Aelves of Azyr

[SeanMaguire1991]

Anyone remember when the lore mentioned that no Aelves could be found in the Realms save for Azyr? There was also mention of enclaves of Elves who survived the Old World and remained hidden in the realms until they saw fit to reveal themselves. 

We know the Idobeth, Lumineth and Scathborn were created from the souls rescued from Slaanesh's belly. I believe the Darkling, Scourge, Serpentis and Wanderer cultures originate in Ulgu and Ghyran. I can also see the Dark Aelves and Wanderers "going home" to their respective gods as the game's narrative progresses and leaving an Aelven shaped hole in the Cities of Sigmar.

The writers seem to flip flop on whether the old high elf proxies are still canon or not but it is a culture I'd like to see explored. Aelves who rejected the rule of their own gods (remembering how the scions of Aenarion screwed everything up, especially Teclis and Tyrion) and chose to remain in Azyr and form their own kingdoms and cultures (I imagine Sigmar was content to leave them to their own devices, maybe in return for Aelven magic tutoring for humans).  

I want to see a unique take on these Aelves of Azyr as part of the Cities of Sigmar faction, basically picking up the slack of the factions that went home, but you could still totally use in the appropriate cities of course. Of course this could mean new models, repurposing existing kits and/or borrowing from the future Old World High Elf kits.

Come to think of it I hope going forward we get to see the Cities develop their own unique identities beyond being the home for old world refugees.  

[RocketPropelledGrenade]

My impression based on the lore I've read and puzzled through is that every culture of aelves not explicitly mentioned as coming from Slaanesh (so not DoK, Idoneth, Lumineth, or whatever Malerion is doing) originates with the aelves of Azyr, who were few in number relative to humans and duardin and so on, but not in the sense of "lacked a population large enough for significant cultural diversity." So the aelves of Azyr traveled to other realms and formed their own empires like the Scourge on the oceans and the Darklings in Ulgu and the proto-Wanderers (as that term doesn't apply until post Age of Chaos, as I understand it) in Ghyran. But they all came from Azyr. And I believe the ones in Azyr all came from the hidden enclave that survived the Old World.

The perhaps simpler version is that GW seems to want to have its cake and eat it too with regards to aelven origins, and can't decide how numerous the aelves should have been in any way that is consistent with every piece of lore relevant to them.

[Aloth_Corfiser]

7 hours ago, RocketPropelledGrenade said:

And I believe the ones in Azyr all came from the hidden enclave that survived the Old World.

Do you mean this hidden enclave that Lileath created for Araloth and their daughter? (I have never read the End Times books so I could be wrong)

Great Write-up.
This Origin Stories frustrated me from the beginning and it is a bit of a shame that it is not written out more clearly. Still so many people are confused about which Aelves are which and I think this also plays a part in how Aelves get a bad reputation in the community.
However: What really needs to be explored by the lorewriters:
How are the relations between all these Aelves now in AoS? It was always an important and fun part of the Aelven Trope that group X considers itself better than group Y.

[RocketPropelledGrenade]

10 hours ago, Aloth_Corfiser said:

Do you mean this hidden enclave that Lileath created for Araloth and their daughter? (I have never read the End Times books so I could be wrong)

Probably? I never read End Times either, and prefer to pretend it never happened and that AoS is only as related to WFB as it is to 40k. However, there's an AoS specific source, I think in the old Hedonites battletome, that references aelves emerging from a hidden haven that was probably intended as a nod to that.

[LuminethMage]

I think what you said I’d right above, just that originally the aelves were also found in other Realms, but then almost all of them went to Azyr. And then after the Age of Chaos back to where they came from originally (besides the ones that stayed in Azyr).

Lore-wise even the High Elf successors are still canon I think, but I doubt GW will do anything much with them at all. 

[Cronotekk]

Pretty sure Swifthawk were mentioned in the recent Lumineth tome. They're canon but no longer in the game sadly

[zilberfrid]

1 hour ago, Cronotekk said:

Pretty sure Swifthawk were mentioned in the recent Lumineth tome. They're canon but no longer in the game sadly

Likewise, militia is in the fluff of Freeguild, and there are cannon in the artwork of Greywater. Dumping the sets in 2019 was done without much communication.

I don't think Azyr elves are planned or needed. We have enough Order elves at the moment. Though if the Order of Azyr is a mix of elves, dwarves, humans and halflings, I'd be all for that.

[SeanMaguire1991]

18 hours ago, Cronotekk said:

Pretty sure Swifthawk were mentioned in the recent Lumineth tome. They're canon but no longer in the game sadly

I'd love to check that but Royal Mail has failed me

[Lord of the Isle]

On 4/8/2021 at 12:19 AM, SeanMaguire1991 said:

I'd love to check that but Royal Mail has failed me

Swifthawks not delivering swiftly enough to prove their continued existence

[SeanMaguire1991]

On 4/10/2021 at 3:23 PM, Lord of the Isle said:

Swifthawks not delivering swiftly enough to prove their continued existence

I think GW doesn't like the Skycutters and would rather forget they existed