Tide Elves: Difference between revisions

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The Dor’nai are now believed extinct. During the height of the Tide War—a prolonged ideological and arcane conflict with the Vel’nai—their archipelago was submerged in a cataclysm widely attributed to unacknowledged magical devastation. Since that time, no Tide Elf has been seen upon the shores of Alathra. Their name survives only in submerged ruins, sailor’s songs, and the mourning of their Mor’nai kin.

== Etymology ==

* '''Tide Elves:''' A name given by other elves and humans in reference to their maritime culture.

* '''Dor’nai:''' From ''dor'' (sea) + ''’nai'' (descendants/lineage), meaning “Children of the Sea.”

== Physical Traits ==

The Dor’nai bore the sea in their bones and skin:

* '''Skin tones:''' Pale pearl, deep blue-grey, or kelp-green with iridescent undertones.

* '''Eyes:''' Seafoam, moonlit silver, or dark indigo, often with a reflective sheen.

* '''Hair:''' Ranged from seaweed black and storm-grey to silver-white and aquamarine.

* '''Posture:''' Graceful and wave-like in motion; comfortable in both water and land.

* '''Aquatic Adaptation:''' Extended lung capacity, strong swimmers, with subtle webbing between fingers and toes.

* '''Tidal Sensory:''' Sensitive to lunar shifts, pressure changes, and water currents; many were known to navigate by starlight and scent.

== Elven Lineage ==

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Scattered among all lineages are the rare Veyari, shapeshifters born with residual echoes of the L’nai essence. Though rare, they are found across all elven communities and maintain no distinct homeland of their own.

[[File:Elven_Race_Lineage.png|center|frameless|750x750px]]

=== Ancestry ===

The ''Dor’nai'' descended from the ''Sira’nai'' (Star Elves), whose spiritual philosophies and luminous traditions inspired many diverging elven lineages. While the High Elves turned inland and upward, the Tide Elves looked outward to the sea. They believed that freedom, change, and convergence were not only natural, but essential.

This put them at odds with the Vel’nai. Where the High Elves pursued exclusivity and structured advancement, the Tide Elves embraced fluidity and adaptation. As High Elf philosophy hardened into supremacist ideology, tensions deepened. The Tide Elves refused to align with the Purity Doctrine and sheltered exiles, heretics, and rejected lineages.

When the Vel’nai turned to war, the Dor’nai stood alone.

== Homeland ==

The Dor’nai homeland was a solitary archipelago located off the southern coast of Alathra. Composed of coral atolls, volcanic isles, and shifting sandbars, it housed a singular great city, Lareth Thalorien, the Pearl Spire—surrounded by several smaller settlements.

Each island was shaped to the rhythm of the tide and moon. Structures were built of prisarine, sea-glass, stone, and coral, with canopies of woven kelp and light-crystals strung between tide-marked pylons.

The archipelago no longer exists. During the final days of the Tide War, the islands were sunk in a sudden, overwhelming cataclysm. While some believe it was a natural disaster, many records point to a deliberate and coordinated magical strike. The Vel’nai have never confirmed or denied involvement.

== Culture ==

The Dor’nai way of life was rooted in balance, exchange, and fluid social order. Hierarchy was minimal and leadership rotated with the moon. They held sacred the act of navigation across action, thought and spirit.

'''Cultural touchstones included:'''

* '''Tide Oracles:''' Diviners who read waves, dreams, and lunar paths.

* '''Confluence Councils:''' Consensus assemblies held on the full moon.

* '''Song-Pillars:''' Towering monuments that resonated with harmonic sounds of the sea.

== Religion and Beliefs ==

The Dor’nai did not worship gods but honored forces—the shifting pull of moonlight, the vast intelligence of the ocean, and the ancient knowledge embedded in stars. Their beliefs centered on:

* '''The Grand Current:''' A metaphor for fate, time, and energy that flows through all things.

* '''Moon-Sent:''' Sacred dreams and visions received during lunar alignments.

* '''Return to Water:''' A funerary belief that all elves came from the sea and would return to it.

Temples were open-air sanctuaries built above tide pools or beneath star-sheltering domes. Ceremonies were tidal, not timed, and involved collective chanting, water offerings, and memory baths.

== Language ==

The Dor’nai spoke ''Thalorin'', a melodic and breath-rich language tuned to wind, water, and breath. It made heavy use of pitch, fluid vowel clusters, and gesture. Their script, called '''Shellscript''', was inscribed on curved surfaces using spiral glyphs and coral-etched tablets.

== Abilities & Behaviors ==

=== Strengths ===

* '''Aquatic Agility:''' Natural swimmers with extraordinary lung capacity and water navigation.

* '''Lunar Intuition:''' Sensitive to lunar tides, often used in magic and long-distance communion.

* '''Tide Magic:''' Masters of water manipulation, star-based divination, and dream-binding.

* '''Resilience:''' Physically and mentally adaptable to shifting environments.

=== Weaknesses ===

* '''Land Dependency:''' Uncomfortable far from the sea for extended periods.

* '''Isolation:''' Geographical separation led to limited military allies.

* '''Cultural Fragility:''' Much of their heritage was bound to physical locations now lost.

=== Behavioral Patterns ===

* '''Instincts:''' Communal, adaptive, drawn to cycles and seasonal rhythms.

* '''Social Structure:''' Matrilineal lines with fluid leadership cycles.

* '''Surface Interaction:''' Rare, often reserved for diplomacy or crisis.

* '''Conflict Style:''' Naval maneuvers, elemental illusions, guerrilla skirmishes.