Malanh

Malanh. Home, in the elven tongue it is the sacred refuge and capitol city of the Dark Elves. All paths through the Depths lead to Malanh. The cavern formed by the heart of a falling star, the city glints still with the vestiges. Near 10 miles across the chasm of the Aelderwell, the city grips its edge with pillars rising to the ceiling where the palace of the Empresses of Malanh hangs above. Lit by phosphorescent fungi and a deep violet arcane glow the city's walls of polished stone and steel show the harsh and unyielding beauty of the city and its people.

Aelderwell. The great pointed chasm that divides the city, its depth shine.. The Sisters of the Travail, whilst the forests of their homes was consumed by dragon's fire, saw a star fall in the east. This star would be their people's mortal salvation and their vengeance. Leading their people in the star's path they found the remnant, founding Malanh. Yet the metallic core of the star pierced to the heart of Kyme itself, forming the chasm. Much secrecy and elven mysticism surround the well, as they pray to their goddesses who descended below and never returned.

Lithilmenos (The Last of the Ashen Path). The arcing passage that leads from the Spore Hollows to the city. Once tread by the Sisters of the Travail to lead their people to shelter from the burning of their forest home. It was Olmavixa who stood at its entrance and cast her watchful cloak across, forming the Felaveshar (The Cloak Fault) and enclosing her and her people. The path was not opened again until the last of the dragons fell. Adherents now tie bits of their cloaks to the stones at the peak of the path to honor Olmavixa's guile and protection.

Palacere (Her Palace). At the peak of the cavern's ceiling is the center of the Malanhi Empire. Created by Sithua, within the walls of the Palacere are flawless statuary depicting the elven kingdoms lost to the dragons in the Age of Fire. In each of these memorials there is an invisible door that leads to an extradimensional palace that echoes the majesty and splendor of their lost kin. When the sisters of the Travail descended into the Aelderwell they are said to have entrusted it to their disciple Cyrcua Baathter. When the sisters did not return, Cyrcua Baathter, a powerful diviner told of the Travail's ascension as deities of the Faeweald. The Baathter imperial line still rules from within the Palacere, making use of each palace in a perpetual state of remembrance and reverence.

Palacere Tarrehl (Her Palace Pillar). A pillar of stone that lay within the cavern when Malanh was formed, now carved into a delicate coil of aelderquartz and deepstone that leads from the Ashithe Anhevaerie to the Palacere.

Shaln Ta'elt (The Glimmerpass). A tunnel of passage that connects the sectors of the city to the cavern ceiling, filled with aelderquartz that refract the lights of passing elves. To look upon the walls of the Palacere are move between Mencath T'risree and Esdaln Rithrin.

Shaln Tarrehls (Glimmerpass Pillars). Twinned pillars of aelderquartz flecked deepstone formed by the grace of elven hands stand as spires that lead one's eyes in awe to the glimmering ceiling of the cavern of Malanh.

Vithim Endartha (Vithim's Stand). The devotion of Vithim to martial prowess and the perfection of elven instinct is pursued still within the regimental halls of Vithim Endartha. The discipline of Vithim is echoed in each elven warrior as each adherent seeks oneness with their weapon. Typified by their use of the glaive and heavy armor, those that ascend in ranks are gifted with mithraii made armaments granting them alacrity unseen in any warrior the world over. The combatants of the dueling grounds could be mistaken for acrobatic troupes at a distance as the elven warriors move with such grace and poise with their weapons. Spanning for miles are the military complexes that are each devoted to a martial artform and academia of war. Travelers entering the city are forced to pass through this imposing militaristic district, facing the scrutiny of hundreds of elven warriors along their passage so they might know that Malanh is under their protection.

Sithua Endartha (Sithua's Stand). Hundreds of towers of mycelium, deepstone, and aelderquartz hold the thousands of acolytes of Sithua's magical precepts, bearing the millions of secrets of elven arcana. The esoteric and hermitic nature of the pursuits of spellcasting are both expressed and repressed within the peerage of the Stand. As casters of magic are first fostered in their talents, yet by the tenets of Sithua they are then driven to mentors outside of their ability. A druid ascendant in the Stand may have wizardly and bardic disciples to allow each of them to delve into magics beyond themselves. The division of arcane and divine magics does not hold the same for the elves, as this ethos of continual challenge and will to push at the boundaries of magic has defined the adherents of Sithua.

Mencath T'risree (Promenade of T'risree). The grand trades-meet of the Southern Depths, where all the rare commodities and singular craft of the Malanhi Empire are proffered and purveyed. When the elves fled the dragons at the beginning of the Age of Fire, an elven wanderer named T'risree was able to salvage and recover what the elves needed to survive their descent into the Depths. Along with her ashelk steed she was said to "carry a world in her wagon" as she told tales of her exploits to the refugee elves so she might ease their sorrow they named the district in which they bartered after her namesake. Now, from within towers of joined triangular sections consortiums of merchants, hunters, prospectors and all manner of markets serve the populace of the city and travelers that teem in the district. Whether seeking gemstones and minerals not found anywhere else in the world, or the harvest of the elven hunters from the horrific flora and fauna of their dominion, those who shop within the district can find wonders both great and terrible.

Ashithe Anhevaerie (Echelons of Ancestry). Magnificent spires of immaculately carved deepstone ascend, each traced with the names and deeds of the elven house's ancestors. The Elven Houses of Malanh are perpetually shifting in power and regard, based in the deep ties to the Stands of Malanh and the influence gained and lost by the actions of the house's kin. Where once the elves of old were far more choosing in their propagation, with the founding of Malanh and the loss of their people, Vithim instilled a new outlook. Now it is not uncommon for an elven house that can support them to have dozens of children. All this in an effort to expand a house's reach within the Empire they will undertake unions of alliance or relenting to assassinations. Through the ages many an elven house has risen and fallen based upon the schemes of their elders.

Ohmapent (The Mother's Hands). A triplicate of hands are carved from a colossal stalagmite that rises from the district. Each hand bearing a symbol of the three sisters power and pledge to their people. In Vithim's gauntleted hand is the glaive Drim, the promise of strength and protection at her hand. In Sithua's mitred hand is the tome Srol'Elvaethua, granting the pact of magic's knowledge and power at her hand. In Olmavixa's shrouded hand the bow Syōtree, the assurance of vigilance and execution at her hand. The whole of the district is dedicated to the worship of the sisters of the Travail and departed ancestors. From all across the empire elven remains are returned to Malanh, as the dark elves hold to rites of inurnment, using arcane force to turn the body to dust.

Esdaln Rithrin (The Steps of Rithrin). Cut into the southwestern edge of the Aelderwell the center of the city's populace live among spanning trilateral arches and peaked lofts that cling to the steep pathways that lead up and down the district. A precarious elegance defines the district as in the Age of Fire more and more elven refugees came to seek Malanh, and were it not for Rithrin, a druid of unyielding power to bond and break the deepstone beneath his stride the city would have failed. This feat of building a haven in the city has allowed him to be revered as an ascendant ancestor among the empire's architects who still study his original work to the present.

Felum Pasmora (The Fungal Meadows). The precious pasture of the Depths comprised of massive fungal growths formed and fostered by the elves of Malanh. Fields of mycelium are fed the detritus of the city so it might be renewed in an endless cycle to sustain their people. Fiercely protected by warriors of Vithim's Stand as the balance of this resource is absolute, providing food, medicine, shelter and light for the whole of the city. The growth of rare alchemical elements is overseen by the druids of Sithua's Stand and deadly toxins by the agents of Olmavixa's Stand.

Voline Endarus (Volinekeep). Cordoned from the rest of the city is the enclave of the Voline. A lineage of dark elves whose ancestors were corrupted by an eldritch artifact when Malanh still hid themselves from the dragons tens of thousands of years ago. In their state of mutation the clan of Voline and its vassals pledged themselves to ever serve Malanh. The indentured inclusion of the empire has caused any elf that falls to eldritch mutation and maintains a semblance of their self, be designated Voline. The repression and recognition given the Voline reveals the strange duality of their place in elven society. All at once a Voline is barred from reaching beyond a menial existence, yet each elf that passes them in their duties are taught to acknowledge the self-sacrifice of the Voline.

Eldanlesse (The Falling of Elven Tears). As the elves that fled the dragons in the Age of Fire wept from their burns, Vithim struck the deepstone in her righteous fury. The stone drank from the tears and began to weep, until the lake of Eldanlesse formed and began to cascade into the Aelderwell. The elves still speak the proverb laid down by Vithim: "These waters shall cease when we weep no more."