The first pure creature - 'The Mother' - enters the world of Alendia as a champion of the old gods to fight the chaos. She creates 'The Pale Tree' a second source of power in the center of Durarin, banishing the corruption from this place. She is unable to force the chaos back, yet mighty enough to stand her ground.
History of the Elves
Elves have been wandering on Alendia for almost 20000 years and are therefore one of the oldest races.
The Beginning
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After the gods of the old pantheon left Alendia, the world falls into the hands of chaos. The elves take care of this problem.
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The Awakening
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The birth of the elves
Civil actionThe Mother creates the elves as a picture of herself to serve as an army against the Chaos. Soon enough the elves grow strong enough to hold back the chaos without the help of the Mother. They settle in Durarin, fighting the main forces of the chaos on this continent. Due to their advantage in numbers and comprehension of magic, the elves quickly achieve significant victories over the armies of the chaos.
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The Beginning
Military actionThe Elves achieve their first major victory over the chaos and force it to withdraw from western Durarin. With the help of The Mother, the elves settle these lands and recultivate them, banishing the chaotic corruption. Since this is the very first point in the history of elves claiming any land, this event is often called 'The Beginning'.
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Reconquering the Pale Tree
Military actionThe elves continue their march to the east. In central Alendia, they defeat the forces of chaos guarding the conquered Pale Tree, the home of The Mother and one of the most important channeling points for the magic of nature. With this potential liberated from the chaos, the military strength of the elven army rises even further and leads to many quick major victories over the forces of chaos in northern and southern Durarin.
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The great hunt
Military actionThe elves manage to exterminate the corruption in most of the parts of Durarin. The Chaos gets forced back to its last point of retreat - The Mahlstrom.
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The Banishment of Chaos
Military actionWith the last defeat, Chaos is forced to retreat through the Mahlstrom, leaving behind trails of corrupted magic, and unleashes it's last champions, the five Elderdragons: Fire, Ice, Decay, Crystal, and Undead. Fire and Ice fly to the west, Undead to the south, the Crystal disappears, and just the Decay stays in Durarin to fight the elves for all eternity.
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Splitting up
Population Migration / TravelWith the banishment of chaos, many things happened to the elven civilization. First and foremost, The Mother entirely retreated to the Pale Tree, supporting her children with nothing but her magical power. Her presence on Alendia was too dangerous to bear. Secondly, some tribes of elves left Durarin and crossed the ocean to hunt down the escaping Elderdragons. A few of them arrived in Ephea and Lusitania, however, it was impossible to cross the Wild Ocean for too much. Those sailors built the very first settlements on the coast of these continents and tried to build up their own civilization to eventually slay the dragons. Last but not least, the major part of the elves stayed in Durarin and either reinforced the existing cities, settled new grounds, or went to the eastern parts of Durarin to fight The Decay. This fight lasted more than a thousand years and especially the darkelves, which are nowadays known as Drow turned out to be exceptional fighters.
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Shipbuilding
Construction beginning/endThe elves figure out shipbuilding and make the first few attempts to cross the ocean. Their motivation was to hunt down the fleeing dragons and so they found the continent of Ephea in the east of Durarin. The dragons Fire and Ice already arrived there and transformed the continent into their battleground. The sailors found a safe place, the province Midathil, and settled there. In the east, the continent of Lusitania was found. The elves settling there, however, could not find the escaped dragon, and instead had to adapt to the rather uncivilized life in the wilderness.
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Meditation and Trance
CelestialThe elves quickly realized that the Decay gathers its power not just from nature, but also from thoughts and dreams. The Elderdragon, therefore, was terrorizing and corrupting elves in their dreams, which turned out to be a big problem to deal with. Because of that, the elves looked for a way to stay safe while resting and sleeping. Instead, they eventually discovered a way of not sleeping at all. With the help of magic and their ancestry, they were able to meditate and fall into a trance-like state instead of sleeping.
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The Pale Guard
CelestialThe Mother calls out to the elves and declares that she and her home requires guards. She chose up to eight different elves, most elder, wise veterans from the war against the chaos, and formed the Pale Guard. These soldiers were detached from the elven civilization and meant to obey only the command of The Mother, ensuring peace and security for her and the Pale Tree.
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Subdivisions
Civil actionOver the years, the subclasses of elves developed further and more or less separated from each other. The three most dominant uprising races were Highelves, Woodelves, and the Drow. While Highelves tend to prefer to live in civilized places such as cities, fortresses, or villages, the Woodelves instead, retreated to a rather primal lifestyle, mainly living in the woods, trees, and the wilderness. The Drow appeared eager for battle and power, and so most of them moved eastwards, closer to the front of war against the Decay.
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The Imprisoning of Decay
Military actionAfter fighting the Decay, the elves finally manage to achieve the final victory and defeat the Decay. It's incredible power prevented them from destroying it entirely, so the elves were forced to seal the Decay deep under the earth in eastern Durarin.
The prime Era
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After defeating The Decay, the elven empire grew and prospered. However, this era wasn't meant to hold for long.
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The Imprisoning of Decay
Military actionAfter fighting the Decay, the elves finally manage to achieve the final victory and defeat the Decay. It's incredible power prevented them from destroying it entirely, so the elves were forced to seal the Decay deep under the earth in eastern Durarin.
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The Circle of Nature
Civil actionAfter a few years of recovering from the great war against the chaos, representatives of every elven-kind meet in the 'Circle of Nature'. They agree to separate the darkelves from the rest of them, sending them to the eastern lands of Durarin and transferring the responsibility of watching over the Mahlstrom and it's imprisoned champion. The darkelves agree since they feel better among themself, the differences between them and other elves too much to bear.
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Further migration
Population Migration / TravelWith no more threats around them, the curiosity of some elves edges them to explore what else lies behind the ocean. Especially woodelves, but also some highelves discovered new lands beyond the borders of the New World. Many of them also joined their brothers in Ephea or Lusitania. Especially those in Ephea rapidly grew in numbers. Looking for a way to defeat any of the Elderdragons, they move further to the north, where they eventually meet the giants.
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The Carval War
Military actionThe giants declare war on the elves living in Ephea. Their leader, Carval, the first giant wants vengeance for his dead sons. (For details look up the article about the Carval war). The elves are able to defend themselves and with their advanced technology and majority in numbers, they force the giants back without suffering major defeats. In 14830 b. BF Carval sacrifices himself and creates the 'Silver City' - the last bastion of the giants and impregnable fortress of Alendia. Both sides agree to an armistice, which quickly results in peace negotiations.
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The great elvish war
Military actionDistracted by the war against the giants, the elves missed their brothers, the Drow, slowly getting corrupted by the lingering chaos. It could be argued, that concerning signs have been not just missed but also ignored. In old history reports, the aggressiveness of the Drow was more than obvious, often directed at the other elves. In 14732 b. BF, Ariil, the first king of the Drow tried to calm and control the powers of the Mahlstrom. Seeing the whole world getting in danger from that, the elves declare war on the Drow. This civil war has not ended yet and is just rarely disrupted by short phases of an armistice. For further details look up the article and timeline about the Great Elvish War.
The elvish aristocracy
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Declaring an official war against the Drow resulted in many things. A structure and government for the civilization were necessary to organize things. The most influential "noble" elves decided to split the territory into multiple parts and distribute governmental tasks that way. This government worked for a very long time until a third party joined the conflict of elves and Drow.
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The great elvish war
Military actionDistracted by the war against the giants, the elves missed their brothers, the Drow, slowly getting corrupted by the lingering chaos. It could be argued, that concerning signs have been not just missed but also ignored. In old history reports, the aggressiveness of the Drow was more than obvious, often directed at the other elves. In 14732 b. BF, Ariil, the first king of the Drow tried to calm and control the powers of the Mahlstrom. Seeing the whole world getting in danger from that, the elves declare war on the Drow. This civil war has not ended yet and is just rarely disrupted by short phases of an armistice. For further details look up the article and timeline about the Great Elvish War.
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The elvish aristocracy
Political eventUnlike the Drow, the elves decided to choose an aristocracy as their government. The different elves were chaotically spread all over Durarin and it was hard to agree on one single leader for them all, especially because of the intersubracial disagreements. Instead, the elves split their territory into multiple parts, comparable with clans or provinces, and assigned charge to the most influential elf or family.
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The first great prophecy
CelestialThe gods seemed to return to Alendia and send a message, called the great prophecy to the creatures of Alendia. It speaks about the future of all elves and the devastating results of their war. (For details look up the article about the great prophecies).
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Loss of the Pale Tree
Military actionOverwhelmed by the power and quickness of the Drow and despite their quick organization of a government, the Elves could not remain in control over the Pale Tree. It fell into the hands of the Drow. With that, the darkelves controlled the Pale Tree, and The Mahlstrom, which were at this point the only two sources of magic and power. The elves feared, if the Drow were able to invade the Pale Tree, they would acquire enough power to rule over the whole world, still corrupted by the chaos. It has the highest priority to reconquer the Pale Tree. The Drow were aware of that and obviously defended the place at all costs successfully.
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Advancing the front
Military actionWith the fall of Harg Garrond and the death of King Ariil, the army and people of the Drow were chaotic and uncoordinated. The elves used state and advanced further to the east, conquering a lot of territory in northern and southern Durarin.
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Lauden
Disaster / DestructionOne of the aristocrats, an elf named Lauden, who also was the first to arrive at the oracle to hear the First Prophecy abused the fact of the Drow mobilizing all their forces to defend the Pale Tree and advance further. Instead of attacking this location, he instead assaulted one of the cities around the Mahlstrom. With that, the power couldn't be contained, resulting in a large overcharge and explosion. With that, Lauden might've saved not just the elves, but the whole world of Alendia from the Drow and the chaos. The army of the Drow retreated to stabilize the core of the empire of the Drow and fight against the uprising monsters from the Mahlstrom.
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A brief respite
Diplomatic actionA nobleman of the Drow, called Grecur, eventually united the Drow more or less. However, due to the totally shattered land of the Drow, he decided to offer peace to the elves. They agreed gladly but didn't suspect a breach of the contract just a few years later. However, the three peaceful years were used effectively to repair broken places, renaturating burnt forests, and reinforce key positions in their territory.
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War with the matriarchy
Military actionWith the matriarchy rising in the east, the Drow broke the contract of peace and attacked the elves once more. This time, the elves were more or less prepared for the assault, yet still, because of the new ruthless determined battle technique of the Drow, the elves didn't manage to hold them back entirely.
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The Clearing of Shame
Criminal ActivityThe Drow attempted to straightly breach through the center of Durarin, trying to reclaim the Pale Tree as quickly as possible. But this time, the elves managed to keep control over it with advanced military techniques. The Drow advanced very slowly and couldn't make it past the western lake around the Pale Tree. At the same time, the elven forces from the north and south surrounded the army of Drow and cut reinforces. The Drow started to cut down the trees which were part of the holy grove. To prevent further casualties, the elves allowed the Drow army to return to their territory.
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Transformation of War
Military actionIn 14632 b. BF, the Drow more or less retreated from the war front and stopped attacking the reinforced fortresses of the elves. Instead, they shifted their technique, transforming the war into a guerilla-like conflict, involving unconventional methods. The Drow focussed on attacking unprotected which were considered sacred or forbidden. The attack on Lauden's Oracle made the first step of this transformation. In the following years, the Drow attempted similar things with rather small success. Even attacks through the Underdark didn't bring the expected results.
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Goblins in Durarin
Plague / EpidemicDue to the standstill on the war front, the elves focussed on problems within their borders. History reports tell about goblins appearing in the mountain ranges of Durarin around 14000 b. BF. At first, they have been ignored by the elves, but the goblins turned out to be rather aggressive and terrorized villages and forests nearby. All attempts of negotiations were pointless, which forced the elves to attack the goblins and dispel them. However, the goblins managed to survive and gather in caves over and over ever since. The most popular spot is the so-called village Gobingen. Nevertheless, the elves can control the goblins there more or less.
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The elven academy of arcane magic
FoundingBefore 13552 b. BF, most elven magic wielders fell back on the powers of nature, and only the risk-loving mages even attempted to use the magic of chaos to their favor. However, many wizards knew about the existence of arcane and elemental magic but this kind was considered weak because the source of this magic was neither known nor discovered. In 13552 b. BF, the first academy considering this new kind of magic was founded, "The first wizard school of the arcane elements". Arcane and elemental magic turned out to be easy to learn, but powerful nonetheless. The academy contributed a large part of uprising battle mages for the elven army.
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The cursed woods
Military actionAn army of the Drow fell in the Cursed Woods in the north of Durarin. Although this defeat wasn't too significant for neither winner nor loser, it confirmed the assumption of elves, that the north is protected. With that, the elves withdrew forces stationed in the north and rather focussed on defending central Durarin and the ocean in the south.
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The Guild of Monsterhunting
FoundingRumors of the Drow purchasing wild monsters from the Mitractulum reached the elven territory. Some spies and scouts were able to confirm these rumors, resulting in the founding of an organization dealing with that threat. The Guild of Monsterhunting for the time being was nothing but an unofficial organization of a bunch of adventurers who wanted to brag too much. But later, when facing real monsters in the ranks of the Drow, that guild came in very handy. The elves tried to bind the guild to them, but the monster hunters refused but accepted financial support. Besides that, many well-educated monster hunters joined the elven army to deal with these special threats of the Drow.
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Invasion of the Empire
Military actionIn 7914 b. BF, the King of the Human Empire, King Barkun broke the alliance with all allies and attacked them. One of these allies was the elves, which got overwhelmed and pincered by humans and Drow. Since the humans were the only ones accepting any kind of negotiation for peace, the elves were forced to agree on being transformed into a puppet state of the Empire. This resulted in multiple things. The Empire promised to reinforce the ranks of the elven army against the Drow, but only for defensive circumstances. In exchange, the aristocrats of the elves had to subordinate to human governors. The cities of the elves were occupied by the human military and a major part of the elven economy had to be paid to the Empire. A few elves were trying to fight this annexation, especially woodelves. The Empire struggled to control the woods and wilderness, which gave woodelves in general more freedom than highelves.
A puppet of the empire
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With the Empire invading Durarin, the elves were unable to defend against the Drow and the humans at once.
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Invasion of the Empire
Military actionIn 7914 b. BF, the King of the Human Empire, King Barkun broke the alliance with all allies and attacked them. One of these allies was the elves, which got overwhelmed and pincered by humans and Drow. Since the humans were the only ones accepting any kind of negotiation for peace, the elves were forced to agree on being transformed into a puppet state of the Empire. This resulted in multiple things. The Empire promised to reinforce the ranks of the elven army against the Drow, but only for defensive circumstances. In exchange, the aristocrats of the elves had to subordinate to human governors. The cities of the elves were occupied by the human military and a major part of the elven economy had to be paid to the Empire. A few elves were trying to fight this annexation, especially woodelves. The Empire struggled to control the woods and wilderness, which gave woodelves in general more freedom than highelves.
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The great decimation
Disaster / DestructionEmperor Azur arranged a great decimation all over the Great Human Empire. Durarin was a region hit particularly badly by that. Many elves, nobles, soldiers, and civilists were slaughtered by the stationed human forces to ensure peace and loyalty.
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The elvish revolution
RevolutionMultiple events eventually enabled the elves to reclaim their independence: The growing borders of the Great Human Empire resulted in administrative issues, exposing more and more weak spots.
Many soldiers on the war front were obsolete due to the Drow being busy with themselves and their throne war. These soldiers were an important part to overcome the stationed armed human forces. The long duration of the human presence led to an exponential growth of public unrest.
The Great Human Empire was forced to send a holy expedition to Durarin, trying to calm the attacks on important positions and persons. In 2005 b. BF, the expedition was defeated by the elves, which was the final step of the revolution. The Empire had to retreat from Durarin, losing an insane amount of territory, power, and wealth. This revolution was a trigger for many other concerned freedom fighters all over the world to rise and fight the Empire, resulting in major defeats of the Empire all over Alendia.
After dispelling the humans from Durarin, the elves returned to old habits and reformed their autocracy.
The new elven Empire
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Expelling the humans from Durarin, the elves return to their autocracy and focus on an old foe, the Drow, while also helping other races to fight the Human Empire.
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The elvish revolution
RevolutionMultiple events eventually enabled the elves to reclaim their independence: The growing borders of the Great Human Empire resulted in administrative issues, exposing more and more weak spots.
Many soldiers on the war front were obsolete due to the Drow being busy with themselves and their throne war. These soldiers were an important part to overcome the stationed armed human forces. The long duration of the human presence led to an exponential growth of public unrest.
The Great Human Empire was forced to send a holy expedition to Durarin, trying to calm the attacks on important positions and persons. In 2005 b. BF, the expedition was defeated by the elves, which was the final step of the revolution. The Empire had to retreat from Durarin, losing an insane amount of territory, power, and wealth. This revolution was a trigger for many other concerned freedom fighters all over the world to rise and fight the Empire, resulting in major defeats of the Empire all over Alendia.
After dispelling the humans from Durarin, the elves returned to old habits and reformed their autocracy.