The Velseize elves are the elven faction that struck the Kingdom of Aldrein first and the most important enemy faction in Embers of the Uncrowned. Led by the Velseize elf lord and fronted by the vanguard Bella, they broke the three-year feigned peace between the elves and humans and turned the elven invasion into open war.
Origin and Motive
All elves abandoned their native continent after a catastrophic magical war corrupted their soil with the abyss. Having experienced the fear of death and the loss of their bodies, the first thing they did upon reaching Rinea was absorb human aether to restore their damaged forms. From the moment they regained their beautiful, resilient shapes, they viewed humanity as livestock rather than as equals.
Elven society is a hierarchy governed solely by the law of power. The weak serve the strong and survive on the life ampoules they are given. There is no morality, and no mercy. The only thing of value is how long and how beautifully one can exist.
Among the elven factions on Rinea, those who follow the Velseize elf lord are known to humans as the Blackmist. Clad in dark armor, they move in absolute silence before descending like a sudden, violent storm, leaving only ruins and corpses.
The Three-Year Deception
After the elves realized the Kingdom of Aldrein was no easy foe and that their initial assumption of magic-deprived barbarians had been wrong, they feigned retreat and offered a peace treaty. The treaty was never sincere. The elves used the three-year window to rally their factions and quell internal strife, intending to eradicate the kingdom's resistance in a single coordinated strike.
Three years passed and the factions remained divided. The Velseize lord, driven by the greatest urgency, broke ranks and chose to strike Aldrein first. Bella began her move, opening the war that would ultimately shatter Goldenhaven.
The Blackmist Unit
The Blackmist is the elite combat unit under the Velseize lord. Three Blackmist troop types have been formally introduced through dev posts and concept art:
Unit | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Blackmist Elf: Blockader | Heavy gatekeeper / front-line wall | Former gatekeepers and guardians of elven society. Wield massive hammers and act as living ramparts without shields, crushing enemies beneath the weight of their strikes. Stationed primarily in the rear to protect Archers and Screamers. |
Blackmist Elf: Destroyer | Expendable assault trooper | Lower-class elves also called Distorters. Hurled onto the front lines as an expendable force; they lack the ability to retain absorbed life force and so are driven by ceaseless hunger for more. They thrash through the carnage in a desperate struggle to survive. |
Blackmist Elf: Archer | Long-range support | Appointed by the ruling class as executioners of the human livestock pens. Strike down fleeing humans with relentless arrow volleys, instilling the chilling realization that there is no escape. Surround and suppress until the enemy is utterly trapped. |
Tales of the Uncrowned #2 also mentions a fourth role behind the Archer line, the Screamer, supporting the front rank. Full profile details for Screamers have not yet been disclosed.
Bella, the Velseize Vanguard
Bella is the named vanguard of the Velseize elves and the player's first major boss. A Velseize elf, she manipulates liquid (most often blood, transmuted to silver) and savors human suffering as a work of art. Wherever the elves struck Rinea, especially at the sites of the most horrific massacres, Bella was there. Through these atrocities she became known to humans as the Velseize vanguard.
Strategic Significance
Defeating the Velseize is the player's primary war objective in the demo build and likely well beyond. Every liberated region in the domain system is land taken back from Velseize occupation, and every retaliation against the Blackmist disrupts their hold on the Valdorion Peninsula.
Related
Bella - the Velseize vanguard and first major boss
The Elven Invasion - the wider war
Domain Bosses - clearing Velseize-occupied territory
Kingdom of Aldrein - the kingdom the Velseize attacked