The Aer remnants

[Yeorl Oakenleaf]

Thousands of years ago, the world was dominated by one super power; it is said by the ancients that one day they merely swooped out of the sky conquering all. They came in a great flock, spears in hand each with the accuracy of an expert marksman. They brought with them engineering, tactics and many other treasures, instead of enslaving and killing off those they conquered - they sat down and taught our primitive ancestors their ways. They were the Aer. The Aer empire stretched from one tip of Darasum to the next, powerfully maintained by the well organised and highly efficient Wing Legions. The entire empire was centred out of one city known as Aveean, the lost city. It is believed that the Aer were the natural inhabitants of Darasum, having lived here long before the other mortal races, were brought here to escape the destruction that swallowed Sirna. The Aer believed that the Meirn and Gaia had tasked them with educating the mortal races in their ways, the ways of justice, law and order - of course our ancestors saw it entirely different and viewed the strange conquerors as oppressors. The Aer were lead by an Emperor, who was elected by a senate and it is rumoured that while they number few - their leader still is, of course calling the Aer who hide in exile an Empire is a joke. It is common knowledge what lead to the downfall of the Aer, it wasn't anything special like a cataclysm or the Dread, merely a large civil war broke the Empire in two. After the Empire was severely weakened the Northern half gathered up their forces and flew away from Darasum, hoping to find a new home away from the constant wars with the Southern Empire. It is not known what happened to them. The Southern Empire was eventually defeated by an Ironer rebellion led by a mysterious Immortal being whom seemingly came out of nowhere. Some among the senate viewed it as their reckoning for the sins they had committed in the names of the gods; others tried to fight back futilely as their old strategies could do nothing against the organised armies, they had grown lax and fat on the zero resistance they faced. But the Aer never went extinct on Darasum, they hide in Aveaan, the lost city somewhere within the south of the Munit plains. But no one but the Aer know where it is located; and a magic is cast on them that so once they leave, they can never find it again.



The Aer are a race of well.. Bird men, they trace their lineage to the mighty Wind lords whom lived on mountain peaks of old - who were colossal falcons preying upon the beasts of the plains. How they became bipedal and civilized is lost in the annals of time, even to them. The Aer appear as sentient versions of many different species of bird, owls, eagles, falcons, robins, blue jays.. All of them. Which raises even more questions as to where they came from. But they stoutly claim to be the eldest beings on the continent; but little did they know the Ironers existed before them - while they wouldn't attain the same level of enlightenment and invention as the Aer, for thousands of years. The Aer have been known to adorn themselves with many different feathers from different Aer, an exchange of lovers past - as commitment in a relationship is hardly even a concept within their society as they mate seasonally. A big part of the Aer way of life is balance and order, they believe that the best one can be is a journeyman in every trade opposed to a master of one... Of course they still specialise, it is a part of an Aers journey in life to strive for balance among all things. This concept to them is called "Via pondera" and while they believe in the gods, they worship the universes balance more so than Meirn. Order is a big part of their society, each and every Aer knows their place - their society is efficient and works like a clock, each and every member filling in their niche. Of course the Aer are famous for their philosophers and it has been many a scholar who questioned whether or not an ordered society was the best for their people, or if they should simply take to the skies and fly off searching for something more like their ancient northern brothers and sisters did.



While it is clear that the Aer were defeated and their Empire turned to ruins; they still wage a vicious war against the Imperium. Many regiments of Aer Troopers simply rushing to their death without a care, as it gives them a chance to strike back at the dreaded foe who took all from them. They often send aid to the Elves of Highever in the form of new inventions, weapons and sometimes even entire regiments. The Aer commonly choose to fight in leather armour and with short spears, which begs the question as to why they were so successful on the battlefield. But it is common knowledge among any Imperial Soldier that the Aer never miss; ever. The Aer have the most organised military in Darasum, for what it's worth considering their population numbers slight under fifty thousand. Their armies are organised into Legions of professional soldiers - often those on the fringes of Aer society find themselves drawn into military service; because they had no where else to go or because they had no choice. The Aer fight by using advanced dive techniques from the sky to lend force to their spears, which are specially forged with a rare metal found under the waters of Aveean. The entire shaft and head run together in one sharp needle, or sometimes they use crescent bladed spears to slice the throats of enemies as they ride by.

The Aer are like the Elves fighting for their very lives and place in Darasum but they still believe that the war isn't over for them. That they will rise from the ashes of their fallen Empire and once more take their place as the dominant power in Darasum; then teaching all the mortals - the true ways of a great civilization.