Mordant Spire

Since time beyond memory, Golarion’s elves have been at war with the scheming alghollthus. Thus, when the Azlanti first rose to power as servants of the alghollthus’ so-called veiled masters, the elves considered the Azlanti enemies as well, and built a magical observatory off their shores to spy on them. These observers were among the first to learn of the alghollthus’ plan to bring about Earthfall, and they warned elvenkind to retreat to Sovyrian. When elves returned from Sovyrian millennia later, they found that their former outpost had been crushed by the falling body of Acavna, the Azlanti goddess of the moon and battle, who died trying to defend her people. In its place, a strange tower had grown—one that whispered to them with a goddess’s voice.

In that voice and in the disturbing visions it granted, they found a calling. Now considering themselves the heirs of Azlant, the former observers settled in the tower and cut themselves off from the rest of the world, laying claim to the shattered continent. They guard it both to protect this claim and as defense against humanity ever rediscovering the power—and hubris—of the lost nation and somehow triggering a second Earthfall.

After generations of isolation, the elves of the Mordant Spire are few in number and have become secretive and xenophobic, strange even to their former brethren. Often refusing to speak anything but Azlanti, they wear elaborate wooden masks whenever dealing with outsiders, and they often change the subject or stop speaking mid-sentence, cocking their heads as if listening to an inaudible voice. Completely self-sufficient, they live on rocky beaches and floating platforms anchored to the sea floor, tending kelp beds and fish farms. Outsiders are likely to interact with the elves only if they break the Mordant Spire’s rules against exploring Azlant’s ruins, in which case they find themselves quickly beset by elven warriors who patrol the region in rune-carved vessels that skim the waves faster than any ordinary ship. Captured trespassers have any Azlanti treasures confiscated and their minds wiped with magic.

The Mordant Spire elves are highly regimented. The Amaranthine Council rules unconditionally and never leaves the tower; its members are marked by the purple vapor that leaks from their empty eye sockets. Beneath them, the Listeners keep to the Vigilant Halls near the tower’s peak, communing with the spirit of the tower and observing Azlant’s ruins through magical seawater lenses. When they detect a threat, they dispatch the Mordant Censors, the warriors and spellcasters who make up the bulk of the patrols. Many other specialized roles also exist, including the rare diplomats who warn other nations to stay away and the saboteurs who ensure any serious incursion never gets off the ground. Still, in recent years, some of the elves have begun to grudgingly work with colonists in Azlant to face larger alghollthu threats, and it may be only a matter of time until the Spire’s strict traditions change.