Orcs and Elves (2)

Even after the Year of Boiling Darkness, when every race on the continent was locked in chaotic warfare—especially the current hegemons, the humans, whose strength had plummeted and whose level of civilization had regressed—the elves still lacked the power to reclaim their dominance over the continent.

Therefore, the elves' hatred for orcs is deep-seated, a grudge that spans the earth and seas. Even though a large portion of orcs have abandoned chaotic evil to embrace the war god Kampas, some radical elves still chant the slogan that all orcs must die. Only those elves who have frequent contact with the outside world can view these orcs with a level head, though that merely means they won't draw their blades on sight; as for offering a friendly face, that is entirely out of the question.

As for romance or the like, that is even more unthinkable. In this world, the arrogance of dragons and elves is legendary. Elves look down upon every other race: they find humans too greedy and short-lived; dwarves are stubborn, rude, and short; halflings are too casual, prone to mischief, and petty thieves; gnomes are too greedy, have wild imaginations, and often tinker with nonsensical inventions—and the latter two are also short. As for orcs...

In the eyes of the elves, orcs possess absolutely no virtues: they are irritable, rude, greedy, and, most importantly, they are damn ugly. Elves are quintessential members of the "looks-first" society, favoring refined and beautiful features. Thus, across the entire continent, the only race capable of union with elves is humans. While other inter-species pairings exist, they are rare, but as for orcs...

To be honest, on the continent today, even if Beast Elves exist, they are the products of orcs capturing and violating elves. Even if they are born, the vast majority of orcs will execute these half-breeds. Orcs are inherently xenophobic and cannot tolerate the bloodline of their mortal enemies. Even if one or two feel a pang of conscience, they merely exile these half-breeds to fend for themselves. Consequently, most Beast Elves who manage to grow up are filled with hatred—in short, they are typical sociopaths.

Therefore, most living Beast Elves are either lunatics wanting to destroy the world or cultists worshipping demons; they are essentially destined to be hunted. The elves are the most ruthless in this regard, killing them on sight. Furthermore, most Beast Elves are quite ugly, perhaps because they are products of humiliation and loathing. Rarely is there one as decent-looking as Solam; if Solam hadn't claimed to be a Beast Elf himself, Arando truly wouldn't have believed it.

It was the first time Solam had heard that his own background could be so legendary. It seemed his cheap father wasn't half bad, actually managing to woo a girl from the "looks-first" society. His seduction skills were quite sophisticated, though it was certainly bizarre to find a Casanova among a group of honest, simple-minded orcs.

Old man Arando seemed to have gone too long without human interaction. Finally seeing the grandson of an old friend, he was in high spirits and shared a wealth of knowledge with Solam, such as the history and culture of the continent, giving Solam a much clearer concept of the outside world.

Since the Year of Boiling Darkness, the landscape of the continent had undergone massive changes. Many nations that had been prominent for thousands of years were swallowed by the river of history due to this catastrophe. For instance, the former Silvermoon Federation—the nation established by the daughter and Chosen of the Goddess of Magic, Mystra, the Lady of Hope, Alustriel Silverhand—was destroyed in this calamity. Even Alustriel perished, and Silverymoon was completely razed.

In fact, the Chosen of the Goddess of Magic were almost entirely wiped out in this catastrophe, leaving only the Queen of Storms, Laeral Silverhand, one of the original Seven Sisters of the North, still alive. Later, after the calamity subsided, this powerful witch and Chosen led the remnants of the Silvermoon Federation to rebuild the Kingdom of Silverymoon upon the ruins of the city. To this day, this beautiful and powerful lady remains alive and well.

Speaking of the Seven Sisters of the North, there is much gossip. In many historical records, the Seven Sisters are all daughters of the Goddess of Magic, Mystra. As for who their father or fathers (?) might be, no one knows. Most of the Seven Sisters were adopted by the Goddess of Magic's first Chosen and lover, the Shadow Sage Elminster.

This old mage is truly a role model for gentlemen of our generation. Not only did he have an affair with Mystra, but after raising the goddess's daughters, he actually "consumed" them one by one (you know what I mean). Raising lolis only to eventually conquer them—it must be noted that this old man was at least 1,000 years old when he adopted these girls. One has to say this old guy knew how to play the game. Later, these girls grew up and pursued their own careers, and some even got married. One can only say they were truly open-minded; after being "fathered" by a ghost, they were completely fine and grew up healthy.

One can only say that the Goddess of Magic set a great precedent as both a mother and a deity. Her promiscuity and sentimentality are as well-known throughout the multiverse as her divine portfolio. The Goddess of Magic had many lovers and was easily attracted to talented spellcasters, so most of her lovers were legendary mages. However, her fickleness also brought much trouble. She moved on so quickly that one of her lovers, Samaster, finally couldn't stand her inconstancy. After being rejected three times, he turned his love into hatred, transformed into a lich, and founded the Cult of the Dragon specifically to oppose the Goddess of Magic. He played a major role in the near-total annihilation of the Goddess's Chosen. Although Samaster eventually vanished after perishing alongside the Shadow Sage Elminster, some still believe this talented lich did not truly perish but is merely hiding in the shadows.

However, in modern times—whether because so many Chosen and lovers died, or because she had died once herself (she fell during the Time of Troubles and was later resurrected; for the sake of this book's world-building, which is a multiverse without an Overgod AO, she wasn't killed by the God of Guardians, and I am blurring the details here, including Cyric's ascension)—the Goddess has become much more restrained. At least for the past few thousand years, there has been no news of anyone becoming her lover. I forgot to mention, the Queen of Storms, Laeral, is the only female Chosen who was not "fathered" by the old rogue Elminster; the witch herself was quite dissatisfied with the promiscuous behavior of Elminster and Mystra.

Over thousands of years, many nations have vanished and many have risen; these are the affairs of mortals, and over such a long time, it is normal. The greatest change, in fact, is the replacement of deities. First, the once-powerful Nature Pantheon collapsed. The Father of the Oak, Silvanus, the head of the former Nature Pantheon, fell while trying to mend the world damaged by orc gods, demons, and devils. Afterward, the once-mighty Nature Pantheon fell apart, and many nature deities either perished or joined the Good alignment.

The former Triad of Justice—the God of Justice, Tyr; the God of Courage, Torm; and the God of Suffering, Ilmater—also suffered heavy losses in that catastrophe. Tyr even died once and was later resurrected only because the Archbishop of the God of Justice, Valtrie Polien, sacrificed himself; otherwise, he would have stayed down. Torm, the god, had it the worst and fell completely. His followers tried several times to resurrect him, but failed due to the obstruction of other evil gods, and he truly remained dead. However, the God of Suffering, Ilmater, was unaffected; on the contrary, his teachings spread widely during the catastrophe, and his influence increased rather than diminished.

Later, the God of Dawn from the Nature Pantheon, Lathander, defected to the side of Order, accepted part of the portfolio of the God of Courage, Torm, and became the current Lord of Radiance. If things keep going this way, Good might truly be overwhelmed by Evil after the Year of Boiling Darkness. The current Triad of Justice—Tyr (Greater Deity), Ilmater (Intermediate Deity), and the Lord of Radiance, Lathander (Greater Deity)—actually have more power than before.

The greatest beneficiaries of the Year of Boiling Darkness, the evil gods, also underwent significant changes. The once-shattered Dead Three were reunited after this catastrophe. The former leader of the Dead Three, the God of Tyranny, Bane, used the Fingers of Jergal—the artifact once used to divide the portfolios of the Dead Three—to launch a massive conspiracy, directly creating two new deities: the God of Fear, Cyric (Intermediate Deity), and the God of Tyranny, Hextor (Intermediate Deity). They also inherited part of the portfolio of the God of Murder. Although they are still new gods (a few thousand years really isn't much for a deity), they will surely become more powerful in time.

However, Bane planned well, creating two new evil gods to continue opposing the Good deities, but he didn't expect his plan to be discovered by the multiverse's eternal troublemaker, the Lady of Night, Shar, and the greatest self-destructive genius in history, the Prince of Lies, Cyric. With these two who loved to watch the world burn meddling in the affairs, it finally led to a final tragedy, resulting in a massive melee in which 80% of sentient beings participated. This made it impossible for Bane's follow-up conspiracies to be implemented, forcing the newly reunited Dead Three to enter the fray themselves.

Having to go head-to-head with other gods while unprepared left them severely wounded, forcing them to remain dormant during their best period for development. Otherwise, the Dead Three might have truly been able to suppress the Triad of Justice, rather than being suppressed by them as they are now. Furthermore, they inadvertently created a new evil god: the God of Savagery, Malar, the former God of the Hunt. He rose strongly during this catastrophe, seizing the portfolios of Savagery, Strength, Madness, Survival, and Destruction in one fell swoop, ascending to the rank of a Greater Deity. He also allowed one of his offspring to become a deity: the Mad God of Rage, Balu, a Lesser Deity whose portfolios include: Rage, Stupidity, Barbarism, Madness, and Vicious Beasts.

These two deities are extremely chaotic and harbor an extreme hatred for civilization. They are worshipped in the wild lands by giants (low-level), ogres, gnolls, and other monsters. Their primary source of faith comes from those orcs who have not yet broken free from chaos.