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gaeleth:places:darksukar_duchy

Darsukar, Duchy of Rakore

Darsukar is a duchy of dark elves not far from the capital of the dwarven nation of Rakore. The duchy is nestled in a wide river valley filled with forested hills, and serves as home to over a thousand drow. The dark elves allow visitors to walk along easily visible trails and rest at well-designed and well-maintained way-stations along well-marked roads. They do not take kindly to those who stray off of the paths marked out for them; anyone straying outside of the areas marked for visitors is likely to never be seen again.

History

The drow have a long history of persecution, violence, and evil from their days in the Storm Wars. Based on the courage, cunning, and integrity of a Princess of Tyven, the dwarven king made her a duchess in 1331 Avard, and awarded her the lands just north of his capital mountain. King Feldspar Graniteshoulders assigned dwarven miners to build the first city of the duchy, which the dark elves still maintain as a trading city only.

Leader

When the dark elven city of Tyven was razed by the undead in 1265 Avard, one of its princesses escaped – only to be captured as a slave in Kur Maeth. The Princess Genea'aselvele spent almost fifty years as a slave in the dreadful city, dancing, playing music, or performing for her various masters. While drugs helped keep her compliant, most of her masters held in their possession a valuable gem that seemed to keep her bound to them. They knew not what the power of the gem was, and they kept it hidden for fear of the Inquisition. Those few that tried to sell it, died.

People

The drow of Darsukar are secretive, rarely seen, rarely heard, and very rarely spoken with. The few that are gregarious enough to leave the duchy help run high-class taverns and inns that help to funnel money into the search for more drow. The majority of the drow live below ground in tribal hierarchies, where their primitive arcane powers allow them to tunnel through rock and stone. Their eyes are often sensitive to the bright light, and darker canopy of the forest floor is often the brightest light they can stand.

The dark is the home of the drow. They do not interact with outsiders, staying silent even the throws of death. Their eyes are often covered to protect them from bright lights, and they move with a lithe silence that unnerves. They dress in dark or camouflaged colors at home, and wear clothing in the human cities that lets them blend in with everyone else. They are fickle, lethal, irritated, and not amused by visitors to their duchy.

Their history was one of evil, where they were the slave owners and subjugators. When the Dark God enslaved them, and used them as shock troops, they never could rebel. When the Storm Wars ended, they were hunted down by the Inquisition, feared by all the peoples they had hunted, and treated like vermin. When they finally rebuilt, and created Tyven, their dreams were torn down by the undead lords of the Dark God. And so now they are a patient people with a dark, bitter anger within them – and no trust for anyone, even the peoples of Rakore. They merely await their next betrayal, and prepare for the day when the world stabs them in the back, again.

Buildings

Visitors to the duchy think of the drow as representative of the dwarven works the king had created there. In reality, drow buildings are invisible, confusing, or misleading. They use every one of the senses to mislead intruders. A door may not open because it is not really a door. A bit of a darkness in a corner that smells of sewage may actually be the way into a home. Running water may cleverly conceal a training ground, or access ways through the walls above may be the real way in. Every building above ground is constructed with hidden passages and hiding spaces.

gaeleth/places/darksukar_duchy.txt · Last modified: 2021/09/28 15:49 (external edit)