Elven History

Ancient History
Legends say that the ancestors of the elves were brought forth into existence by one of the first gods, Corellon Larethian. Corellon was a powerful warrior and mage, but was also captivated by the beauty of the natural world. Hoping to preserve nature and defend it from the evils of the world, Corellon created the elves, a long-lived mortal race made in his image that, like himself, were skilled in magic and war. His elves, reveling in the spirit of nature, would also go on to become some of the first great bards, druids, and rangers in the Material Plane.

The early elves prospered and grew, occupying much of the Great Forest in complex cities which existed in harmony with the woodlands surrounding them, with great care taken by druid councils to ensure that settlements did not harm their homeland. This is often thought of as the golden age of the elves, and the society is referred to as the Elven Empire. However, some of these druids felt that their fellow elves, in their relentless quest to expand their civilization, were beginning to lose their way and were straying from Corellon's vision of harmony with nature. These druids collectively departed the Elven Empire to begin new lives living entirely in the wilderness, subsisting only off the land and its bounty; these were the ancestors of the Wild Elves, and they would come to claim a vast portion of the Great Forest as their own, warding off threats and even fellow elves in an effort to preserve its purity. Despite all the change and destruction to The Northland in recent times, the Wild Elves still hold onto their primal wilderness, now called The Forgotten Weald. Very rarely, curious Wild Elves will journey into the wider world, setting out for adventure.

The departure of the Wild Elves marked the beginning of a recurring pattern throughout Elven history; a difference in ideologies creating a drastic schism among a once-united people.

The Age of Fear
The first great test of the Elven Empire, and the ultimate cause of its decline and eventual downfall, was a vicious invasion by the Orcs, the mortal race created by and serving Corellon's bitter enemy, Gruumsh, a god of storms, war, and death. In a time long before the elves, Corellon had taken Gruumsh's right eye with an arrow during their final duel as mortals, and Gruumsh was eager to use his chosen people to exact his vengeance against his hated enemy.

Unlike the elves, the orcs did not see nature as a beautiful physical and spiritual force, but rather as a subservient thing which was to be harvested and exploited. The orcs held similar beliefs when it came to the treatment of other races, and stormed the shores of the Elven Empire without warning or mercy, slaughtering entire cities for gold, materiel, and slaves. The invasion was slowed by the elves' talented warriors and mages, but the Elven Empire, with only small-scale conflicts in its history, was not prepared for the horrors of total war.

The orcs invaded from the west, and their first victims were the coastal cities. Few elves survived, but the small groups able to escape alive managed to flee as refugees to inland states. The orcish advance was inexorable, but would slow periodically while they took their time desecrating the lands and victims of their conquest. During these fearful, uneasy pauses, the burden of supporting refugees began to take its toll on the citizens of host cities. The orcs advanced in waves, and each time would send more elves fleeing east, making the refugee crisis more severe each time. Additionally, the overcrowding would only add to the chaos when the orcish armies inevitably arrived.

Exodus of the Moon Elves
A small group of survivors from the original invasions noticed this crowding effect, and decided it was time to leave their homeland behind to seek a safe new beginning. Moving during the night across thousands of miles over several months, they formed a bond with the moon, spiritually and culturally, and began to use its energies to fuel their magic, rather than use the ley lines as they had before. They never found a permanent homeland, but discovered that the moonlit path was their home. They would be known to settle in an area for several days or weeks, but eventually they would move on to the next destination. This clan would go on to travel around the world in small, tight-knit communities of nomadic adventurers and pioneers, living minimally but contentedly; they would come to be known as the Moon Elves and would have a mostly peaceful future and would come develop ties with other mortal races. The Moon Elves were the first elves known to Humans, as they often crossed paths with human settlers and villagers throughout humanity's early history. Despite their wanderlust, some moon elves would occasionally settle with the humans, and ensuing relations between the two races would lead to the emergence of the first Half-elves.

Breaking the Siege
The remaining elves, under siege from the orcs, would be split into two separate regions, unable to communicate directly or to assist one another. These two states would devise independent solutions to the orc invasion; one would adopt the "fight fire with fire" strategy and begin a fiery counteroffensive against the orcs, taking no prisoners and burning everything in their path, even if it meant burning vast swathes of forest and harnessing dark and necromantic magic to turn the tide. This harnessing of their collective hate would send these elves down a path from which there would be no return; they would survive the war, but it would cost them their future.

The other faction, comprised of a small cluster of the easternmost cities, bided their time and studied how to focus the immense energies of sunlight into magical power. With the time they were afforded during the destruction of their western neighbors, they would succeed, and their best mages were capable of casting spells of untold power that have since been forgotten by time. With just a few of these gifted spellcasters, these cities were able to repel the orcs.

The wild elves left no records of their struggle against the orcs, but it was later discovered by historians that they had recruited the help of nearby owlbear clans and trained them for war. This strategy proved to be a decisive success, as the Forgotten Weald remained relatively unscathed during the fighting. Unfortunately (but predictably), these basic skills of warfare stimulated the growth of intelligence among the owlbears, and they would go on to form their own warlike society. This same civilization would, eventually, be responsible for The Great Owlbear War.

Aftermath of the War: The Sun Elves and the Dark Elves
Using their newfound solar powers to heal their cities and people, the Sun Elves (as they would come to call themselves) would become the dominant of the two primary surviving factions of the war. When they finally attempted to travel west to reestablish contact with their brethren, they were shocked and appalled by what they found; a barren wasteland more scarred than what the orcs had left in their wake; woodlands not just burned but reduced to desolate plains of swirling ash, ash so thick it blotted out sunlight and cast the sky in a reddish hue. Starving animals wandered and searched desperately for food, corrupted ley lines dripped just a trickle of energy, and at the center of it all sat a wicked black steel fortress city decorated in the blood and corpses of orcs and where other elves marched in chains. They were a people who had succumbed to their deepest rage, with ghostly white hair, ashen skin, and blood red eyes. The Sun Elves came to call them the Dark Elves, perceiving them to have betrayed all of Corellon Larethian's ideals. Still, the great Sun Elf mages hesitated to burn away their corrupt brethren, as some among them believed that they could be redeemed.

The compromise among the mages that would spare the Dark Elves from complete annihilation was far from merciful; one day, the Sun Elves appeared in a gleaming burst of light in the heart of the Dark Elf capital and at once rendered their judgement. They announced that for crimes against their land, their people, and their god, the Dark Elves were to be banished to the mostly-unknown realm of Umberdeep, a "land" of twisting caves and caverns deep beneath the surface of the Material Plane.

After a brilliant flash, the Dark Elves found themselves in a terrifying subterranean maze world.

(WORK IN PROGRESS)