The Anvar are religious fanatics, which is beyond doubt or contention. They are ferocious in their defence of their beliefs and their way of life, and maniacal in their desire to spread the Word of Solar to the other races. However, not a warrior race in its strictest sense, their natural physical design and capabilities make them extremely effective shock troops and defenders, their immense strength and resistance allowing them to shrug off wounds that would fell a human or even cause a DragonLord some worry.

They where crafted by the Sun God, Solar, born from His light as He stepped upon the earth, metal running to liquid in his presence, mimicking His form as He moved on, leaving a trial of men of platinum behind him. The Anvar worship their creator with a dedication that even exceeds that of the DragonLords and the Elves towards Shaltar and Vriclar respectively, their voices raised in prayer as they fight, work, die and live, cries of joy and hope as the sun shines and howls of suffering and fear when the sun hides his face at night.

Their bodies are formed of platinum or other precious metal, with nothing beneath, their limbs seeming to melt and reform as they move, yet they are cold to the touch. Though they can speak and they appear to breathe, they actually have no internal organs that have ever been found. Their eyes glow from within, as if a fire has been lit within their skull, the colours differing with the individual Anvar. They have no use for human food, simply desiring metals.

Anvar cannot eat metal in the same way a human would eat a hunk of beef, their lack of a digestive tract and indeed any teeth, making such a task impossible. Instead, they gather the metal together in their tribe, hoarding it until there is sufficient for it to be shared out between each of the tribe’s members. Once this is done, the tribal chief leads the group of Anvar in a ceremony of dedication, three days spent in prayer to Solar, dancing and shouting out to the Sun God. And at the end of the three days, the Sun God causes the metal the Anvar have gathered to be absorbed into their bodies, thus allowing them to grow and to become stronger.

Anvar live in tribal groups, banding together for protection and to help in gathering the metals that all Anvar need to grow and to survive. They follow a single leader, a chief with the greatest knowledge of the Word of Solar, their religion central to their everyday life. Each Anvar can spend up to fourteen hours a day in prayer, eight in sleep and up to eight of the hours remaining in the long Tal’Vorn day searching for metal. As a Tal’Vorn day is only 34 hours long this is a substantial level of dedication to their God.

Anvar are, naturally, incapable of having children, instead gathering a large amount of metal and asking the tribal chief for permission to construct another Anvar. Then the two Anvar have a private ceremony that can last for many days, not stepping out of their tents until they have finished. Young Anvar are thus born from metal that is taken by the elder Anvar. However, no Anvar can be born of iron or steel, only precious metals. This leads to a low amount of Anvar children born each year, depending upon how much metal the tribe can gather.

Anvar and Dwarves have many things in common. Both require metal to survive, even if it is survival in different ways, and both love the earth that supports and shelters them. Yet because they both desire the same thing, it has lead to many conflicts in the past, the Anvar attempting to attack Dwarf villages and steal the metal that the Dwarves have mined. Naturally, the Dwarves do not much appreciate this and it has lead to bitter feeling in both Races.

It came to a head a few decades after the founding of the Dwarf City Under The Mountain, Drazzahezz. The Anvar united, thousands strong, a vast hoard of warriors and fanatics, the ground shaking with their footsteps and the air ringing with their war-prayers as they marched upon the walls of Drazzahezz. Hundreds died in the first day, yet the Anvar where undaunted. They pressed on in a series of attacks stretching over almost a decade, ignoring all casualties until they finally breached the great doors of Drazzahezz. Here the war took an ugly turn for the Dwarves. Close up and confined within the tunnels, the more powerful physical nature of the Anvar gave them a distinct advantage over the Dwarves.

Though the Dwarves are adamant that they could have driven the Anvar away themselves, the truth is very different. The instant that the Drake FrostHeart had heard of the founding of Drazzahezz he had rallied the DragonLords, called upon his allies within the other races and set off at all speed towards Drazzahezz at the head of an immense army. However, even with the DragonLords, Angels and Elves beside them, the Dwarves could still have all fallen that day, slaughtered by the frenzied Anvar. An unlooked for saviour came upon the field of battle that day, appearing amidst the Anvar and wreaking havoc upon them. The Ether Walkers had come.

No one knows why the Ether Walkers chose to aid the Dwarves, except the Ether Walkers, themselves and the Silent Ones have never been known for revealing anything about themselves unless they had no other choice. Thus for them to appear in a battle, hurling spells against the Anvar is something that could never have been expected. Yet it seemed that the Ether Walkers had not come to fight and had simply aided the Dwarves because they wished to.

The Anvar where dismayed at being attacked from three sides, their forces sandwiched and being rapidly destroyed. In desperation and in a move that the Anvar have despaired about for generations, they fled the field of battle, their prayers falling silent as each Anvar simply ran for their lives. They have never recovered from the shame, their Race broken by the action, the tribes scattered across the Eastern Land. In their own eyes, they do not believe that Solar has forgiven them for their lapse in devotion and since that day the Anvar have, if it were possible, actually become even more fanatical, seeking to convert any other living thing they come across.

Anvar seek out the conversion of others in many different ways depending upon the Anvar. Some prefer to do it by words and reason, debating with their opponent until their point is proven. Still others choose to convert others simply by existing, by showing how they can live with faith in Solar and the benefits such faith brings. Yet unfortunately, in every Race there are those who prefer violence to peace.

Some Anvar give possible converts a simple choice. Worship Solar or die. They believe that no one who does not worship the Sun God is worthy of living under His light and thus those who are not worthy must simply be destroyed. This is fanaticism in its purest form, a blind faith that seems to guide even the most rational Anvar. Yet not all aspects of the Anvar faith are understood.

Solar is known to be a benevolent God, His light allowing life to flourish upon Tal’Vorn, yet His Anvar have often committed atrocities in the name of their faith. How can a truly good God permit this to occur? The answer lies with Solar Himself, the God’s own personality, if such a term can be used to describe how a living God thinks and acts. Solar does not involve Himself in the petty squabbles of the other Races, simply seeking out the destruction of the creatures of the Dark One. Solar has been aligned against the Corrupter since before Tal’Vorn was found, the two Gods warring between the stars for generations.

It is this opposition, the Light against the Dark that drives the Anvar, the Eaters of Metal simply desiring their deities’ victory over the darkness, which will then usher in a time of eternal light and peace for all. If some non-believers have to fall along the road then so be, the Anvar will accept it as required casualties, deaths in the sake of Solar Himself.

This naturally causes the fights between the Anvar and the Mist Devils, the Soul-Drainers being creatures of the Dark God, malevolence and corruption given truest form. And so the Anvar oppose them, Anvar pressing deep into the lairs of these creatures, ignoring all attacks, simply desiring to slaughter the monsters, all the whilst crying out prayers and battle cries to Solar.

The DragonLords have been known to fight alongside the Anvar, the Perfect Warriors respecting the Eaters of Metal for their skills, their strength and their devotion to their God. Together they could form a truly brutal force of fighters, a mass of unstoppable monsters. And that was how it was during the Great War, DragonLords and Anvar fighting side by side for much of the war.

When Vralic BlackDragon, the DragonKing, first approached the Anvar tribes, he was refused permission to see the tribal leaders. It was only after he had bested each tribes strongest warrior in combat that he was allowed to simply speak with the leaders. It took him many months of argument to persuade the Anvar that it was just and right to being the power of their wroth down upon the human usurpers. When they finally agreed, they came en-mass, almost every single living Anvar entering the Jump Gate to take them to the Isle of the Dead.

When the Anvar entered the battlefield, their arrival, unfortunately, seemed to make little difference, for to the humans they simply looked like a different sort of Demon. Perhaps had the humans understood the reasons behind the Anvar’s frenzy they would have surrendered there and then. Though the Anvar where not at the forefront of every assault, they where always the last to fall back, wreaking havoc upon the humans with their brutal mauls and hammers. They were vicious and cruel, all the while howling out their war prayers.

Yet it was an Anvar, not Drake FrostHeart, who finally breached the gates of the human city, Primus. Drake had walked amongst the Races whilst Vralic lead the attack and had gathered to his side one member of each Race; an Angel, Human, Demon, Dwarf, Elf, Ether Walker, Mortis, Merman, Mist Devil and Soulless. When Drake finally found a suitable Anvar, he came to the Great War at the head of this force. At the same time the Black Winged Angels, ignoring the orders of their leaders, sallied form their cities, coming to the aid of the other Races. It was the coming of the Angels and the attacks of the Twelve that broke the humans, forcing them back to their walls.

Yet not even Drake could bring down their gates, his wroth empty against the seamless stone. And so the Anvar stepped forth. Named Alar, his armour resplendent and shimmering in the light, he was the first Anvar Paladin. Shouting out his prayers, his immense form ignoring the rain of missiles that poured upon him, Alar hefted his hammer, a two handed weapon as large as the Anvar himself. The booms of the ten foot weapon sticking the gates caused a hush to fall over the battlefield, the humans watching in horror as the Anvar wound himself up higher and higher into a frenzy, screaming out prayer after prayer until something unexpected occurred.

A single stream of light illuminated Alar and the gates broke. Solar had granted the Anvar a part of His power, allowing the Anvar to break open the city, and yet at the same time killing Alar. For the Anvar’s body could not withstand the strain that such power placed upon it. Pieces of the Paladin’s armour were found scattered across the Isle of the Dead for generations. Thus, it was Alar’s sacrifice that allowed the Great War to be won.

The Anvar have the potential to be an immensely powerful force for good upon Tal’Vorn, yet their blind faith has led them to commit more then one evil act in their history. The other Races do not trust the Anvar; they cannot trust the Anvar, for how do you trust a Race so blind, so fuelled by faith in a deity that cares little for the creatures that walk Tal’Vorn, desiring only the triumph of the Light?

Lo, the sun doth shine so bright,
Blessed be Solar’s true light.
Extract from an Anvar Song

With Me Brothers!
Alar’s Battle Cry