Antivenom from Marvel Comics

That’s the closest I can find to these monsters and it doesn’t really come close.  Some people may have noticed something odd in Windemere.  All of the main races have cities, kingdoms, or some central organization, except for the Elves.  The reason is because of the Hejinn.  These are the early Elves that were so evil that they conquered the world and corrupted a god.  All of them are tall with bleached skin and black eyes.  Males are rather scrawny, but they can use magic and psychic abilities.  Females are bigger with sharp teeth, adhesive skin, a tail of razor-like bone, and acidic spit.  So, where did they come from?  Where did they go?  How did modern Elves appear?

The Hejinn were supposed to be the forest nobles, but several Orc gods didn’t like the idea and added demon blood to the mix.  This backfired when the Hejinn eradicated the original Orcs, enslaved everyone, corrupted a god, turned a demon into a demi-god, and threatened to ruin everything.  It was a long time before some of the Hejinn managed to fight against their demonic nature.  A war broke out and they lost.  This was prior to the Law of Influence, so the gods stepped in to lock the demonic energy away.  Most of those who fought against their own kind were turned into modern Elves, which still have this dormant curse.  The ones that decided to stay out of the fight or try to play both sides were sent to a shadowy continent as punishment.  Those would be the chaos elves that exist closer to the curse than any of the other species.

Since that day, the Hejinn have been the boogeymen of Windemere.  People have very little knowledge of them unless they studied the ancient texts.  Elves have also decided to avoid creating a central government and mix with the other races.  They hope this will avoid anyone thinking history will repeat itself.  For that to happen, the curse would have to be awakened and Elves would have to become the Hejinn again.  What kind of author would do that to an entire species?  Hello!

Now the way I came up with the Hejinn was rather simple.  I was creating histories for some of the races and I got to the Elves.  One thing that always bugged me about them was  . . . well them.  The snobby attitude, perfect everything, and being the oldest and purest thing this side of unicorn farts.  A lot of people write Elves with a superiority complex, which could work for some.  Yet a whole race with that mentality made me wonder why they never tried to rule the world.  There’s the spark.  I wanted the Elves to have a bloody, violent history that makes them one of the most imperfect things in Windemere.  Adventures that take place in earlier times will show a distrust and hate toward them, but Legends of Windemere is far enough along that people would have forgiven them.

A little more about Hejinn society:

1. They have one King who is usually the most cunning or has the most potent magic.  Assassinations are fairly common.
2. There are multiple Queens with an Alpha being in charge of the Harem.  Being they are the more vicious gender, they also act as military leaders.  It is not uncommon for weaker Queens to plot against the Alpha and attempt an assassination.  Killing children of rivals is another tactic that they use in their power struggle.
3. They worship a being called Tamarix, which is the demon whose blood was mixed into their creation.  He is not an official god, but their beliefs and alterations of his power has forced an ascension.
4. Don’t ask about breeding.  It’s not pretty.

Is there a Hejinn hiding in Legends of Windemere?  Sort of.  Read this one:

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen