Sashou (Elven Reunification Movement)

The Sashou is the (mostly underground) movement of Vellan-born Elves to reunite their people with their kin of the great Larathorn wood. They seek to undo the perceptions of their damaged nature as "Dark Elves" and instead rekinde a union between themselves and their traditionalist relatives to the north. Some within the movement seek to rejoin the traditional culture of their people while others (the assimilationists) seek to draw the Elves of Larathorn into the sway of the Vellan Dominion. Among the Elves of the Vellan Dominion, Sashou is slowly gaining some traction but it is still largely considered a fringe movment. The Dominion attempts to deny the existence of the momvement publicly, but works behind the scenes to drive the Elves more fully under their sway. Indeed, among many groups of traditionalists the assimilationists are all thought to be simply spies and Dominion agents. Outside the Dominion relations are not much improved. The assimilationists' efforts undermine the goals of the larger portion of the movement by fomenting distrust wtih the entirety of Sashou among the other Elves of Raiven. Still, as the movement slowly grows within the Dominion, some optimistic outsiders have begun to enage with the traditionalists in earnest. An increased prevalence of traditional Raivanni Elven culture and even language usage within the Dominion's borders is proof enough that such cultural exchanges are happening. This, of course, is publicly welcomed but secretly acted against as anything that draws loyalty away from the Dominion is viewed as a threat. One of the side benefits of Sashou has been a more open movement against the label "Dark Elf" across many Raivanni communities, reaching as far as the Axial Empire. Still, the visual differences between Vellan Elves and others are distinctive and it will take many years of focused effort to counter the unearned stigma associated with such signifiers. The Dominion's aggressive colonization efforts do little to help in this regard. A final point of interest, Sashou has also rekindled connections between the Vellan Elves as the other Feyn of Raiven, and to a lesser degree beyond. Such contact is more prevealent as many Sashou adherents who become discouraged with Larathorni relations flock to the Aranellan colony. Unfortunately this also opens them up to the hatred of the Derathaini who treat the Vellan Elves even worse than most cultures on Raiven. Nevertheless, the dedication of the Sashou adherents is strong and their goals are not expected to be short-term by any who strive to achieve them.