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Each faction has it's own topic for unit descriptions, this one is for the Nisyrran Elves faction.

The short description by Darvin:

Nisyrra: the "few but the strong" faction with unbelievably powerful units that will be heavily outnumbered.  Balanced in all ways of warfare, with a special focus on magic.  Very free form economically and building-wise, perfect for the perfectionist player ^_^

The full description by Darvin:

Nisyrran Elves
These elves (often called the "Immortal Elves") believe that they are the superior race on the earth, and all others are slaves beneath them.  While they are often regarded as evil and manipulative by others, the Nisyrrans treat their slaves with dignity and respect (in some ways, they treat them like children, giving them chores that are expected to be done without question).  They believe that they are the guardians of the world and all its inhabitants.  With the rise of a new generation to power, Nisyr has suddenly become quite aggressive, believing that any threat to the peace and serenity of the world must be brought to order by force.  Many wars have since been fought by Nisyr, and many neighbouring realms crushed beneath them.

The Nisyrran Elves are often called immortal because they have a way to ressurrect their fallen comrades (this ressurection process does not reverse aging, however, but can be used to slow it down; Nisyrran elves live 3-4 times longer than normal elves).  By ritually placing a piece of their heart in a family shrine, an elf ensures that if he is killed in battle, his spirit can be summoned and his body completely restored (this process takes time, and even once completed the elf's body is highly attrified; it takes weeks to return to full strength).  Only beings of immense spiritual power can permeanently kill a Nisyrran elf without destroying his family shrine.

Build Style:
The Nisyrran faction has a "build anywhere" style.  Their structures are all stand-alone.  One downside of this is that structures can never be connected to form an artificial barricade; proper walls must be used to close off an area.  Nisyr bases are both the most spread out and defensively liable of all factions.  Nisyr structures are build by slaves.  When a structure is designated, slaves are dispatched from a work station and automatically begin work.  This allows them to simply place a structure and know that it will eventually get down.  Placing a structure too far away, however, may mean slaves will take a long time to reach it and begin construction.

Military units:
Because they regard themselves as guardians to their slaves, they never allow a slave to enter combat.  The military of Nisyr takes into account that individual units are effectively immortal.  Their units are all lightly armoured in favour of quickness and mobility in battle.  They deal large quantities of damage with both melee and ranged attacks.  They have skilled cavalry units, as well.  Their lack of heavy units and weak siege weapons, however, can be a hinderance.

Nisyrra's population is actually quite small.  Due to its unique ressurrection capacity, casualties in an individual battle are not particularly meaningful, but they cannot sustain too many troops in one place at any given time, and have a tight population cap as a result (slaves do not count to this cap).  Nisyrran units are naturally adept at magic.  While most focus in martial combat, and use minor magic to enhance their abilities, captains, priests and magistrates are known to be potent spellcasters in their field of specialization.   

Economy:
Nisyrra's economy is based on two tiers: slave labour and elite labour.  Slaves not only build structures of the Nisyrran Elves, but they will also operate mining facilities, lumber mills, quarries, and farms.  These resources are then deposited for future use.  Food is primarily used to support slaves; more food means more slaves means more resources.  Building supplies are used to build more structures of any variety.  Many siege weapons and structures require metal to function.  However, the most valuable asset to the Nisyrran economy is their unique resource: refined metal.  Refined metal is created by consuming raw metal (as extracted from metal deposits on the map) and then using a special structure operated by civilian elves to enhance and imbue these metals for use in weapons.  There are three settings available to refinement operations: normal (produces 1 part refined metal at cost of 5 parts raw metal every interval), rush (produces 2 parts refined metal at cost of 20 parts parts raw metal every interval), and halt (no operation).  If you need raw metals, but only have refined metals, the refined variety can be used in its place.  However since the conversion rate is 5:1 (or if you're on hurry mode, 10:1), this is not a smart trade-off.

Queth Eluan ("Primary Forward" - light melee)
type:   sword
size:   6
The Queth Eluan has by far the highest casualty rate of any military wing in Nisyrra, and as such is usually made up of recruits from the lower classes and castes of Nisyrran society.  Its purpose is to break formations in a quick, decisive advance, allowing for better equipped soldiers to follow up and defeat enemies.  They use short swords and use light armour for maximum mobility in battle.


Auril Sinth ("Torrential Rain" (roughly meaning "hurricane") - medium support)
type:   bow
size:   6
The Auril Sinth are chosen from among the more skilled archers in Nisyrra.  They are trained to focus on rate of fire, cutting down large detachments of enemies with the sheer number of arrows they can unleash.  While their accuracy and range are excellent, they are not ridiculously above average, as Nisyrra often is compared with other factions.  If they run out of arrows or are engaged at closer ranges, the Auril Sinth are proficiant swordsmen in battle.


Myrath Caleth ("Armoured Warmounts" - medium cavalry)
type:   spear mounted
size:   6
The Mytrath Caleth are the standard horsemen of the Nisyrran armies.  They use what is called a "leaf" armour to provide excellent protection at next to no cost of mobility.  The Myrath Caleth do not charge directly into battle, but instead ride around it, impaling enemies with their specialized spears.  The spear ends are nearly as long as short swords (somewhat similar to the Tallan Muan's glaives), resulting in a deep cut and clean exit.  The Myrath is also excellent against other cavalry.


Tallan Muan ("Secondary Advance" - medium melee)
type:   glaive
size:   6
The Tallan Muan is designed to fill a generalist role within the Nisyrran military structure.  They are more heavily armoured than the Queth Eluan, and are not as mobile as a result.  They use their long reaching and viciously sharp-bladed glaives to cut through enemy ranks with ease.  Their primary weakness is a lack of shield, and instead are trained to use a form of defensive magic to deflect such attacks against them.


Tiryl Sinth ("Torrential Flames" (roughly meaning "Meteor Shower") - heavy support)
type:   bow / magic
size:   6
Unlike the Auril Sinth, the Tiryl Sinth is trained for slow and methodical fire to terrorize and disorganize enemies.  They focus more on slow, but deadly barrages using magic to enhance their blows.  These archers are proficiant spellcasters, and can use their magic in the melee to disrupt enemy advances.  However, their focus on magic makes them extra vulnerable to fatigue.


Syril Icalis ("Sundering Guardians" - heavy swordsmen)
type:   sword / magic (combat)
size:   6
The ranks of the Syril Icalis form Nisyrras finest melee core.  These heavy swordsmen cleave through enemy ranks effortlessly, breaking formations and holding defensive lines well.  These warriors are considered legendary and nearly unstoppable in battle.  Fortunately, they suffer a primary weakness; arrogance.  Syril Icalis often use far more energy in battle than they can safely sustain, and if they cannot emerge victorious quickly, they can be overcome easily as they attempt to draw upon powers they can no longer fuel.


Narul Syros ("Divine Vengeance" - spellcasters)
type:   magic (supportive)
size:   6
The Narul Syros are talented weavers of the mystic arts within Nisyrran society, and are often closely related to the priesthood.  Their magic is often as protective as it is vengeful.  They excel in long, drawn out battles where their passive and persistant efforts can prove decisive.  If caught off guard, their magic is usually in vain against excessive force of enemies.


Inyrian Kaldhros ("Dead Moon" (roughly meaning "Eclipse") - spellcasters)
type:    magic (offensive)
size:   6
The devastating Inyrian Kaldhros are a special cadre of wizards within Nisyrra made up of the nobility.  Their powers focus on utterly devasting and overpowering enemies.  Many wizards consider the Inyrian Kaldhros "reckless and immature" with their powers, usually as harmful to themselves as the enemy.  They protect themselves from arrows by literally immolating projectiles that get too close.


Beylu Talthur ("Siege Operators")
type:   auxiliary
size:   12
This is the least favourable position in the Nisyrran military, regarding the operation of siege weapons.  Because the Nisyrrans believe that slaves have no place on the battlefield, even these menial tasks must be done by elves.  The duties are often given as punishment for criminal infractions and to those who hail from the very lowest classes of Nisyrran society (often so low that a temporary shrine must be allocated because a family shrine does not exist).  Their role is simple: assemble, disassemble, and operate siege weapons.  These weapons are built by slaves far from danger.

Nice descriptions. are those unit names in Tolkien elvish?

anyway, just an idea: since we don't have any real 'good' or 'evil' factions in this game, maybe we could put some kind of Fable-like good/evil record in the campaign, possible to have gameplay impact (e.g. by influencing the amount of support from your troops and/or allies) or just as an extra. For example, if you play elves and you don't protect your slaves too well, your meter drops more evil

If there is a Tolkien elvish in there, it's simply coincidence.  I made up EVERY single one of those words on the spot ^_^

As far as slaves go, I hope not to have them die but be emancipated if they aren't protected (then they'll just disappear from the game).  Going over the factions, I don't see any of them with the motive for indescriminate killing.

For the good/evil thing, I'm more inclined to allow for tactical decisions to influence the flow of the story.  For instance, do you send "Aubarn" (random name) the heroic dwarven captain to lead the forces against Nisyrra in the west, or the incursions of Varnost in the east?  What you choose may have a deep-seated effect on the final outcome of the game, as your decisions culminate in a slightly different ending scenario.

As far as slaves go, I hope not to have them die but be emancipated if they aren't protected (then they'll just disappear from the game).  Going over the factions, I don't see any of them with the motive for indescriminate killing.

Nono, I mean when they're killed by the enemy

Why would they kill the slaves?  The idea is that if an unprotected slave encounters an enemy unit, it's essentially freed.

oh i see, nvm then

There's actually a funny (and completely accidental) easter egg in those names.

First of all, after paying some attention you can figure out that the adjective follows the noun in the native Nisyrran form of the word.  From Narul Syros (Divine Vengeance) we can then take it that Syros means divine.  The root syllable is "Syr", which is also found in "Nisyrra".

This would be the "elite" faction that relies on quality over quantity, right?

Nisyrra takes quality over quantity to an extreme.  Their greatest weakness is that they can't be everywhere at once, and decisive force is difficult to muster.  However, the enemy needs to outnumber them substantially to win a decisive battle themselves.  Should create a level of depth and strategy that few games have achieved lately in terms of managing divide and conquer versus decisive blows.

Aha. Are these all of Nisyrra's units, or do you plan to have more?

Light infantry, heavy infantry, medium cavalry, light archer, heavy archer, "combat" spellcaster, "defensive" spellcaster, "offensive" spellcaster, siege operators

That makes up a skeletal faction once we add in a siege weapon or two for the operators.  Siege weapons will be a tertiary thing for Nisyrra; if it can be helped, they'd rather just stick to magic.  They need to be more mobile than siege weapons allow for.  In any case, I hope to keep vacancies for the time being so that (in the distant future) when we actually get around to test playing we can see what the faction needs, then add it.  Better to add new stuff as needed than remove redundant stuff because it's unused.