Daegon'hai

''“These times are desolate, the lands barren; shall the Arylian tribe of Daegon crumble to dust? No; we shall stand tall, and take up a new name. We shall forge powerful relations with the spirits that once sought to conquer us. We shall grow strong, and prosper, and call ourselves the followers of the Cursed One. We shall unite under his banner, and the terror that we shall unleash upon our Opressors will be sung for a thousand years. Come now, take up the Shadow’s Oath, and blood to blood, accept the fate and fury of the Daegon’hai.” -An excerpt from the proclamations of Elder Lossorn, the first Keeper of Wrath.''

Origins
The history of the Daegon’hai is filled with darkness, though it was not always so. In the Ancient Past, an Arylian elf by the name of Daegon led a spellcasting tribe in Arylia. They prospered under the peaceful republic, and for a time, Daegon was content. But he grew weary of Arylian rule, and sought to create his own empire for his people.

Fueled by his thirst for power, and a desire for freedom, he led his people into the mountains to the North of Arylia, in search of a rumored forest that contained spirits that, if conquered, would allow the conqueror to wield great power. The quest was nearly abandoned, however, when tragedy befell them in the harsh mountains dividing Arylia and Edvensfall. Nearly a quarter of Daegon’s tribe was killed by the forces of nature within the first week of travel, still within sight of the glittering safety of an Arylian town. The tribe became divided, and some of Daegon’s followers abandoned him. Determined to press on, he took his thinning band of followers and staggered through the mountains for weeks, encountering possessed trees and whispering rivers that warned him through an ancient Elven tongue what darkness lurked in the forests below.

He took no heed to the warning, and instead challenged the powerful spirits that dared to haunt the fabled forest. They appeared before him in the phantom form of his entire tribe, including those he loved and those he had grown to hate for their treachery. He killed the figures of his friends and family, conquering each spirit as the specters succumbed to his blade. When at last the time came to kill the shadow of his very best friend, Xavius, Daegon wavered for a moment, showing his weakness to the spirit, and allowing it to breach his heart before he slaughtered the form of Xavius, whom he named his sword after. Daegon was victorious, but though he had conquered most of the spirits, he was not whole himself. The demon he had unknowingly allowed into his heart guided his actions, and Daegon soon became corrupted by his taint. Seeking an escape from his defiled soul and unwilling to leave his people without a leader, he called upon his tribe to take a forbidden ritualistic oath, called a Shadow Oath, and bring a small portion of his demon into them, becoming irrevocably tied to both Daegon and the demon in his heart. These were the first Daegon’hai, the first followers of the Cursed One. Through the generations, the power of the demon faded, and the powerful magic that coursed through ancestral veins weakened with the slow passing of time.

The Shadow Oath
“''The Shadow Oath is an ancient rite, older than the Gathering. The Keeper of Tomes and the Keeper of Wrath take up Xavius, flashing in the moonlight, and recite words from an old forgotten tongue. Then they mark you with the blade, and bid you drink from a poisoned cup filled with the running blood. If you survive, you pass the first test and are allowed to recover. If you don’t, you are sacrificed to the spirits that protect us, and burned above Laethel, the sacred river.”'' -An excerpt from the teachings of Scribe Hael’mirk’ta, of the Second Golden Age.

The first generations of Daegon’hai repeated the Shadow Oath unadulterated by tests of strength or mental prowess, but as Daegon grew older and wiser, he noticed the younger generations were too foolhardy and wielded the powers granted unto them too readily. He set up a strict system for his people, and appointed the few remaining friends he had as powerful Keepers, to not only remember and protect the way of life he had created for his growing tribe, but to also suppress the dark magic in young Daegon’hai elves, intending to release the constraints only after the Shadow Oath was taken. Under the cloak of night, Daegon summoned his seven closest allies and molded them into vessels of his power. That night they went as Lossorn, Galathea, Feyn, Uluthior, Kih’ron, Tristor, and Vae’rih’la; in the morning they emerged as elders and Keepers of Wrath, Tomes, Truth, Justice, Artifacts, Prosperity, and Incantations. The Keepers aged slowly, and kept the Daegon’hai out of the Arylian circle of influence, deciding instead to live in isolation. Together, these seven, when Daegon passed from this life into the hands of the spirits he had learned to live with, ruled over the Daegon’hai for a long Golden Age, peacefully passing the title and all its responsibilities to promising young Daegon’hai.

The Keeper of Wrath was tasked to quell the ancient demons in the hearts of all Daegon’hai, and to remember the injustices against the tribe that drove them to such measures. Generation by generation, Keeper to Keeper, the rage that both held the Daegon’hai together and threatened to tear them apart coursed through living flesh, and became hard to master in flesh alone. The sixth Keeper, Lossorn’lah, called upon the ancient magic in his blood to instill within the blade Xavius some of the Daegon’hai rage. This inadvertently changed the Shadow Oath, and every Daegon’hai elf thenceforth was tested for the physical and mental strength needed to contain the anger as each twentieth birthday neared.

The ritual was grueling, but simple; each Daegon’hai elf was tasked with mastering their inner demon through tests of physical, moral, and mental fortitude. The first task was to drink a cup tainted with a powerful herbal poison capable of killing a normal elf within a day. The poison was aptly named “fireburst,” for the fiery red rash that seemed to burst through the skin of its victim, consuming the living flesh in waves of swift necrosis, an agonizing and ghastly death for any who crossed its path. Daegon’hai elves, however, were blessed with an innate resistance to the poison. Tristor’mirkta, the Third keeper of Prosperity, noted, “we keep from succumbing to the taint because the poison runs in our veins, too. The herb kills purebloods with no mercy; so far only two young ones have died. A most terrible death; they started writhing like maggots, and did not stop until they had no skin, no eyes, no lips. They were manifestations of the darkest agony…”

Those who survived the first trial were then tested with magic. The Keeper of Incantations summoned up lesser demons, great smoky creatures of shadow and shade, and tasked the group of initiates to defend themselves for a day alone in the Bough of Shadows with a demon seeking a host to possess, a heart to infect, or a mind to consume. Swords and shields were of no use, and instead the initiates had to use their wits to keep the demon at bay. In any given batch of initiates, a maximum of one Daegon’hai would become possessed at a time, and swiftly killed by their kin.

The last test was conducted by the Keeper of Truth and the Keeper of Artifacts, and comprised of a short but hard series of practical exams in which each Daegon’hai initiate demonstrated his or her arcane skill and mental prowess. Nothing more is known of the last exam, which was described by a young student, Kael’mirk’ti, in the Third Age:

''“The pillars of the Citadel are flocked with initiates murmuring the old incantations for the summoning of demons. We are not afraid, but rather anxious to become full-fledged members of our people. The doors open, and I can see inside the main hall. There are rows upon rows of tables, with neatly arrayed papers and tools. We have all brought our quills and daggers, no doubt necessary for what they have planned. At the head of the hall stands Feyn’mirka and Kih’ron’ti, the Keepers of Truth and Artifacts. Feyn’mirka now brings out a glowing dagger; I can see her blood running. My hand grows heavy, and pain sears my arm. I dare not write more… The exam was demanding, but I passed. The ancient words ran from my tongue without error, I did not falter when they branded my flesh. I understand the flow of thought, now. I can feel as my peers feel, sense their presences when they come near. We are bonded. We are Daegon’hai.”''

The Plight of the Daegon'hai - Non Canon
Time wore on, through the shaky and dangerous Second Age, through the calm Third Age, and finally through the prosperous Fourth Age, and on to the Second Golden Age of the Daegon'hai. Rumors about the "Shadow Oath" rituals spread through the Bough of Shadows and to Arylia and Vaeli, and became exaggerated by animated merchants at the busy market at Stonehaven. The Daegon'hai became legendary and infamous for their involvement with fireburst and demons. But as the Daegon'hai grew and prospered winthin their sacred bough, the rest of the world had began to crumble. After the Battle of the Tides, the Fifth Age had begun, and with it came the darkening of the land. Aylia, after loosing its capital and much of its outlying territory, as well as it's immortal leaders, was on the brink of collapse. Leotheras, the leader of the mysterious San'lyn, had assumed leadership, and with him came a reign of dictatorship, if only to unite the fractured Elvenhan in their time of desperate need. Knowing of the Daegon'hai's presence to the north, he sent an emissary to the bough, to order the annexation of their territory and their reinduction into Arylian society, as well as to judge the state of their corruption.

The emissary returned with grim news - not only would the Daegon'hai refuse to support Arylia, his reports told of dark magic rituals and mysterious practices, confirming Leotheras' fears of the Daegon'hai's demonic corruption. Considering them a threat, and hoping to boost his weary nation's morale, he ordered them to be exterminated. Alexandros, Leotheras' protege, realized the tyrrany of such a decision, and forged ahead to warn the Daegon'hai of their impending doom. Most of the Daegon'hai did not believe an Arylian outsider, though some took up arms and placed magical wards in the nation to ensure their safety. Alexandros managed to convince the Keepers of the danger, and so they hid within the sacred heart of the Bough, where demonic protection would be the strongest against mortal foes. Leotheras personally led the charge north into the bough, sending his men into a fervor - "to cleanse the lands of demonic filth". The Arylian forces broke upon the borders of the Daegon'hai nation in the last days of their Second Golden Age, and within a fortnight, the Daegon'hai population had dwindled from prosperous thousands to a mere few hundred. Those who had survived- namely, the children Alexandros had saved, Vengeant among them, as well as the Keepers and level-headed Daegon'hai peasants- tried to rebuild their shattered culture, but the Daegon'hai's Second Golden Age was ended, and many left to find a new life, only to encounter discrimination and hatred from the outside world.

Assorted Traits
Many Daegon'hai have physical genetic alterations from the powerful demons that reside in them. Some have ungulate feet, nonprehensile tails, pigmented skin, or bony protrustions that make them objects of curiosity, fear, and disgust.

Daegon'hai have a complex naming system for their Keepers, with suffixes and name abbreviations in sets of 9 generations.

Daegon'hai, because of the constant magical flux inside them, are especially susceptible to powerful demons possessing them. When this happens, they must be brought to near death so the demon will flee its host. During the time they are possessed, they tend to weild powerful magic capable of only chaos and destruction.

Daegon'hai are immune to fireburst, a potent poison that kills with necrosis from the inside out.