The Ilsamiren Wars

Udeval is the main character of the project; you will control him throughout the game.
Udeval: Sulhenir Morchanas

Udeval changed his clothes quickly, discarding signs of his race and assuming the courtly garb of the Ilsamiri. To a trained eye, the Morchanin signs remained; his boots and sleeves bore the slashes of the Morchanin and in his hand he carried his hood. For a king or noble he would wear this unmistakable emblem, their knowledge and power being too great to risk such insolence as to hide his nature, but to all others he would be Ilsamir.

Udeval was selected at the age of four for training as a Scout, one of the elite Morchanin warriors whose service was exchanged with the Ilsamiri for the very existence of the Morchanin people.

Udeval is tall and, some would say, thin but he holds himself, as do all Morchanin warriors, as taut as a drawn bow string and he has a surprising strength. This physique is not uncommon among the Morchanin (and is one of the marks of a warrior) but it is exceptionally rare among the other peoples of the world. He has fair hair and fair skin, both usual Morchanin traits.

He is in his mid 20s and, like all scouts, was first sent into action at the age of 15. Udeval is now quite high ranking, and, for his age, his progress is impressive.

Scouts are warrior, spy and diplomat, so most of Udeval's time is spent in training, which consists of combat, subterfuge, history, languages and literature. This range of disciplines is crucial if a scout is to perform all his functions with the skill and tact expected of him.
Ways of the Morchanin

Udeval's garb was simple, but it spoke of a tradition an age old in its sophisticated forms and lines. It was rich with subtle decoration and was all in black. His jerkin ran to knee-length and was high collared, his cloak ran to the ankle, his boots to below the knee. He wore gloves in leather and leather bracers and greaves he wore upon arms and legs. His hood, its shape as ancient as the Scouts themselves, was not fastened beneath the chin at his chest, as were the hooded cloaks of other peoples, but instead was almost seperate from the cloak, draped over the head and over the chest and held in place by its own weight.
He wore two belts which crossed at the buckle and at his left hip he wore a sword in its scabbard, curved and sharpened from the tip, across the guard to the pommel, its steel blackened. At his right he carried a knife, similar in design to his sword. From the belt also hung several pouches and holsters bearing bandages, medicinal herbs, phials of poison and the darts for his blow-gun. This he wore slung across his back. It was a long weapon, perhaps three feet, of wood reinforced with steel bands. These were his weapons, weapons of a thousand years of history.

Subterfuge is the most central skill for the Morchanin Scouts and covers both espionage and stealth, but combat is what has earned the Morchanin their fearsome reputation. Though the Morchanin favour remaining hidden and for their enemy to remain unaware, the scouts have many times been sent into open battle and they do not disappoint in this role. The sight of an Ilsamir army, arrayed in steel and deep blue, their armour etched with shining silver is one thing to a foe; a corp of black clad, hooded Morchanin is quite another.
Bitter Circumstance

Udeval walked the dusty road from his house, passing by many others just like it; single rooms, wrought of old timbers, grass jutting manicly between the boards. Only the Council Chambers gave any indication of the ancient wealth and grandeur of his people. They too were in wood, carved in the oldest and most subtle manner which long predated the Ilsamiri and their edifices of cold, grey stone.

Udeval's means are modest: Scouts are not payed monetarily by the Ilsamir government but instead are given food and lodging and a meagre allowance with which to maintain their equipment. The Morchanin are essentially hostages of the Ilsamiri and the Scouts live their lives in payment of an unpayable ransom. The conditions of this pact are simple. The Scouts serve the Crown and the Crown protects the Morchanin people, or, more accurately, allows them to survive.

In the distant past a Morchanin chief named Kudelir instigated an uprising against this cruel circumstance and took many Ilsamir lives. This mutiny was crushed fiercely, but it earned the Morchanin a certain level of autonomy in managing their own affairs, for fear that they would again mount resistance. Whispers of mutiny are again running through the Morchanin settlement and factions are forming.

It is in this situation that Udeval finds himself, caught between fear of extinction and a lust for freedom, for escape from his murderous duty. However, no choice is so simple, for new threats, to the Ilsamiri, to the Morchanin and to the rest of the known world, rise in the South, in the North and from the Sea.