Schattenalfen - An Elvish Race
Schattenalfen - An Elvish Race
Schattenalfen - An Elvish Race
80-85
Schattenalf Caverns
Technology: Iron Age (steel forged).
Life-Style: Cavern-dwelling empire-builders, very militaristic and revenge-
oriented.
Population: 600,000, with one-tenth in the city of Issarthyl and the rest
scattered in innumerable caves and caverns.
Outer-World Origin: Centre of the crust of the world, ca. BC 1,400.
Description
The land of the Schattenalf Caverns is not just caverns, of course. It comprises
cave-riddled mountains and foothills on the northern edge of the great equatorial
mountain range where it meets the western sea.
The mountains and hills are cool, both from their altitude and from the Immortal
magics which maintain the weather at the equator. The highest mountains are
snow-capped, and their lower slopes and the hills are heavily forested.
The cool weather and steep slopes discourage intrusion from predatory
dinosaurs, though other beasts, such as bears, great cats, and a local draconic
breed named flapsails, do sometimes prey on animal and elf alike.
The Schattenalfen
The Schattenalfen are indeed an elvish race, but few people who'd ever seen
other elves would think they belonged to the same species.
The Schattenalf males average about 5' tall and 110 lbs., with females an inch
or two shorter and some 20 lbs. lighter.
They are very, very pale-skinned: their skin is almost white. Their hair ranges
from pure white to a light steel-grey, and is usually worn long and unbound,
whether male or female.
Most eyes are ice-blue or grey; a few are light green or even yellow. But, though
they look like albinos (except for the lack of pink eyes), they are not.
Outside, in the open, Schattenalfen wear very concealing garments: heavy long-
sleeved tunics, trousers, high soft boots, gloves, and cloaks with hoods they can
pull well over their faces. They prefer dark colours to light, usually dressing in
blacks, browns, blues, purples and deep reds. All these garments are necessary to
their continued survival: when his skin is exposed to sunlight, a Schattenalf takes
1 hit point of damage for every hour of exposure.
Inside their cavernous homes, the Schattenalfen remove the cloak and gloves,
but otherwise maintain the same outfit; caverns tend to be chilly, and the
Schattenalfen are a cold-blooded race, needing all the protection from chill they
can get.
In wartime, these elves wear elvish chain mail and carry shields. They use a
wide variety of weapons, especially broad swords and polearms, long bows and
crossbows, lances (both land and air cavalry) and many others.
The Schattenalfen speak the elvish language. This is basically the same as the
tongue spoken in Alfheim on the outer world, and in Icevale and Blacklore lands in
the Hollow World, and is almost identical to the dialect spoken by the Shadow
Elves of the City of Stars. But the Schattenalfen dialect is more sibilant; many
hearing it consider it sinister and threatening. There is a written form of the
language, identical to the written form of other elvish dialects.
Schattenalfen also speak Neathar, Azcan, Traldar and Malpheggi lizard man
because of their proximity to those peoples.
Customs
The culture of the Schattenalfen is unlike the cultures of other elves.
Most elves worship above-ground nature: growing trees, green living things,
flowing rivers and the shining sun. Not so the Schattenalfen; after all their
centuries of living below-ground, they have become distanced from that world.
They are physiologically and psychologically adapted to life below-ground. The
sunlight burns them and can kill them; they feel nervous and exposed when there
are trees all around instead of stone walls, and when there is no cavern ceiling
above their heads - only open sky and the distant sun.
Even this would not be so bad except the Schattenalfen long to be part of the
green, growing world again. All their culture's legends and aspirations move them
to desire life among the trees. They resent their physical and mental limitations
which keep them living among the caves; even more so they resent races which
live casually, easily, comfortably in the world of nature. Consequently, they hate
most races.
The Schattenalfen build cities underground. They expand on and modify the
caves, tunnels and caverns that make up their homes: many of them are expert
diggers, miners and engineers, like the dwarves of the outer world.
Their architecture is almost identical to that of the Azcans (read the entry on
Azca toward the start of this chapter), featuring pyramids, plazas and heavy walls
built of dressed stone. Unlike the Azcans, they don't use dried mud-brick for any
of their building; they rely entirely on stone.
The Schattenalfen observe all rituals and ceremonies in utter darkness. Though
they light their caverns with torches, lamps and candles, their formal gatherings
(prayers to Atzanteotl, marriages, celebrations of birth, etc.) are all held in
complete darkness.
Among the Schattenalfen, males and females have roughly equal rights. Both
males and females learn magic and fight; the military is about 60% male, 40%
female.
But inheritance is matrilineal: the family name and family property descends
from mother to daughter. When Schattenalfen marry, the male formally leaves his
own clan and becomes a member of his wife's clan. Among rulers, power settles
on the member of the marriage who is personally the most dominant; one family
may be ruled by its mother, another by its father, and another by a marriage of
equals.
The Schattenalfen, like their distant Icevale cousins, expose children who are
born hideously deformed. Unlike the Icevale elves, many Schattenalf children are
born deformed, perhaps one in five.
Elderly Schattenalfen, by ancient tradition, are exiled. If a Schattenalf reaches
800 years of age, he packs up a few belongings, makes his farewell to his family,
and departs the caverns forever. He is doomed to wander the surface of the
Hollow World for the rest of his life; also, by tradition, he is not allowed ever to
retrace his path or see the same place twice.
Most of these wanderers die in the dangerous wildernesses of the Hollow World.
Sometimes the Immortal Rafiel takes pity on them (on the kinder, wiser ones, at
least) and personally tells them they do not have to wander forever and may
settle where he guides them; he then guides them to places such as the
Lighthouse, to Oltec villages, or to the lands of the Icevale elves (see the separate
entries for those places in this chapter).
On the other hand, the Schattenalfen, by ancient custom, must adopt any elf
who expresses a wish to live among them. They might fall on and attack a foreign
elf they find sneaking through their territory; but if he knows to cry out that he
claims the right to live among them, they will break off their attack.
(This doesn't mean that it's easy for an elvish PC to infiltrate and spy on these
elves. Others have tried; the Schattenalfen are suspicious of any of their adoptees
for decades, even centuries. An adoptee must swear an oath of loyalty to the
Schattenalf king. He must marry a Schattenalf; if a married pair of elves seeks
adoption, the marriage is considered irrelevant and they are separated and
married to Schattenalfen. The adoptee will be watched for as many years as it
takes to convince the Schattenalfen of his loyalty. And if he does turn out to be a
traitor, he will be routinely executed. But he will be adopted if he wishes to be.)
These elves are ruled by an Elf-King and Elf-Queen, who live in the city of
Issarthyl. Each other community comprising two or more extended families is
ruled by a governor appointed by the crown. Many communities constitute only
one extended family, and the ruler is the family leader, who must answer to the
crown just like any governor ... but who may not be removed or demoted by the
crown. The King and Queen, all city governors, and all high-ranking advisors and
military advisors are followers of Atzanteotl; that Immortal has a strong lock on
the ruling caste of Schattenalfen.
Most Schattenalfen live on a substance called trania. It is a highly concentrated
foodstuff which they prepare themselves; its making does not require magic.
Trania comes in dark, egg-sized balls, one of which will sustain a Schattenalf for
an entire day. (It usually takes two meals of trania to sustain a larger person such
as an adult human. Also, trania does not satisfy the compulsive meat-eater's love
of meat and so many people do not consider it an adequate diet; it sustains them,
but leaves them craving flesh.)
The Schattenalfen make use of beasts of burden, mostly reptiles. Both the
crawler (a riding lizard identical to the Hutaakan foot-pad lizard) and the flapsail
(a small, unintelligent dragon-like creature native to these mountains) are
domesticated and ridden; both types of beasts also thrive in the wild and
sometimes attack Schattenalfen.
The official faith of the Schattenalfen is the worship of the Immortal Atzanteotl.
His philosophy is one of revenge and punishment: any slight against
Schattenalfen must be avenged. Since the humans blew up the world in the
ancient past, they must be conquered. Anyone who insults a Schattenalf must be
punished. This doesn't have to be by a sudden attack or formal duel: slow,
thoughtful, carefully-planned vengeance is even more palatable to the Schattenalf
followers of Atzanteotl.
Though Atzanteotl's faith is the official worship of the Schattenalfen, that
doesn't make it the universal faith of these people. Among the Schattenalfen, four
in ten consider themselves followers of Atzanteotl; one in ten is, secretly, a
follower of the original Shadow Elf patron, Rafiel. The other five in ten are rather
agnostic, following neither Immortal, simply living their lives.
Issarthyl
The largest city of the Schattenalfen is Issarthyl.
Issarthyl is a city of 60,000 built in an enormous cavern lying a full mile beneath
the foot of Mount Issarthyl.
Within the cavern is a 200'-tall stepped pyramid devoted to the Immortal
Atzanteotl. Below it lies the great plaza of Issarthyl, surrounded by temples of
Atzanteotl, the royal residence, and other building just as are found in the city of
Chitlacan (see the entry for the Azcan Empire, above). There is one major
exception: the Schattenalfen don't play the game of tlachtli, and so there are no
courts here for that game.
Around the great plaza and its functionary buildings are the homes of the
common Schattenalfen.
As in the Azcan city of Chitlacan, there is a steady stream of foot-traffic in and
out of Issarthyl. Though the Schattenalfen could be completely self-sufficient
(living on foods such as the fungus which grows in abundance in their caverns and
the milk taken from a variety of giant slug), they prefer to trade their goods for
richer, healthier food grown on the outside. So they mine precious stones and
craft wonderful gems, jewellery and precious statuary, and trade them for food -
especially to the Traldar on the western coast. The streams of traffic bear those
trade goods out of the cavern and stockpiles of wheat, barley, wine. dried fish,
dried meat, dried fruits, and other goods from Traldar lands.
NPCs
One Schattenalf whom the PCs might meet is Air-Captain Trylthyn.
Monsters
The Schattenalf lands are occupied by most of the monsters indicated for
mountain and hill terrains in the Monsters chapter of The Adventure Book. Two
other monsters (from that chapter) which are very important to the Schattenalfen
are flapsails and foot-pad lizards.
From the Hollow World Set, Dungeon Master's Sourcebook, The Immortals, pp. 98-
99
Atzanteotl
Sphere and Alignment: Entropy; Neutral.
Manifestation Power: Greater.
Worshippers' Alignment: Neutral and Chaotic. His clerics all are Neutral.
History: Atzanteotl, born with the name Atziann, was an elf clan-lord living in
Glantri some 2,700 years ago. At that time, some of his fellow elves found and
accidentally triggered a dangerous Blackmoor device left in the Broken Lands. The
resulting cataclysm drove the surviving Glantrian elves underground. Atziann and
his clan travelled the labyrinth of caves under Glantri for dozens of years, years
during which all his clan-members perished. These experiences made him very
dark, fatalistic, and bitter.
After these years of wandering lost below the earth, Atziann emerged once
again into sunlight ... but it was the wrong sun. He found an exit into the Hollow
World, in the lands of the Azcan Empire. With his magical abilities, he was able to
conceal himself from their eyes and hide among the Azcans until he learned their
language and culture. He gained quite an appreciation for the lethal,
uncompromising Azcans, for their culture and architecture and sense of style,
before continuing on with his wanderings.
By now committed to doctrines of evil and pain, Atziann took the Path of
Immortality of the Sphere of Entropy and, within a couple of hundred years, his
unrelenting evil had earned him that reward (such as it is). Now, he decided, it
was time to return his attention to his original people (who were now called the
Shadow Elves) and see what he could do to shape them into a race more to his
liking.
Under the name Atzanteotl, a name in the Azcan style, he began to turn the
minds of shadow-elf clerics and Azcan clerics to his own twisted evils. He supplied
great power and wisdom to these clerics, and in both cultures they eventually
took charge. Certain Shadow Elves, especially the Schattenalfen clan, began
construction of a city, Aengmor, built along Azcan lines and dedicated to the glory
of Atzanteotl. The Azcans, both those in the Hollow World and those on the outer
world, increasingly turned away from the worship of Otzitiotl (Ixion) and Kalaktatla
(Ka the Preserver) and to that of Atzanteotl; they introduced sacrifices into their
way of life.
Since those days, Atzanteotl has driven his Schattenalfen further underground,
repopulated their city Aengmor with orcs (see GAZ 10, The Orcs of Thar, for
details), and has continued to make his followers more populous and powerful. He
has inspired all Shadow Elves with a hatred and envy of Alfheim, made them
covet Alfheim for their own homeland.
Personality: Atzanteotl is fascinated by the process of corruption; he enjoys
nothing so much as seeing good sentient beings turn to evil. Once they are turned
to evil, he loses most of his interest in them. He has built up three cultures
(humanoids of the Broken Lands, Schattenalfen and Azcans) dedicated to his evil
glory, and his only plan is to continue in the same vein until every sentient thing
is corrupt and evil and chanting his praises. His ultimate goal is the destruction of
all life on the outer world, especially the elves of Alfheim.
Allies: Atzanteotl has no allies.
Enemies: Atzanteotl's greatest enemies are Ilsundal (who detests his
corruption of elves), Ixion and Ka the Preserver (who oppose his effects on the
Azcans), Karaash (who resents his interference with the humanoid races), Rafiel
(from whom he "stole" the worship of many Shadow Elves) and Halav (an enemy
of the patrons of the humanoids). All the other Immortal patrons of the humanoid
races, such as Bartziluth, can be counted as his secondary enemies.
Appearance: In mortal form, Atzanteotl takes the appearance of either an
elven hero or a dark orc. His Immortal/demonic shape is that of a jet-black
feathered serpent with the beautiful, solemn face of an elf - a face which
occasionally twists with rage.
Symbol: The silhouette of a feathered serpent.
DMing Notes: Atzanteotl is one of the movers and shakers of the Hollow World.
He opposes the Spell of Preservation and the four Immortal sponsors of the Hollow
World at every turn. He works to expand the borders of Azcan and Schattenalf
territory, though he allows these two empires to fight one another to amuse him.
Though he knows the Spell of Preservation will not allow him to wipe cultures out
utterly, he makes sure that his Azcans and Schattenalfen enslave and dilute all
other cultures they encounter.
From the Hollow World Set, Player's Guide, Character Backgrounds, pp. 56-57
Schattenalfen
Schattenalfen are pale. subterranean elves. As a race, they have lived too long
below-ground; consequently, they have trouble dealing with sunlight and the
outdoors.
Appearance and Dress
The Schattenalfen are elves, but somewhat different from the ordinary forest
elves people are used to seeing. They average about 5' tall and weigh anywhere
from 90-110 lbs. They are very, very pale: white-skinned, white- or grey-haired,
blue- or grey-eyed. Most people looking at them think they are some sort of
subterranean life-form like an earthworm which has taken on humanoid form.
The Schattenalfen wear dark, heavy long-sleeved tunics, trousers, and knee-
high soft boots; outside their subterranean homes, they also wear broad-hooded
cloaks. They typically dress in blacks, browns, dark blues, purples and deep reds.
The garments are protective rather than decorative: see below, under.
Customs
Schattenalfen, unlike most other elves, do not worship nature or revere growing
things. Driven underground by natural disasters, they have adapted to life
underground. They feel safest when surrounded by living rock; they feel exposed
and endangered when in the open, especially in forests with open sky above.
However, ancient tradition makes them long for the old ways; they believe that
they should be able to live out in the open lands, among the trees. Most of them
just can't bring themselves to that great and uncomfortable a change, which
makes them angry and resentful. (Some Schattenalfen have learned to live
above-ground; they are still not fully comfortable with it, and they are a distinct
minority among their people, but they do exist.
The Schattenalfen choose large caves and caverns and build cities in them,
expanding existing networks of tunnels, turning raw cavern into homes which
nearly rival the subterranean architecture of the Rockhome dwarves of the outer
world.
But their architecture is not like that of the Rockhome dwarves. In fact, it's
almost identical to that of the Azcans, their enemies. It features buildings and
stepped pyramids made of heavy dressed-stone blocks. The Schattenalfen are
convinced that the Azcans stole these motifs from them, and the Azcans claim
that it was the Schattenalfen who are the latecomers; the Azcans claim to be the
originators of these designs, while the Schattenalfen say these designs were
granted to them by the Immortal Atzanteotl, which gives them the better claim.
Regardless of which side is right, both Schattenalfen and Azcan hate one another.
The Schattenalfen are a monarchic power. The entire race is ruled by an Elf-King
and Elf-Queen who live in the city of Issarthyl. Their society is heavily militarized,
the lives of the elves being very heavily regimented.
Schattenalfen live by a doctrine of vengeance: any insult must be punished.
Player character Schattenalfen do not have to avenge every insult immediately,
but may not ever forget a slight or insult, and will always ultimately try to avenge
themselves.
Schattenalfen tame and ride a type of flying reptile they call flapsails; indeed,
they have a large corps of flapsail-pilots, something which gives them a much-
needed edge in their ongoing wars with the more-numerous Azcans.
The state faith is the worship of the Immortal Atzanteotl, though not all
Schattenalfen worship that evil Immortal. A few Schattenalfen secretly worship
Rafiel, the patron of the original Shadow Elves from whom the Schattenalfen are
descended.
Names
Schattenalfen names tend to be several syllables long, and contain many soft,
sibilant sounds: 'll,' 'ph,' 's,' 'sh' and 'th,' for instance.
Language
Schattenalfen speak elvish (the same elvish spoken everywhere, but with a
sibilant and sinister-sounding dialect). They also speak Neathar, Azcan and
Traldar human, and Malpheggi lizard man.
Character Classes
Schattenalfen with Intelligence scores of 16, 17 or 18 can be created as normal
elves; all other Schattenalfen should be created as warrior-elves from the
Character Creation chapter.
General Skills
All Schattenalfen must take Caving skill and at least one professional or labour
skill (a result of their very regimented society).
From the Hollow World Set, Adventure Book, Adventures, pp. 8-12
Captain Geissyl
Combat Notes: 4th-level elf; AC 5 (chain mail); hp 20; MV 90' (30'); #AT 1
broad sword or spell; Dmg 1d8 or by spell; Save E4; ML8; AL N. S12 I17 W10 D11
Co13 Ch9. Languages: Elvish (Schattenalfen dialect), Neathar, Azcans, Traldar,
Malpheggi lizard man, Kogolor dwarvish. General Skills: Mapping (I), Profession (of
Military Aide, I), Caving (W), Alertness (D), Ledge Hopping (D), Persuasion (Ch).
Caryldian's Attacks
General Caryldian suspects that he is overmatched in power by the player
characters, so he uses his wits, skills and magical abilities to achieve his ends -
hopefully without having to resort to direct confrontation.
His Tactics
Caryldian's tactic is to track his prey from the air, staying very high and
occasionally using magic spells such as wizard eye and clairvoyance to spy on his
prey on the ground, sometimes landing and using his Tracking general skill to
calculate their probable course.
Then, he moves ahead of them and sets up ambushes.
General Caryldian
History: Caryldian is 200, an experienced Schattenalf military leader and
magic-user. He has led more expeditions than he can count against the Azcans.
He is very effective at motivating his elves, but is not himself a great planner or
tactician; he has to leave that task to his advisors. He has long had an unfriendly
rivalry with the younger (see the Schattenalfen writeup in the Atlas chapter of the
Dungeon Master's Sourcebook), whom he despises because Trylthyn is a heretic -
not a follower of the Immortal Atzanteotl.
Personality: Caryldian is a brute-force leader, terrorising his elves into obeying
his slightest whim. On the other hand, he prefers for his advisors to work up
complicated, sneaky plans involving as little direct confrontation as possible
because Caryldian is a bit of a coward. Oh, he'll challenge any elf who calls him
that, but that's only because he's very familiar with the abilities of anyone who
would make that claim. The fact is that he's afraid to fight any opponent he
doesn't know enough about.
Appearance: Caryldian is a little large for a Schattenalf, standing 5'4" and
weighing about 120 lbs. He has pale green eyes, is very handsome, and wears
green and gold clothing with a metallic finish.
Combat Notes: 10th-level elf; AC 4 (chain mail and shield); hp 35; MV 90' (30');
#AT 1 broad sword or spell; Dmg 1d8 + 3 or by spell; save E10; ML11; AL C. S16
I18 W10 D12 Co9 Ch13. Languages: Elvish (Schattenalfen dialect), Neathar,
Azcan, Traldar, Malpheggi lizard man, Kogolor dwarvish. General Skills: Intimidate
(S), Navigation (I), Signalling (Schattenalfen Flapsail-Riders Hand-Signals, I),
Tracking (I), Caving (W), Alertness (D), Find Traps (D), Hear Noise (D), Riding
(Flapsail, D).
Spells Carried: 1st - detect magic, protection from evil, read magic. 2nd -
locate object, phantasmal force, web. 3rd - clairvoyance, fly, protection from
normal missiles. 4th - growth of plants, hallucinatory terrain, wizard eye. 5th -
dissolve, wall of stone.
Magical Items in Possession: boots of levitation, broad sword + 1 (detects
evil).
On the Road
Caryldian continues to dog the adventurers' paths until he has captured Zorena
and flown away with her, or has been defeated or killed by the PCs.
If he's killed by the PCs, this adventure is effectively over. The heroes continue
on their route, suffer dinosaur attacks and encounters with fabled races, and
eventually reach their next destination.
If he does capture Zorena, the PCs have another choice. Zorena has told them
that Caryldian was going to take her back to the Schattenalf capital. Do they
follow and hope to rescue her (or find her again when she escapes), or do they
decide to go about their own business?
In the case of the former choice, you can turn the adventure into a cross-
country race. The PCs know that they are not fast enough to catch Caryldian on
his flapwing.
So, they may find flying mounts of their own: pegasi, griffons, giant
pteranodons, whatever they think they can capture and quickly tame. This would
result in them catching up to the lazily-flying Caryldian many days' flying away,
and end in an aerial dogfight against the Schattenalf general.
On the other hand, they might not be able to find flying beasts. In this case, let
them proceed overland in pursuit of the general, intending to break into the
Schattenalfen capital to rescue her.
But before they reach that territory, they come across the body of the downed
flapsail. It has been brought down by some flying predator. The tracks of
Caryldian and his lovely captive head away from this mishap, headed straight
toward the Schattenalf lands. They have a two-day head start on the PCs; but the
PCs are faster, because they're not dragging along an unwilling captive.
This makes the rest of the adventure a race against time, as the heroes gain on
their quarry, hoping to catch up to Caryldian before that villain reaches the
Schattenalf borders.
When they do catch up to him, they can have a final duel with the villain. He
may prefer to abandon his captive in order to stay alive, and fly off to safety. In
this case, he returns at some far-later date to exact his revenge on the player
characters.
Or, maddened by the pursuit and by Zorena's continual rejection of him, he
might turn on his pursuers like a rabid dog, attacking them in a fight to the death.
Either way, Zorena is reunited with the outer-world heroes, and this adventure
is concluded ... at least for the time being.
Flapsails
Armour Class: 2
Hit Dice: 8*
Hit Points: 30
Move: 90' (30')
Flying: 240' (80')
Attacks: 2 claws/1 bite or breath
Damage: 1-8/1-8/3-18 or 30 pts.
Number Appearing: 1-4
Terrain: Forest and Jungle, Hill, Mountain
Save As: F8
Morale: 10
Treasure Type: Nil
Alignment: Neutral
THAC0: 12
XP Value: 1,200
Flapsails are a Hollow World variety of small, unintelligent red dragon. They may
be an ancestor of the modern red dragon, or just an offshoot which some
Immortal placed inside the Hollow World when they began to go extinct.
Regardless, the flapsails were heavensent for the Schattenalfen. The elves had
trained a reptilian mount in their home caverns, and the flapsail, intelligent
enough to be trained and not too fierce to be domesticated, was an admirable
substitute.
Flapsails grow to about 25' long. Adult flapsails can carry 4,000 cn of weight
aloft at full flying speed, or 6,000 cn at half speed.
Like red dragons, they have claws, teeth and fiery breath weapons. Unlike
dragons, they have no spells.
Though many are encountered as Schattenalfen riding beasts, there are many
more living wild in the hills and mountains.
From the Hollow World Set, Fold-out maps, 40 miles-per-hex scale Northern and
Southern Iciria
SCHATTENALFEN CAVERNS
Capital City: Issarthyl.
Towns: Nomarys, Phoridiel, Qeradyth, Ranthryl, Tyradeal.
Forts: Fort Myridas, Fort Ploiec, Fort Unyis.
Nearby Battles: Battle of Ploiec (no data - probably Schattenalfen vs. Azcans),
Battle of Tuxmal (no data - probably Schattenalfen vs. Oltecs), Battle of Wondyviel
(Schattenalfen vs. Azcans; major Schattenalfen victory).
Nearby Ruins: Axateotl (Azcan city destroyed by Schattenalfen after countless
attacks).
Notes: There are hundreds of smaller settlements not shown on the map, as
well as hundreds of other battle sites. It seems the Schattenalfen have no need to
defend their southern border as of yet, since they have no forts there. Finally, it
should be noted that the towns shown on the map are almost certainly
underground settlements, just as the capital city of Issarthyl is.
Schattenalfheim
(Schattenalfen Caverns)
Location: Hollow World, continent of Iciria, northern parts of the World-Spine
mountain range in the far west of the continent. Area: 175, 976 sq.mi.
Population: 600,000, including 60,000 living in the city of Issarthyl. Languages:
Elvish (Schattenalf dialect, very similar to Shadow Elves' language). Coinage:
Mountain (gp), Pyramid (sp), Stone (cp).
Government Type: Monarchy; kings and queens must be clerics of Atzanteotl.
Industries: Mining (precious metals and stones).
Description: These are cavern-riddled mountains occupied by the
Schattenalfen culture.
See the description of the Shadow Elves in the "Aengmor" listing. The
Schattenalfen are physically identical to the Shadow Elves, but culturally different.
They build monuments like the Azca - just like the Azca; their architectural tastes
have been shaped by the Immortal Atzanteotl, who is an admirer of the Azcan
culture. As followers of Atzanteotl, they are adherents of a philosophy of hatred
and ruin rather than of the Immortal Rafiel's words of knowledge and growth.
They are sensitive to the rays of the sun (exposure to sunlight for a full day will
kill most Schattenalfen), and prefer to live underground, but hate and envy those
who live at the surface. They make continual war against the Azca (though they
have so much in common with that hateful civilization), as well as against the
Traldar, Oltecs, Neathar, and anyone else they meet.
Notable Sites: The capital of the Schattenalfen is Issarthyl; this city is built
within a huge cavern beneath one of the region's tallest mountains. It is much like
an Azcan city, full of stone dwellings, plazas and pyramids, except that it is
underground and occupied by pallid elves instead of burly humans.
History: See the history of the nation of Aengmor. The Schattenalfen are
descendants of explorers who left the far-underground City of the Stars to reach
the earth's surface, and succeeded - but found the wrong surface. Inspired by the
Immortal Atzanteotl, they have founded a nation based on war and hatred.
Important Figures: Catriata (Queen and Shaman).
Flora and Fauna: Monsters in this mountain region include: basilisks, bats,
bears, giant bees, giant beetles, beholders, undead beholders, black puddings,
blast spores, caecilias, carrion crawlers, mountain lions, sabre-tooth tigers, giant
centipedes, chimeras, dinosaurs, dragons, giant ferrets, gelatinous cubes, stone
giants, grey oozes, green slimes, giant lizards, ochre jellies, pterosaurs, purple
worms, rats, trolls, and yellow moulds.
From the Poor Wizard's Almanac, Armies of the World, pp. 122-123
Schattenalfheim
Basis: Classical; males and females (3% standing, up to 30% wartime);
population 600,000; standing.
Division Names: Fists of the Immortal.
Type of Division: Regular Division.
Number of Such Units: 30 (I-XXX Fist of the Immortal).
BR: 140. Personnel: 500. Troop Class: Average.
Division Breakdown:
Division Commander: General (E10). Deputy Commander: Captain (E5). Heroes:
Elf-Shaman (6th level equivalent).
Regiments 1-3: Each has 100 regular E1 elf light infantry, scale mail and shields,
spears and normal swords, four sergeants (E2), one captain (E5).
Regiment 4: 100 regular E1 elf light infantry, leather armour, longbows and
normal swords, four sergeants (E2), one captain (E5).
Regiment 5: 50 elite E3 flying cavalry, chain mail, shields, longbows and lances,
riding flapsails (flying reptiles), four sergeants (E4), one captain (E5).
From the Poor Wizard's Almanac, Who's Who in the World, p. 134
Catriata. Queen of Schattenalfheim, Matriarch of Atzanteotl, Flower of
Issarthyl. Born AC 772; apparent age elderly elf. Catriata is a female elf and
shaman of Atzanteotl. She is a pale, sickly thing, not at all a fighter, but
commands her people through cunning, manipulative skill, and the will of the
Immortal she serves. She is a schemer who loves to destroy courtiers who do not
please her, throws tantrums whenever the Azcans or Traldar displease her, and
she is easily influenced by flattery. Hair: White, worn long and unbound. Eyes: Ice-
grey. Height: 5'2". Reed-thin, usually looks as though she is terminally ill, wears
bright orange and purple gowns which make her look even worse. Combat Notes:
E10/8th level shaman; AC 9; hp 30; MV 120' (40'); #AT 1 spell; Dmg by spell; Save
E10; ML4; AL C. S8 I13 W18 D11 Co7 Ch15.
Note from Poor Wizard's Almanac III: Catriata is given an AD&D; Alignment of
Chaotic Evil.
From the Poor Wizard's Almanac, The Year in Preview, p. 234
Kaldmont 13: The Shadow Elves Meet
Location: Schattenalfheim.
Description: Explorer shadow elves from the City of the Stars deep in the
world's crust finally make their way to the Hollow World's surface, and encounter
the Schattenalfen. The Schattenalfen grab the explorers and hustle them to their
capital city of Issarthyl.
What This Means: The two branches of the shadow elves' race have been
separated for quite some time - it will be interesting to see how they interact.
Kaldmont 16: Shadow Elves Talk
Location: Schattenalfheim.
Description: The queen of the Schattenalfen converses with these other
shadow elves and learns much history that her race has forgotten. She agrees to
open up diplomatic ties with the other shadow elves.
What This Means: The two branches of the shadow elf family do not like or
trust one another, but both recognise the ties that bind them - and that each can
learn from the other. The two races will not become military allies in the
foreseeable future, however, as their politics are too different.