14 DAY TRIAL // Runemaster might have slipped into 2015 in terms of launch date, but the team in charge of it at Paradox Development Studios continues to deliver more information about the factions included in the title, with a focus on the Darkelfs that are living in Svartalfheim.
The official forum post explains that there’s some confusion in Nordic myths about the race, which the studio has built based on a design that was initially associated with the Trolls.
They explain that “We imagine the Darkelfs as bald and sombre shaped by the world they live in, as Svartalfheim is depicted as being under ground. The Darkelfs also borrow some features from bats, especially their ears. These are long and go straight up, unlike other elfs whose ears tend to tilt to the back.”
The race was created last from a live Ymir, and Odin buried them because he believed they were too frail to survive, which led them to dig to their realm and then dominate it.
Darkelfs in Runemaster will be slender and tall, bald and with long noses and ears, with great vision in the dark.
The faction uses swords, polearms and staves and favors leather armor, with quite a bit of strategy when it comes to their battle plans, even if others sometimes treat them as cowards.
Meritocratic and devious warriors
The race seems to be one of the most meritocratic in the universe of Runemaster, and those who want to advance their rank need to prove themselves in front of others by fortitude, tricks or solid performance in one field.
Darkelfs also keep slaves, most of them obtained via raiding and they tend to use unusual tactics in combat, including ambushes, poison gas, weird magic and special forces.
The heroes of the race are a female Skald and a male Runemaster.
Their forces include: ”The Wolf Witch is a kind of werewolf - half woman, half wolf - whose mother changed into a werewolf during her pregnancy by using a Troll belt. The Warg Rider is a Darkelf mounted on a wolf, which the Darkelf has cared for since the wolf was a pup. The Giant Beetle is exactly that: an enormous beetle the Darkelfs have tamed to use in battle.”
Runemaster will ask gamers to choose a hero and a race and then explore a world based on Nordic mythology as they pledge allegiance to either Loki or Thor while they try to deal with the issue of Ragnarok and its effects on the realms and races.
