EAGLE (Andorian)

The striking eagle used as the symbol of the Andorian League. It is commonly designed in gold with a crimson banner in its claws.

A pure gold coin marked with the Andorian eagle--it is round, approximately an inch and a half in diameter and rather thick with ridged edges. It is an unusual coin to see as they are minted exclusively to commemorate a specific events, such as the crowning of a King, the birth of a Royal Heir, or the founding of Andor. An eagle is worth the equivalent of a breeding pair of fine thoroughbreds. There are probably not more than a couple thousand of these coins in existence; and many of them are museum pieces or in coin collections. They are much more valuable as collector's pieces than they are as money, and their collectiblity depends mostly on the event for which the coin was minted. For example, the coins minted to commemorate the founding of Andor are actually mixed with some copper, and so are not as sought after as are the coins minted for the coronation of Mickeal II, which are the rarest and the most valuable of all pure eagles.

The common eagle is made of gold and copper mix, slightly smaller than the pure eagle and with smoothed edges. It is passed generally in commerce in the northern cities of the League and along the trade routes. It is equivalent in value to the Delarquan astrum (one twenty-forth the value of a pure eagle).

EDWARD THE FREELANCE REPORTER

Edward a'Tuoka, Timmy's younger brother, a full orc. A nice, polite boy. (Edward happens to be a fine old orckish name. So there.) Visits the Isle occasionally to fill in for his ne'er-do-well brother.

EL CID

A magical sword entrusted to the lord Marshall of the Free Blades Arena. El Cid had the property of changing shape to the favorite weapon of whoever wielded it. The sword disappeared with Kristina and Urlick.

ELITHAN

A humanoid race of Alastari. Elithan are extremely lightly built (80-110 lbs.), and have feathered wings. Extended, the wing of a fully-grown elithan is about sixteen feet from base to tip, making a wingspan of about 32 1/2 feet. Folded, the wings stick up about four feet above their heads. Feather color is usually the same as hair color. Aside from their wings, Elithan are human in appearance. Because they have a high metabolic rate they eat quite a lot. They don't get cold easily and generally wear thin silk clothing with jewels sewn into it.

Most likely the creation of some god or wizard in the dim past, the elithan now live in a settlement (aerie) near Cliffhome, which was once their own city. Their homeland is in the mountains of Old Ratan. The average elithan is a little contemptuous of "ground-grubbers," although as a society, they're not hostile to humans. They were enslaved by the Rirorni for a generation, and are now an insular and highly defensive tribe. It is suspected that they retain contact with the dark elves of Faerhso. Little is known of their culture.

ELKARRISH

Immaterial beings from another dimension. Much of what is known about the elkarrish is speculation or hearsay. The first appeared in Alastari as columns of blood-red energy, causing nearby beings to bleed from the nose. They are believed to be assassins and refugees from their own world. They seem to seek knowledge, especially regarding the Chaos Gates. Though individuals may be aggressive, they are not, as a group, hostile toward the peoples of Alastari. They are known to escort souls to the Underworld for Ahringol.

The elkarrish have some psychic or magical powers. They can cause a person to be confronted by his or her deepest fears and they can possess the bodies of the living. It is said they can make infernal deals with people, but it seems likely this is hyperbole.

While the elkarrish may have a large magical arsenal, the only spell they are proved to use is known as Nightmare. It is by means of this spell that they cause a person to be confronted by their fears. Those targeted by this spell are often stunned, which gives the elkarrish the opportunity to possess them.

This spell has a number of minor variations, mostly of degree. An elkarrish can either manifest as or cause one person to see his or her deepest fear. Others cannot see the manifestation. They can target a single person, but also induce a generalized dread in anyone nearby. They can again target a single person and cause any person in the vicinity to see something they themselves fear, though not necessarily the thing they most fear. In its strongest form, the spell causes everyone within a certain radius to be faced with the thing most dreaded.

As with their Nightmare spell, the possession abilities of the elkarrish also show variation. Strong willed persons may be able to resist the possession to some degree. Spiritual and magical wards may also provide some defense. It is possible the elkarrish block any memories of possession in their victims.

An elkarrish can possess a freshly dead body, animating it. If they get to it soon enough, they can sometimes even revive it physically, but not as the person it was, since that soul would already have been escorted away. They have no access to memories or learned abilities of the body. This does not work on long-dead bodies or non-living bodies.

They can possess a living body and totally exile the soul of the body, either so that it can never return, or if it can return, it will do so without any memories of or abilities learned during the period of the possession.

They can possess a living body without ousting the original soul first. This can be done in two ways. They possess the living body, the soul remains but is powerless, and can only observe. Some of the body's memories and skills are available to the elkarrish, but not all. Or they may possess the living body and find a like-minded soul in place; they effectively merge, and all memories and learned abilities are available. However, there is always a chance that the original soul will get tired of the situation, and they will fight for possession of the body. Elkarrish are powerful, but such a soul would be fighting on its home ground, and the struggle might be fairly equal. In such a battle, if the elkarrish wins, the soul is effectively extinguished or consumed by the invader. If the soul wins, the elkarrish is cast out of the body.

ELVES

All elves are really of the same race--they tend to be taller and fairer in the north and shorter and darker in the south, but otherwise there is no real physical difference. Elves have about the same range of heights found in humans, but they tend to be slenderer on the average. Humans are stronger but elves have more endurance. Elves have slightly pointed ears and somewhat larger, more slanted eyes than humans; males have less body and facial hair. Elves of Alfhame tend to have brown or blond hair, fair skin, and blue, grey or hazel eyes. Elves outside Alfhame range from fair to quite dark, and may have any color eyes or hair. Elves have only twenty-eight permanent teeth. Elves have better night sight than humans (though they cannot see in total darkness) but their other senses are comparable to a human's. They tend to be more magically talented. They can live three to five hundred years, and interbreed easily with humans.

The term "dark elf" is used in two ways: the elves of Alfhame, far to the west of Alastari, call all elves who live outside their borders "dark elves," regardless of appearance. The Alfhame elves are mostly of the tall fair variety. The elves of Fratsfa and Monuntial are closely related to them and have only been in this part of the world for a thousand years or so. They are very proud of their Alfhame connections and refer to themselves as "high elves"--although a REAL Alfhame native would consider them rural barbarians and look down his nose at them.

The rest of the elves--the ones in the Ardiventi barony, Cliffhome, Xochithlan, Shagornan Desert and parts south--have been separated from Alfhame for many thousands of years, and in Ardivent they have interbred with the local humans so much that it's hard to tell who's who. The Cliffhome/Xochithlan/Shagornan clans are MUCH more isolationist, and do not marry humans as a rule. This group is what most people in Alastari mean when they say "dark elf."

In Cliffhome the elves are in the minority; they form one or two of the city's noble families. Cliffhome is a decadent city full of intrigue, and there is very little difference between the elves and the humans in the way they deal with it. Xochithlan is also full of intrigue, but currently they are in desperate straits due to the war, and have no time for intrigue; they're too busy trying to rebuild the city.

The Shagornan Desert elves are mainly nomadic tribes which subsist partly by herding horses or camels, and partly by banditry. They are known for being especially fierce warriors. They were also hard hit by the Rirorni, as many of their tribes preferred to fight down to the last woman and child rather than be taken prisoner.

None of these different elf groups like each other much. The Ardiventi think the Frats/Monuntial elves are effete snobs, and the Frats/Monuntial elves think the Ardiventi are mere half-breed human barbarians. Both groups look down on the southerners, who in turn regard the northerners as wimps. And, as mentioned above, the Alfhame elves think the lot of them are hopeless.

Elves are all EXTREMELY territorial, and will fight to the death for their land or clan. They feel that the shorter-lived races really don't know how to take care of a prime piece of property. However, the various races in Alastari (and Ghea as a whole) don't think of themselves as one monolithic block, any more than humans do.