#tera lore

Elins in general:

-Like most animals, Elins like to snuggle with one another in a big pile to establish trust. Typically seen amongst best friends and siblings

-The animal tails are very sensitive-they do NOT like their tails being touched without permission-it is very uncomfortable and sometimes painful if one touches their tail without them knowing

-Those with long, versatile tails, use them for balance to be more nimble

-Elins who are more magic-tuned will train as temporary students at the Elderitch Academy

-Many Elins are more comfortable with forests. Those who live in Allementheia are often irritated by the lack of the lush nature of home-though some have adapted to the barren environment (Many Elins see those ones as ‘Odd’ from their kind)

-Elins will often have characteristic traits of the animal they are. Certain senses are stronger for certain animals (ex: hearing, sight, and smell)

-Typically, the more unintelligent an animal is, the less an Elin is with those animal features (ex: many Sheep Elins are known to have a lower IQ than any other Elin with other animal features, even so they are still treated the same as the rest of their brethren)

-The animals Elins take part of are mainly mammals though there have been extremely rare cases of an Elin having the features of an insect but very few have occurred

Elin Cuisine:

-Meals generally consist of mostly vegetables with a healthy amount of protein and carbs

-Generally, whatever animal features an Elin has, tends to dictate what kinds of food they prefer (Example: many rabbit Elins are vegetarians and do not eat meat) (Sheep and Squirrel Elins sometimes eat meat but very rarely

-Being initially nature spirits, Elins have a love for vegetables (Hence why a cat Elin is not exclusively a carnivore)

There are two generations of Elins:

-Elinu-generation and Seren-generation. All Elins today in the world of Tera (minus the royalty Elins-but we will get to that later) are Seren-generation.

-These generations also apply to Popori, as seen in the next theory

Elins are NOT related to Popori:

-Elins were created by Elinu and they in turn, used their magic to shape the animals of the forest into humanoids to help them cultivate nature. Elinu-generation Elins could create Popori but after Elinu’s death/disappearance, the Seren-generation Elins could not, thus Seren took upon the task of creating Popori herself

Seren-generation Elins are born from flowers:

-There is no need for procreation of Elins as Elinu initially created the race’s vessels to be pure, perfect in every way, like the spirits they harbored. When the Goddess was still around, she simply created the Elins into being immediately. Seren though, being a lesser deity in age and rank (She was created from one of Balder’s eyes; Balder is one of Elinu’s children and thus one could argue that Elinu is Seren’s grandmother), cannot easily form a vessel of flesh immediately. Using the plants, which the Elin spirits are associated with initially, Seren morphed the foliage to create bodies for the Elins of her generation.

-When a new Elin is to be born, a flower stalk will grow from the waters around Pora Elinu (The great tree is built around a garden for the flowers). The flower grows a large bud, creating the Elin’s body within, like an incubator; during this stage, Seren guides a nature spirit to inhabit the body. Once the body has been completely formed, the flower opens, revealing the Elin inside

-Popori of the Seren-generation, are born from trees like fruit

-Siblings are born from the same flower. Pora Elinu residents keep records of what kind of flower each Elin is born to. Some Elins who are adults or have passed on already, will have siblings born from the same flower they were born from, much later

-Twins are rare and can either be born from two buds on a flower stem or from a single, large bud (much rarer)

Elins are born genderless and sexless:

-As said before, their race has no need to procreate. Their bodies are initially smooth with no genitals of any kind, as they have no use for them.

-Most Elins tend to identify as female in honor of their initial creator, Elinu. There are some Elins who identify as male though

-Once an Elin has lived past 100+, they may begin developing genitals depending on what gender they have been identifying as. Even so, they still cannot procreate and may use said genitals for sexual pleasure if they so desire

Elins mature mentally at a slow rate:

-Following the idea of character races in DnD, Elins do not fully mature until they are around 50-60 in human lives (1 Elin year = 2.25 human years)

-When initially “born”, they act more like children. This is because their spirits are still young and playful in their new bodies

-Those who have lived past the mature age have a definite difference from younger Elins due to their wisdom and experience. Typically, most Elins one meets outside of Pora Elinu are fully mature

Elins currently have no age limit in their lifespan:

-Aside from diseases, war, etc., Elins do not die of old age. This is because they are spirits of nature, given a vessel of flesh. The cells in their bodies have merged with their spirits and thus, like their spirits, are long-lasting. Because they were initially spirits of nature, they have a strong bond with their Goddesses who created them, further fueling the idea that their bodies will not die from age.

-All the Elins from the Elinu-generation have, unfortunately, died out from the many wars-the remaining survivor of that generation is the Elin Queen.

Elin bodies do age, just at a very, very slow rate:

-Similar to their age of full maturity, Elins bodies do grow, just very slowly. Initially with bodies of children or young teens, should an Elin live long enough, (around 500 years or so) their body looks more like a young adult.

-Elins who have decided on what gender they wish to identify as, may develop a visible chest

-An adult Elin is said to look very much like the Goddess Elinu-not surprising as they are her initial creation

-So far, only the Elin Queen is the only known Elin to have lived long enough to reach full adult stage

Most Elins do not Dream

-Being initially spirits from the Dream, Elins minds do not enter it while they sleep; Elins who are more in tune with magic though, especially Priests and Mystics are able to feel the Dream during their slumbers as it is where they draw their magic from

-Some Reapers are said to be able to enter the Dream-but only in the dark parts where the shadows fester

-Elins who can enter the Dream are able to go further, and sometimes be able to communicate with the Gods-including those who do not have a physical presence in the world anymore

-Current known Elins who can Dream: Rida and Syona

The Elin Queen and royalty:

-The Elin Queen is the last of the Elinu-generation Elins. Because of this, she is the only Elin who can still create Popori from animals

-Being very old, she has lived long enough to have her body resemble an adult woman-some say she resembles the Goddess Elinu in every aspect

-Interestingly enough, she is also the only Elin to be able to bear children. This is because her body is an adults’. The Elin Princesses of Pora Elinu are her only offspring (Seren assisted the Queen in making her children; they are considered virgin-birth children); The Princesses, the only Elin babies to exist, grew rapidly to the child-form stage that Elins typically are within a matter of days

-It is not known yet if the Elin Princesses will also be able to have children like their mother

-Current known Princesses are Rida, Arin, Syona and Zolyn

-Princess Syona and Zolyn are twins

Reapers:

-Reapers are Elins from the Seren-generation who died in the past and were brought back by Seren due to their anger against their beloved home, Pora Elinu, and the great tree being destroyed

-There are no Reapers from the Elinu-generation

-Reapers appeared near the end of the Argon war. Following the timeline of Tera’s storyline, Reapers came about when the player character, Mystel’s Chosen One went to confront Saleron and take on his challenge in his garden

-Reapers draw on the dark powers of the Dream-the shadows

-Utilizing the shadows has a very dangerous effect as it is controlled heavily by the rage and anguish of the Reaper

-Those who cannot control the shadows succumb to the darkness and become corrupted souls; While many Reapers almost converted to this state initially when they appeared to avenge Pora Elinu, the sight of their beloved Princess Rida and loved ones calmed their souls. Even so, some still fell into the darkness and had to be taken down soon after

-The surviving Reapers had their gravestones and names from the deceased record books removed until further notice

-Elins who died traumatic deaths tend to have an even stronger connection to the shadows; Elins who died young are not as in tune with the darkness

-Demonic horned Elins did not exist until after the Reapers appeared-this is due to the amount of darkness an Elin’s soul held before they were resurrected as a Reaper; the shadows from the Reapers when they first appeared corrupted the soil in which the flowers that Elins are born from grows, thus some Elins born post-Pora Elinu destruction are seen with these horns

Burn It All Down- League Of Legends / Lyrics (Early Life)

To me this has to do with Tera not living by the expectations that were set before her. She decided to live her own life and if people got in the way. well then she didn't need them. Tera was going to prove her worth in her own way and be above the people who wanted her to live within their neat and tidy little box. Even if it meant clawing her way to the top

It was really hard to pick lyrics for this one. So i ended up settling on two sets

"This ain't where the legends come from You're not what a hero looks like Pretty little flower, won't you sit back down and go play nice?"

This in particular talks about the expectations being set and followed

"This is where the bruises come from This is when the game gets ugly These blood, sweat, tears keep running Licking my plate 'cause I'm so hungry"

And this talks about Tera climbing her way to the top of everything she did no matter if was a contest or not. She was hungry to be on the top of anything and everything.

Stronger - The Score / Lyrics (Early Life)

Stronger, to me at least, is Tera realizing what she does she does for herself. However at this point its become an obsession, not living by standards. And sometimes she can get in her own head and be egotistical. And sometimes she blames other people for "making her this way"

Which is echoed here "I do this with conviction I write truths and never fiction My disease is what you fed I can't stop with my ambition Like a missile on a mission I'm a force that you will dread-ead"

Tera holds her head up high but sometimes that means turning her nose up at people

Phoenix - League of Legends / Lyrics (Mid Life)

This song is holds a lot of meaning for my IRL and to Tera tbh.

As Tera got older she realized, at some point, she was the one holding herself back. She was pulling herself down through her own toxic views of the world. She was struggling to break free of that and make true, strong connections with people.

The most important part of the song for me is

"So are you gonna die today or make it out alive? You gotta conquer the monster in your head and then you'll fly Fly, phoenix, fly It's time for a new empire Go bury your demons then tear down the ceiling Phoenix, fly"

When thinking about Tera this represents her trying to to change herself, and struggling to do so. It was time to realize being the best of the best wasnt all there was to life anymorem and it never was. But shes just now realizing it.

Ignite- Alan Walker / Lyrics (VivEra)

A Vivi X Tera song!

So much of Miqo Teras lore revolves around VIvi so it felt like a shame not to add a song for them. I use Ignite because i feel like it represents a flame rekindling back in tera. She found someone so much like her yet so different. Someone down to earth despite what they had been through.

This is another one i had a hard time with lyric wise. So i picked two again!

"Fireflies, a million little pieces Feeds the dying light, and breathes me back to life In your eyes, I see something to believe in Your hands are like a flame Your palms the sweetest pain"

"So alive, your touch is like the daylight Burning on my skin, it turns me on again You and I, survivors of the same kind But we're the only ones dancing on the sun"

This Part is Tera falling in love with Vivi. His touch brought her back to life and a warmth in to her being. Now to her, only Vivi mattered.

All I Know So Far - P!nk / Lyrics (Later In Life)

This is probably one of my favorite songs for Tera. I feel like this is a song that talks about her journey through life and imparting her wisdom and life advice to others.

At this point Tera has been with Vivi a long time and shes become more down to earth and mellow. She hasn't lost her desire to be on top but she knows now that shes where she needs to be and is happy. So now she will go forward and lend her wisdom to those who will listen.

Lyric wise for Tera "Haven't always been this way I wasn't born a renegade I felt alone, still feel afraid I stumble through it anyway I wish someone would have told me that this life is ours to choose No one's handing you the keys or a book with all the rules The little that I know I'll tell to you"