Fantasy Lore of Araen

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The Elves are a passionate race, blinded by their desires and prone to excess. For all that they are deeply mournful, for many of them still remember the wars of long ago, and the terrible losses they suffered.
Elven men are expected to serve as warriors and servants. Females are considered superior, meant to be rulers and in positions of power, although some Empires and Sultanates allow males to inherit. When an older Elf is agitated, their voice sears like acid and razors, their presence a weight and warp on the World. Their skin goes translucent, organs and bones flaring with ethereal light as their hair becomes like spun glass. Beware an elder Elf with a short temper.
The Elves are incredible smiths and artists, bar none save some Men. When they die of old age, they become Light Elves. These are luminous, ghostly Elves, lacking in the morals of their previous state.
The Elven Empires are many, but the main ones are the Solarium, Lunar, Stellar and Umbral. The City of Zarazattar is a Lunar Elf city, the capital of the Empire.
The Umbral Elves hold the most territory, for they dwell underground. In sunlight and even moonlight, they are black as the Void. However, in the dark, their hair, eyes and skin glow with alien light. They are exceptional craftsmen, and their culture reveres sculpture and smithing.
The Solarium Elves are quite the opposite, bronze or gold in hue, with black, gold or silver eyes. Their hair is black, gold or white. They are the smallest Empire, but wealthy from trading their spidersilk garments.
The Lunar Elves are pale, nocturnal and rely on bows as the primary weapon. They dwell in the deepest forests.

Men are a curious race, tempered and prone to infighting. They are divided and scattered, and much of their ancient history is forgotten. They are divided into dozens of kingdoms and realms, and there’s hardly a time they’re not at war.
Men have the most sexual dimorphism amongst the races. Males have beards, like Dwarves, but the females lack them (more like Elves). Many of the other races are confused by this. Men love to reside near rivers and other bodies of water.
The main power is the Kharos of the plains, who trade with Dwarves and ride horses and camels. They feud with the Demon Cults of Stygia, who plot the resurrection of an Unholy God.

Dwarves are fierce and harsh, like their mountains and seas. Their villages are carefully concealed and buried, a maze of tunnels weaving through the ground. The Dwarven overlord is the Low Sovereign, chosen from the Ten Halls (or clans) by democratic election. They are especially resistant to the corruption of wealth, as hundreds of wars were fought over the choice mines. The current Low Sovereign, Soves Arakse, is a formidable leader. Arakse is dedicated to proving his worth as Soves.

 

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The World is contained within a sphere of crystal. Past that, the Inner Void awaits. The Second Sphere separates the World from the Outer Void. The Heavens are located at the ‘top’ of the Spheres, in the Inner Void. The First Sphere holds the Sun and Moon, as well as the stars.

The Outer Void is a crushing, obliterating place of neither light nor darkness. The fully-powered Demiurges who advocated non-interference lurk near the World, gibbering and screaming in their madness. Occasionally, a fissure in the Second Sphere allows one to leak into reality for a brief time. One such incursion brought an end to the Akash Empire of Elves, and the Forces of the Hells and the Heavens had to unite to seal the breach.

 

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Mortals live such short lives. Not even the eldest Elves can remember the First War, save in the stories told by the Light Elves, and they would rather not remember. The Angels, Demons and Beyonders are members of the Demiurge race, spirits of thought and power and light. It was they who forged the World, who laid down the Foundations and raised the Firmament. It was they who broke the mountains, spilled the seas, and razed the original lands.

Afterwards, they had drained themselves. The Demiurges overused their power, reducing their innate might. The creation of the Weapons of Rapture slowed the decline, and allowed them to forge miniature worlds. There, they were still omnipotent. The magma of the Hells, and the cold light of the Heavens preserve their inhabitants, drawing out their power far beyond its span.

The Beyonders, however, are an enigma. They have lost no power, and they are not limited by personal realms. However, they are insane, broken things. Their forms manifest as jagged interference and incomprehensible humanoid shapes, their voices screaming static and crackling ice. The Outer Void is not a kind place for the mind, but it is strange how far the Beyonders have fallen.

Angels are quite different. They naturally resemble humanoids mixed with geometric shapes, but regularly choose to look like Men, Elves or Dwarves. Angels dwell in a complicated hierarchy called a Choir, at the top of which is the Holy God they serve. The line between Holy Gods and certain Archangels is blurred.

Demons, on the other hand, prefer hideous forms. They regularly change form, picking the most useful one for the particular corruption they desire. Their bureaucracy is centered around devouring lesser Demons in the pits they call home, and absorbing their power. Demons can be shattered, scattering their power amongst several new Demons. The Unholy Gods contend amongst themselves, seeking to encircle their rival’s domains and devour them. A Demon killed in Araen will dissipate in a massive destructive blast, much like Angels. No one has ever slain a Beyonder.