Dark Elves

The Gate to Light is the Dark Elf side of the Entrance to the Dark.

Non-graphic, but grim content not suitable for children or those who are sensitive

A Society Driven by Biological Imperatives

Starvation & Death: A Grim Reality in a World without Light

Since the Betrayal and confinement of the dark elves in the caverns with their Mistress Ligeoa, survival of the dark elves has been a precarious thing. Cut off from the life giving rays of the sun, there are few natural sources of food in the caverns, and none that are plentiful and able to sustain a large population of sentient beings. Starvation and death are never far away from the experience of life in the dark caverns, and children are the first to die, with only thirty percent of live born children living into adulthood. It is not surprising that the total number of dark elves is much lower than that of their free brethren. Competition is fierce between dark elf clans for food and for the favor of their goddess who provides light and food through magic - the one life giving source of energy in the dark.
Everything in the society is dominated by this brutal reality. The value of individuals is determined solely on the basis of their ability to contribute to the survival of the particular clan of one's birth, and the thinking of the people is shaped to consider the survival of the clan and the contribution of the individual to that survival to the exclusion of all other considerations. Those who have little or no contribution to make, or worse, who are a drain on the clan are considered a waste of precious resources and are cut off from support and allowed to die of deprivation, or more mercifully, killed to avoid a lingering death and suffering. Practices such as cannibalism evolved as a method for maximizing the efficiency of the food sources and the benefit gained by the clan from the contributions of its members.

Societal Structure and Status

This vicious struggle for survival manifests in several cultural adaptations, the most obvious being the strongly matriarchal governance model of the culture. Fertile females rigidly control all aspects of the society and are considered to be of supreme value. Without their ability to reproduce the dark elves would die in short order, and females who are fertile and currently reproducing have the highest value to the clan, with the greatest status going to those who birth the largest numbers of high value female children or who are priestesses of their goddess Ligeoa. Healthy young females with the potential for future reproduction are valued next.

The View From Outside

Very little is actually known about the dark elves by the races of the Surface world as thousands of years have passed since the Betrayal, and interactions with dark elves are invariably extremely violent. These grim warriors do occasionally take female prisoners, who they make slaves, and what is known of them is gleaned from tales told by escaped prisoners, and the occasional dark elf soldier. These prisoners are invariably taken by being knocked unconscious rather than surrendering when outmatched as dark elves seem constitutionally unable to come to any kind of peaceful settlement with outsiders. They do not live long after capture, typically committing suicide in prison rather than allowing themselves to be traded in negotiations with their leaders. With a reputation for extreme systemic evil and violence, no depravity is considered beyond this race.

"Thieves, murderers, baby eaters, they have orgies and no one comes out alive."
- They

Females are the only persons who can own real estate, slaves or businesses. They typically engage in economically profitable professions, and are prevalent in merchantile businesses, law, politics, religion, and teaching. Adult males engage in activities which exploit their superior physical strength, including fighting to defend the clan from incursions from others, medicine, construction, and farming what foodstuffs can be cultivated or raised in the dark. Males are allowed to own personal property including money, and in a few very wealthy clans they may also be permitted to own businesses.
Males are considered to have significantly less value in comparison to fertile females as females can serve almost all male functions if absolutely needed. Only a small set of breeding males (see Consorts) are deemed necessary for the continuance of the clan. Interestingly, the value of males is flexible and is determined by the well being of the clan, with males rising in value and stature, closing the gap between them and the breeding females as the clan's well being is secured and wealth is acquired. Non-breeding females (sterilis) have the same status as males. Male children,and persons who are aged, infirm or otherwise unable to contribute meaningfully to the survival of the clan reside at the bottom of the social structure - for as long as they live. The success and status of a clan is reflected in the ratio of lower value males to high value females, with highly successful clans boasting ratios near 50-35-15 of fertile females to males to children.

The Drive to Reproduce

The threat and closeness of clan extinction and the unavoidable high rate of deaths amongst children favors short term survival strategies over longer term health and stability. Females are driven to reproduce early and often, counting on quantity of offspring to assure survival of their clan given the difficulties with getting female children to a reproductive age. The community tracks lineage entirely through the females, and genetic diversity necessary to minimize the emergence of mutations that run counter to survival is assured through trading males (Consorts) across clans. The clan is the fundamental building block of the society, and the loyalty of the members of the society is to the Matriarch first and then to the secondary reproducing females. Because of this, there is no pair bonding, and sexual activities are engaged in freely and frequently under the control and discretion of the females, but with a very high degree of pressure for the females to constantly be pregnant and reproducing. The preferred sexuality or gender identity of any individual is considered irrelevant to the obligations and behaviors required to produce offspring, but leisure sex in multiple forms outside of deliberate reproductive purposes is rampant. All preganancies are celebrated, and children who come from leisure sex are indistinguishable from deliberate breeding practices.

An Evil and Insane Goddess

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While survival in the caverns drives a natural press of the culture towards the matriarchal, the dark elves have taken this to an unnatural extreme for theological reasons. Soured by her dysfunctional relationship to Lameravis, Ligeoa vehemently hates males, and seems to take particular delight in torturing them for the slightest infractions of a convoluted code of behavior that she has imposed, or failures in their assigned responsibilities as dictated by the females. Her power, shared as clerical magic, is given exclusively to females, mainly her priestesses, who are also the clan Matriarchs, within the cultural hierarchy. Her hatred leads to a further devaluation among her followers of the essential contributions of males to the survival of the clan by protecting the clan and providing foodstuffs and essential hard labor necessary for its continuity.
Ligeoa is not a stable goddess. She spends excessive periods of time cavorting with demons, and demands the periodic sacrifice of sentient beings in her worship. These can be slaves taken in conflict, but if no slaves are available, lower status individuals, typically males, are used to appease the goddess. She takes particular delight in torture rather than death, and rules the dark elves with an iron fist through the imposition of fear. No one, from the lowliest child to her High Priestess can feel safe from the terror of the altar.
Her torture is endlessly creative and as psychological as it is physical. She has been known to elevate individuals in her favor, nurturing a sense of superiority and security in them, then select them for humiliation, sacrifice or torture for no apparent cause. She delights in identifying subjects for whom people have indicated attachment and selecting them for sacrifice forcing their clans or attached others to watch the process or even to perform the torture themselves. These practices warp and destroy normal bonding relationships, and have over eons created a society filled with rage, with very strong self defensive prohibitions on the outward expression of any tenderness or attachment towards others and an apparent calloused disregard for life. It is not uncommon for dark elves to be so divorced from their emotions that they cannot identify the source of their feelings, and they frequently are unable to remember their pasts, difficult experiences, or clan members who have died. Ligeoa uses this fear, isolation and disfunction to ensure that her subjects adhere strictly to her laws to which she demands rigid compliance, though these laws can be completely upended whenever they may appear to apply to herself and she does not wish to obey them.

The Race that Survives

While the plight of the infirm and males in this system is a particularly difficult one, the brutality and objectivity of the dark elf culture creates a profound injury in the psyche of every person in it regardless of their particular circumstances. The lack of caring and value of the individual is a deep wound driven by the quest for survival in the dark under the thumb of an insane and evil goddess. That the dark elves have survived for thousands of years in this fiercely adversarial environment is a testament to their resiliency as a people, and the strength and commitment of the individuals to the future of their species.