In our last episode covering the races of Warhammer Fantasy, we explored the ancient pyramids and lush jungles of the Lizardmen. Though they are credited with being the eldest civilization to come from the Old Ones’ design, the primitive creatures that came under the care of the Slann by the Old One’s direction eventually developed into the race responsible for the creation of the Vortex in ancient times. Inhabiting the mystical isle of Ulthuan, the High Elves adopted a rich culture of scholarly intrigue and magical prowess and became known for their long history of defending the world from the influence of Chaos.
Welcome to the third in our Video Series on the Races of the Warhammer World, where we will cover the High Elves. This influence of chaos may be a magical effect in warhammer, but it has a real world analogue - the forces internal and external that take our thoughts and feelings to places they don’t want to be. And here you needn’t battle this chaos alone: try out sponsor BetterHelp, at better help dot com slash wizards and warriors.
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Chapter 1: Origins "We are the chosen of Asuryan, beloved of the gods and heirs to the world. Our armies are the finest in creation; swift where our foes are lumbering, cultured where they are barbaric. Give no thought to failure, nor defeat – we are the Children of Ulthuan and we shall prevail.
" Phoenix King Aenarion the Defender. In the early days of the world, when the Slann had finished aiding in the terraforming of a majority of the world’s surface, the Old Ones introduced the primitive creatures that would eventually produce the races of Elves, Men, and Dwarves. The Slann were assigned to the care of the ancestors of the Elves, who learned to wield powerful magics and understand the dangers of Chaos.
Eventually, these Elves were relocated by the Old Ones to a crescent isle in the Great Ocean inhabited by dragons, which came to be known as Ulthuan. Then, there was a Golden Age of peace and growth… until that fateful day when the polar gates collapsed, and the stability of the world was shattered by the sudden surge of unrestrained winds of magic. The invasion of demons from the Chaos Realm quickly overtook most of the elven isle, making the perfect catalyst for a legendary hero to emerge from the ashes of near annihilation.
Desperate to turn the tides against Chaos, rituals and offerings were given plentifully to the burning Shrine of Asuryan, the creator god of the elven pantheon. When no answer came, and few options were left, an elven hero offered himself as a sacrifice. Aenarion stepped into the sacred fire, allowed the flames to consume his body, and prayed for Asuryan to spare his people at the price of his own life.
Onlookers watched with shattered hope as the hero’s body caught flame and charred until his heart appeared to give out from the agony. Suddenly, a brilliant light overcame Aenarion as he stumbled out of the fire. His burns miraculously healed, and he was left transformed by the fire; the spirit of Asuryan was with the hero!
"Phoenix King they called him now. He had passed through the sacred flames and come out the other side, not burned but stronger, faster, more alive than any mortal should be. He had offered himself as a sacrifice to save his people when the gods had rejected all others, and they had taken his flesh and his agony as their offering and sent him back transformed to do their work.
" —The Chosen of the Gods. The elves immediately recognized the immense gift of power that Aenarion had been granted and hastened to his leadership in a heroic counter defence against the legions of demons that threatened to swallow their island home. He was gifted the oldest of the Drgons, Indraugnir, as a companion for war by Caledor Drgontamer.
Together, he and Aenarion led the Drgon riders against the demonic hordes. Aenarion’s actions inspired others to greater deeds and rallied the scattered elven defenders under the banner of the first Phoenix King. The tide turned in favour of the Elves, and in their momentum, Aenarion slew the Keeper of Secrets, N’kari, and banished him from the realm for many centuries.
The Chaos armies crumbled thereafter, securing peace for the isle for a time, but not permanently. In the aftermath of the first invasions, Aenarion married Astarielle, who became the first Everqueen and gave birth to two children, Yvraine and Morelion. Though the High Elves held the upper hand for an age, the Chaos hordes became mightier with each defeat until a second invasion came upon Ulthuan.
As Aenarion came to the harrowing realization that they could not sustain a never-ending war, Caledor Drgontamer proposed a daring plan to permanently halt Chaos’ invasion and stop the unfettered influence of the unbound winds of magic. By creating a cosmic vortex, the ancient mage hoped to siphon the magic from the world and return it to the realm of Chaos, thereby stifling the ever-growing influence of the demons upon the world. In this same meeting, terrible news of a costly attack upon the peaceful glades of Avelorn reached the Phoenix King; the Slaanesh Demon, N’Kari, had invaded the woodland and slayed the Everqueen, and Anaerion’s children were unable to be found amongst the aftermath.
The Phoenix King flew into a rage and proclaimed that he would do the unthinkable: he would travel to the Blighted Isle in the north and seek the Altar of Khaine, the elven god of murder and cruelty, to claim the god-slaying blade within. His faithful Drgon Indraugnir carried Aenarion through the maelstrom to the isle after he ignored the warning from the council, Indraugnir himself, and even the elven gods. The spirits of the departed swarmed the Phoenix King, the ghost of his dearly beloved wife appearing to dissuade him from drawing the cursed blade, knowing that it would curse all of Aenarion’s descendants.
Still, he hardened his heart and drew the blade from the altar anyway and heightened his power to near god-like potency. "The ground shook, and rock crumbled as Aenarion’s fist closed upon the hilt. He pulled the sword free from its stone prison and held it aloft.
Blood seeped from the runes etched into the blade and poured in thick rivulets across his hand and down his arm, trailing crimson across his armour. Godslayer, Widowmaker, Doom of Worlds, Spear of Vengeance, Deathshard, Icefang and Heavenblight. By many names it was called, by mortal and daemons and gods.
But one name alone it truly held: Sword of Khaine, the Lord of Murder. Now it was the Sword of Aenarion. " —The doom of the Elves is sealed Aenarion and the elves that flocked to him after he claimed the Widowmaker established the Kingdom of Nagarythe and married the sorceress Morathi, whom the Phoenix King freed from worshippers of Slaanesh.
Morathi gave birth to Malekith, fated to become the most hated among his kind. The sword changed the Phoenix King, whose courts became mirthful and feverish affairs. Caledor and the Drgon-riders departed south for his own land, deeply unhappy with the change seen in Aenarion.
The Phoenix King swore to claim vengeance for the betrayal, but the attacks from Chaos forced him to redirect his attention to the ongoing invasion of Ulthuan. "Today will be our last battle. Today, for better or worse, this war ends," he shouted, and his voice carried even over the bellowing of the dragons.
"Today we go forth from this place to victory or to death. Gird on your armour. Make ready your lances.
We ride! " —The King Departs Caledor had no choice but to pursue the creation of the Vortex. Summoning the greatest of the High Elf Mages, they prepared a ritual on the Isle of the Dead, a memorial ground of the elves formed by an archipelago of way stones.
The Chaos armies mounted a strike against the mages, and Aenarion was pulled into a titanic battle against four powerful demons of Chaos: The Lord of Change, Kairos Fateweaver, the familiar Keeper of Secrets, N’kari, the Great Unclean One Throttle Gurglespew, and Bloodthirster Hargrim Dradaxe. With Asuryan’s blessing and Khaine’s murderous power, Aenarion held off the four in a gruelling fight. Kairos belched arcane fire upon the Phoenix King, who withstood the flames beneath his blessed shield and countered by cleaving the two heads of the demon from its shoulders.
N’kari seized the Phoenix King and sought to crush and cut his armour, but Aenarion had passed through the sacred flames, and no agony could best him. Even as his ribs cracked, he turned the blade into N’kari’s chest and let the Widowmaker drink even deeper of demonic souls. It filled Aenarion with renewed strength as he turned his blade to the Unclean One and sliced a wide, sweeping cut into the foul demon’s gut.
From the laceration, maggots and entrails poured freely and sought to drown the King in pus and bile. Indraugnir, hearing the cry for help from Anaerion, breathed a stream of white flame upon the demon and melted the thing away, leaving the Phoenix King unscathed beneath his enchanted armour. The Bloodthirster Hargrim sent a devastating wound to the dragon in retribution and broke Aenarion’s arm in the same swing but was promptly cleaved in half by the Sword of Khaine.
The King’s efforts bought enough time for the vortex to be completed, and the winds of magic began to funnel into the maelstrom and return to the Chaos realm. The cost of the ritual saw Caledor and his mages permanently imprisoned inside the vortex, unable to die. What was worse, by some cruel joke of the gods, the ritual was only partially successful.
Winds of magic still blew across some parts of the planet, especially in the Chaos Wastes. Indraugnir, wounded and weary, carried Aenarion back to the Shrine of Khaine to return the Widowmaker to the Altar. The dragon succumbed to its wounds and crash-landed upon the shores of the Blighted Isle, leaving Aenarion to crawl to the altar and replace the sword.
He drove the blade deeply into the altar, hoping that none would ever draw it again, and returned to the side of Indraugnir to die next to his dear friend. "Brother spoke the four as one, together we shall rule, Surrender to the Darkness within your heart you know holds true. In his hand the sword of Khaine did promise power untold, As God of Light and God of Murder battled for his soul.
One by one the Daemons fell and Elf Lord he stood tall, For should he fail upon his task then mortal world would fall. Upon the isle beneath the fight, wise mages cast their spells And Daemon minions howled in anguish, cursed to eternal hell. And on this day we bow our heads to he who world did save, Aenarion the Proud Defender, Aenarion the Ever Brave.
" —Song of the Creator With Aenarion’s death, the next elected Phoenix King was Bel Shanaar of Tiranoc, known to have been one of the late Phoenix King’s closest companions. The drawing of the Widowmaker resulted in disastrous effects upon his lineage, notably with Malekith, who eventually became the Witch King and split the Elven race in two. Caledor Drgontamer in life warned that all descendants of Aenarion would bear a curse and have some influence or corruption by the god of murder, and it became routine for all inheritors to be sent to the Island of Flame and presented to the Priests of Asuryan for judgment, to ensure no threat to the realm exists.
Chapter 2: Race Overview "We are a tall and slender people, slight of build and graceful of movement. Our armies, too, move with fluid grace as do our warship and steed. All that we touch is elegant and finely crafted for we are a long lived people who refuse to surrond ourselfs with ugliness and discord.
" —Recounted by Unthwe Windrider, Herald of the Phoenix King The High Elves, calling themselves the Asur, were a people of beautiful, ethereal features and refined mannerisms. Much to the confusion of other races, there were few differences in the appearance of high-elven males and high-elven females, and compared to common men, they stood a head taller and appeared slim and fragile. This was not the case, however, as the Asur were renowned for their agile strength and heightened dexterity.
"We, the Asur, are a noble people, our long and proud history stretching back to a time when Men were still fur-clad savages. Living on our fair isles of Ulthuan, set in the centre of the Great Oceans, we are far removed from the petty squabbles of the lesser races. Here, we are able to practice our magic and our arts, perfecting for no reason than the sheer joy of it.
" —Recounted by Unthwe Windrider, Herald of the Phoenix King In addition, the high-elves were resilient to diseases and had a mental sharpness that leant to their proficiency in magical arts, bested only by the Slann that had taught them how to wield it. The Elves, in turn, taught the wizards of man to wield magic, though humankind could not hope to match the mastery of their long-lived mentors. Indeed, the High Elves were known to live for centuries and centuries, with some of the eldest managing to persist for thousands of years, though most succumbed to wounds or withered away after having lost the joy of living.
Chapter 3: Society "The noble families have led our people through times of peace and conflict for thousands of years. They pride themselves on their deep sense of honour and mastery of both the arts of diplomacy and war, taught to them from a young age. In times of conflict they demonstrate this prowess through their flexibility, perfectly capable of fighting with unmatched skill in the thick of the melee, or commanding our armies from a distance, directing the flow of battle as need dictates.
" —Recounted by Unthwe Windrider, Herald of the Phoenix King The island home of the High Elves was ruled, of course, by the monarchy of the Phoenix King. However, his power was not centralized, his realm comprised of ten independent realms ruled by their respective princes, princesses, and mages. The Phoenix King was elected from these ten kingdoms one year after the passing of the previous ruler, though it was not uncommon for speculative debates to take place before the last thirty days of mourning, a time traditionally reserved for the official election.
While the debates were rife with political tricks, manipulation, and deception, violence was almost always avoided. The High Elves deemed any force used in the election heretical in nature, and even the most self-indulgent nobles would not believe that the Creator God would recognize a Phoenix King elected in a turbulent manner. The Everqueen was not elected but born as the first daughter conceived during the year-long ritual marriage of the King and Queen.
The Everqueen was believed by the High Elves to be the chosen of Isha and held significant power to govern Ulthuan in balance with the Phoenix King. She held her court in the verdant glades of Avelorn, wandering across the undying forests as the chief priestess to Isha, the Earth Mother. Ulthuan was divided into Inner and Outer Kingdoms, divided by the impassable Annullii mountains.
Travel through these ranges was near impossible save for the fortified tunnels and passageways, and the mountains themselves were so steeped in magic that the sky shined in perpetual twilight. Time flowed strangely in these places, and the tallest peaks were obscured by glittering clouds of raw magic hanging above them in the sky. The High Elves of the Inner Kingdoms were known to be more reserved and tranquil, bathed in the light of the Annulii and shielded from international contact.
They were the Kingdom of Eataine, the realm of the Phoenix and host to the Shrine of Asuryan, Caledor, the sparsely-populated domain where Drgons dwelled, Ellyrion, a realm of mild climate and noble steeds, Avelorn, a verdant woodland renowned for skilled archers, and Saphery, a kingdom of enchantment and magical pursuits. The Outer Kingdom faced the Great Ocean and was subject to invasion, particularly from their dark-elven cousins and the barbarians of the East. The High Elves that dwelled here, as a result, were more militant and rugged.
The Kingdoms were Yvresse, a misty and harsh coastline inhabited by few, Cothique, a realm of cold winds and adventurous sailors, Chrace, a war-torn kingdom in neverending conflict with the Dark Elves that sought to invade the Inner Kingdoms, Nagarythe, the Shadowlands and birthplace of the Dark Elves, and Tiranoc, a land that had been flooded by the sea during the great elven civil war. Chapter 4: Religion "I’ve spent a lot of time around Elves, and I was surprised by how religious they are. Sure, they dress it up in mystical mumbo jumbo, but I’ve seen them before battle or when preparing for a trip.
They pray just as much as you or I, if not more, and not to one or t’other god, but to the whole lot, every last one of ‘em. ” " —Magda van Dyke, Wasteland mercenary High Elven worship solely focused upon the elven pantheon despite being presumably created by the Old Ones. Members of the pantheon were numerous and divided into two primary groups: The Cadai, Gods of the Heavens, and the Cytharai, Gods of the Mirai, or Elven Underworld.
The High Elves shunned most Gods of the Underworld and placed most emphasis upon the heavenly Gods, who were Asuryan, the creator god of the sun, Hoeth, the god of wisdom and learning, Isha, the goddess of nature, fertility and harvest, Kurnous, god of the wilderness and hunt, Ladrielle, the moon goddess of fortune and dreams, Loec, the trickster god of music and revelry, and Vaul, the god of smiths and artificers. Gods of the shunned Cytharai represented the darker and more macabre facts of life and watched over the Black Pit as a place of eternal torment and servitude. They were Addaioth, the god of All-Consuming Flame, Anath Raema, the goddess of the Savage Hunt, Atharti, the goddess of pleasure and seduction, Drkira, the goddess of retribution, Eldrazor, the god of battle, Ellinill, the god of disaster, Estrueth, herald of famine and drought, Hekarti, goddess of conjurations and dark magic, Hukon, the earthquake god, Khaine, the god of violence and murder, Mathlann, the god of the sea and storms, Nethu, gatekeeper of the Underworld, and his mother Ereth Khial, the Pale Queen and ruler of the Black Pit.
It was storied by the elves that the Pale Queen once attempted to seduce the creator god Asuryan, and when denied, she stole the souls of the elven dead to torture for eternity to spite him. The Cytharai, rulers of the Black Pit, ironically never saw the arrival of their dead. This was because of Slaanesh’s insatiable desire for elven souls, which were considered a delicacy and rich with intense emotion.
The High Elves desperately feared this fate and instead bound their souls to the protective waystones around Ulthuan, preserving their essence in the magical wars to safeguard the isle until the end of days. And so, Ulthuan persisted through invasion, natural disaster, and even civil war. The race struck a balance of beauty from their dreamy society and of military might required to defend their island home from demons and even their own kin during the civil war.
Marriage of sophistication and discipline saw the cultivation of some of the most powerful lords and heroes to lead the High Elven armies toward glory… More videos on the races of the Warhammer Fantasy World are on the way, so make sure you are subscribed and have pressed the bell button to see it. Please consider liking, commenting, and sharing - it helps immensely. Our videos would be impossible without our kind patrons and YouTube channel members, whose ranks you can join via the links in the description to know our schedule, get early access to our videos, access our discord, and much more.
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