Ame'onn

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General Lore Overview

Ame’onn is an elven word meaning “From the Forest,” an ancillary title given by the outside Mali to this separatist faction, due to their choice of home. What they referred to themselves as is unknown. Even under Malin, the Elven people were never in total agreement, for what people ever are even under the most charismatic of leaders? There had always existed different philosophies and attitudes, even concerning the great menace that was and is Iblees. It was these disagreements that finally caused many factions to split off from what was once the Mali as a whole; One of these factions would in time be known as the Ame’onn.

What difference the Ame’onn had to the other factions, other than their beliefs, culture and skills, was the size of their split. Relatively small comparatively, unlike other divisions such as Larihei’s. In addition there were no factors, environmental or otherwise, which would alter their appearance over the ages aside from their inherited features. Though they separated from the other Elves before the subraces would truly be known by any other name, aside from Larihei’s group which had separated in the first centuries of Aegis, they maintained the physical features typical of Malin’s elder children, those who would become known later as the Mali’ame.

Not satisfied with Iblees’ banishment or the power the Elves held during the war against Iblees and his undead, the Ame’onn took the peace of the Betrayer’s absence as an opportunity to separate themselves from the other Elves, whom they considered to have inadequate power and inadequate response to threats, as well as a warped view of the world. Fleeing deep into the eldest, most hidden forests of the lands, the Ame’onn took to several small enclaves known as Asimulum. These were typically groves, glades, or other hidden places within nature that were hidden further by the Ame’onn’s magic.

By and large the Ame’onn consisted of scholars, philosophers, and mages. They maintained a respect and reverence of nature, but did not practice druidism or any philosophies associated with such. It is likely no druids were included in their midst for various reasons. They built their homes in hidden groves and glades, and further concealed them with magic in the use of illusion, wards, and other such powers. Having little to no use for outsiders or those who had not the skill or the wherewithal to join their separation (it is to be noted that not all Elven mages joined them and obviously no mages that would become Mali’aheral did, as this exodus was post-Larihei’s group’s departure from the Elves.), they forbade outsiders into their asimulum and forbade most contact with the outside world except in certain circumstances. They sought to live an isolated life wherein they could practice their beliefs, philosophies, and magics in peace. The asimulum’s, or enclaves which they lived in, varied in populace depending on purpose, ranging from less than a dozen individuals, to closer to a hundred in the largest of settlements. They grew no larger than that and it is likely there existed only one of such large population.

Due to the mystery surrounding their existence, purpose, and places of residence, the other Elves began to refer to this faction as “Ame’onn”. They lived in and came from the deepest and eldest parts of the woods, and never could they be tracked back to their homes what few times they were discovered; Indeed, if an asimulum was discovered, the next time it was visited it would be completely empty, devoid of life as if abandoned; Nothing left but the lingering magic in the air of enchantments untangled and wards undone.

In due time the Ame’onn would become naught but a legend. Whatever happened to them is hard to say; Some asimulums may have, after centuries of production, been unable to sustain their population and been forced to re-integrate themselves with the general populace. Some asimulum of smaller populations may have died out, perhaps from the population size being too small, or perhaps plague, or perhaps having been discovered by forces too strong to repel and too large flee from. Whatever their fate, all of the Ame’onn would eventually disappear, either through re-integration with the populace, or something far more unfortunate.

The magic concealing and safeguarding their asimulum would stand stalwart for centuries, allowing their culture and history to go undiscovered for as long as the magic held. To re-discover this lost culture would require wit, ingenuity, and a keen understanding of the magics utilized to conceal them.

General Culture Overview

The Ame’onn’s culture focused on a number of different aspects which defined their everyday life, rituals, and beliefs. Their everyday life was defined by the tir'taynei, or Green Law, which they followed religiously. This law was heavily based on a balance between nature and all living things; it is important to note the Ame’onn did not interpret balance, or meracahe, in the same manner as the Druidic Order. Rather the Ame’onn believed that all living things would interfere with each other, including mortals with animals, plant life, etc. However, the Ame’onn believed in a controlled method of interaction and believed interaction with nature should be kept to the mundane. They were a generally pacifistic society with great reverence and respect for nature, made up primarily of scholars, scribes, researchers, bookkeepers, authors, and most importantly mages. Voidal magic played as important a role in the culture of the Ame’onn as Nature did, but they believed the two were not meant to interact; Thusly magic was not used on nature, to manipulate, alter, destroy, or otherwise interact with it.

Asimulums

The Ame’onn resided in enclaves known as asimulum; Glades, groves, and other hidden places that acted as isolated sanctuaries for the Mali who settled in them. While these were sometimes in deep elder woods (The largest of such settlements likely were), they could be any isolated place which could be almost completely hidden from mortal eye with the use of magic. This could include the tops of mountains, the inside of circular mountain ranges, cliffsides obscured by waterfalls, swamps, tropical jungles, and other such far-flung and hidden places.

The asimulum were many, but lacked largely in population. They each were dedicated to specific purposes; The most hidden were small, tucked away, and often consisted of just one or two Mali possessing powerful magics whose sole purpose was to protect and preserve designated relics or knowledge. The asimulum dedicated to research were larger, usually being the most populated and difficult to conceal. When research was completed, it was usually sent away to be safeguarded in one of the smaller asimulum.

This isolated society likely lasted for centuries, specifically hand-developing the area they lived in to suit their needs. By the time their culture dwindled and ultimately disappeared, the asimulums would have existed for centuries, designed specifically around the purpose for which the asimulum had existed. Concealed for millenia and defended against outside influence, the asimulums would be untouched by anything save nature, unless some other party had stumbled upon them in the past.

Tir'taynei

Known as the Green Law, this was the word of law followed by the Ame’onn in day-to-day life. It laid out the laws for living in the asimulum, the punishments for breaking them, and the exceptions. It was the culmination of months of debate amongst the founders of the Ame’onn, and the resultant set of laws was put into place to be enforced by the populace at large. It emphasised balance with nature, the goals of the Ame’onn, the value of their existence, and the importance of their isolation.

It was not the Ame’onn’s belief that their place was to enforce a balance of nature; Rather it was inevitably that mortals would alter and change the worlds they lived in, and while others may hold no respect for the natural world, they would do their best to follow their own laws in regards to it. The Tir'taynei forbid the excess harming of natural things, the death of living things without just cause, and forbade leaving the asimulum save for the few exceptional journeys to gather materials or deliver messages blessed by the leaders.

The tir'taynei also demanded that all natural things be kept in their natural place; Animals should not be displaced ever from their natural habitats, nor should plants. Plantlife and animals shall not be treated with anything less than the utmost respect; Bearing this in mind, keeping animals as pets and keeping plants indoors or in confined spaces (pots), was not permitted. Livestock when existing naturally in asimulums, was allowed to roam freely and only given extra care and food as trade for the fact they would eventually be killed for meat towards the end of their natural life; Livestock was never confined within pens. Plants were not grown in “unnatural” settings or places. Animals were generally held in a higher regard than plants in the natural order of things.

The tir'taynei set forth that all life was of a divine nature, and therefore precious. Under this philosophy the Ame’onn maintained a pacifist attitude towards each other and the other races.

Preserving the Past for the Future

An important part of Ame’onn culture was the gathering, protecting, restoring, and keeping of ancient knowledge, wisdom, history, relics, and magics. They believed that the future was built on the foundations of the past, and that their power alone was enough to safeguard this future. The isolation of the Ame’onn and extensive magical skills made some Mali agree, and they were gifted with or asked to keep safe a number of pieces of knowledge and important relics. But for as many trusted them to keep safe their artifacts or writing, just as many did not; For some items of particular value or importance in the Ame’onn’s eyes, they would not have allowed them to stay in any place they thought unsafe, or hands they deemed unworthy. The Ame’onn did practice forceful acquisition of some items of importance, though always tried to gain by subterfuge and guile before the blade and spell.

Magical Practices

Magic was an innate and necessary art for the Ame’onn. It is with magic that they concealed their asimulum from prying eyes, and with which they defend themselves and their sacred glades. It is the arcane that they developed and relied upon in order to defeat future foes or, if necessary, Iblees should he rise again. Magical research was performed by anyone of the talent or aptitude for it; Nearly every member of an asimulum would have some magical talent or skill. The most commonly practiced magics within asimulum’s included the more abstract arts. Versions and types of illusion, alteration, cognitism, mental magic, voidal translocation, wards, and other similar arts. Evocations were practiced but not as heavily, as they were not viewed as something that could be of use beyond for use in combat.

Many of the magical wards, enchantments, illusions, and defenses designed to keep the asimulum safe, isolated, and hidden still continue to churn on to this day, millenia after the disappearance of their original crafters.

Death

Knowledgeable of the inevitable and sometimes unexpected end, the Ame’onn made plans for the maintenance and continuation of their asimulum in the event of their death; This was especially important for asimulum with low population, which could contain less than a half dozen Ame’onn at any time and sometimes contained as little as three. This involved the continued function of illusions and all other magical defenses protecting the asimulum, as well as any traps or other functions within that would keep the artifacts, knowledge, relics, and such safe from intruders. They also created instructions concerning their research or projects, including whether or not it should be continued after their death.

In this way, asimulum in which every member had somehow met an untimely end would still remain sealed, hidden, defended, and safe, up until the time that another asimulum (or other worthy group of explorers clever enough to get through the defenses) re-discovered it.

Religion

Aside from following theTir'taynei, the Ame’onn had no generalized religious beliefs. There are religious beliefs listed in the Tir'taynei itself, but they do not include any forms of worship; they are more similar to philosophical theories on the founding of the world than anything else. However, the fact that they did have and hold some origin story of sorts, however untruthful or otherwise, and built their laws and relationship with nature based off that knowedge, was what set them largely apart from the Larihei’s followers; those who found truth in Larihei’s words would have followed in that departure from Aegis, rather than remain long enough to become part of the Ame’onn.

Philosophical debate about the nature and purpose of the world was rampant within the asimulums, and was welcome as part of their culture. In truth, many of the asimulum had never read the full content of the Tir'taynei, which was considered the pet-project of elders far too verbose; The laws were derived from it and written in brief so as to not waste time with interpretation and debate on enforcement of it.

What can be said, for certain, is the fact the Ame’onn did not follow any system of faith, belief, or morals quite like any which currently exists. Perhaps this difference was what ultimately ostracized them from their brothers and caused them to isolate themselves away from all others.