In the year 2782 of the Second Age, the frontiers of the Sylvid Elven Queendom came under attack by their cavern dwelling cousins whom, overwhelming the undermanned and long neglected border posts, swarmed across the countryside, looting and pillaging and carrying off countless captive maidens to spend their days toiling in chains deep underground.

In the capital of the Sylvid Queen, an army was swiftly assembled to drive off the dark elven slavers and restore the Queendom's borders. After much debate and considerable politicking, command of this force was placed in the hands of a young and ambitious Princess named Aleria the Fair. With bright pennants and great hope, she led her host to the frontiers. As expected, seeing the arrival of a strong force coming to challenge them, the dark elven raiders pulled back, retreating into the mountains with their booty and their captives, rather then risk open battle on the open Sylvid fields.

Aleria's commanders advised the Princess not to risk a pursuit into the treacherous passes and narrow crevasse of the dark elves' mountain lands, where they could easily be outflanked by their tunnels and ambushed in turn, but instead to pause and put her host to good use in rebuilding the fallen guard posts and watchtowers to prevent any further raids from the dark elves. However, when word was brought back from scouts that a large band of slavers, slowed down by many score of chained elven maidens they dragged along behind them, had lagged well behind the rest of the raiders and was only a few days march past the frontier, Aleria threw caution to the wind and ordered her army in pursuit, either in hope of rescuing those unfortunate captives from a life of slavery or to gain glory and renown that would help press her claim of the Queen's Crown the next time it came up for election by the court of nobles.

Alas, as her councilors feared, the raiding party's tardiness was but a ruse to draw the impetuous princess beyond the frontier. Once they were sure the Sylvid host was pursuing them, the cruel slavers employed their lashes and pushed their poor captives hard, day and night, keeping ahead of their would-be rescuers until Aleria's force had been led into a narrow gorge that was prepared for them. At the far end of the gorge, the slavers disappeared through a tunnel hidden in the steep cliff-sides, carrying their captives underground beyond any hope of rescue.

At that same time, a mighty force of dark elves emerged from other tunnels behind the Princess' own army. Too late, the Princess saw the danger they were in and tried to pull back, but the dark elves were already well fortified at the mouth of the valley, trapping the Sylvid army and cutting them off from retreat or resupply. Seeing that to assault the dark elves, entrenched as they were, would only see her gallant soldiers cut down, Aleria fortified her own encampment at the bottom of the gorge and waited, sending messenger hawks with increasingly frantic messages, beseeching her countrywomen to send a relief army to force the path and rescue them.

Back in the capital, however, chaos and confusion reigned. Many at court had sought the coveted post of command Aleria had claimed and now that their rival had gotten herself into such a predicament, they were in no rush to save her from her folly. They did all the could to delay any response. It was late in the season before a second army was assembled and autumn rains slowed its march to the frontier. They reached the border just as winter approached. The commander of this relief army, selected by the opponents of Aleria at court, was ambivalent about her mission and made only a brief foray into the mountains before giving up and dispatching her soldiers to their winter camps.

Long before spring came and a second attempt could be made, Aleria’s army exhausted their provisions and were forced to surrender themselves into dark elf captivity. Again, the Princess’ enemies at court did all they could to delay and sabotage negotiations for a ransom for their hated rival, callously dooming the rest of the nobles and common soldiers of the army who could not be ransomed before their high ranking leader. Eventually, as the partisans had intended, the Dark Elves gave up negotiations and marched their captives underground to the slave markets...

The betrayal of the popular Princess and the many noblewomen and soldiers of her host into captivity and slavery caused a rift in the elven court between those who had supported her and those who had rejoiced in seeing her downfall. Within a decade, civil war would rock the Queendom, stripping soldiers and arms from the frontier and again opening the way for further dark elf slave raids, emptying the frontier of its populace to feed their insatiable appetite for slaves…

***

(Detail from Part XI of ‘The Tragedy of Aleria the Fair’ by the elven painter Tiathia, 2786, showing soldiers from Aleria’s defeated host, stripped of armor and weapons and with slaves’ collars around their necks being marched past a Dark elf slaver on their way to the tunnel entrance and from their to the underground realm of their captors.

This massive work, some 16 paintings in total depicts the whole of the campaign, from the first dark elf raids and Aleria being placed in command of the army, to her betrayal, surrender and finally a romanticized depiction of her sale at the auction block. The collection was commissioned by relatives of the fallen Princess as part of a propaganda campaign by their faction, to direct blame for the catastrophe away from their impetuous relative and towards members of the other court factions who had betrayed her and her army.

In the years of Civil War and Strife that followed, the family fell on hard times and were forced to sell the collection along with many other treasures of their house. In a stroke of irony, after passing through several private hands, being broken up and sold off, the collection was reunited by a human art broker and sold to a dark elf Matriarch who had also been the one to purchase Aleria at her auction a decade before. The Matriarch displayed the collection in her underground palace, employing the former Princess as guide, showing any visitors the paintings and retelling the tale of her capture and enslavement.)




Still messing around with Clip Studio Paint, trying to draw an entire piece from scratch on the tablet instead of drawing it on paper, like I usually do, and tracing it on the computer. Had an idea for a story to go along with the piece. Hope you like it!