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Arlavré FAQ
This document should give you a quick overview of what the the continent Arlavré is and what you will find there. For more information on Arlavré, it's people, history and culture, visit our Library. What is Arlavré? What about the Humans in Arlavré? What about the Elves of Arlavré? What about the Fae of Arlavré? What about the Dwarves of Arlavré? What about the Trolls of Arlavré? What the Ifrin of Arlavré? Is there any magic in Arlavré? What will I not find in Arlavré? What is Arlavré? Arlavré is the continent where the village of Alder Hill can be found. There are six different races living on this continent: humans, elves, fae, dwarves, trolls and ifrin. At the moment, only the northern half of Arlavré seems to be settled, but there are stories and rumours about people living in unexplored lands. There are still many unexplored lands in Arlavré, and many intrepid explorers have set off to find out about the deep south, the cold north, and the islands. Until now, none have returned. What about the Humans of Arlavré? In North Arlavré, there are four different great human societies: the Midlanders, the Brongwertorn, the Melskháur and the Iðavi. The Midlanders, those humans who live in the lands around Alder Hill, are mostly farmers, peasants and craftsmen. Every town and village of the Midlanders is self-sufficient and therefore, they don't have any political system outside their villages at all. The feudalistic Melskháur, living east of the Midlands in their kingdom Melskhautorn, are quite proud of their kingdom and heritage, so they seem to be arrogant from time to time - a conclusion not totally misplaced, while the Iðavi - mostly because of their fast way of speaking - appear a little bit curious and naive. Their both scientific and cultural highly evolved state west of the Midlands is based on the books of their great philosopher Tyaleco and therefore on mutual respect and possibility to evolve. What about the Elves of Arlavré? Usually, elves are as tall as, but more delicate, than humans and have a prolonged life-span. Their hair colouring is predominantly dark and they have upswept ears with no lobes. One of their main traits is to live in harmony with nature, other notable traits include their pursuit of truth and knowledge. The elves are divided into four groups: the "old culture" elves in the southern woods (Jaidhalvyn), the human-friendly western elves living in Iðavinai (Dûsalvyn), the dwarf-friendly northern elves in Brongwertorn (Kümenalvyn), and the mad elves in the east, north of Brongwertorn (Soalvyn). The elven society is ruled by a patriarchal monarchy. What about the Fae of Arlavré? Usually, a fae is a few inches shorter than the average human or elf, and even more delicate than an elf. Unlike elves, fae are predominantely fair, but also have upswept ears without lobes. Their main character trait is to live in harmony with nature and they constantly strive for beauty. The fae have two different settlements: Jai Hys-nar-Meyn in the southern woodlands, and Brònéhýsin near the sources of the river Bron. The fae society is ruled by a matriarchal monarchy. What about the Dwarves of Arlavré? The dwarves - smaller than humans - are usually between 120 and 150 cm tall, and not all of their males have beards. They usually delve into forging and mining, but not just mining for gems and gold, but for secrets and hidden lore as well. They are divided into six tribes, named after their founders. Most of the warriors are of the tribe of Brogh, the sons and daughters of Thaked are more calculating, the nobles come from the tribe of Prith, while the most respected smiths are of Loth's tribe. The sons and daughters of Luglûd are the most interested in ancient mysteries, while the tricksters and fools of the dwarves are of Nâgleth's tribe. What about the Trolls of Arlavré? The red-eyed trolls are the biggest of the bipedal races in Arlavré, they gain a height of 240-270 cm. Usually, trolls aren't smart at all, they focus primarily on food gathering (meat!) and skull collecting. Due to their inner bloodthirst they tend to act agressively. The troll blood is at boiling point, and once it cools down (mostly, when the troll is dead), it petrifies. The other races don't like the trolls, which isn't surprising, considering that trolls consider all the other races as food. What about the Ifrin of Arlavré? Just like the dwarves, the Ifrin reach up 120-150 cm from the ground. But unlike them, they have a quite delicate bone structure. In fact, most of them look more like a shrunken version of a human or even a fae - yes, a very few of them even grow small wings. Ifrin aren't that well-esteemed by the other races, because they tend to be small annoying thieves or jokers. Or maybe this is just how the ifrin want to be seen, so that other people underestimate them. Is there any magic in Arlavré? Magic is the common name for the movement of natural energies to create a change in the nature of reality, or, to look at it another way, magic is the energy produced by all the elements in the universe. There are two different kinds of magic users in Arlavré: Wizards or Sorcerers, and Mages, and these are mostly human. Ifrin, elves and fae have an innate magical ability, troll shamans can do really basic magic, while dwarves apparently have no uses for magic at all. There are only few magick users near Alder Hill, but their number is slowly increasing. What will I not find in Arlavré? Arlavré and the world of Alder Hill is essentially medieval fantasy in character, with a few renaissance elements thrown in. You will not find any flintlock weapons, guns or cannons, nor steam engines or other anachronisms, but you may find early printing presses. There are no "horror monsters" in Arlavré, such as Vampires, Werewolves, Undead or the like. There are also no "mythical beasts" around, like unicorns, pegasi, centaur etc. You will not encounter any dragons in the immediate vicinity of Alder Hill, though travellers have been reporting sightings of them in the far north and deep south, and many brave warriors have been lost while seeking them out to slay them. |
