Aina: Frost Elves

For most history the Aina Elves remained a bastion that could not be beaten. The Selefer tried, the Avaronians tried and their successor tried but none could conquer their lands. This all changed when the Daski Elves emerged from underground. With their ancestral homelands now under Daski control the Aina Elves have taken to the seas and its many islands.

— High Sage Syronikir

Thousands of years ago the ancient Elven population migrated from central Farlis to various regions. The Frost Elves, or Aina , are the descendants of the Elves that went west across the Everir Mountains and settled there. They gained their name of Frost Elves due to the frigid environments they live in and the fact that they mostly use water magic.
They managed to stay away from the politics of Farlis for many centuries but were eventually caught of guard when large amounts of Daski Elves moved to their ancestral homelands. Eventually many left and travelled further west or north along the ocean.

Biology

Physiology

Just like all Elves the Aina have long ears with pointed ends. In general the Aina have very pale skin tones which is a benefit in their environment. Their hair colours are rather varied but most tend to either have blond, white or ginger hair.
The Aina Elves are extremely resistant against cold. Something that other species often remark is the odd tendancy of the Aina Elves to never wear headgear such as wool caps. The Aina don't seem to be bothered and claim that it needs to be a lot colder before their ears freeze off.
Many among the Aina Elves also have knack for water based magic. There are many families among the Aina who don't even need to use Falls for their magic.

Climate

Many of the Aina live in mountainous regions but they just as easily thrive in colder climates. Currently there still live quite an amount of Aina Elves in Deldirom but their numbers are diminishing. Most Aina Elves now live in the still rather cold Belidor Isles where they maintain a more seafaring society. This goes quite well with their skills in water based magic. Some Aina Elves travelled even further to the northern continent of Idravil where they formed the Ivalem nation.

Reproduction

The Aina Elves are not known to produce a lot off offspring. Despite their quite long lifespans the average amount of children is about 4. Most of this is believed to be mainly based on the harsh conditions of the frigid environments they inhabit. Food is not as easily produced there and many Aina therefore choose not to have too many children.

Additional Information

Frost Elf by kefkejaco with Heroforge

Scientific Name

aina (Aina)

Geographic Location

Belidor Isles, Deldirom, Idravil

Language

Irin

Favoured Climates

cold climates

Average Height

1.6m

Lifespan

On average 700 years

Society

Yamaderis misplaced this image by Kefkjaco with heroforge

Relgion

Just like most of the surface Elves the Aina worship the gods of the Eregr pantheon. Their focus is, however, on the goddess of winter Eleria who is seen as their protector god. One famous ritual in her name is the yearly ice bathing that is done by the Aina Elves in the middle of winter. They jump in the frigid water and try to stay in there for some time. This is not without its dangers, even with their good cold resistance, but luckily there are trained individuals that can save anyone who overextend themselves.
Other important gods in their worship are the mountain god Alikor and the Water goddess Astheria. According to Aina belief these two gods are married but seldom see eachother. Each year however Alikor is believed to travel on the rivers coming from the mountains to go to the sea where they spent a week together. To aid his journey Aina Elves put small boats with lights on the river to show the way.

Culture

Water Magic

In general the Aina Elves are rather skilled in water magic and many are even born with an affinity for this type of magic. For those who don't there luckily is a lot of Falls of the sea crystal kind in cold environments. Some Aina Elves use it to aid their construction with some buildings being constructed out off ice. This is always the case for the temples dedicated to the winter goddess Eleria. During the warmer months, however, this means that lots of effort needs to be made to maintain these structures. More commonly the Aina use it for ice sculptures which are used throughout their settlements. Every year these sculptures are renewed and the Aina try to create an as beautiful display as possible.
For their defence the Aina Elves heavily depend on this type of magic. For centuries the mountains were never successfully invaded as any enemies were quickly repelled by a barrage of ice. Sometimes the Aina even used controlled avalanches to deter invaders.
Now that many of the Aina have become seafaring societies they have started to focus on sea control which they use to increase the speed of their ships. The most skilled Aina are even able to completely protect their ships against storms. The Aina Elves from Ivalem have gone even further and exchanged their ships for large icebergs which they control. Of course these can't be use far outside of the colder climates.

Gender

As the women among the Aina are most likely to have an affinity for water magic they are seen as the most important members of society. Almost all leader or priest positions are taken up by women. Men do serve in the army but are rarely part of an magic squad.

by Kefkejaco with midjourney

Architecture

The architecture among the Aina differs from society to society. In their original lands they often built building in irregular stones kept in place with mortar. In this regard they do not differ that much from the Daski styles. However, the buildings there are higher than the Daski equivalent and often use several levels in a terrace like structure. The top of the building is almost always made out of wood. Mages often like to decorate their houses with ice sculptures on each of these levels.
The seafaring Aina don't use stone as much as their mainland kin and tend to use building completely made out of wood. These are however very nicely decorated with wavy patterns often carved in the wood.

History

by kefkejaco with Inkarnate

by kefkejaco with inkarnate

Origin

Due to a still unknown event the original Elves living in central Farlis were forced to move. In the end this would result in several different species of Elves as they spread in all directions and even underground in the case of the Dark Elves. The ancestors of the Aina are believed to have travelled to the mountains ranges west of central Farlis.

Ancient Time

For most of history the Aina Elves have managed to maintain their territories. At the start they only had a relatively small region in the Everir mountains under their control. However, they soon expanded and managed to oust the Giants out of all the territories to the west. Eventually they even expanded to the Belidor Isles.

Daski

All of this changed when the Daski Elves emerged in ever greater numbers from the underground. At first this was not really an issue and the Aina Elves happily accepted them in their midst. Eventually, however, their number rapidly increased leading to conflict. These conflict ended with the Daski Elves taking control in Deldirom and becoming the majority of the population there.
Most Aina Elves migrated to the Belidor Isles but some even ventured further. Currently there are quite a large amount of Aina Elves living in the northern continent of Idravil and some even live in the northern part of Pavanor. The Ivalem nation in Idravil has even become the most powerful of the continent.

Niorath

Open full size

This map shows the world of Niorath and its various biomes and nations. The north and south pole areas are still rather unexplored because they are frequently covered in ice. Various species live there but they have not played any major role in the history of the planet. The other continents are much more populated and have seen their fair share of changing occupants.

Some areas of the world are quite different from the normal natural biomes. These are chaos areas, region affected by the dangerous Chaos Tempests who can corrupt the land beyond recognition. Many of these are the result of forbidden magic going very wrong and have often meant the end of the empires that performed the related rituals.