The Elven Conclave
Culture
The Enclave is a society of excess and hedonism in all of its forms. The Parties of elves feature a large amount of food and drink which the elves partake in quite eagerly. They also host orgies which feature sex and sadism in equal parts, the slaves who are unlucky enough to be chosen to feature in parties are tortured with glee and malevolence. The screams of pain from these unlucky captives may ring through the Wych Wood for days as the parties of the Elite are known to last for weeks on end.
These Elites may be the heads of one of the 5 Covens that make up Conclave society, or part of the 6th Coven: The Ethereal Coven. The Ethereal Coven members are hand selected by Rathal as they are said to be among the most beautiful and intelligent of the Conclave. Ethereals are given administrative, and judicial jobs in the Conclave and have their own personal retinue of favored slaves. These elves are the only elves who are allowed to use magic, due to his insistence that they are among the most pure of Elvenkind and are the rightful inheritors of this craft. To the non Ethereal Coven members the Ethereals are as close to ancient elves as one could get, outside of Rathal of course.
As the rightful inheritors of magic and the arcane it is not permitted for non ethereals, much less non elves, to use magic of any kind. The rounding up and capturing of all non ethereals is left to the Coven known as The Voiceless. The Voiceless are a group of Elves who are completely void of a divine spark, non magic users feel an unease about them as they silently go from town to town sniffing for any sign of the arcane, but magic users especially sorcerers feel immense pain when the Voiceless approach. The more powerful or active a divine spark is the more pain they feel. Spells fizzle within their vicinity and enchanted objects lose their charges. These elves had their vocal cords removed as even their words seem to drain the divine spark of those around them, only the speakers of the voiceless are allowed to keep their voices as they have shown mastery of their null powers. When the Voiceless capture a magic user the unlucky captive is sent to the Harlequin or worse the Alchemists.
The Alchemists are a Coven set up by Rathal to perform and oversee experimentation on living creatures creating abominations and monsters to be released on the unsuspecting targets of a raid. During these raids a couple of Alchemists will usually accompany a raiding party of Red Teeth. They will bring along their most horrific creations and hold sorts of contests to see which creature performs the best. The winner of this contest will win the respect of their peers and their creation will be brought to Rathal who will judge whether or not the creation of the creature will be standardized. The alchemists will often make use of their Illithid allies and may bring Illithid into the fold and recruit them as an Alchemist, making them the one of only two Coven which allows non-elves to join.
The Red Teeth make up the army of the Conclave, and often launch raids on towns to capture slaves and new playthings for their Ethereal masters. These raids are performed via the Underdark which they have access to thanks to the help of the Drow and Illithid who they have made alliances with. This allows them to launch raids on almost any part of eluth and retreat back to the underdark unnoticed. The raids are frequent due to Rathal having a strict quota of Slaves that must be met, for every 10 elves in the Conclave there must always be at least 1 slave. This plus the rate at which slaves are gone through ensures that The Red Teeth never go long between raids.
The most powerful and cruel of the Red Teeth may get hand picked by Rathal to be a part of his elite retinue. These are known as the Blood Drinkers and are a sub-faction of the Red Teeth. They are among the elite in Conclave military using ancient elven techniques, and weapons to dazzle and cleave through their opponents. The most feared and Iconic weapon of the Blood Drinkers is the Elven Twinblade which all new Blood Drinkers are required to master before they can be considered full Blood Drinkers. The Elven Twinblade is a masterfully crafted weapon appearing as a glaive with an extra blade at the bottom end. These blades are jagged and coated with a mild acid causing excruciating pain to the victim that is wounded by the twin blade. Very few outside the Blood Drinkers are allowed to use this weapon and they require special permission only obtainable from Rathal himself. These special few are usually assigned special missions to undertake outside the Wych Woods. They are meant to represent the Conclave and remind the outside world that the Elves are not to be trifled with.
The Blood Drinkers never number more than a thousand and once picked the aspirant must face the weakest Blood drinker in one on one combat. Should the Blood drinker fall in battle the new Blood Drinker shall consume the flesh of their fallen adversary. What’s more, they shall be given the fallen Blood Drinkers Elven Twinblade, and their training will begin immediately. If the Aspirant should fall in the battle the body would be given to the Alchemist so they may continue to serve their Despot even in death, If a Blood Drinker shall die in any other circumstance outside of being killed by an aspirant, or an aspirant die in training, a tournament between potential aspirants would take place. The best and strongest Red Teeth would be picked to fight and the tournament shall commence until a champion is crowned. Once a champion is crowned the fallen shall be consumed in a feast with Rathal and the new Blood Drinker at the head of the table. Once the feast is completed the Asparent shall be awarded their Elven Twinblade and their training shall commence on the dawn of the next day.
Flayers are among the few elves which still craft and create in the Conclave. This coven is responsible for designing and crafting new weapons, armors, and instruments of torture in the Conclave. The elves of this Coven have the reputation of being mad, and are treated with respect by some and revulsion by others. While some create peerless weaponry that would sunder even the most well crafted dwarven armor, many more create utter junk that is incapable of suiting a peasant much less the Red Teeth. Though it should be noted that even these Flayers can on occasion create masterworks that put even the most skilled smiths and crafters to shame. The materials they use to create these weapons is varied and may even include other Conclave elves, but the results they produce please Rathal so a missing Elf here and there is meaningless in comparison.
The Final Coven is considered the most feared and reviled by the denizens of Eluth outside of the Wych Woods. This Conclave is known as the Harlequin and they are tasked with rounding up, overseeing, and torturing the slaves and captives of the Conclave. They take immense joy in their job and are known to laugh and even sing with joy as they slowly torture their unfortunate captives. As they go through the day shepherding the slaves, they keep an eye out for any slaves acting out, sowing rebellion, or simply being too hopeful. They take special joy in torturing these individuals, and breaking them into sinviling broken creatures unable to speak. The Harlequin spend days thinking and dreaming up new and more sadistic forms of torture. They speak eagerly with their fellow Harlequin exchanging ideas and techniques that they found to provoke an especially favorable reaction from the victim. However their sadism is not limited to the slaves.
Should a Conclave elf not show the proper respect to a superior or, Cordelia forbid, Rathal himself. The unfortunate elf will be brought before the slaves and rest of the elves, and The Harlequin will remind them about their duty to the Conclave and Rathal. Tourture of the “sinner” commences; the Harlequin reading off their “sin” and the penance they shall have to receive. This “penance” is often highly disproportionate to the “sin” itself, and it may last for hours before moving to the next sin. Once the “sinner” is subsequently reduced to only a pile of whimpering and blood, the Harlequin will read out who was responsible for bringing the transgression of the sinner to the attention of the Harlequin. In the case of a slave, the slave will be thanked for the information and be given a mark of obedience by the Harlequin. These slaves are spared much of the ire of the Harlequin and are seen as the most trustworthy of the slaves. They are given more freedom and better accommodations, these include, a pile of hay to sleep on, an old sheet, or in extremely rare cases, a shoe. Should a slave receive 3 marks of obedience they are seen as true loyalists to the Conclave and are given freedom to join the Conclave as a serf. However due to their slavery past they may never raise past this post and are unable to join any coven.
In the case of a serf bringing the sinner to the attention of a Harlequin the serf receives a large reward. However should the serf consistently report sinners to the Harlequin the serf may be considered to join The Favored. A subfaction of the Ethereals, the favored is a group of elves that have proven themselves to be extremely loyal to the Conclave and therefore are given many of the same privileges as the Ethereals, such as admittance to certain Ethereal parties, and a stipend of gold every month. Many serfs who became a part of The Favored find that they have no need to work anymore and live in the lap of luxury.
Serfs are the lowest rung of society that non slave elves exist in. These individuals are citizens of the Conclave and do all the duties that the Covens prefer not to. Of course there is a hierarchy itself among the serfs dictated by money, and the roles they perform, but to the Covens all non Coven Elves are Serfs.
In the Conclave, loyalty to the Conclave and Rathal is absolute. Due to the draw of being among The Favored and the fear of the Harlequin few Elves feel the need or desire to rebel against the status quo. Rathal is the epitome of the ancient elves to the elves of the Conclave, he has lived since the fall of the old empires and has mastery of the Arcane. They believe he will lead the elves to the glory of their former empire.
The ruins of the former empire serve as the foundation of the current architecture of the Conclave. Homes are often built from the ruins, and towns are built around the largest of the ruined structures. Though the elves continuously attempt to replicate the elegant sweeping architecture of the ancients, it still appears as a cheap imitation and nothing compared to the original architecture of the ancients.
Though the architecture is built on the ruins of the ancients, the conclave is built on slavery. Slaves are often taken during raids and in certain cases from the serf population. These slaves are used to perform unwanted tasks and manual labor, but they are more often used as toys for the elite and serfs alike. These slaves are used to satisfy their most base and sadistic desires and, with the help of the Alchemist, the release of death for these slaves are always just out of reach. Slaves are kept naked as a reminder of their status as cattle, during the harsh winter of the Conclave they are not allowed clothes and instead the alchemists infuse them with a mixture of stimulants and drugs to keep their body working in the sub zero temperature, but the sting of the cold is still felt all too well. They are kept in barn like structures where they may only sleep on the floor, the barns are poorly constructed and the wind infiltrates the building.
In order to keep the slaves in line the Harlequin use torture for the devients and gifts for the loyal. As stated before there are the marks of loyalty which can see a slave become a serf, but there's another way for a slave to become free. Every year the Harlequin announces the Lottery, each slave is given a number and a lot is drawn from a bag. The number which matches the lot is brought forward and they are given a choice, they may choose to become immediately free in exchange though they have to choose 10 slaves to serve as test dummies for the Harlequin’s new methods of torture. The second choice is that the winner can tell the Harlequin a new method of torture or the winner's design. If the Harlequin is dissastfied with the torture technique the winner is made to undergo their designed torture for the rest of their short life.
However, should the Harlequin deem it acceptable, the slave is allowed to either go free or become a serf, as long as they watch the initial test of the torture on a slave of the winners choice. During the test the winner may be asked to take part in the torture themself, but should they refuse the torture will continue as normal and no ill would come of it. However should they agree, the Harlequin will observe as the winner performs the torture. Should the winner show great joy or satisfaction employing a technique of torture that they invented, the winner is usually taken aside and a new option is presented. The winning slave is given the option to join the Harlequin as an apprentice, there they may be trained in the artistry and nuances of torture and slave keeping. Once their training is complete the label of slave is permanently slashed from their history and they become a Harlequin.
Public Agenda
The Conclave hopes to expand their land and conquer all of Eluth. The lesser races shall be relegated to slavery and menial tasks, and magic shall be a privilege only afforded to the Ethereals and select members of Covens. In doing this they hope to recapture the former glory of the empire of the ancients, and ascend to the near immortality their ancestors enjoyed.
Assets
In addition to the large standing army, the Conclave also possesses mastercraft weapons and artifacts that are leagues above non elven crafts. Rathal and the ethereals enjoy a great number of luxuries, due to the trade routes with the underdark which import precious metals, iron and steel, adamantine, and gems.
History
The veil between the Feywild and the material plane has always been thin in the reaches of the Wych woods; it is there the first elves came into being. Archeologists and scholars speak of ruins of great cities with resplendent architecture, living in perfect harmony with the nature of the woods, but those days are long past. The wych woods now echo with the screams of slaves and the laughter of their captors.
The fall of the elves is believed to have begun after the cataclysm which caused the fall of the old empires. Elves, once peaceful, slowly twisted and changed, their psyche becoming fractured and sadistic. Lifespans became shortened and those elves who held onto the old ways, fled or died off. Once the year 27 AA arrived the elves of the Wych Woods are mere shadows of their former noble selves. Elven cities of the Wych Woods have fallen into ruins after millenia of being abandoned, and these ruins became the bases of the many Coven that came to run the Wych Woods.
The many Coven of the Wych Woods warred with each other constantly, launching raids in order to burn down the homes of their enemies. The survivors of these raids were taken by the enemy coven to use as pleasure tools, allowing the victorious coven to act out their most heinous and base desires upon their captives. With the constant warring of the Covens, those that lived on the outside of the Wych Woods would never see a Wych Wood Elf leading many to believe that the Elves of the Wych Wood have died out, but the few elven refugees that would appear every now and then would dissuade these beliefs.
On a cool early spring morning of 709 AA the Wych Wood would be forever changed, a Coven of the North Wych Woods was greeted by a strange High Elf who called himself Rathal Trasien. The Coven had recently been the target of a raid and had been utterly decimated; there were only a handful of survivors and were exhausted and weak. Rathal came to them from deep in the Wych Woods and asked to speak with the leader of the Coven, but their chieftain had been viciously killed by the raiders. They sent their strongest remaining survivor to speak with Rathal, she was a prodigal spell caster and had shown great promise in the field of Conjuration. So, despite her young age she was selected to represent the Coven to this stranger. Rathal smiled when he met her, “How wonderful to meet the chieftess of this Coven… My but you are young”, he would speak to her in a condescending tone. The Chieftess was taken aback “I need none of your condescension, covenless one. I am an accomplished spell caster, and have easily mastered the art of Conjuration. You appear before me alone, and speak so brazenly; I could easily push you aside without a turn of the head.” She lied. Rathal chuckled unbothered by her outburst “Oh my dear child, you are nothing more than a cornered dog snarling and barking to intimidate the hunter in front of them. I can see right through your act.” With that his hand cracked with a pale green energy and he rushed at her as a cat pounces on its prey. His hand dug into her stomach and her Coven watched horrified. Her body was alight with pain, as if every inch of her body was being pierced by a white hot needle. She could only croak out pained moans while her body contorted in on itself. She started to age rapidly, entire decades passing in a blink of an eye, and once Rathal removed his hand she was naught but a pile of dust.
Rathal coldly looked down upon what once was the chieftess “Arrogant young thing, she was unworthy of the gift she possessed.” Rathal looked to the horrified Coven infront of him “I suppose you are once again without a leader, in light of this I have a proposition for you. Serve me as my Conclave. I have watched for years as we have turned on each other to assert some sort of dominance, and waste the potential we have as elves. We are fractured and weak now but soon we shall bring the wych wood to its knees united as one. We shall take our right as rulers of Eluth and all lesser races shall serve or be purged.” The weakened Coven agreed and together they set out on a campaign of subjugation.
By the year 746 AA the entirety of the Wych woods was under Rathal’s rule. The few Covens that tried to resist were swiftly crushed under his heel. With the establishment of the Conclave Rathal had the Covens broken up and all would instead serve only him. After consolidating his power and removing any weak links Rathal spoke to his Conclave. He told them that he was there when the ancient kingdoms fell, and saw the old empire of the elves. He wishes to bring the conclave to the pinnacle of elven potential, but in order to do that the true old ways of the ancient elves must be followed. Rathal claimed that the ancient elders of the elves engaged in the consumption of the lesser races with pleasure and hedonism were pursued above all. In order to achieve this they shall launch raids gathering captives from the lands surrounding the Wych Woods. Furthermore only the elite among the elves may practice the art of magic and any non elite elves, or lesser races seen using magic will be hunted and consumed.
In 748 AA one warm summer morning Rathal and his conclave emerged from the Wych wood and marched on a town in the Genasi nation in what is now Eastern unclaimed Expanse. The Elves appeared and swarmed into the town like a plague of locus. They tore through the town capturing those who they could and slowly killing those who resisted. By the fall of night the town was naught but embers and bones, leaving the sounds of screams in the warm summer air.
The Conclave slowly carved away at the nations that surrounded it, moving southward into the elysian fields, and westward into the adamantine tips. By the year 1000 AA the Genasi nation fell and the Elves of the Conclave stood supreme and ever expanding, but this would not last. It was in 1142 AA during a campaign in the Forest of Ambushes a couple of elven raiders of the Conclave became sick with a strange disease. These raiders started to have symptoms such as bleeding from their orifices, and having necrosis of their skin. These raiders died after 4 days, but were soon forgotten about by the army. That was until the next month when more elves started getting sick with the same disease, now termed The Rot.
The Rot spread through the elves like a wildfire destroying the armies of the Conclave and collapsing the Elven offensive. The elves were fractured with some remaining where they were and others retreating back to the Wych Woods. In the end the Elvish incursion was halted, but the wounds left over from the conquest were slow to heal. The surrounding nations were unable to completely heal as the populace was too afraid of being attacked again, these nations broke and scattered to the winds, leaving the Elysian fields in chaos, and the once great genasi nation reduced to wandering nomads.
The Conclave in the meantime started to lick their wounds Rathal the despot was enraged by the failure of his people. He ordered half of the remaining army to battle the other half, the weakness of his elves must be purged. No protest was made by his people, Rathal had ingrained a zealot-like love for him in his people. They saw him as the last true elf of the land and only by following him they could reclaim their prior glory. The army was brought to the center of the Wych Woods, and stripped of all armor and weapons; now the great slaughter would commence. The soldiers would tear into each other using their nails and teeth, their screams of pain drowned out by the cheering and laughter of the crowds. The air was wet with blood and spit, as the battle became less of a brawl and more of a maelstrom of violence and savagery. Elven body parts were thrown from the brawl into the crowd and were eagerly devoured by the enthralled crowd. As the maelstrom reached a fevered pitch spectators began to join in as well wanting to get the freshest flesh and become a part of the storm of violence they were witnessing. Mothers would throw their children into this dervish of violence and those who were unable to fight back were devoured. The elves that managed to break free of the violence were met with a crowd that would push them back in, or if they were wounded enough devoured alive. By the time the violence had ended only 400 of the original 90,000 soldiers remained, and the crowd was whittled down to a couple thousand.
Rathal was pleased, the purge was a great success and he had no doubt pleased the goddesses Corelion and Lolth. He dubbed the remaining soldiers the Red Teeth and they shall lead the new Coven of the same name. The soldiers that showed particular ferociousness were named his blood drinkers and they became his new personal retinue. He then divided the crowd with the individuals who showed the most glee and excitement by the slaughter being chosen to lead a new Coven called the Harlequin. This Coven would be incharge of the torture of captives and the management of slaves, “after all what good is a slave if you cant play with it” Rathal mused.
The Rot and The Purge decimated the number of elves, and what once was a tide of violence and hunger was no more. However this peace will not last long in recent times Rathal has made moves to increase his power again. The Conclave has been sending out an increasing number of raids, and those that have escaped from captivity describe an ever expanding war machine. It is only a matter of time before the Conclave begins its conquest once again.
Demography and Population
The Conclave is almost solely elves with a minority of Illithid. Slaves make up a good chunk of the population, but their species are so varied there is no true way of gaining a good measurement of the demographics of the slaves so, they shall be marked only as slaves. The other refers to freed slaves which can be of any species
Elves: 70%
Slaves: 28%
Illithid: 1%
Other: 1%
Territories
Military
The Conclave has a standing army of around 50 thousand Red Teeth and 1 thousand blood Drinkers. Each Red Teeth troop is equipped with a sword, a long bow, and a choice of armor. Around 20% of the Troops are archers and have elven compound bows, these are more powerful than the longbow and are able to pierce plate mail with ease. 15% of the troops are calvary and may ride a number of potential mounts, these may include elk, griffins, horses, or in some cases Elephant. 5% are siege/demolition experts and employ a trebuchet, magic, and large beasts to besiege settlements with large walls should the need arise.
The Blood Drinkers are master warriors and have a mastery of all weapons, they prefer to use their elven twinblade, but some are known to use bows or magic as well. Each has a wyvern mount as well as a manticore mount which they may ride into battle upon. The Blood Drinkers all wear mastercrafted elven plate mail, and are able to cast some magic.
Religion
The Conclave has a mandated religion of The Cult of the Elven Sisters. This is the worship of Corellion and Lolth, who they view as two halves of the whole. One is no greater than the other. Of course Rathal is the head of the Cult.
Foreign Relations
Agriculture & Industry
The Conclave has a thriving lumber industry which they use in trade with the denizens of the Underdark. On top of this they grow a large selection of poisonous plants, and medicinal herbs which they distill into poisons and medicines which can be employed in torture, and interrogation. There is of course their smithing industry which is readily used in their trade with the underdark. Art objects made by the conclave are highly sought after by collectors, critics say that it has a savagery yet elegance to it that represents the unique dichotomy of the Elves.
Trade & Transport
Trading is usually done via certain serfs. They use moose mainly to move the large caravans to and from their destinations. The Underdark is used almost exclusively by the Conclave to trade. Thanks in no small part to the great number of allies they have in the underdark. The routes they use branch off from one large road, almost like a tree, this allows the route to be closely guarded and protected from the dangers of the Underdark. The largest route however is the Draconic way and is used to trade with Vivolia. So important is this route that at least 100 Blood Drinkers are employed to protect the route. The main export sent along this route is Art pieces which are traded with Vivolia in exchange for slaves.
Education
The Ethereals and the Favored enjoy a good amount of education, such as arithmetic, art, basic biology, Elven, Common, Undercommon, and Deep Speech Language, and Arcane Theory, though only the Ethereals are able to make use of Arcane Theory.
Serfs, however, get a very basic education that is mostly gotten from their parents. They are taught the basics of elven Language, and the necessities for their job. All other learning is considered above their meager understanding.
Infrastructure
Due to the Conclave being built on the ruins of the ancient Elven Empire Infrastructure can vary wildly from town to town. Some cities such as the capital of Thal Edhil have sewers, aqueducts, large walls, a fortress like citadel in the center, and even a coliseum, while others are little more than tents set up around a large ruined structure.
In ancestral footsteps we tread
Maps
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The Elven Conclave
Founding Date
746 AA
Alternative Names
The Conclave, The Elves, The Wych Woods
Demonym
Elves, Wyches, Cannibals, Savages
Government System
Despotism
Power Structure
Unitary state
Economic System
Palace economy
Currency
Gold Pieces
Major Exports
Slaves, Lumber, Weaponry, Art
Major Imports
Metals, Precious Gems, Precious metals, Slaves
Legislative Body
Rathal The Eternal
Judicial Body
The Ethereals
Executive Body
Rathal The Eternal
Neighboring Nations