Altarnie

Altarnie, or enclave elves, live underneath the crust of the sphere world and retain the knowledge of the elves from the Darkness Era. They know how the magic arts and how to repair the sphere worlds technology. They mostly live in isolation in underground facilities. They consist mostly of Engineer caste Drow and some highborne who managed to escape the destruction of the empire.

Enclave culture is one of extreme isolation and deep sorrow for what they have lost, this has affected their cultural development. They are a deliberate people, not making rash decisions for they believe that is what lead to the fall. They have adapted to the sterilised air of the the underground facilities, as a result they are susceptible to the diseases and pollutants of the surface. On expeditions to the surface they wear rebreather gear to protect them.

The Altarnie specialise in blade-song combat, acrobatic mixes of swordcraft and spells. They are normally deployed in squads of 5, 4 bladesong specialists and 1 cleric for support. Elvish weaponry and armour are remnants of the fall, advanced blades that cut through any armour and armour that includes energy shielding technology. The design is sleek and efficient, lines flowing into each other making the armour seem almost organic. Periodically, they send out scout groups to assess the damage of the world and try to repair critical systems. They have been seen more and more in recent years, which has caused the Gratus Confederacy to take notice and start hunting for the enclaves.

Ideologies
There are 2 factions within the Altarnie, each with differing ideologies.

The Reclaimers believe they elves have a blood rite to own the world and all other races are interlopers existing on land belonging to them, they wish to exterminate the other races and free their enslaved brethren. They use ritual branding on their skin in solidarity with the surface elves.

The Redeemers believe that elves made a mistake unleashing the nanophage and weapons of mass destruction during the fall and aim to repair the damage done and help the new races. The redeemers have an almost religious zealotry for self sacrifice, they offer bloodletting and proselytise the sins of the elvish people, they chronicle the history of the war and the first empires and the fall of the elvish people. although they are begrudgingly accepted within the enclaves they are the smaller of the factions within the enclaves.