Are the elves the real evil?

[Phantagor]

So, i am starting Midnight again, after an abstinence of 10 years or so...this time i am going for the role as the Gamemaster, and while trying to absorb as much information as possible, i stumbled upon 1d4chan which is usually a great source for an odd description of topics. What stood out, was this sentence

"Also don't let your DM's lies deceive you; The elves are the true evil guys of the setting. You heard it here first! *FWIP*"

Have i missed something? Is this just 1d4chans way to make me doubt the nobility of the elves? Or is there some dark secret that i have not found yet?

[Chaotix]

In short, no. There's no dark secret I've seen that would indicate that sort of twist.

That said, everyone's the hero of their own story. You could run an "evil" campaign with someone who has become a legate because the Shadow is the authority now, and the only way to ensure his people are safe is to join the authority and protect them himself. Then, the spies and raids of the elves would certainly undermine that noble goal... so there are ways to spin the story to make the elves the antagonists.

Making them the evil guys of the setting though? I don't see it. Not when divine evil incarnate sits atop his tower in the middle of the continent.

[Phantagor]

Hej man, thanks for the reply.
Good to hear. I thought i had read most books and got a bit confused by that part (which btw got deleted on 1d4chan soke days after i posted here ).

As of right now, my group is unsure who isbthe actual evil or whom to trust (i did let them make characters on faerun and then did throw them ibto thr midnight settinf in the first run (some handwavy pit devil shattered a black mirror zo try to pierce the veil to get iut, but he only got some people in. The veil is closed again and the players want home now of course).

Gives them a long term goal if leaving midnight (which they will nost likely never achieve) and the benefit if not knowing anything about the world (both olayers and characters).

I also used the tome of shadow, that someone posted here and introduced a dharghuul to them to make them even more question which side is tue right side.

Of course, big izi is the big bad evil and the elves are ehat coukd be considered good, but ibplay the elves more that they are more busy with surviving than helping others.

[Chaotix]

You're using the Tome of The Shadow I wrote? Awesome! I'm glad it's helping, it was certainly designed to blur the lines between good and evil. 

Makes sense that the elves would be too busy surviving and trying to win their endless war, so their lack of philanthropy could be interpreted as apathy toward or even condoning the atrocities committed outside their forest without any other context. Your players heads must be spinning!

I hope you and your players have a blast in the setting. Shame they'll never get home... muahahaha

[Luiniel Blades]

The Elves are simply a race of people trying to survive in the world that is Midnight. Or Eredane. They are also the only race which still has a "frontline" in the war against the Shadow. But it is openly declared in Legends of Shadow that the Witch Queen, Aradil, works primarily for the benefit of her people now. While she wishes she could be more altruistice, she is currently in the business of utilizing all others to help with that goal.

Izrador is noted as quite literally THE GOD OF EVIL. Not just an Evil God.

It is the rumor being told by Izrador's Legates that the Fay races of Elves and Dwarves are the "bad guys" who perpetuate the ongoing war which makes everyone's lives worse.

The Dharguul are certainly one of the more interesting, alien-minded, bad things to have the party run across. They certainly tend to have their own agenda but would probably "side" with whoever gives them a better deal. The fact that the Legates have an entire division bent toward hunting down unsanctioned magic users and it is by law illegal to use any kind of magic openly would probably put them more in line with siding with the elves before the forces of Shadow.

[balam_br]

Hello guys... where can i find this Tome of Shadows youre talking about??

[Chaotix]

I followed up with balam personally, but just in case someone's making their way through the forums and has the same question, the Tome of The Shadow that I'm referring to is linked in this post: http://www.againsttheshadow.org/index.php?topic=2751.0

It's not a rulebook, but a brief alternate history of Eredane meant to make the players question if they're really on the right side of the fight should any GMs care to explore that concept.