Behind the scenes: The Álfar

Hey there,

I had this idea for another BTS to shorten the wait for Chapter 5 a bit.

DISCLAIMER FIRST:
The following text will contain slight spoilers for the background of my Elves.
Nothing important or story-relevant, but if you want to experience everything within the game first, skip this text and maybe come back after release.

As you might have noticed, I use Norse mythology quite a bit for my story.
The idea for the "function" of Neverwhere is basically inspired by what Norse mythology calls Yggdrasil although my version connects more than nine worlds.

The same is true for my version of Elves. I based the idea on Norse mythology and did my own thing after that.
Following the Prose Edda, there are Light Elves (Ljósálfar) and Dark/Black Elves (Dökkálfar/Svartálfar) although it's not entirely clear if it really means Dark Elves or "just" inhabitants of Svartálfheimr which might mean/include Dwarves.

Of course, I have my "own" idea of the Svartálfar but that one has to wait for future content.
In TNT Book 1, you'll only meet the Ljósálfar and this text is about them.

The homeworld of the Ljósálfar is Álfheimr and it's connected to Neverwhere.
When starting to gather ideas for Book 1 and thinking about how I want my Elves to portray, everything between "Mystical woodland creatures" and "Warhammer 40k Sci-Fi-Elves" was possible. From Bows to Laserguns, from basic hut in the trees to cyberpunk city.

The only thing that was clear from the beginning was that they'll be a long-living species.
My fascination for the conflict between a long-living species and one with a shorter lifespan goes back to R.A. Salvatore's Legend of Drizzt. In one of the books, Innovindil (a female Moon Elf) talks to Drizzt (who is in love with a human woman - Cattie-Brie) about what it means to live a long life together with species with shorter lifespans.
I loved that conflict back then and still do so it was an easy decision to include it in my game too.

Outside of the long lifespan, nothing was set in stone. Some things even changed a bit throughout the development of the first 3 chapters.
I kept asking myself the same questions over and over again.
How would a society look like if the individuals had literally thousands of years to live?
Would they develop faster compared to humans? Or slower?
Would such a species have a significant technological advantage?
Or would they even be behind "us" because "it worked in the past"?
How would being able to use magic openly influence it?
Why is Neverwhere not overrun by billions of Elves if they live that long?
Would there be the same conflict between generations (old vs young) as we have it? And will it be even worse if it has a thousand years to develop?

Over time my idea for the Elves went from typical Fantasy Elves to Cyberpunk Elves to what they're now: A society in between. Between tradition and technological progress. Between individuals who've been alive for more than a thousand years and ones who were born into our "modern" times.
Chapter 5 will pick up a few of those things and will give you a first impression of the image I came up with.
It will also give you the first few pieces of backstory for the conflict between Elves and Humans and a certain LI - if you make the correct choices. :-)

Cheers,
Ceolag