The Dark Elves of Nathe

The Elven Kingdom of Nathe was once the most prosperous nation in the world. They dwelt in the southern mountains, in a land rich with the most precious ore of all; mithril. A country of smiths, artisans, and merchants, all of Nathe was centered around this singular metal. With it they forged the greatest artifacts and armors the world had ever known. And for centuries, these people knew nothing but peace. But then The Black Winter came.

One fateful day the elves dug too far, awakening the dwellers of the inner earth. At once the mouths of every mine poured forth with these hideous creatures. The “Kull”, the elves called them, a word in their language which meant “hollow death”. These monstrosities, knots of mangled flesh and writhing limbs, had glistening black skin covered with only eyes, claws, and teeth. They knew only violence and hunger, and they devoured a tenth of the Nathe nation within the first night.

As the sun rose the Kull retreated back into their caves. The people of Nathe licked their wounds and spent an hour mourning their dead. But then, they did what they had always done best. They started crafting. Yet not artifacts, or armors, this time. This time they crafted weapons. And as the second night came, they were ready. They fought, ushering forth twin tides black Kull blood, and their own red blood, underneath a moonlit sky. As the chaos and the killing of the night started to fade, and sunlight washed over the mountainside, these once noble elves found they had changed.

Their once porcelain skin, covered now with wounds and intermixed with Kull blood, was now various shades of black, blue, and gray. Their eyes, like the beasts they had just waged war against, now red. Since that day Nathe has never stopped crafting weapons. These once docile, pacifist, people now found themselves eager for the next night to come. And then the next. And then soon they found themselves delving back into the caves, not just for mithril. But for violence and blood.