[ WP ] Legends tell of the Elder race who utilized strange `` technologies '' instead of magic . As hordes of brutal killers invade from the north , a young elf heads off to search for ancient ruins , looking for humans ...

Aidan picked his way through the iron forest carefully. It had been decades since another elf had dared to trespass into the land of Daysay, but at this point there was no choice. The council of elders were a bunch of fools, spouting off nonsense about the importance of tradition and honor when there were barbarians blazing through the forest with cold iron shields and swords. If the barbarians finished off the people of the forest here, they would simply move on to the next village and the next and the next until there were no more traditions or elves to remember them. 
 
 His arm brushed against a long, iron branch and he cringed away, involuntarily at the feel of his magic being drawn into it. Iron wasn ’ t particularly deadly lying on the ground, but it still sucked mana out of the very air around it faster than it could naturally replenish. In a forest such as this one, the air felt empty in a way that sent chills down Aidan ’ s spine. He picked his way across the blackened rock between trees and posts with odd symbols scrawled across them. 
 
 The elders said that there had been a race before the elves that lived in these forests, shaping cold iron as easily as an elf shaped wood, but at great cost to themselves and the world. The legends of their prowess in the ways of destruction were terrifying to hear, great metal birds whose claws were death and whose wings were fire and iron men who stood as tall as three elves and could devastate an army single handedly. What had come to be of those Elder elders wasn ’ t known precisely, but they had all vanished before the first elves set foot upon the earth. 
 
 All that was left of their history, of their knowledge, was what little elven adventurers had been able to piece together of their language in the days before it became taboo to enter the iron forests. Books had been torn to shreds, artifacts buried and forgotten, and all maps had been burned. All maps except for the one gripped in Aidan ’ s slender fingers as he paused near a particularly imposing tree in the shape of a spear, jutting from the earth towards the heavens. 
 
 His eyes wandered over the map, searching for mention of the great spear in his father ’ s notes. Aha, there it was, although the lake depicted as being next to it seemed to have evaporated during the dry season. Looking over the flowing penmanship of his father almost brought Aidan to tears. As one of the warrior mages of the village, his father had been on the frontlines during the barbarians ’ first assault on the forest. There hadn ’ t been any elven survivors from that battle, just like there hadn ’ t been any survivors from any conflict since that day two years ago. 
 
 The elves had been driven further and further south as a wave of blood and iron washed down on them from the Ice Sheets to the north. Yet, the elders wouldn ’ t do anything. Maybe the elders _couldn ’ t_ do anything. Maybe there was nothing that anyone could do and this was just the way of the world… Aidan sniffed and wiped the tears from his face, refusing to accept that his people were doomed to be wiped out and forgotten like the ancient Elders before them. Aidan glanced quickly back down at the map to ensure he was moving in the correct direction before stowing the map back into his pack. 
 What Aidan was seeking was something that his father had told him of once a long time ago. His father had shuddered even in describing the creature he had found, Aidan remembered. “ It was one of the iron men of myth, ” his father had said, “ but it was greater than any of those described in our legends. It would have stood as tall as ten elves, maybe more, had it been able to stand. Foolish as I was in my youth, I decided to look closer. ” 
 Aidan had been amazed at his father ’ s bravery and pressed for more details, but he ’ d forgotten most of the story. The only thing that he remembered, the thing that had given him nightmares for weeks after, was that his father said it had spoken. “ As I approached what I imagine was the being ’ s head, it began to glow faintly from within, as though there was a dying fire behind it ’ s eyes. It began to emit a hissing noise, followed by a voice that grated and crackled. I couldn ’ t understand it at the time, so little work had gone into understanding the Elder Language, but it did speak. I could sense a strange life in it, unlike anything I had ever encountered before. Suddenly, it reached out towards me with one of its great arms and I ran. ” 
 
 The reports of his father and some of the other elves were part of what had brought about the end of exploration into the lands of the Elders. The council had deemed it too dangerous to send elves into those lands where the iron grew and magic was all but useless. Yet, here was Aidan, struggling over the last hill between home and where his father said he had found the great man of iron. He could feel the strength leaking from him as he climbed, maybe the hill had some iron in it waiting to grow into a tree itself. 
 
 As he neared the summit he felt his heart welling up within him. This was it. He would find the iron man and request its aid against the barbarians. What he could offer it, he wasn ’ t sure, but it was worth trying. It was the only thing worth trying. It was… Not… There. 
 
 Aidan felt the excitement drain from him into the ground only to be replaced by a dull emptiness. Aidan pulled off his pack and hastily grabbed the map. He looked and looked. The landmarks were all there, in plain view. This should have been where the iron man was found. Everything was exactly as his father had said, except there was no man of iron. 
 
 Had his father lied to him? Had his father lied to everyone about what he had found, just to sound like a greater adventurer? Aidan knew about the tall tales that elves would share with each other, each trying to one up the other in good fun, but this was different. His father had brought about the end of exploration with his report. How could he lie about this? 
 
 Aidan shook his head and looked back at the map again. His father wouldn ’ t lie. Not to him, at least. All the landmarks were here from the spear of iron to the crumbling structure ahead of him. Actually, the map wasn ’ t entirely accurate. It didn ’ t depict the mossy hill that Aidan was standing on. Aidan froze. He had never known his father to be anything less than meticulous in drawing his maps. So either this hill had formed in the last ten years, or else… 
 
 Aidan turned and began to slide down the side of the hill, abandoning his pack in hopes that he could go a bit faster without the weight, but it was too late. The iron man reached out and grabbed Aidan as he slid down it ’ s massive torso. It brought Aidan up towards it ’ s great iron visage and stared at him with those flickering eyes for what felt like an eternity before speaking. 
 
 Without any sign of where it was speaking from, it spoke. “ Xandc kijvakig. Requesting qasanapf qdfrifc. ” The voice was just as Aidan ’ s father had described, like two sheets of bark scraping against each other. But… He could understand it, a little. 
 So he replied, “ Iron man! Please! I request your help against barbarians that threaten my people. What can I offer you for your help? ” 
 
 “ Vflfdtf npfmvpmi giciqcig. Please rcpci language. ” 
 
 Aidan felt his plans falling apart. How could he ask the iron man for help if he couldn ’ t really understand what it was saying? Worse yet, he was fairly certain that the man could not understand him either. So, here he was, trapped in an iron grip without magic to free him. “ Please… Please help me, or let me go. ” 
 
 The iron man simply stood there, looking at him. “ Fd lfdtf npfmvpmi giciqcig. Qepkmi ar ndt. Afacapcafm ioikmifqw xkdcdqdnr. ” The torso of the beast began to open, revealing a yawning chasm filled with thin filigree ’ s of iron that seemed to reach out towards Aidan. “ Xandc afcimkpcadf xkdqirr afacapcig. ” 
 
 As the iron man brought Aidan down closer to the gaping hole, Aidan struggled against it hopelessly. “ No! No, stop! I… I have to help my family! Stop! ” But his pleas fell on deaf ears and the iron man dropped Aidan, screaming, into its torso. Everything went brilliantly white, and then went pitch black an instant later.
