this can be boosted to move those units up to 200 meters from their starting location. Wood elves are known to use this spell when they travel to other lands, turning the entire envoy into ethereal units that pass through towns and other obstacles unimpeded. They can keep this spell going for days on end, but typically don’t attack.
Tempest: This direct damage spell summons a 20 meter storm that throws foes about and makes it extremely hard for them to make shooting attacks. Has a range of 300 meters.
Arcane Unforgiving: The Magic of unmaking flies from outstretched hands. This direct damage spell targets any unit or character with a range of 300 meters. This spell ignores armor, and has a 5/6 chance of breaking an enemy characters enchanted weapons or other magic items.
Fiery Convocation: With single secret word, fire rages and flesh burns. The Fiery Convocation summons a massive living storm of flame with a range of 300 meters that continues to burn the enemy until an opposing wizard dispels it. This living flame spreads particularly fast, even on substances that typically aren’t flammable.
LORE OF DARK MAGIC
Dark magic, or Dhar, is the form of magic that draws power directly from the primal energies that flow into the world from the Realm of Chaos. Because spells cast using dark magic use multiple strands of the raw, unrefined Winds of Magic, they tend to have very powerful effects. In addition, because dark magic involves "crushing" and "mashing" the winds of magic into unstable combinations, forcefully bending them to the caster's will, these spells can be extremely destructive and tend to be associated with wildly unpredictable side-effects (mutations, insanity, etc). Spellcasters working with Dhar must possess supreme strength of mind and an almost megalomaniacal confidence in their ability to control the forces they seek to command.
Power of Darkness: The caster draws unstable power from the Realm of Chaos to empower their spells as well as their minions. This is an augment spell that grants the wizard and magic users close to them increased strength, and can increase the strength of their spellcasting. However, if they draw on to much power, they'll end up hurting themselves.
Doombolt: The caster hurls a bolt of blazing black fire at his foe. Has a range of 300 meters, but can be upgraded to 1 kilometer with more effort.
Chillwind: The wizard assails the enemy with a freezing gale. Has a range of up to a kilometer. Those effected by it suffer their attempts to shoot missile weapons or hold onto their weapons as they fight through the freezing cold. It is possible for some weaker or injured units to freeze to death. This chill lasts until the wizard casts another spell.
Word of Pain: As the caster utters a forbidden name, the enemy find their limbs wracked with crippling pain. A hex with a range of 1 kilometer, the target suffers incredible pain, unable to properly swing or fire their weapon until the caster uses another spell. The wizard can choose to cast a more powerful version of this spell that saps the victims strength and willpower (to the point of death, but not actually kill them), though this takes more effort.
Bladewind: A clutch of hungry swords sweep across the battlefield. Effects every unit in front of the caster up to 1 kilometer away. As the swords pass over the targeted, they'll either need to be skilled enough to fight off their attack, or else the victims will find these swords can pierce any armor.
Shroud of Despair: At the caster's command, light is driven from the battlefield and numbing darkness rushes to fill the void. Targets all enemies within 200 meters until the caster uses magic again. This spell rapidly drains the morale of everyone inside the void, making them willing to flee, give up the battleline, and draining commanders of any inspiring presence they might have.
Soul Stealer: Tendrils of pure, solidified darkness writhe out from the wizard's outstretched hands, draining the life from their hapless enemies to renew their own vigor. The wizard picks a set of targets 300 meters from them, and all the enemies within a small area will suffer damage. For each one effected, there is a 50% chance that the health stolen will be transferred back to the caster. The wizard can choose to extend the range of the spell to the whole battlefield, but this is a much harder spell to cast.
Arnzipal's Black Horror: The caster tears down the walls between realities, and a black cloud of roiling energy sweeps across the battlefield. As the darkness travels, slimy tentacles lash out from its depths, dragging unfortunate victims screaming to an unknown fate. The wizard summons a small magical vortex and can send it off in a direction, the speed it moves determined by the magical power put into it upon casting. Any unit touched by it or passed over by it must resist being pulled in by the tentacles or be slain out right (this is determined by the strength of the unit). If the spell is miscast, the vortex could be summoned near (or right on top of) the caster. This will cause the vortex to move in random direction, until it eventually collapses in on itself. A particularly brave wizard might infuse the spell with even more power, creating a large vortex instead of a small one, though this is much harder.
RECON
Wood Elves are masters of stealth, able to move quickly and silently without ever being seen by the enemy. They have several spells that can make them intangible beings, allowing them to move great distances as little more than phantoms. They can use magic to communicate with trees and nature, and learn about their foe or the surrounding area that way. They are very isolationist by nature, and are unlikely to seek out third parties for diplomacy unless it would highly benefit them in some way.
PRIMARY:
Mobility: 5
Training: 4
Max Range: Melee
Preferred Range: ^^
Dryads are spiteful creatures with hearts akin to shards of ice. In the soul of a Dryad, there is neither room nor regard for compassion or mercy, merely an uncompromising dedication to Athel Loren that makes even the most heartfelt vows of Elf or Man seem trivial by comparison. To harm the forest is to invoke a deadly and unyielding vengeance that ends only when the transgressor's body has been ruined and broken.
When Athel Loren takes the field of battle, the Dryads assume their war aspect and hunt upon the flanks of the army. Their lithe and swift nature allows them to convey great distance at speed, falling with ease upon a foe who, until moments before, thought themselves entirely safe from harm. Indeed, a surprise attack by hissing and darting Dryads is oftentimes the first tangible warning an enemy army has that Athel Loren marches against it. That, or their general disappearing from camp in the still watches of the night, only to be found shredded and lifeless in a nearby glade at dawn the next day. Dryads are not known for their mercy.
Offensive: In their war-aspect form a Dryad's fingers become vicious talons and bark-spikes erupt from their skin. As a forest spirit, all its attacks are magical
Defense: Agility, above average durability, however fire attacks are super-effective against them.
Special: Shape-Shifting & Allure: Dryads are able to change their forms and often mimic the appearance of the elves. On such occasions, they appear as unearthly, lithe and beautiful maidens - albeit with a greenish hue to their skin and twigs in their long, cascading hair. It is in this form that the Dryads walk the bounds of Athel Loren. Those who gaze on the creature are often captivated by the vision of beauty before them. Before long, the victim is sufficiently addled that he will do anything that the spirit desires, and so is swiftly enticed into the shadowy depths of the forest.
Special: Variant: Branchwraith
Branchwraiths are the oldest of the Dryads. They have ever served as the handmaidens to the Ancients of Athel Loren, and attend to the Treemen with a dedication bordering upon the fanatical. Yet before the coming of the elves, the Branchwraiths were so much more. In those days, it was they who ruled the forest and they who tamed the Winds of Magic to bring sustenance to bough and branch. Thus do few Branchwraiths think kindly of the Elves, and many hate them - it matters not that Durthu brought the Elves into the forest precisely because he knew that the Branchwraiths' cruel nature would lead Athel Loren to great evil. Now the Branchwraiths watch and wait for the seasons to shift once again. One day soon, the believe, the usurpers will be cast down from their lofty perches and the natural order restored. Until that time, they fight for the forest, venting their ancient hatred against those foolish enough to threaten Athel Loren. More experienced and crafty then younger Dryads, Branchwraiths are quite powerful and inventive, both in melee combat and in the use of magic.
Branchwraiths can shift their body to have claws and teeth, or cover their form in razor sharp spikes. They are also minor wizards in the Lore of Life or Athel Loren.
Additional Factors:
-Dryads have a hatred for all things that damage or even offer insult to their forest. Even elves need to be careful around them.
-Forest Spirit: All of this unit's attacks, whatever the type (CQC, Shooting, etc) count as magical. It has a moderate defense against magic naturally, and is immune to all attempts at psychological warfare.
-Forest Stalker: This unit is a master at moving, ambushing, and fighting in forested areas.
Mobility: 5
Training: 4
Max Range: Longbow
Preferred Range: ^^
When the need arises, every Asrai can answer the call to defend the forest of their homeland. All Wood Elves are taught the skill of archery once they are old enough to wield a bow. Once a Wood Elf comes of age, he or she is inducted into their household's Glade Guard and is given the responsibility of patrolling a section of the forest. It is the Glade Guard that first respond to intruders in the forest, swiftly killing the unwelcome before they know of the danger.
Offense: The Longbow is the common weapon, and perhaps the one elves are best known for overall. They are expert shots, able to fire off several arrows while on the move, picking off the enemy line before the forces even meet. Once they get into melee combat, they utilize the longsword forged from from Bretonnian iron. Their agility and speed allows them to weave around the oppositions' defense and cut them to ribbons.
Defense: Light Armor, Agility, Distance (when firing), and camouflage (when fighting the woods, great for ambushes, more common with the Deepwood Scouts (see below).
Special: Asrai Longbow: To carry one of the famed longbows of Athel Loren is to possess the finest weapon a hunter could possibly wield. If the eye is true, there is no quarry such a weapon cannot slay. A Glade Guard must have proven himself truly worthy in battle to have earned one of these.
Special: Enchanted Arrows: In place of the standard arrows, some elves will use these magical ones instead. These arrows include:
-Arcane Bodkins: Armor is of no protection against these enchanted arrows.
-Hagbane Tips: These arrows are tipped with the tainted shards known in Athel Loren as 'the Callach's Claws'. They are as deadly as their namesake's touch - even a scratch can prove fatal if the venom settles in a target's blood. They also have limited armor piercing capabilities.
-Moonfire Shot: Blessed under the light of a tainted moon, these arrows bring searing agony to creatures of noble heart. They have limited armor piercing capabilities, and burst into flame on contact. Against creatures aligned with the Forces of Order, they do additional damage.
-Starfire Shafts: The starwood tree is anathema to all things unclean; no truer weapon can there be against corruption than arrows fashioned from its boughs. They work like the Moonfire Shot, but are more effective against those aligned with the Forces of Destruction.
Swiftshiver Shards: These arrows are crafted from a wood so light and strong that they seem to fly from the ow of their own accord. These arrows fly much farther then all other arrows.
Trueflight Arrows: There is a rudimentary sentience buried deep within these arrows, an awareness that causes them to seek the target unbidden. This allows them to make minor corrections mid-flight in order to hit a target.
Special: Variant: Deepwood Scouts: Deepwood Scouts patrol the darker, more dangerous sections of the forest deemed too risky for other Glade Guards to enter. A Deepwood Scout must mask his sight, scent and even his soul from potentially otherworldly predators. Scouts are masters of ambushes, training well in the arts of stealth and concealment and can follow an enemy force for days before appearing just after the battle lines meet to cause confusion in the ranks.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
-Glade Guard fight in a manner that seems uncoordinated to other races. While all soldiers are expected to follow the broad orders of their general, each group is expected to take the initiative when the opportunity arises rather than wait for a command. The end result is a line of battle that undulates out and back in over itself while a rain of arrows pours into the enemy.
LINE BREAKERS:
Mobility: 6
Training: 6
Max Range: Several Meters
Preferred Range: Melee
Wardancers roam Athel Loren in tightly knit troupes, treading paths and secret ways that few others know or dare use. Other Wood Elves regard the Wardancers as wild and unpredictable, and not without cause, for they are the servants and worshipers of the Elven trickster god, Loec. The Wardancers lead the Elves in music and rejoicing, and perform the intricate dance rituals that re-enact the history of Athel Loren, a form of storytelling more important to the Wood Elves than the more conventional method of writing.
To a Wardancer, even other Elves appear to be moving painfully slowly, for every move made by one of the kin of Loec flows into the next, and thence the next one after that without conscious thought or guidance. Forgoing armor, the Wardancers decorate themselves with swirling designs and dye their hair in bright colors, taking on the roles of mythical figures and ferocious warriors, their form of movement, and even their fighting style, paying homage to the one who inspires their dance.
Wardancers are sublime warriors, made even more deadly through their war dances. For these, the favored rituals of the Trickster God, no rhythm is called nor are orders issued. Instead, the dancers instinctively enact a pattern of lethal movements, complementing the dances performed by the rest of the troupe. Each Wardancer leaps and pirouettes through the enemy ranks to music only she hears, gracefully evading her opponent's clumsy blows and ending his life with impossibly swift strike of her own.
Offense: Short Swords or Asrai Spear: The spears of the Wood Elves are almost impossibly sharp. The blades, shaped and sharpened upon enchanted whetstones, slide between the links of chainmail as easily as they do the ribs. They can easily pierce armor.
Defense: Agility
Special: Variant: Shadowdancers: Shadowdancers are the closet thing that the Trickster God has to a priesthood, and they are both respected and feared as a result. They, and only they, know all the paths through Athel Loren - indeed, it is said that they tread the paths of the Dreaming Wood as surely as they do the mortal world. In battle, Shadowdancers are even more dazzlingly swift than other Wardancers. At other times they are less flamboyant, preferring to confound others with deceptions of the mind rather than swiftness of body. Indeed, many Shadowdancers can create illusions, which they inevitably use to further distract their foes or mete out a much-needed dose of humility to Elves or spirits that have forgotten their station.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
Mobility: 2
Training: 5
Max Range: Melee
Preferred Range: Melee
A Tree Kin is a mighty brute, an animated hulk of deadwood formed into a twisted and monstrous parody of an Elf. It does not fight with finesse, but with gnarled fists that batter armor apart and pummel flesh to bloody ruin. The Tree Kin is implacable, fearing neither pain nor death, for its body no longer has the ability to feel sensation and the spirit that drives it is already long dead.
At the heart of every Tree Kin resides the soul of a dead Elf, though this is not the fate of all. Only the strongest and most driven souls retain enough individuality to become such a creature. Most, eager to renounce the identity and struggles that shaped their mortal lives, pass into the Weave of the forest. However, those souls that become Tree Kin are unable to completely abandon their grip on their former lives, and they forge themselves a new body out of dead timber so that they might continue to defend in death that which they loved in life.
Offense: Their whole body is a weapon made from densest wood. They can punch, kick, or do whatever it takes to hurt their enemies.
Defense: Magically Animated Timber, they feel no pain and they know no fear, their body must be totally destroyed to stop them. However, they are flammable.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Spirit: See Dryads
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
-Tree Kin seldom recognize those they knew in their former lives. So much of memory is based in their physical senses, and thus lost alongside the physical form. As a result, those few flashes and fragments that remain to a Tree Kin are more confusing then informative.
-Utterly fearless and implacable. Nothing will halt a Tree Kin in battle other then victory or total destruction.
-Tree Kin rarely speak, though they are capable of doing so. When roused to communicate, the creatures do so in slow, hollow tones, as if the thought driving the words comes from somewhere far distant. However, they understand instructions well enough.
-When not fighting, Tree Kin usually spend their time standing vigil over some place that was important to them in life, defending it from all intruders (real or perceived). Of course, most don't remember the significance of the place they guard. If this lack of context or garbled memory saddens the Tree Kin, it never speaks of it.
RAPID RELIEF:
Mobility: 6
Training: 6
Max Range: Bow
Preferred Range: Bow
The Glade Riders are perhaps the greatest horse-warriors of the world, their Elven reflexes allowing them to perform an incredible variety of seemingly reckless acts that are far beyond the abilities of the lesser races. Whether firing backwards while riding full pelt through deep woods, or darting through the ranks of surprised enemy outriders, Glade Riders routinely survive their escapades unscathed through a formidable combination of graceful skill and unflappable confidence.
Unlike most cavalrymen, Glade Riders do not view their horses as property or subservient beasts. Instead, over a period that can last many years, a deep connection is a formed between rider and steed. This bond goes beyond friendship and beyond family, so that horse and rider act as one being, communicating on a level that is impossible for an onlooker to detect. Where another would have to command his steed upon the path he needs it to follow, it is as though the Glade Rider need only think the command the horse responds.
Offensive: Bows & Arrows are their bread and butter, with long swords for when they get up close. Their horses can stamp men to death with their hooves, and if they're a unicorn, stab them with their horns.
Defense: Agility and speed is how they get through most battles, though they do have chainmail. If they have a Unicorn mount, the creature's magical aura will weaken all but the most powerful spells.
Special: Asrai Longbow & Enchanted Arrows
Special: Blackbriar Javelin: Crafted from the bough of bitter and malevolent trees, these javelins are lethal to all blooded life. They can pierce armor and are highly poisonous.
Special: Mount: Unicorn: The Unicorn is an innately magical creature, but its selfish nature means that it tends to feel no kinship with creatures that were summoned or crafted through sorcerous means, despite their common origins. If anything, it pities such beings for their misfortune at having been created as anything other than a unicorn.
Unicorn ivory is a much sought after prize in certain corners of Bretonnian society, and many a gallant knight has met his end pursuing a Unicorn deep into Athel Loren. Just as the brave warrior thinks he has cornered his prize, the creature disappears without warning, conveniently within a few paces of a swarm of vengeful sprites or vigilant Waywatchers.
Curiously, Unicorns are drawn to female mages as moths to a flame, and find the taste of magic intoxicating. Most Spellsingers find this an acceptable situation as a tame (or at least willing) Unicorn makes for an excellent steed. Furthermore, the beast's nature protects its rider against hostile magic, with a devastating spell often resulting in little more than a slightly inebriated and emboldened steed.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
-When their steeds are not needed for battle, Glade Riders pasture them deep within Athel Loren. This is not because they fear that their horses will stray but is done for the protection of their steeds. Only a very few determined and lucky horse thief could find his way so deep into Athel Loren safely, and few have ever made it back out again. Those rare outsiders who catch a glimpse of a Wood Elf steed at play often refuse to believe that it is truly a mortal creature, assuming instead that some strange fey beast has crossed their path. In truth, there is little more magical about the steeds of Athel Loren than any other inhabitant of the wood, merely the boundless joy of a creature born into freedom, rather than bondage.
Mobility: 6
Training: 6
Max Range: Bow
Preferred Range: Bow
Many large birds of prey live in Athel Loren, especially where it covers the foothills, ravines, and crags of the Grey Mountains. These hawks and shrikes grow to far grander proportions than similar species found elsewhere in the world, though why this should be remains a mystery. Some scholars speculate that such birds were once a common sight across many lands but have long since been hunted into extinction elsewhere, while others claim they have been changed by magic. Wherever the truth lies, the hawks of the Grey Mountains commonly grow to such a vast size that their wingspans that can average fifteen to twenty feet.
Though most Elves live beneath the protective shade of Athel Loren, there are those who crave the more sparely forested uplands of the Grey Mountains, and so a strange kinship has developed between the two races. Upon the middle slopes of the mountains, Elven halls are fashioned close about the great rocky spires upon which the hawks make their nests, eyries adorned with the sun-bleached bones of those who have dared intrude upon their territory.
A fledgling hawk raised by an Elf develops a powerful bond with its master, and will even bear him into battle. As time passes, rider and hawk become almost one creature, existing for the call of the hunt and thrill of the chase alone. These Warhawk Riders scout their territory for invaders, and are skillful enough to guide their steed down through the trees to strike at intruders. Those who ride the Warhawks display phenomenal agility and balance, able to launch volleys of arrows while their mount flits and darts through the forest at sped. In this way, an intruder who strays into the Pine Crags and other mountainous realms faces not only the fury of the hawks, but also that of the Elves - as several Dwarf expeditions have found to their cost.
Offense: The Rider has arrows, the Hawk has large talons.
Defense: Flight & Distance
Special: Asrai Longbow & Enchanted Arrows
Special: Blackbriar Javelin
Special: Mount: Warhawks: See Description
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
Mobility: 6
Training: 6
Max Range: Bow
Preferred Range: Melee
The Wild Riders are Orion's personal guard, each as aggressive and impulsive as he. They are fey and dangerous creatures who are no longer truly the Elves they once were. Now and forever more they are part of the Wild Hunt's eternal glory.
Only the bravest or most foolhardy individuals remain abroad when the horns of the Wild Riders are heard upon the breeze, for their otherworldly tone invoke fear of the prey in all who hear them. Such an instinct is well-founded, for there is no mercy to be had from the Wild Riders once the hunt has begun. Those unlucky enough to be caught in their path are ridden down without mercy, their deaths a sacrifice to the timeless splendor of the King of the Woods.
Offense: Bows and spears. Unlike other elves, their weapons appear as they did in the ancient days of the elves, using crude iron or even flint!
Defense: Ceremonial robes thrown over pelts of animals slain during their sacred hunts.
Special: Mount: Great Stags: No beast in all Athel Loren is treasured more than the Great Stag, a creature that the Wood Elves revere as representing the true soul of the forest. Wherever the truth of nature lies, the Great Stag are unquestionably magical creatures, though they are undoubtedly of a nobler cast than unicorns. Great Stags only ever seem to appear at portentous times, most often to serve as war-steeds for particularly bold and noble elves. On occasion, a Great Stag will appear at a time of great celebration and feasting, and there the Wood Elves believe there is no surer sign of the forest's blessing.
As the Great Stag is blessed by the forest, all its attacks are magical in nature.
Special: Hunting Horn: Though their make varies (some are carved from the bark of sacred trees, other are made from antler or bone) these horns are used both to signal other Wild Riders, and to strike a deep instinctual fear in their opponents.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
-Throughout the winter months, while Orion's spirit is dormant, the Wild Riders watch over the King's Glade with eyes aglow, unspeaking save to challenge those who have intruded upon the most sacred of groves.
-The authority of the Wild Riders is absolute, for in accepting the honor of becoming a Wild Rider, they have become severed from Wood Elf society in all ways save that of service to their king. Indeed, so alien are the Wild Riders to other Elves that few of their former kinsmen even dare speak with them, let alone challenge their deeds.
-Infrequently encountered as the Great Stags are, to see the White Hart of Athel Loren, a mighty stag of unsurpassed nobility and grace, is rarer still. Only one of those noble animals is ever sighted at one time, and it is a common belief among the Wood Elves that there has only ever been one - that it is an immortal facet of the forest that neither grows old nor dies.
Mobility: 6
Training: 6
Max Range: Battlefield
Preferred Range: Javelin
The Sisters of the Thorn are Ariel's handmaidens. In many ways, they are equal and opposite to the Wild Riders of Kurnous, a sisterhood pledged to sorcery and subtly where Orion's equerries know loyalty only to the glory of the hunt. Where Wild Riders are borne into battle on steeds as reckless as they, the Sisters ride upon Steeds of Isha - mounts whose viciousness lies hidden beneath a graceful aspect.
Just like their mistress, the Sisters of the Thorn are eternal; they seem never to age and succumb to injury only briefly. Should one be slain, her siblings place her body upon a bier of root and ivy, and bear it away to the hallowed halls beneath the Oak of Ages. There she slumbers away the weeks and months until the arrival of a new spring, where the riot of magic and life-energy restores her to vibrant existence. Only if her body is irretrievable or mutilated beyond all recognition does the fallen Sister's spirit flee the mortal world, leaving her bereaved siblings to exact vengeance on her slayer.
And the Sisters of the Thorn can bring death in so many ways. They know all the poisons of branch and brier - not just those that cause a man's bones to snap with his own desperate convulsions, but also the venoms that can turn the blood to fire, bring intoxicating madness or cause the body to rot from within. So too are they versed in ancient curses, of words that can sap strength or cause their victim to fly into a rage so consuming that he slaughters his own kin without compunction. But such methods, though effective, are impersonal and provide little sport. The Sisters far prefer to kill with javelin or knife where they can, that they might see the fear fade from their victim's dying eyes.
Offense: Javelins (usually Blackbriar) and Knives, both likely to be covered with a deadly poisoned. They are moderately powerful mages in the lore of Life. Some also know 'Word of Pain' from the Lore of Dark Magic.
Defense: Light Armor, and if killed, so long as the body isn't lost or destroyed, they can be brought back to life. They have a moderate resistance to magic.
Special: Mount: Steeds of Isha: See Stags, but typically female (So Does) and more subtle in its viciousness, much like their riders are more subtle then the Wild Riders.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
-Magic Always Comes At a Price! : Though Orion's Wild Riders are respected, but not especially well-liked, the Sisters of the Thorn are both loved and feared by almost all Wood Elves. Loved, because they respond readily to requests for aid, feared because the price they exact for assistance is often more than the supplicant is willing to pay. They may imbue young warriors with peerless battle-skill, but in exchange steal all kindness from their soul. They might answer the pleas of an Elf-maid forlorn in love, then years later steal away her first-born child. It is even within the Sister's power to stave off death's hand, but they will only do so if a life is offered in exchange, and the petitioner is seldom permitted to choose the victim. In other lands, the Sisters of the Thorn would be driven into the darkness or burnt at the stake, but in Athel Loren, they understand that there must be a balance for everything, and that those who deal with the sisters must be prepared for consequences.
SHOCK & AWE:
Mobility: 7
Training: 8-9
Max Range: Hundreds of Feet
Preferred Range: ^^
At first thought, it seems incredible that a creature as vast as a dragon could make its home in the dense forests of Athel Loren. Yet, in the deepest recesses of the Chasm Glades, there lurks a distinct race of great sky wyrms who long ago adapted to life within the greenwood. Protected by the forest canopy and shielded from the attentions of young heroes seeking to make names for themselves by the sheer rock faces of the chasms, these Forest Dragons thrived and multiplied. Such providence has proven itself a stark contrast to other places in the Old World, where Dragons and their kin have long since been either slain or driven into the mountains.
Nothing dwells for long in Athel Loren without being changed, and the Forest Dragons are no exception. Like certain groups of Wood Elves, the Dragons have slowly become an extension of the forest's will to survive and prosper. Though still voracious predators, the Dragons hunt only when the forest has need of them, resting in a state of hibernation for the remainder of the time. Should there be an intrusion by creatures too mighty for Athel Loren's spirits, the forest will occasionally goad one or more Forest Dragons to wakefulness in order to counter the threat. More often, the Elves will themselves petition the aid of a Dragon to serve as a steed for a Glade Lord - a request to which the beast cedes with reasonable grace, provided it wasn't disturbed from a particularly fascinating dream. Over time, a Glade Lord might form a strong bond with a particular Forest Dragon, the two becoming friends, more than mere allies at need.
Offense: Claws, a sweeping tail, teeth… the Dragon could crush you by landing on you or stepping on you. It also has Soporific breath: Those who breathe this cloying emerald vapor collapse into a stupefied daze, their will to fight or flee utterly spent.
Defense: Very Thick Scales, Flight
Additional Factors:
-Forest Spirit: See Dryads
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
-Despite their monstrous appearance, they are actually very intelligent, and maintain a keen-interest in events that occur far beyond the boundaries of Athel Loren. They are particularly voracious for tidings that relate to their long months of slumber. In part, this hunger is fed by the Elves who petition them for aid, but the Dragons do not necessarily consider the Elves to be wholly unbiased observers and often seek out others to provide counterpoint. Indeed, it is not unknown for a Dragon to spare a suitably intriguing opponent, providing that it has the potential to expand the Dragon's knowledge. If the captive's news is sufficiently valuable or intriguing, the Dragon feels duty-bound to spare his life in exchange for the information; if not, the captive is invariably devoured on the spot for unknowingly having squandered the Dragon's precious time.
-Uncommon. While more numerous then other dragon breeds, Forest Dragons still aren't overly common. Their presence on the battlefield is more an indicator to how big Athel Loren views the threat. The bigger the threat, the more common the dragons.
Mobility: 3
Training: 8-10
Max Range: Several Meters / Battlefield
Preferred Range: Stomping
The most powerful of Athel Lorens spirits are able to entwine their essence with that of a living tree, molding it to their will. It is not a decision taken lightly, for when a spirit forms a bond with a living tree, they become irrevocably merged and cannot choose to leave - only death can sever the connection. From that moment on, the will of the spirit shapes and drives the tree, using knotted bark and gnarled branches to serve where an insubstantial spirit form cannot. Thus is a treeman born.
Treemen are revered by elf and forest-creature alike, and are often infested with lesser spirits living among their branches, roots and hollows. For their part, the treemen cherish all lesser creatures - they have a warmth of character wholly at odds with that of the dryads. These incredibly old beings have seen entire races rise and fall like the ascent and descent of the sun, and understand the passing of time in a completely different way to mortal creatures. Some remember even the time before elves walked the world, and expect to remain when the elves walk no more.
A treeman can be counted among the mightiest of Athel Lorens denizens. His gnarled form is almost impervious to harm, and his strength a near match for the dragons of the deep glades. Treemen do not fight with grace or finesse, but with huge sweeping blows that strike home with enough force to shatter stone. they can stomp their knurled feet into the ground, knocking foes to the ground, or even send writhing roots to drag foes deep underground where the tendrils can feast upon flesh and bone.
Offense: Treemen are creatures of great strength and durability. They use their fists and feet in devastating attacks that can shatter stone and surely pulp flesh. They are also able to extend their roots and branches into tendrils which wrap and impale foes. Some treemen fight with massive swords, spears, clubs and other such weapons, which are proportional to their size.
Defenses: The Treeman has a skin of thick, gnarled bark that is near impervious to damage. It is wooden though, so it is vulnerable to fire based attacks. Treemen also are host to many smaller forest spirits that nest among their branches and hollows. When their home is threatened, these spirits will sometimes swarm out to attack the offenders.
Special: Variant: Treeman Ancient: Of all the treemen of Athel Loren, there are those - old beyond mortal reckoning - whose names are revered above all others; the Treeman Ancients. When first the pact between forest and elf was formed, it was they who spoke on behalf of Athel Loren, and they were old even then. Treeman ancients seldom rouse themselves to war; they find the colors of the waking world less vibrant as they get older and so steadily retreat into the dreaming lands of sleep where their magics nurture and shape the forests growth. Thus do the treeman ancients pass through the centuries in a state of dormancy, tended by small groups of dryads. Only when dire times befall Athel Loren are they awoken from slumber, for only with their leadership can Athel Loren be roused to its full fury. Treeman ancients are slower than Treemen, but they are more resilient and have access to the Lore of life.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Spirit: See Dryads
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
-Rare: Treemen are not rare, but many of them slumber the centuries away rather than remain active. Treemen will be rare sights on the battlefield, probably about as common as dragons. Treeman ancients are exceptionally rare, and there will probably only be a score of these at best.
Mobility: 7
Training: 4
Max Range: Claws
Preferred Range: Claws
There has always been a great bond of kinship between the Elves and the Great Eagles, stretching back to ancient times. That bond remains strong between the Wood Elves and the noble avian, and many families of eagles choose to make their homes in the heights of the Grey Mountains, close by the borders of Athel Loren.
More intelligent and nobler of aspect than the smaller Warhawks that live on the lower mountain slopes, Great Eagles are creatures of unceasing vigilance, possessed of an abiding loathing for creatures of evil heart. Ever alert to the events occurring in the lands beneath them, the Great Eagles unceasingly carry news to the Elven nobles that dwell far below, giving them a welcome, and often crucial, advance warning of invasion or strife.
On rare or desperate occasions, a Great Eagle may offer itself as a mount to a particularly trusted Glade Lord. This is a great honor in the eyes of the Wood Elves, for it is a true partnership of equals. Such a union invariably forms the start of a great and enduring friendship that continues to bind both parties, even after death.
Offensive: Large talons and a massive beak can slice a man to ribbons. They can also pick a man up and lift him high into the air, before letting go and watching as gravity does its work.
Defense: Flight and agility.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
SPECIALIST SUPPORT:
Mobility: 6
Training: 7
Max Range: Melee
Preferred Range: Melee
Through the long winter months, the forest of Athel Loren is at its lowest ebb, made dormant and vulnerable by the cycle of the seasons. The Treemen slumber, and even the normally vigorous Dryads are sluggish and slow. During this time, guardianship of the most sacred of places falls to the Eternal Guard, sons and daughters of Athel Loren's noble houses.
Only skill on the field of battle can earn an honored place within the ranks of the Eternal Guard, for that duty is a difficult and dangerous one. Should the forest be assailed in the frozen months, the Eternal Guard can depend upon little or no aid from the spirits, and will be called upon to hold fast, no matter what threat comes to challenge them. Sometimes, in the bitterest weather when the shadow spirits stir from the Wildwood, the threat comes from within and not from without. Regardless of whether the foe be faerie spirit, marauding Beastmen or lost Questing Knight, the Eternal Guard stand firm before it.
Each Eternal Guard is a formidable foe in her own right, trained to a pinnacle of skill that other races cannot easily match. When assembled in numbers, they form a phalanx, their spears thrusting and cutting with a graceful yet disciplined efficiency. The Eternal Guard themselves refer to such a formation as a 'fortress of boughs'. They face the enemy with feet planted firmly upon their chosen ground, shields braced against the enemies' attacks, and the line of spears rippling as the leaf-shaped blades dart forward to kill.
Offense: Long spears, and short swords.
Defense: Light Armor and large shields
Special: Asrai Spear
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
-The Eternal Guard hold duty to their lord high above the threat of personal danger, and fight without thought to their own safety while their lord or lady has need of service. Thus have they often fought on, long into the night, steadfastly defending their charge from a terrible fate, even though their allies have cast aside their arms and fled or lie dead upon the field. Come one foe or one thousand, it matters not, the Eternal Guard does not surrender.
-Though their chief duties are tied to the winter months, the Eternal Guard are called upon to serve all year round, whether as the watchmen and arbiters of the Elven halls, or as bodyguards for the greatest of Elf nobles. Indeed, it is all but unknown for one of the great lords and ladies of Athel Loren to travel anywhere without an escort of some hundreds of Eternal Guard, and this number can rise steeply if battle is expected at the end of the journey.
-It is custom for feuds between nobles to be settled through trial by combat between representatives of each others' Eternal Guard. Combatants are chosen by the drawing of lots, making it in a lord's best interest that all Eternal Guard under his command be trained to as high a standard as possible. To be nominated to fight such a duel is the greatest honor an Eternal Guard can know as, win or lose, they knows that their deeds in the arena of blades will save the lives of thousands.
Mobility: 6-7
Training: 6-7
Max Range: Bow
Preferred Range: Ambush
Waywatchers are silent sentinels, the guardians of the paths leading into Athel Loren. They are masters of concealment, and can lie unmoving and unnoticed for days on end before sprining an ambush on a startled and unfortunate prey.
Most commonly, the way of the watcher is the natural progression for those who have trained as scouts, though more rarely, unblooded youths can feel the call of the forest coursing through their blood. Over time, an Elf may find that he is more comfortable in the forest's embrace than in the presence of his kin. He will drift further from the halls, spending more and more time in the forest, honing skills of stealth and marksmanship. Many never return from this journey, for there are corners of Athel Loren that are dangerous even to the Elves, yet those who survive are skilled beyond compare and hardened by their experiences.
Few warriors can match a Waywatcher's skill with a bow. Should they wish it, these silent stalkers can loose an unerring stream of black-shafted arrows in a heartbeat, or place a single shot precisely in the weak point of a foe's armor. Furthermore, Waywatchers are highly adept at the arts of disruption and surprise, often appearing silently next to a vulnerable enemy and vanishing as quickly before the body even hits the ground. Thus do any who enter Athel Loren run the risk of being slain without warning by the Waywatchers, cut down by unseen archers or falling prey to their cunningly constructed traps.
Offensive: Bows, which they can use with sniper like precision, and traps, which they can use to kill the enemy without them ever knowing what killed them.
Defense: Camouflage and distance.
Special: Asrai Longbow & Enchanted Arrows
Special: Variant: Waystalkers: Waystalkers' personalities have become entirely submerged by their obsession with stalking prey. They are taciturn and solitary individuals, and they may let years pass between visits to the Wood Elf halls. Waystalkers are perfectly at ease within their forest homeland and effortlessly survive by their wits and cunning in the wilds. On the rare occasions when a Waystalker returns to the halls, he stands apart from all others, for he is closer to the forest than to other Elves.
A Waystalker's marksmanship shames even that of other Waywatchers. He can pick out a single enemy from a seething mass of troops and place the one perfect shot that brings the target, lifeless, to the ground. Yet the Waystalker finds no reason to exult in the application of his skills - after all, what prey could hope to escape one who has dedicated his entire life to the hunter's art?
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
-Waywatchers are more at home in forests then they are with other elves.
-They make for great scouts, and are masters of espionage, sabotage, and ambush.
Mobility: 6
Training: 8
Max Range: Battlefield
Preferred Range: Battlefield
Elves are intrinsically magical beings. In most, this talent is too weak to be developed, presenting itself as occasional foreboding, but in truly gifted Elves, it can be shaped into a tool of great power. Such a boon is not without danger, for raw magic is a destructive thing if drawn upon unwisely. While other Elves protect themselves form such ravages through ritual, the Spellweavers and Spellsingers of Athel Loren shield themselves by joining their minds to the forest's sleeping consciousness.
As they practice a magical discipline uncluttered by the stiff-necked morality of Ulthuani Mages, and untainted by the sadism of the Naggarothi, Wood Elf mages are able to draw upon both High and Dark Magic. The former is a legacy of the ancient tutelage their High Elf ancestors received, the later a lingering aftereffect of Ariel's long years during the Season of Retribution. Despite the Mage Queen's best efforts, every generation of Wood Elves since that time has yielded a handful of magi attuned to the dangerous path of Dark Magic. Thus far, none have succumbed to the same madness that claimed Ariel all those centuries ago, but it is impossible to say what the future will bring. In the meantime, Athel Loren cannot afford to reject such a potent resource.
So it is that mages sometimes take to the field in pairs composed of one Highweaver and one Darkweaver. While the Darkweaver unleashes flesh-shredding storms of sorcery, her Highweaver counterpart employs High Magic to bolster their allies. Yet the Highweaver has another duty also. Should the Darkweaver show signs of being overcome by the sorceries she wields, the Highweaver becalms the Winds of Magic, shutting off the flow of corrupting power and thus holding the incipient madness at bay - at least, for a while…
Offense: Spellsingers can use magic from any of the Eight Basic Lores of magic. Spellweavers, on the other hand, are much more powerful, and in addition to accessing one of the Eight Basic, are able to access the Lores of Dark and High magic (not both, obviously, just one or the other). They can also use the Lore of Athel Loren
Defense: Powerful Magical Barriers. They are also blessed, and thus have a moderate magical resistance even without.
Special: Mount: Unicorn
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
-On the rare occasions that Wood Elves willingly enter into discourse with other races, it is invariable the mages who perform diplomatic duties, traveling with small entourages to courts of foreign kings. To avoid potential danger while on such journeys, the mages focus their powers into spells of protection, moving themselves and their companions beyond the physical realm. Such groups often appear translucent silhouettes and pass through physical objects without hindrance, giving rise to countless peasant's tales of ghostly travelers that stalk the lands about Athel Loren.
Mobility: 6
Training: 8-9
Max Range: Varies
Preferred Range: Varies
The lords and ladies of Athel Loren have ruled the Wood Elves for millennia. Each Highborn is required to keep his domain free from intruders and has the ultimate responsibility over the area of the forest in which his followers dwell. Most often, this is a task that is accomplished by the Highborn's Eternal Guard and Glade Guard, though in more dangerous times, he or she will entreat the spirits of the forest, or even Elves from other regions of Athel Loren, to lend aid. Though the inhabitants of Athel Loren are as proud as any of the Elven races, they never allow their own hubris to endanger their home land. The defense of Athel Loren is the one calling that is held above all others.
When Athel Loren goes to war, the nobles direct the efforts of its armies, often commanding a varied yet lethal assortments of Elves and forest spirits. In the summer months, when the forest is strong enough to defend itself against most threats, many are caught up in Orion's great hunt. Even so, there are always a handful of able war-leaders who remain within the borders of the wood, ready to defend their home to their dying breath.
Offense: Any weapon they want, with a high chance for a magical one.
Defense: Any armor they want, with a high chance for magical armor. They are always protected by scores Eternal Guards.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
-The culture of the hunt is strong in Athel Loren and finds its way onto the battlefield even during the times of Orion's slumber. It is traditional for the Wood Elves not to launch themselves into battle until their leader, or one of his captains has loosed a shot at the heart of the enemy leader. This duty is allocated before the battle begins, and the firer is granted the honorary title of 'Talon of Kurnous'. Seldom does the Talon's arrow kill the target, but such is not the intent. Rather it is a reminder of mortality for the foe, and a final entreaty to the Hunter God for his blessings in the battle to come.
-Should a Highborn fail in his responsibility to the forest, it is not unheard of for him to cede his position. Leaving his great hall, he departs the safe paths of the forest and travels to where the dark pathways twist in upon themselves and malicious spirits dark between the trees. There, the noble seeks atonement and forgiveness from the spirit of Athel Loren. Some are not seen again save in dreams and memories. Others return, within a few hours of their departure, unnaturally aged, as though many decades had passed. A very few return after many years, reinvigorated and filled with purpose by their communion with the forest.
-Unlike the Elves of Ulthuan, and indeed much of the known world, the Wood Elves make no distinction between male and female when it comes to rank and duty, whether those responsibilities find their calling in war or peace. In the noble houses of Athel Loren, the daughter is as likely to inherit the family title and rank as the son. Even so, not all Highborn are equal. Each of the twelve realms of Athel Loren is ruled by a lord or lady of impeccable standing. Answerable to each of these are countless sons and daughters of noble houses ever seeking to improve their own situation. Though Wood Elves commonly inherit rank according to the station of their birth, it is not unknown for a particularly valorous individual to be elevated to higher authority.
Mobility: 6
Training: 7-8
Max Range: Bow
Preferred Range: Melee
Athel Loren is not a safe place, even for the Elves. Even now, thousands of years on from the first great council, there are those forest spirits who resent the Elves' presence, and visit upon them whatever cruelties are in their power. Banished to the sinister south-eastern corner of Athel Loren, known as the Wildwood, these dark spirits rail against the waystone fence that confines them, and dream darkly of revenge on those who have occupied their home.
The task of guarding the border between this shadowy prison and the rest of Athel Loren falls to the Wildwood Rangers. Theirs is an existence thoroughly at odds with the gaiety and splendor known by other Wood Elves, for just as the creatures of the Wildwood do not rest, nor can those who have sworn to keep them trammeled. The waystone fence is ever under attack, and it suffers disruption more often than any care to contemplate. Any breach, however small, brings with it the risk of carnage as the dark spirits slip loose from their bonds and wreak all manner of havoc in the forest beyond. The Rangers converge on such breaches within moments of their formation, holding back the tide dark spirits long enough for Spellweavers to make the waystone barriers whole again. Thus must the Rangers be ever-vigilant, so that their kinsfolk need not live in fear.
Few take up the Ranger's glaive without having suffered tragedy at the hands of the Wildwood's denizens. Mast have lost a loved one to a changeling; others have experienced firsthand the destruction caused by the rampage of an insane Treeman. A few, very few, are purposefully recruited by other Rangers. There is honor in such an invitation, but pride is tempered by foreknowledge of the sacrifices that will be required. Once the Ranger's path has been trodden, it is not easily set aside.
Offense: The Glaive is the primary weapon of the Rangers, but they also use the Bow.
Defense: Cloaks, light armor, and camouflage.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
-Rangers do not triumph through physical prowess alone, but through a steadiness of will that other Elves find intimidating. Many of the Wildwood's spirits are horrifying beyond measure, able to drive reason from an unsettled soul with but a glance. Others cloak themselves in glamour and appear in comely and seductive forms no less dangerous. For a Ranger to survive, he must therefore harden his soul to all emotion. Not all are successful.
-Though not answerable to any of Athel Loren's lords or ladies, bands of Rangers will sometimes join a campaigning army. Here, a resolve hardened against the denizens of the Wildwood finds bloody employment against monsters possessed of vast and terrifying power. Always, the Rangers meet such foes with stoicism, hacking apart Minotaur and Dragon, Vampire and Daemon with calm and discipline that few Elves, though they be valorous souls by nature, can hope to match. Wildwood Rangers do not join such battles out of a desire for glory, or even to show common cause with their kin; they are driven by a far deeper purpose. Many dark spirits are shapeshifters or changelings. Most such creatures are driven by simple instinct and use their gifts only to imitate those they have murdered. A few, however, have the wit to inveigle themselves into the ruling classes of Athel Loren's enemies, or to seek anonymity in the sprawling ranks of a marauding army. It is such creatures that the Rangers of the Wildwood seek when they march to war, though they seldom tell even the army's commander of their true goal. To destroy such a prey, they will battle for many years and across untold leagues, lay waste to cities and slaughter thousands of beings whose only crime was to be deceived. Only when the changeling has been cornered and killed, its body reduced to lifeless ash, do the Rangers return to Athel Loren and recommence their silent vigil.
HEROES & LEADERS:
Mobility: 7
Training: 10
Max Range: Artillery
Preferred Range: Melee
Orion is the king of Athel Loren. He is immortal, but his existence is irrevocably tied to the seasons. Thus does he pass willingly into his own funeral pyre each midwinter, only to be reborn into thunderous life on the first day of spring. Each year, on the even of the vernal equinox, the Wild Riders select a young prince who will bear the mantle of Orion for the coming year. This chosen one is led to the Oak of Ages and given over to Ariel's keeping. There, she works the miracle of rebirth, sculpting her lost husband anew from the chosen one's flesh and Kuronous' spirit. On the following morning, the chosen one emerges from the Oak's embrace, a mortal Elf no longer, but reborn as Orion, god-king of Athel Loren.
When his realm is threatened, Orion is the first to fight in its defense. Taking up his mighty weapons of war, he winds his great horn and calls Athel Loren to the Wild Hunt. Every Elf feels the lure of their king's wild summons, and many are overcome by this most primal of urges. Drawn to their king's side, they gladly abandon their civilized concerns for the thrill of the hunt and the heady tang of blood upon the wind.
Though Orion's nature is always infused by Kurnous' joy of the hunt, his temperament can differ greatly from one year to the next. While Ariel and Isha have long been one and the same, their desires merged into a single whole, Orion's personality is a melding not only of Kurnous and the chosen one, but of every Elf who has borne the mantle of kingship since the very beginning. These older minds are faint, and seldom influence Orion's actions directly, but still their voices whisper through his thoughts. At times, they offer advice, at others they admonish and berate. Kurnous is the strongest voice of all, and the only one that can actively supplant the chosen one's wishes. Though the Hunter God's personality has been eroded through the continual cycle of death and rebirth, his legacy of primal power and divine wisdom is still great beyond mortal reckoning. Such is the reason that the chosen one must be strong of will, for he must strive with the spirit of Kuronous and dominate the other spirits in his soul if he is not to be driven mad. It is a heavy burden, and one that grows greater with each passing year, for every cycle of rebirth adds a new voice to the choir. On occasion, a chosen one will falter in his purpose, and in those years Orion's boundless power is held by a splintered and fractious mind.
The rituals of the chosen one's selection are kept carefully hidden, for there are always those who wish to subvert the process for their own reasons. At various times, both the Elves of Ulthuan and Naggaroth have sought to interfere in Orion's rebirth, each party hoping to steer the Wood Elves in a direction of their liking. Nor, alas, are the folk of Athel Loren themselves entirely immune to the lure of interference. Despite the sacrifice that the act of Orion's rebirth calls for, many a noble family would be only too glad to see a member of their kin elevated to the position of Ariel's consort, though it be only for a year. In fact, some of the more ambitious lords see the time of choosing as having the potential for a double victory, that of basking in the reflected glory of a relative's selection, and of no longer having to compete with that relative for further honors. Few Elves would admit to such a sentiment out loud, of course, because Athel Loren society considers itself to aspire to better than such intrigues, but the truth of the matter lies plain behind many eyes, if one knows only how to look for it.
It is not just mortal intrigue that must be guarded against, for there are gods who would delight to meddle in the act of Orion's rebirth. Chief among those is Anath Raema, the Savage Huntress. She long ago coveted Kurnous' affections, and has ever since made no distinction between the godly being for whom she once lusted, and the form he now assumes when striding the mortal world. On many occasions, Anath Raema has sought to force the selection of a prince more attuned to her charms than Ariel's. Most of the time, her efforts meet with failure, but not always. The Wood Elves speak seldom of those seasons when Orion's heart is divided; they simply refer to them as the 'dark years' and pledge anew never to let such times occur again.
On those occasions when Orion is reborn with a shadowed soul, there is only one consolation, just as there is one final unavoidable woe in those years when he emerges from the Oak of Ages as a paragon of Elvenkind. Wise or mad, noble or haunted, each incarnation of Orion must end the same way; in the flames of the midwinter pyre.
Offense: Hawk's Talon: Crafted from a single smooth span of rare wythel-wood, Hawk's Talon is the pinnacle of the huntsman's craft. Of all the Elves, only Orion possesses the incredible strength to draw this weapon. This is as it should be, for as the forest's foremost hunter only he has the skill to wield the Hawk's Talon to its fullest effect. This magical weapon has the range of a war machine, can pierce any armor, and a single shot from it splinters into six, allowing it to hit multiple targets, or one target multiple times.
Spear of Kurnous: This spear is a living weapon. It was crafted long ago from the bole of the glorious birch tree that grew in Isha's heavenly garden, and bound with enchantments to nurture and renew its flesh. The spear of Kurnous is irrevocably bound to its master, and always returns to Orion's hand should he cast it at a foe, which he does often. The King of the Woods holds that a true hunter can bring down any prey with a spear as easily as a bow, and ever seeks to prove the merit of his words. Of course, the Spear of Kurnous' colossal size gives him a substantial advantage over other preyseekers - when driven by his peerless might, it can disembowel a deepwood auroch as easily as it can a man.
Can be thrown up to 300 meters, can pierce any armor. Can also be used as a melee weapon.
Defense: Cloak of Isha: This sacred garment is woven anew each spring by the Mage Queen Ariel herself. It is the only protection Orion wears in battle, and the only one that he needs. It is through the Cloak that Ariel grants her beloved a portion of her own strength, ensuring that the wounds he suffers are fleeting. It surrounds Orion is a magical forcefield and grants him a potent magical resistance. It also grants him minor regenerative powers.
Special: Horn of the Wild Hunt: This horn is one of the oldest artifacts in all of Athel Loren. Legend tells it was a gift from Kurnous to his mortal children at the dawn of creation, a token of his favor that placed them above the myriad brutish beasts of the world. Now the Horn of the Wild Hunt has returned to its rightful master. In Orion's hands it is more than merely a symbol of a god's favor; it is the vessel of the Hunter God's savagery and determination, and imbues a portion of Kurnous' wildness in all who hear its blare.
Whenever Orion blows this horn, he and all who hear it are imbued with potent energy and charge the enemy to devastate all enemies of the Hunter God.
Special: Hounds of Orion: A pair of massive war hounds that follow Orion on his hunts.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Spirit: See Dryads
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
-Orion's presence inspires Wood Elves, but also can invoke fear in his enemies, as he makes them feel like prey before the hunter.
-Orion, when in the midst of battle, can work himself into a battle crazed frenzy.
-Orion is unbreakable, he will not retreat due to fear or mind trickery.
Mobility: 5
Training: 7
Max Range: Several Hundred Meters
Preferred Range: Melee
Long ago, Drycha held court among the roots of Addaivoch, the once-glorious creature known in recent times as the Tree of Woe. Most believe that Drycha lost her mind when Morghur's death tainted the ground forever, but in truth, she was capricious and malevolent for many long years before that tragedy. Drycha remembers well the days before the coming of the Elves, and has ever rued the folly that shackled the forest to mortal whim and fate. She rarely converses with others, even the Dryads who server her as handmaidens, but instead chants a mortar of the names of all those fellow spirits whom she believes have been failed by the Elves. As old as Drycha is, she still possesses a crystal-clear memory, and it is doubtful that she will ever reach the end of her tally; new names are added with every battle between Athel Loren and the outside world.
In the early years of the alliance between the Elves and forest, Drycha was ever in evidence about the glades and groves, watching the Elves and examining their every action for any sign of betrayal. She has been seen little in the years since Morghur's blood was spilt upon her glade, though she is known to commune with Coeddil, a Treeman of great age and power, and serves as his herald while the great being lies shackled in the depths of the Wildwood. Such a thing cannot help but provoke unease for Coeddil's distrustful attitude of the Wood Elves is legend. He is so incredibly ancient that it is difficult to ascertain his motivation, for Coeddil has forgotten more than many younger beings - the Elves included - will ever know. If these two embittered spirits have found common cause, as it appears, it can only be a matter of time before the balance of Loren forest is thrown into disarray.
In recent years, strange tales have come to Athel Loren, worrying rumors of Drycha's activities. On the fringe of the great Drakwald Forest in the Empire, the peasants tell stories of the trees that come alive, hungry for blood. On the edge of the Forest of Arden in Bretonnia, villages gather only deadwood for their purposes, citing tales of other settlements found ruined and torn, the inhabitants left as scraps of tattered meat by the vengeance of the trees. To many, these events seem as senseless as they are apparently random, but if they are indeed the work of Drycha and her handmaidens, there must surely be a greater goal behind them then mere slaughter - though what that goal is remains to be seen. Alas, even Naieth the Prophetess cannot see the destination for which Drycha strives, for the road leading there is hidden by blood and horror.
Offense: See Branchwraiths, though her magic in the Lore of Life and Athel Loren is slightly more powerful.
Defense: See Brachwraiths
Special: See Branchwraiths / Dryads
Additional Factors:
-See Dryads, though Drycha's hatred is tinged with a dark madness. Most sane elves and forest spirits will want to avoid Drycha and DO NOT trust her.
Araloth, Lord of Talsyn
Mobility: 6
Training: 8
Max Range: Artillery
Preferred Range: Spear
Araloth was not always a hero. In his youth, he was a craven lordling who had not the mettle to hunt any prey that could hunt him in return. Whilst others went to battle in his stead, Araloth caroused and hunted in the company of worthless friends, and tried to forget his shame.
It was upon one such hunt that Araloth was thrown from his horse, and separated from all companions save for Skaryn, his trusted hawk. After wandering lost for many hours, Araloth came to a strange glade. Though dawn had broken scant hours before, the lordling now beheld a crescent moon hanging low in a darkened sky. It was a scene to stir the heart, yet Araloth scarcely saw it. He had eyes only for the Elf maiden who stood alone at the glade's heart, and the monstrous four-armed Daemon that menaced her.
There, at last, Araloth found his courage, for even his craven heart could not abandon the maid to the Daemon's cruel pleasures. Before he rallied it, Araloth was running to her aid, and his hunting spear soon gouged the Daemon's flank. The beast was swift, and Araloth would have perished from its counterblow, had Skaryn not descended from the skies to tear out the Daemon's eyes. Blinded, the beast flailed madly, but Araloth ducked easily under its claws and thrust his spear deep into its black heart. As the Daemon fell dead, Araloth closed his eyes, amazed both at his victory and at the courage with which he had won it. When he opened them once more, the Daemon's body had vanished. Looking upon the maiden once more, Araloth saw at last beyond her mortal guise, and knew that he was in the presence of a goddess.
Long they walked under the stars, the goddess and the lordling. They spoke of many things, and she revealed to him many wonders. The goddess told of how she had watched and counseled the Elves since the dancing of the world; speaking plainly when the Creator allowed it, and through dreams when he would not. But even the power of the gods must fade, she said sadly. Hers was nearly spent, but she still had three gifts to bestow. Araloth, freed now of his fears, was the first of these; a hero to defend the Elves in the coming dark. The second would be Araloth's first-born daughter, a savior to bring hope when it was needed most. Of the third gift, however, the goddess would not speak, for there were some secrets even she could not share. Soon after, Araloth fell into a deep sleep. When he awoke, he did so in his hall, with friends at his bedside. He had been thrown from his horse, they said, his senses scattered by the fall. When Araloth told them of his tale, his companions laughed, thinking that he had dreamt it all. Not wishing to be thought mad, Araloth laughed also, but his heart knew the truth.
In the years after, Araloth became the fearless hero that the goddess had foretold, his triumphs the inspiration for many a song. Following the Battle of Arden, in which Araloth slew Morghur the Corrupter, the Mage Queen decreed that he would thereafter be her royal champion, an honor not bestowed in living memory. Yet despite the renown and the accolades, Araloth has never forgotten she who made him thus. So it is that on those nights when the crescent moon shines down upon Athel Loren, Araloth the Bold embarks upon the hunt with Skaryn as his only companion, hoping to meet with his beloved goddess once more.
Offense: Longbow and the Hunt Spear: Blessed by both the Elf Goddess he defended and bathed in the blood of the Daemon he slew, Araloth's spear is a powerful weapon. It can pierce any armor or magical defense (save the most powerful or godly), and always returns to Araloth when thrown (and when thrown, travels with the force of a ballista bolt). It can effect the ethereal, and kill daemons.
Defense: Heavy Armor, Favor of the Goddess (this grants Araloth a powerful protection against magic).
Special: Skaryn the Eye Thief: The hunting hawk that aided Araloth in his battle with the daemon, this bird is swift of wing and sharp of talon, easily able to pluck out the eyes of his master's enemies and fly off without ever taking a hit. He has a minor magical barrier on him from Araloth's goddess.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
-Boldest of the Bold: Araloth's will is unbreakable.
Mobility: 7 (8 on mounts)
Training: 8
Max Range: Bow
Preferred Range: Bow
High in the alpine slopes of the Pine Crags, the Eyrie of Twilight dominates the skyline. Herein lie the elegant halls of Naestra and Arahn, the Sisters of Twilight. The twins are as different as night and day, not just in appearance, but in personality. Naestra's spirit is as pure as starlight; Arahan's as wild as an unbridled flame. While Naestra seeks battle only in pursuit of preventing greater harms, Arahan welcomes it with a wanton joy. If truth be told, Naestra always seems reproving of her sister's deeds, though this only ever increases Arahan's delight. Despite their differences, the twins are inseparable - never has one been sighted without the other in all the time they have dwelt in Athel Loren.
The Sisters of Twilight first appear during the long years of Ariel's self-imposed exile from the mortal realm, acting as her representatives upon the great council. None save for the Mage Queen know the sister's true origins, though there are many rumors that purports to fill this gulf. Some say that they are the splintered halves of a young Elf-maid who became lost in the Wildwoods long ago, and was remade so that she might better serve the Weave. Others recount that the twins are the darkest and lightest aspects of Ariel's spirit made manifest, her passion and mercy split apart from her soul so that they can no longer dominate her being as they have in the past. A few stories even claim that the sisters are as divine as Ariel and Orion, but most commonplace by far are the songs and tales that claim the twins are simply Ariel's daughters, and thus princesses of Athel Loren by right of blood and lineage. Ultimately, however, the Wood Elves debate and retail these possibilities solely out of their love of storycraft. They know that Naestra and Arahan speak with the authority of their beloved Mage Queen; no secret of the past will ever change that.
Even among the fey folk of Athel Loren the Sisters of Twilight are notable for an other-worldliness of spirit and manner. Any weapons the sisters touch become infused with a portion of their nature. Those wielded by Naestra become anathema to creatures of anarchy and discord, whilst Arahan's tools of battle inflict great harm on beings with noble souls. Armed thusly, the sisters walk paths that even Waywatchers dread, and are said to tread the glades of the Dreaming Wood with as little concern as they do the eternally sunlit groves of Arranoc.
Though inclined to seek battle from afar, Naestra and Arahan do not shirk the bitter press of melee should the situation require. All of their armaments, be they arrows or blades, are crafted upon Vaul's Anvil by no lesser hands than those of Daith. The master smith dotes upon the pair in the manner of a proud uncle, and indulges Naestra's obsession with the perfect honing of her time-worn blade as uncomplainingly as he does Arahan's ardent insistence at carrying a freshly-fashioned spear into each battle. No other, not even Daith's fellow lords and ladies of the great council, can command his time so completely as the Sisters of Twilight. Yet each time the twins present the smith with a new challenge, he simply gives a small smile and returns to the fires of the forge.
A foe would be well-advised to avoid confronting the Sisters of Twilight unless he possesses absolute certainty that he can fell them both in quick succession. The harms inflicted upon one twin are inconsequential so long as the other yet draws breath; the ancient magics of the forest see the fallen sister restored within moments of the supposedly fatal event. This protection extends equally to both Naestra and Arahan, but it is inevitably the later who gains most frequent benefit from it, and then invariably in the most spectacular of fashions. To recount but a few occasions, Arahan has hacked her way out of the belly of a Ghorgon after being swallowed whole, emerged unscathed from a razor-sharp cloud of Dark Magic to slay its caster, and eviscerate a Vampire a heartbeat after her own decapitation.
The fleeting moments of Arahan's 'deaths' are about the only times when Naestra casts aside her calm demeanor, and becomes as furious a fighter as her twin. It is impossible to say whether this is because Arahan's wild spirit flows into her sister for those brief moments that her own body lies slain, or is simply a sibling's natural wrath at the seeming slaughter of her kin. Whatever the cause, the consequences for the foe are inevitably bloody. Naestra's beadwork may not be as exuberant as Arahan's, but what it lacks in brashness, it more than compensates for with lethality of precision. Indeed, the slaughter Naestra wrecks when enraged is matched in scale only by the withering disapproval with which Naestra beholds her reckless sister once the moment has passed; a disapproval that Arahan disregards as cheerfully as she does all others.
The Sisters of Twilight seldom fight from the center of the battle line, but are instead carried through the war-torn skies by one of their loyal steeds. Swiftly-winged Gwindalor is a wise and even-tempered ally, as would be expected of a beast whose lineage springs directly from Talyn, King of Eagles. Moreover, he has an uncanny ability to bring the twins to a position where their arrows can inflict the most harm. Ceithin-Har, by contrast, is as hot-blooded a creature as can be found in dragonkind. He thinks nothing of hurling both himself and the Sisters of Twilight into the thick of the fray where arrows can be fired at point-blank range, and blades too can do their wicked work.
Though it is sad to say, these two creatures know little fondness for each other. Gwindalor considers the dragon to be reckless and venturesome, while Ceinthin-Har berates the eagle for his aloofness and constant caution. Different in temperament though they might be, Gwindalor and Ceinthin-Har are nonetheless united by their bonds of friendship with Naestra and Arahan. Though it is doubtful that either would put himself in harm's way for the other, both would gladly die a hundred times over in defense of their mistresses.
Offense: Naestra wields a blade of sharpest steel, easily capable of reducing even an armored soldier to bloody chunks. She is a master of the blade, able to execute several precise strikes in the blink of an eye. Arahan carries a spear into battle, the point as sharp as her sister's sword, but made of sturdy yet flexible wood. She can pierce her enemies heart, or bat them around with the pole. They are also both accomplished archers, each carrying a magic bow.
Naestra carries the Talon of Dawn: This bow fires no mortal shot, but bolts of blessed light that melt through armor to sear the flesh beneath. It is said that souls reaped by this weapon yield their energies to undo the harms they have wrought against the wielder's allies.
Arahan carries the Talon of Dusk: The arrows of this bow are crafted from the spirit husks of the Wildwood's bitterest Dryads. Once loosed, they splinter into scores of poisonous thorns that seek the flesh of Athel Loren's enemies.
Defense: Both wear light armor, and their mounts can fly.
Special: Conjoined Destiny: If one sister is slain, but not the other, the slain sister will spring back to life in a matter of moments (the exact time is hard to say, but is is less then 30 seconds), as healthy as she was when the battle started. The only way to stop the Sisters of Twilight for good is to kill both in rapid succession.
Special: Sisters of Twilight: When fighting against the forces of Destruction, Naestra's attacks do more damage. When fighting against the Forces of Order, Arahan's attacks do more damage.
Special: Mount: Ceithin-Har: See Forest Dragon
Special: Gwindalor: See Giant Eagle
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
Ariel - Mage Queen of Loren
Mobility: 8
Training: 9
Max Range: Battlefield
Preferred Range: ^^
Ariel is the queen of Athel Loren and presides over the realm together with Orion. Ariel acquired the aspects of Isha, the ancient Elven goddess of nature, through the strange magic of the Oak of Ages at the same time as Orion gained the aspects of Kurnous. Thus the magical force of nature flows through Arid as if she were Isha herself.
Arid wields immense natural forces and weaves them according to her will, commanding the trees of the forest to grow and vegetation to spring forth from the ground. She it is who weaves enchantments around the Forest of Loren to delay and mislead intruders, or lure them onward to their doom! Like Orion. Ariel's immortality is linked to the seasons and though she dies each midwinter, she is reborn the following year. If Ariel perishes in battle, the Elves will carry her away and seal her within the Oak of Ages to be reborn again in the spring.
When enemies enter the Forest of Loren, Ariel shifts shape into her sylphlike war aspect. She grows almost twice the height of an ordinary Elf and unfolds huge wings like those of a gigantic moth, covered in tiny scales of shimmering iridescent colors. Upon her wings strange markings known as the Eyes of Isha and the Spirals of Isha can be seen. Sometimes Ariel's wings display the markings of the death's-head moth indicating that she is enraged and in a vengeful mood.
Moth-like antenna emerge from Ariel's head, but her face remains that of a beautiful she-Elf with piercing eyes. The upper part of her body is clad in shimmering scales of incandescent green while the lower part trails away into infinity like an ethereal or elemental being. She appears to glow with an inner light like the moon and trails raw magic in a shower of glittering stardust. In this form Ariel can fly around the battlefield wielding her magic. The wafting of her huge wings over the heads of the enemy fills them with dread and awe.
Offense: Ariel is an incredibly power magic user, able to use spells from the Lores of Life, Beasts, or Athel Loren. She can also use a short sword with some degree of skill.
The Wand of Wych Elm: This is a long twisted and gnarled staff cut from the rare and magical Wych Elm tree. This tree draws magical power out of the ground as it grows and stores it in its wood. Any wand cut from such a tree may have centuries of stored magical power locked within it. The only way to tap the power locked in the wood is to cut a wand from the tree and inscribe a spell on it. Only a demi-god or wizard of exceptional skill can unlock and use such power. When Arid takes on the divine aspect of the goddess Isha she gains the ability to use the power stored in the Wych Elm.
This wand allows Ariel to use a spell without having to rely on the winds of magic, drawing instead from the vast storage of magic in the wand instead.
The Dart of Doom: This dart was carved from a twig broken from the Tree of Woe. The tip of the dart is a thorn and the shaft is engraved with magical spiral designs. Ariel can throw this device a great distance. Any unit hit by this dart will drain all their strength from them, leaving them weak, feeble, and unable to fight.
When shifting into her Sylph form she does not use a weapon but rather her voice. In CQC she can release a scream that ignores armor and can easily kill (though she can just use it to stun or slightly injure if she desires).
Defense: Magical Barriers. As the Queen of Athel Loren, she is one of the most protected individuals in the entire army.
Divine Aura: When she assumes her Sylph form she becomes a magical being like the goddess Isha herself, and gains a divine aura of protection against hostile magic.
Special: Flight
Special: The Acorns of the Oak of Ages: These are shed by the tree each autumn and collected by Ariel because of their magical properties. When the acorns are scattered on the ground they instantly sprout into oak saplings which grow at a phenomenal rate to become mighty trees in a moment. The acorns will only sprout on flat open ground.
Special: Berry Wine: This is a magical and intoxicating brew made from the berries of magical trees. It is so potent that more than enough can be held in an acorn cup. Anyone who drinks this brew (be it Ariel or someone she gives it to) will be healed of all non-life threatening injuries.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Spirit: See Dryads
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
-Should Ariel die, her people will stop at nothing to recover the body and bare it back to the Oak of Ages, where she will be revived to life next spring. To loose her body, and thus their queen, would be a major morale blow to the Wood Elves, though it would just as likely make them declare everlasting war on their enemies, throwing themselves at them again and again until retribution is repaid.
Naieth the Prophetess
Mobility: 4
Training: 6
Max Range: Battlefield
Preferred Range: Behind the lines
Naieth the Prophetess is skilled in the arcane art of divination. Only a select band of mages knows this secret lore. By means of divining rods cut from magical trees they are able to 'feel' the flow of magic deep within the ground. When they find a point at which the magic rises towards the surface they instruct their kindred to set a great stone in that place, carved with arcane spirals to direct the flow of magic.
In this way the Wood Elf mages have created a web of magical protection around the Forest of Loren. Changes in the flow of magic can be detected using the divining rods and used to predict impending danger or the presence of intruders in the forest. Naieth has become so adept at interpreting these signs that she is known throughout Loren as The Prophetess.
Whereas other mages study the ways of the elements, trees and beasts, Naieth has devoted herself to the arts of divination. Although there are mightier mages with greater power upon the battlefield, Naieth will sometimes accompany the Wood Elf host to battle to use her unique and subtle skills to help her kindred.
Offense: Naieth is a minor wizard able to use spells from the Lore of Life, Beasts, or Athel Loren. She also carries a short sword and a Longbow.
Defense: Magical Barriers
Special: Othu the Owl: Naieth is always accompanied by her faithful companion Othu the Owl. When not flying around the battlefield Othu rests on Naieth's wrist. Naieth is able to understand the owl's twitterings and knows how to interpret his strange wisdom. It is said that many of her inspired prophecies indeed come from the owl, for Othu is all-seeing and all-wise. In battle Naieth sends Othu to swoop low over the battlefield where he will see where the fighting is fiercest and the danger is greatest.
Sometimes Othu will perch upon the standard of a regiment or the shoulder of its leader. This is seen as an omen of good luck by the Wood Elves. A unit of Wood Elves favored by the owl seems to gain from the bird's uncanny sureness of sight and are more likely to shoot straight!
Special: The Rod of Divination: Naieth carries a long rod which is made of the willow twigs of many magical trees woven and entwined tightly together. Wherever this rod is thrust into the ground it has the power to tap the flow of magic and draw it to the surface. With this, Naieth's spells gain extra power.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
-Naieth's skills are better suited off the battlefield then on it. As an oracle she can lend potent advice to commanders.
Mobility: 5 (7 on Eagle)
Training: 7
Max Range: Spear
Preferred Range: Melee
Thalandor was known as 'Doom Star' because he would swoop over the dark forest by night hunting for Goblins trying to creep into Athel Loren under cover of darkness. If he spied any from on high, he would swoop down between the pines and attack without mercy, riding upon the back of Gwandor, his faithful Great Eagle.
Gwandor the Black is perhaps the most famous of the Great Eagles. This mighty bird carried Thalandor into battle against the undead hordes of the Vampire Count of Sylvania, and it was the bravery and power of Gwandor that saved Thalandor's life on that grim day.
A Wood Elf contingent which had marched to help the Empire by scouring the grim pine forests of Sylvania for signs of the Count's army, was overwhelmed by Skeleton hordes. The location of the enemy was revealed, but almost at the cost of the entire Elf contingent. With their general slain, the Elves fought a rearguard action and many escaped. Thalandor heroically held back the hordes until he was beset by Carrion and badly wounded. The Elves escaped, thinking Thalandor had fallen. Meanwhile, Gwandor fought ferociously to rescue his master and carried the wounded Thalandor speedily back to the safety of Loren where he was healed by the magic of Ariel.
Offense: Thalandor is a mage who can use spells from the Lore of Athel Loren. He also uses a Longbow, and the Spear of Daith: This spear was made by Daith, legendary master craftsman of Loren. He carved upon its shaft mystical spirals which give the weapon a will of its own. Upon the hardened copper spearhead are engraved eyes that allow the spear to see the blows of the enemy and intercept them with its unbreakable hardwood shaft.
His Great Eagle fights with talon and beak.
Defense: Qwarr was the mightiest of all the Great Eagles who ever lived and an ancestor of Gwandor himself. It was Qwarr who slew the ravenous dragon Grathgol when he came to steal eggs from his eyrie. Although the dragon plummeted to his doom, torn by Qwarr's talons, Qwarr himself also perished in the fight. Elves saw this terrible conflict in the air and preserved the mighty talons and beak of Qwarr as a powerful talisman.
As long as Gwandor wears this, he cannot be hurt by ranged attacks.
Thalandor has some light armor.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
Lothlann the Brave - Battle Standard Bearer
Mobility: 5 (6 on mount)
Training: 5
Max Range: 300 Meters
Preferred Range: Melee
Lothlann earned his nickname 'the Brave' at the Battle of the Creaking Yew. Here he took up the battle banner from the hand of the slain Athryn the Strong when the Elves were in desperate battle against the Skaven. When the Elves saw the banner rise again with Lothlann bravely galloping among the foe hewing to left and right, they surged forward like an irresistible tide. Thus they utterly defeated the ratmen, scattering them in headlong rout through the forest to become the prey of wild beasts during the hungry winter of that year. Since then Lothlann has had the honor of bearing the sacred battle banner of Athel Loren.
Offense: Longsword
Defense: Light Armor & Shield
Special: Mount: Elven Steed
Special: The Battle Standard of Athel Loren: The Battle Standard of Athel Loren is woven from the hair of countless Elven maidens who sacrifice some of their golden, silver or russet tresses as strands to be woven into the banner. With each generation more strands are woven into the banner making it more magnificent and more enchanted than before. All friendly units within 300 meters of the Standard are affected. All but the most powerful spells will fizzle out within the aura of the Standard.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
Mobility: 3
Training: 8
Max Range: Hundreds of meters
Preferred Range: Melee
Durthu is an Elder of the Athel Loren, a Treeman so ancient that even Ariel's millennia-long existence pales in comparison. It was he who first forged a union between Elves and forest, and he also who argued with his fellow Elders that the binding be made permanent. In those days, he was ever a friend to the children of Isha, always willing to help them broaden their understanding of the forest and the Weave. Alas, those days are long gone. Centuries of destruction and carnage have taken their toll on Durthu's valiant spirit. He has borne witness to the rapacity of bloodied life, and of the wanton destruction it has heaped upon his homeland. He has seen untold acres of trees felled for kindling or from simple spite. He has watched, time and again, as the Elves have invited calamity on the forest through an inability to sever their connection to the outside world. Worst of all, he has seen his fellow Elders fall, one by one; some slain by their own foes but most destroyed by the enemies of the Elves.
Now Durthu's benevolence is gone, replaced by an abiding madness. No longer is he a healer and teacher; he has taken up a sword, forged specially for him by Daith, and become solely a destroyer. He makes no distinction between the lost, the innocent and the wicked - all who tread Durthu's beloved glades without leave are doomed if the Elder happens upon them. Only the Elvs are spared Durthu's wrath, for he does not blame them for what has come to pass, only himself. Yet nor does he any longer consider the children of Isha to be his friends, and now shuns their company determinedly as he once embraced it. Allies they might be, through the common cause of survival, but that is all.
For their part, the Elves mourn for Durthu. As long-lived creatures themselves, they know well the cruelty of the world, but can only imagine the sorrows an eternity of destruction has inflicted on a creature older than their entire race. Alas, it is beyond the power of the Elves to heal Durthu's weary heart; but it is not, perhaps, beyond his own. When an Elder of the Forest is slain; his essence is absorbed by his peers. As one of only two survivors, Durthu now commands fully half the combined might of every Elder that ever existed - more than enough to heal his ravaged soul, and to achieve many miraculous things besides. Sadly, so clouded by rage and loss has mind become, that he is unaware of the power at his command. What little Durthu employs, he does so only on an instinctive level to augment his already formidable strength or loose swarms of ethereal spite-creatures against his enemies. Manifestations of Durthu's inner sorrow, these wraithlike apparitions chill the soul and spirit of any whom they assail. On those rare occasions on which Durthu slumbers, they sing maliciously through his dreams, ceaselessly reminding the Elder of all the ways in which he has failed his beloved forest. Yet still the potential remains for this being, once the noblest of his kind, to bring a new age of splendor to Athel Loren, if only he can abandon his hatred.
Offense: Durthu is a minor wizard of the Lore of Beasts. He can also use all the Offenses of a Treeman Ancient. He also has a giant sword.
Defense: Magical Barriers and the Defenses of Treeman Ancients.
Special: Lamentations of Despair: Durthu can release a swarm of ethereal beings that, when they fly through a target, fill them with overwhelming despair. These ignore physical armor, but can be blocked by magic or strong willpower.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Spirit: See Dryads
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
-Durthu is flammable.
-Durthu hates non-Elf races, as they have long proved untrustworthy and dangerous to Athel Loren. Seeing his forest in danger sends Durthu into a murderous frenzy. Often, he will fixate on a single unit as the most responsible for the destruction around him (whether or not they actually are is irrelevant), and do whatever he can to kill that unit.
-Durthu does not change his mind lightly. His mind cannot be affected by anything, magical or otherwise.
-Durthu is massive, even by the standards of other Treemen.
-Durthu can act as an adviser to the Wood Elves if he is in the right mood and they convince him to part with his great knowledge.
Mobility: 7
Training: 6
Max Range: 100+ Meters
Preferred Range: Melee
Wychwethyl is a Wardancer of exceptional skill and agility. It is he who performs the ritual dance at the beginning of spring which awakens the King and Queen in the Wood after their long sleep in the Oak of Ages. In battle he is unsurpassed in his reckless savagery.
Offense: See Wardancer
Defense: See Wardancer
Special: The Drum of Orcskin: Wychwethyl carries the Drum of Orcskin which is made from the stretched skin of an Orc warlord slain at the battle of the Glade of Woe and beaten with a drumstick made from his rib-bone. When playing this drum, Wychwethyl and all friendly Wood Elves who hear its unearthly rhythm speed up until they become nothing but a blur.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
Mobility: 5
Training: 8
Max Range: Longbow
Preferred Range: Longbow
Sceolan is the oldest and most cunning of the Wood Elf warriors. He fights on foot and will usually lead warriors from his own kindred of the Oak Glades. Not only does he use the longbow but he is an expert hand-to-hand fighter and adept at organizing ambushes in the depths of the forest.
Offense: Dagger, Bow of Loren: The Bow of Loren is strung with the hair of Elf maids and enchanted with potent charms. This magic bow allows Sceolan to fire as many arrows as he can carry, never getting tired. He is also a highly skilled in CQC.
Defense: Light Armor & Buckler of Bronze: Sceolan carries a buckler instead of an ordinary shield. This is a small shield with a spiked bronze boss and many bronze studs arranged in arcane patterns. Not only does this buckler parry the blows of the enemy but it can be used to strike back at any opponent whose blow is parried.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
Mobility: 5
Training: 6
Max Range: Flail
Preferred Range: ^^
It is said that the Falconer dwells in an eyrie in the topmost branches of an old pine tree in the company of his falcons. Here he speaks with eagles and other birds of prey, He shuns the company of other Elves, but will fight beside them if the forest is in danger from enemies. Then the Scouts and the kindred will go to the greatest trouble to seek him out to join them in battle. He commands his falcons as they fly, directing them with birdcalls as deadly weapons, swooping out of the sky into the attack. These keen-eyed living missiles are more deadly than arrows and always return to their master dripping blood from their wicked hooked beaks and sharp talons.
Offense: Flail of Claws: The Flail of Claws is a flail with three thongs each tipped with the talons of gigantic extinct birds of prey. Unlike an ordinary flail made of heavy chains and spiky balls, this flail is light to wield in combat and tears into the flesh of the foe.
Defense: Light Armor & Feather Cape: Scaw wears a cape of feathers not only as protection but to show kinship with his birds of prey. The cape can be spread out resembling the wings of a great bird. The feather cape is extremely thick and made of several layers of interwoven feathers.
Special: Falcons: Scaw is accompanied by multiple falcons at all times, which he can command to savage his foes as a living missile weapon. They swoop down from the sky, tearing at eyes and throats with razor sharp talons.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
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Gruath the Beastmaster
Mobility: 5
Training: 6
Max Range: Thrown Bolas
Preferred Range: Melee
It is said that his name was originally Gruarth, but to most Elves he is known only as `The Beastmaster'. He has forgotten his name and even the words of Elven tongue if he ever knew it. Now he speaks only to the beasts of the forest with their own calls and gestures. He dwells on the margins of society, but in the depths of the forest, he shares the lairs of wild beasts by night. By day he hunts with his feral brethren and feasts on the same prey.
The Beastmaster has two companions: Fang and Claw, two ferocious sabre-toothed tigers. Fang and Claw are a pair, male and female, the last of their kind in the forest.
When the forest is threatened by enemies, the Beastmaster is summoned and comes forth with his tigers to do battle beside his Elven kindred. He fights alone, controlling his pack as they stalk the battlefield for prey with their long, dagger-like fangs. After the battle, glutted with flesh, Elf and beasts disappear back into the trees.
Offense: A pair of daggers
-The Binding Bolas: The Beastmaster is armed with a bolas - a special hunting weapon. The bolas is made of three leather thongs which are joined together at one end. The free ends of the thongs have heavy stone weights attached to them. The bolas is hurled by being swung around the user's head and released in the direction of the intended target. The thongs entangle themselves around the victim's legs and trip him over. The stone balls can also inflict a stunning wound.
Defense: Animal Hide Cape: The Beastmaster does not wear armor or carry a shield. Instead he wears a cape of animal hide not only as protection but as a mark of kinship with wild beasts. The cape has an animal head with horns attached to it. The cape is incredibly thick and made of several layers of hide.
Special: Fang & Claw: Two saber-tooth tigers that accompany him everywhere.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
Mobility: 5 (6 on mount)
Training: 6
Max Range: Longbow
Preferred Range: Melee
The leader of the Wood Elf delegation is Athelwyn from the Willow kin. He will do anything he can to retrieve the magical objects he believes the Bretonnians have stolen from Athel Loren. He prepared a clever plan in case the Wood Elves were not able to win over the objects in honest battle.
Offense: Longbow, The Twilight Spear: When this spear strikes, the fury and rage of the wielder is channeled into the body of the foe with appalling and destructive force.
Defense: Light Armor and Shield
Special: Mount: Elf Steed
Special: Helmet of the Hunt: This enchanted helmet imbues the wearer with the spirit and fury of Orion. This helmet grants Athelwyn increased damage on charges, and confers a magical defense that increases the durability of his armor.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
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Elthryn
Mobility: 5
Training: 5
Max Range: Longbow
Preferred Range: ^^
Elthryn is a sneaky wood elf, who often comes to Quenelles for trade. He knows the Bretonnians very well and knows how one can outfox them. Athelwyn chose him as his companion for this reason, for he has a cunning plan to steal the prizes of the Bretonnian tournament.
Offense: Short Sword and Long Bow
Defense: Light Armor
Special: Rain of Arrows of Doom: An enchanted arrow, when fired, it can split into eighteen magic arrows.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
Mobility: 3
Training: 7
Max Range: Several Dozen Meters
Preferred Range: Melee
Gwercus acts as the protector of the sacred willow clearings, which are home to the Willow Kin. Most of the time he just stands there, still and motionless, like the rest of the ancient, gnarled willows surrounding the clearings. From time to time he changes his place, only to get the most sunlight during when the seasons change!
Gwercus is revered by the kin and he is cared for by countless dryads, who live between the trees and saplings surrounding him. Adding to that, he is guarded by the rangers, asked for advice by mages and on special occasions awakened or calmed by the war dancers during their rituals. Gwercus is unimaginable old and is revered by the dwellers of the clearing as living god, a mighty spirit protecting their homes. Should somebody or something enrage him and cause him to awake, they will follow him and attack those who disturbed his peace.
There is nothing which irritates Gwercus more than noise, riot, the bad waves of human magic and the sound of axes which burry themselves into the flesh of his tree brothers!
Offense: See Treemen
Defense: See Treemen
Additional Factors:
-See Treemen
-Gwercus is revered by his kin, and can be considered a battlefield leader if their are multiple Treemen about (though he would defer to Durthu).
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Yolath the Terrible
Mobility: 5 (7 on mount)
Training: 7
Max Range: Battlefield
Preferred Range: Battlefield
Yolath is the highest mage of the Willow Kin. It is his duty to watch over the sacred clearings and to perform the Rites and Ceremonies of the Seasons. His ancestors have lead his kin centuries ago into this part of Athel Loren and Yolath does not intend to be the elf who looses their territories to the Bretonnians.
Offense: A short sword and a hunting bow. Yolath is also a powerful wizard, able to use spells from the Lores of Life, Beasts, and Athel Loren.
The Silver Arrow: The Silver Arrow has the following inscription: “I strike down every foe. No armor can offer protection against me”.
This enchanted arrow when fired, splits into six arrows that bypass armor.
Defense: Magical shields and robes. He can also fly with his mount.
Special: Mount: Giant Eagle
Special: Acorncasket: This golden casket contains a handful of enchanted acorns. Yolath can plant one of these acorns, and in a matter of moments, a Dryad will grow from the ground.
Special: The Old Staff: This is a skilfully carved wooden staff with an engraved face. On the staff there is a line, which says “This all that remained of Guath the Old. Plant me, if you are in great danger.”
Planting this staff into the ground, a Treeman Ancient appears, determined to protect Yolath. If it takes enough damage or ends the battle, it will shrink back into the staff.
Additional Factors:
-Forest Stalker: See Dryads
ARMY X-FACTORS
Morale: 65: When the Wood Elves have a cause they can get behind, they can be fierce fighters. But low numbers of their race have made them cautious, and they are quick to retreat if they loose the advantage. The one exception would be in defense of Athel Loren, their home forest. In this case, they will fight to the last breath, never backing down until the enemies are dead or they are.
Logistics: 55
Espionage: 80: Excellent spies, able to sneak around heavy fortifications or move through towns undedicated. They have magic that lets them spy through trees or commune with nature, something that is very difficult to sense or counter.
Discipline: Variable: Elven troops are highly trained, though they may give in to bloodlust or rage, especially if their forest comes under attack (or under the influence of the Wild Hunt). Units like Dryads are not nearly so disciplined, while Wildwood Rangers are able to face down deamons without blinking.
Army Intimidation: 57: While they do have some unusual units (giant trees and a few dragons), for the most part they are only slightly more intimidating then an average army.
Reinforcement Rate: Low: The elven race is not what it once was, and the Wood Elves do not have as many force to commit to war as other races.
ADDITIONAL INFO
-Athel Loren: The forest of Athel Loren is a mystical place whose shadow lies far across the land. It extends along the banks of two great rivers, rising from the fertile plains of Bretonnia and reaching high into the mountains. Its outer bounds are marked with waystones, placed there by the first Elven settlers to contain the wild lands within. Within the forest's span, great trees loom overhead, their branches moving slowly, ever straining to escape the magical barrier of the waystones. Roots twist and claw across the fern-covered rocks and loam, and low mists coil underfoot. None tread beneath these eaves without feeling the forests eyes upon them. Every step is dogged by a sense of watchfulness that permeates each leafy glade and winding track. The verdant labyrinth of the forest unsettles even the most courageous soul; filled with movement glimpsed from the corner of the eye, strange noises and the feeling that one is being watched at all times. Dark forms move through the twisting branches and dense undergrowth; tiny darting shapes flit between the trees. Only the insanely brave, mad or foolish dare to cross its bound; all others shun it as a haunted place, filled with unquiet, malicious spirits.
There are a few safe paths through Athel Loren. An individual that treks under the dark boughs for what seems like a couple of hours may, if he survives, return home to find that a hundred years have passed. Equally, one might wander lost within the forest for decades, only to emerge later on the very day that he entered. Navigating through Athel Loren is no easy task, for the forest's landmarks and glades are ever-shifting. What was open clearing one night may be heavily wooded the next morning, and pathways often disappear or turn back on themselves without warning. Even if an intruder ties to walk a straight path, he will invariably find himself turned around and facing out of the forest, his sanity tested by the horrors and wonders he encountered within. But not all forays end in disaster. The fortunate or worthy might occasionally find passage between the changing paths, guided perhaps by a welcome shaft of sunlight, or coming across a forest trail at an unexpected turn. Inspired by such tales, there will always be those that dare enter the dark forest, drawn by fanciful tales of treasures or of hidden knowledge waiting to be won.
Most of the forest is a strange, almost twilight, world bathed only in the muted sunlight or moonlight able to penetrate the canopy of leaves. Only in the natural clearings, known as glades, can one look up and glimpse the sky or the stars. Other glades are vast tracts of land that could easily accommodate the largest of the Old World's cities, and that many a Bretonnian duke would claim as a proud domain. In fact, some have, though never for very long.
-The Eternal Realms: Athel Loren is divided into twelve realms, each ruled by a lord or lady of the great council. Some realms are permanently locked in time, and only ever experience a single season as the years pass. Others dwell eternally under the night, or in the glory of the noon-day sun.
Scattered throughout the glades of these realms are the magical halls of the lords and ladies, their mighty entrance doors woven from the trunks of ancient trees or delved into the hillside. They are hidden to those the Elves do not welcome, and many an interloper has passed within a few paces of such a portal without knowing it was there. Those who enter through one of these strange gateways find themselves in a series of grand, beautiful caverns deep below the tree or hill. Roots can be seen far above, curving down from the roof of the hall to form elegant, interweaving pillars set with silver and gemstones. Everywhere there is ghostly music, soft glowing light and laughter that sounds like the wind blowing through autumnal trees.
It is these halls that the Wood Elves feast and celebrate the natural cycles of the forest, holding grand banquets of woodland game and free-flowing, intoxicating Elven wines. Children taken from the lands around the forest, destined never to grow old, joyfully serve their graceful Elven masters. The halls are alive with wild dancing, lilting laughter and melodic music. It is not unheard of for outsiders, such as Bretonnian questing knights, to on occasion join an Elven feast, but it is a foolish individual indeed that would eat or drink the foodstuffs of the Elves without invitation.
-The King's Glade: The King's Glade is a vast and awesome clearing, surrounding by great oak trees of immense girth and antiquity. When the Elves first penetrated into the depths of the forest, they decided to hold their councils and rituals here. Over the centuries, Spellweavers created a city among the trees around the King's Glade. The branches of the great oaks were induced to entwine into walkways and canopies, galleries and vaults. Thus are the buildings and chambers made entirely of living trees, branches and foliage. Beneath the earth, the same methods have been used to create great hollows between the interwoven roots of trees.
Although vast, this city is virtually invisible to the untrained eye. It merges into the forest and is easily missed by idle traveler and foe alike - much of it is either above his head or beneath his feet. Furthermore, the King's Glade is disguised by magic. An intruder in the forest can thus remain hardly aware of what is all around him and ignorant that he is being watched by Elven eyes. This is assuming he ever finds it at all. Most strangers wander aimlessly for miles until they mysteriously emerge out of the forest again.
It is from the King's Glade that Ariel and Orion preside over the realm of Athel Loren. They do not rule alone, but with the aid of a council. There are currently fifteen lords and ladies upon this council, drawn from the hidden realms that blossom beneath the trees. To hold such a seat is a great honor, one which has been handed down, generation to generation, since the very founding of the forest. In most matters, decisions are reached and decrees issued only by full agreement of the monarchs and the council. However, this holds true only while Ariel allows it. No one, not even Orion, can gainsay the Mage Queen if her mind is set. This is at once the Wood Elves' greatest strength and their most telling weakness. While it grants a unity of purpose that the rulers of Naggaroth and Ulthuan sorely desire, it is a boon only when Ariel's judgment is sound, and has cost Athel Loren greatly when her steps have faltered.
-The Oak of Ages: The Oak of Ages is the spiritual heart of Athel Loren. It was here that the Wood Elf realm was truly founded, and it is here that the yearly rituals of Orion's death and rebirth see their completion. The Oak itself is a mystery to all save Ariel, the Mage Queen of Athel Loren. The Elves tell how she passes the winter months and times of great hurt within its embrace. However, they do not know whether she does so literally within the body of the tree or in grand halls woven into its roots - certainly, none have the temerity to ask.
It is here, beneath the Oak's ancient boughs, that countless generations of Athel Loren's Spellsingers have learned their sorcerous craft. Magic lies heavy about the Oak of Ages, and its aspect subtly changes as the Winds of Magic rise and fall. It is at its most glorious when Ghyran sweeps through the forest, and at its most twisted and sinister when Shyish is ascendant. Few artifacts forged by mortal races contain as much magical power as a single acorn from the Oak's branches. Many a Spellsinger that travels the lands beyond Athel Loren does so with such a treasure bound tight above her heart to serve as a protective charm, a lodestone to hearth and home and, at a desperate need, a reserve of power.
Many Elves believe that the fate of the Oak of Ages governs not only the rest of Athel Loren, but their entire race also. For this reason, no matter how terrible times become, or how dire the peril facing them, the Wood Elves will never suffer invaders to despoil the Oak of Ages.
-The Taint of Chaos: No matter what they might like to think, Elves are not immune to the influence of Chaos; they are untouched by physical mutation, but the power of the Dark Gods has seeped into their souls. Here it fans an arrogance that was legendary even in ancient times. The unconditional compassion that was once the Elves' defining trait has long since been extinguished, replaced by a belief in their own preeminence that knows no denial.
This arrogance has manifested differently among the Elven races. It has remade the Dark Elves as selfish despoilers of a world they see fit only for their pleasure. The High Elves it has made stubborn and conceited, the self-appointed protectors of a realm whose fate lies far beyond their control. Only the Wood Elves reject the lure of bending other lands to their will, for in them, the influence of Chaos has awakened only distrust and isolationism. The folk of Athel Loren care nothing so much as to be left alone, to tend the groves of their woodland home in peace. Only on those occasions where the fate of the wider world threatens Athel Loren do they even notice the lands beyond their forest's eaves.
VICTORY GAINS
In the event that making friends with the third party faction would be highly benefital for the Wood Elves, but not cost them much in return, they'll establish relations with that faction. If that cannot be achieved, they'll settle for ignoring the faction, or killing them off, depending on how they feel at the time, and how much of a threat they might be. They have little interest in money or treasures, though steel may be taken, as this is not something they can easily make on their own. Heavily Forested areas may be made into bases, but they prefer to stay in Athel Loren. Overall: Minimal.
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