Image of a moredhel as seen in the Betrayal at Krondor game manual.
The moredhel, also known as dark elves or Dark Brothers, are one of the three elven races in Betrayal at Krondor and are the most significant demographic of the Nations of the North. Their political and military ambitions are vital to the plot, and moredhel frequently appear as allies, antagonists, or enemies.
Some significant moredhel in the game include Gorath, Delekhan, Liallan, Cullich, Narab, Nago, Moraeulf, Obkhar, and Irmelyn.
Background[]
- "The dark elves have been attacking castles on and off as far back as anyone can remember."
- ―Master Magician Pug
Distant relations to the eledhel, the Moredhel have darker skin, hair and eyes and tend to be much more violent than their Elven counterparts. Having been close to the Valheru in ancient times, they are warriors by nature and relish combat. Ordinary warrior dress usually consists of furred robes of bear or deerskin. Moredhel typically wear brown trousers with open vests and knee length boots.
History[]
The Moredhel descended from the Elves and, unlike the eledhel, remained close to the Valheru in ancient times. They nourished a hostility toward Midkemia's younger races and have teamed up with goblins, trolls, and other creatures against the Kingdom of the Isles, attacking castles and cities. One such event was the Battle of Carse.
Moredhel clans dwelt mainly in the Northlands, their capital being the fortress of Sar-Sargoth. They were united into the Nations of the North against the Tsurani during the Riftwar. Later, Murmandamus instigated the Great Rising, in which the moredhel made a bloody march to besiege Sethanon. Their loss at Battle of Sethanon, along with the disappearance of Murmandamus, ended the Great Rising.
With the help of The Six, a secretive group of magicians, Delekhan has recently exploited the moredhel clans' disunity to claim that Murmandamus is being held captive by the Kingdom of the Isles. Assembling every clan whom he is able to cow into obedience, he has begun laying plans to march upon Sethanon once again.
Customs[]
The moredhel organize themselves in clans which are largly migratory, customarily living in tent dwellings rather than permanent houses. Their family discipline is extremely strict.
Sharing the eledhel custom of considering their dead meaningless vessels once life has fled, the moredhel only inter their kin as a great insult.
The moredhel deposit their objects in unbreakable and unlockable riddle chests which open only with a letter combination, typically the answer to a riddle. They are hidden in plain sight, as it is impossible for common folk of the Kingdom to decipher and open them.
Moredhel alphabet from A to Z with the two forms of L
They make use of a runic alphabet which is not known by people of the Kingdom. It is a fixed-width typeface; all glyphs are square-shaped except I (and L), and most of them are symmetrical. There are two characters of L: the regular L is not square, and is prefixed to other letters for sound combinations such as /la/, /lb/, /lc/, /ld/, /le/ etc; the full-form L, which seems to be like a symmetrical duplicated form of the short form, is used for emphasis or as capital letter.
In Battle[]
.jpg){kind=link}
Two moredhel and a moredhel spellcaster face the party in battle.
Moredhel warriors commonly fight with swords and crossbows, and are armed and armored at a level commensurate with the current stage of the game, bearing more durable and expensive equipment in later chapters.
With the sole exception of the sorcerer Nago, moredhel spellcasters are distinguishable by their yellow cloaks, as opposed to the blue cloaks of ordinary moredhel warriors.