Brood Mothers

When the Black-scaled Primordial Dragon arrived on the western coast of the eastern continent, the landscape quickly changed.

Forest fires raged, leaving behind rows of blackened land as he let out his rage, wiping out several native species.

The Grey Primordial migrated further east to avoid the devastation his rage delivered.

The harpies, awed by his mighty presence, worshipped the black-scaled Primordial Dragon like a god.

They brought him food, offerings, and even sacrificed their own to appease him. Their devotion- unwittingly- spared them from the fate of the other creatures.

During this time, the first female dark elves became pregnant. But when their children were born, they did not revert to their pure nature. Their skin remained dark, their eyes unnatural shades of purple or red.

And some were not elven babies at all.

Screams of horror echoed through the cavern depths as several females gave birth to monstrosities. Some bore fangs and horns, others had twisted, distorted skin, their limbs malformed beyond recognition.

Most of these aberrations were put to death. But two mothers refused.

Clutching their children fearfully, they abandoned the safety of the cavern and fled into the desert.

However, something was off about them. They sweated profusely, their breathing labored, as if a sickness clung to their skin. Yet, they did not collapse. They were sweating heavily, like a sickness had clung to them but were not falling over.

Wrapped in woven spider threads, and their babies in leaves from the Oasis, they left at different times and in different directions.

One, and her child, died from starvation.

The other, surviving through stolen supplies, endured days of solitude before finally spotting the western mountains.

Her nails had grown abnormally long in those few days and the child, with green skin and yellow eyes, and fangs that pierced her many times, screamed viciously.

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Selena's discolored, four inch long nails dug into the bark of a tree. Her eyes, filled with determination and wild rage, spotted an opening in the side of a small cliff.

Around her, abundant and lush green wildlife thrived. Animals, that she and her kin desperately desired in the past, flourished before her untouched and unharmed.

Haggard and breathing heavily, she stumbled forward and slithered her way inside with her screaming child.

"Those bastards," Selena croaked bitterly, her voice barely a whisper, yet laced with hatred and grief. "They would kill my baby? It's my baby..."

Selena's rage abated and her eyes softened as her gaze lowered to the little creature in her arms, bloody fingers tracing its skin. Chunks of her chest were torn open, but she couldn't feel pain- only love for this little green baby.

Nor did she see the tendrils of red mist flowing swirling around her, its eerie glow holding a corrupting element.

Selena, smiling faintly with tears in her eyes, closed them and released her final breath of life.

The little green creature gazed up at its mother, understanding her passing on an instinctual level. And yet, would his mother wake up if he returned with food?

Without hesitation the infant darted outside, moving with unnatural speed, something Selena never had the chance to witness. Within minutes it returned with prey between its sharp, jagged teeth.

Not even a week old, and it was already a predator. But it did not consume everything.

It would return to the cave, placing the remains carefully at her mother's feet and would wait. Hours passed, then days. He waited, hoping she would come back to life, unaware of the red corruption resurfacing every time he left.

Unaware that it was the corruption was keeping his mother's body from decaying.

Days turned into weeks, and the pile of animal corpses grew. The stench of death and rotting flesh was palpable. But it was intoxicating to this creature. It was growing addicted to this smell, this feeling, this thrill.

And one day, to the creature's pleasure and delight, his mother moved. She awoke and ate ravenously the fresh and rotten food, bringing cheers of delight to his eyes.

He didn't think anything bad of it, but her skin was turning to mush and began sticking to the cave's interior like glue. Her body expanded, sickly and distorted, her thin black hair dangling from her head.

Hugging his mother, he felt her skeletal, mushy hand brush his bald, distorted head affectionately. With crystal red eyes, and an eerie smile, he felt her intent.

Hunt. Return with more, grow the family.

The creature did as her intent commanded him. And when he returned with more food, he found his Mother somehow gave birth to more just like him.

Now he was the leader, the big brother to them, and only Mother he answered to. Sadly, her face disappeared as her body became an indistinguishable organic mass that filled the cave. But he still felt her intent.

One day he felt his mother's screams and rushed back with a band of his brethren. Before them was a black mass, similar to her figure, wiggling on the floor.

'Take, my child. Expand, grow.'

One of the other creatures stepped forward and carefully cradled this corrupted mass, departing immediately with several others.

He smiled sinisterly.

His mother's power was growing and soon they could seek vengeance on the ones who cast them out. No matter how many they needed to sacrifice.

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*** Congratulations! A species has been altered! Elves -> Dark Elves ***

*** Congratulations! The first evil aligned species, goblins, have been created! ***

*** As a result of malignant energies, birthed from rage and despair, the corruptive Red Mist (default) magic has been created -(Press here to rename)-***

*** Congratulations! An evil species has been created: Brood Mothers ***

*** Congratulations! An evil species has been created: Arachne ***

*** Congratulations! An evil species has been created: Corrupted Dark Elves ***

*** As a one time bonus, one Chaos Point has been added to your gene pool ***

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Atlas paled and felt sickened as he watched a massacre in the dark elf's camp. The horrors unfolding forced him to turn away multiple times, and he prayed the ones that escaped would find happiness.

They never did.

Outside of Selena who fled, only two others survived to shape the future.

One vanished into the tunnel, how body weak and frail. She gave birth to the Arachne species. Half spider, half humanoid, born in the darkness of the underworld.

The other, who's eyes shimmered with the Red Mist, was allowed to stay. Her child was heavily mistreated at first, beaten down mentally for years if not decades before things changed.

It is probably why 478 years later, the Dark Elves were still not corrupted or marked as 'evil-aligned'. The mother and child, and perhaps others who held similar traits, did not fall to the same darkness- or perhaps resisted it and reshaped it to their purposes.

Yet, they had learned from mistakes.

After the first series of massacres, and witnessing the Corrupted Dark Elf mother and her child, they tried to let the mothers live.

The dark elves witnessed twice the price inaction wrought. Monstrosities, born from the blood of their mothers, and their mothers attempting to spread this corruption, killed many before they were destroyed.

And so, a law was passed. A cruel necessity. Any mother or child that bore the signs similar to Selena's corruption would be executed without mercy. 

The cruel reality and fate for the Dark Elves, whose society remained half above ground and half below.