Seldarine

The Seldarine (Elvish for "fellowship of brothers and sisters of the wood") is the Elven pantheon of gods under the leadership of Corellon Larethian.

Structure

The Seldarine are a collective of Elven gods that claim direct descent from Queen Tatiana and King Oberon. Most of the Seldarine are the offspring of Corellon Larethian, or they are otherwise associated with him. The Seldarine, especially Queen Tatiana and King Oberon, are typically aloof Fey beings who do not often venture outside of their native realms. With few exceptions, most of the Seldarine can be categorized as wild and impulsive gods who are subject only to their own whims.

History

From the primordial turmoil at the center of the universe sprang the gods full-fledged, full-formed. Each claimed jurisdiction over certain effects, all being equally endowed with the power and force of the cosmos. They cooperated for the first (and the last) time to create the worlds. But some gods used their powers more wisely than their brethren. An early alliance formed among the wiser gods. They knew how to manipulate their power. This gathering of gods, who called themselves the Seldarine (or the Brothers and Sisters of the Wood) imparted their very essence into creation certain aspects of the worlds.
While other gods squabble over jurisdiction and possession of this virtue and that attribute, the Seldarine modified some of the lands, making their worlds lush and green and beautiful. In addition, they created vessels that would one day gold the spirit of the first sentient life to set foot upon these worlds - the race of beings known as Elves. They crafted these vessels with thought and care, and gave them extraordinary beauty. The other gods grew black with jealousy, and they thirsted to imitate the Seldarine. These gods hastily fashioned their own vessels, vying against these created by the Seldarine. But they would not invest the time vital to creating a race, and so their results were flawed - the gods did not care. their creations were nothing like those shaped by the Seldarine. Most were Monsters, created that they would one day gaunt the dreams of Elves. Of all the crude creations, only the vessel reserved for Man held a glimmer of potential, for they would one day have the ability to change the land as would the Elves. The gods of the new races tried too hastily to reproduce a feat that had taken the wiser gods eons. But neither group's constructs would come to life until the historic meeting between Corellon Larethian and Lolth, leader of the Dark-Seldarine.
In the subject of Elven mythology, the gods have strangely little to say, leaving one to ponder as it may be. The Elves believe that their religion is closer to actual history than are the religions of other races. There may be some truth to this belief, since the elves have such long life spans, with memories to match. They have far fewer generations between their creation and the present day. Thus they claim, there has been far less dilution of the truth. Unlike the other stories, they state, the Elven chronicle is pure.

The War of the Spiders

After years of peace, the Seldarine were told of elves dying by the hands of powerful, spider-like creatures. Naralis Analor, god of healing, easing of pain and death, informed the Seldarine that the souls of the elves killed by the spider creatures had not returned to Arvandor after the had died, thus they couldn’t be reborn. The Seldarine understood the ramifications of this and immediately went to deal with this. They quickly found that the spiders were caused by Lolth, the Drow Goddess. She had gained the help of a being known as Areop-Enap who created and controlled the creatures called Tsuchigumo. Understanding that these creatures are too much of a threat to the elven race, the Seldarine put aside their pride to ask the other pantheons for help, and thus the War of the Spiders officially commenced.
After some research, they discovered that they would need to banish Areop-Enap who was the one creating and strengthening the Tsuchigumo. But they needed the power of a god to do so, yet if any of the gods left the battlefield and went to the Demonweb Pit, Lolth’s realm, she would know and retreat to stop them, and a battle within the Demonweb Pits would not go well for them as it was Lolth’s realm. So they needed to keep her on the surface while someone else, bestowed with the powers of the gods, went down to banish him. Karad Novar and his group were chosen with the task, being blessed by the gods from the different pantheons. King Oberon and Queen Tatiana, knowing the strength of Areop-Enap, channelled their very life force into the blade of Karad Novar, weakening themselves to help him. As Karad Novar and his group went to the Demonweb Pits, Corellon led his pantheon into battle against Lolth.
During the battle, noticing the weakened King and Queen, Lolth charged towards them with a group of powerful Tsuchigumo. Corellon was prevented from interfering as the other Drow gods stood between them. Corellon watched as his parents fell at the hand of Lolth. As Lolth and her army of spiders seemed to be gaining the upper hand, the Tsuchigumo all began to scream in pain. The Tsuchigumo became weak instantly and were easily disposed of by the collective group of pantheons and races. Lolth had no choice but to retreat.
They had defeated Lolth, but at the cost of the lives of many elves and King Oberon and Queen Tatiana. Karad Novar and his group returned from the Demonweb Pits as heroes and their legendary tales are still talked of throughout Eldonor.

The Trident Isles and the Sea Elves

When the world was still young, Deep Sashelas along with gods from other pantheons, came together to strike a deal with an ancient being called the Yellow Emperor. He had a realm that was filled with the origins of water. The gods pleaded with him to impart his water onto the world of Heliodarna. The Yellow Emperor replied with a challenge. If the gods could pierce their way into his realm, he would grant them access to his realm.
So the gods worked together to forge a powerful trident that was imbued with a portion of all of their essence. They worked together to pierce through to the realm, and they succeeded. Satisfied with their efforts, the Yellow Emperor granted them access to the water and established the Ocean’s Crowning, so the gods could control the oceans. He also granted each of them a blessing, as a token of recognition.
Deep Sashelas was granted incredible power, which the Yellow Emperor helped him channel into his followers, thus the Sea Elves were created. Deep Sashelas, grateful for the gift the Yellow Emperor had given him, gave a portion of his Sea Elves to live on the newly formed Trident Isles, to serve and to worship the Yellow Emperor.

Mythology & Lore

Members of the Seldarine have male and female forms, and are often portrayed as both (particularly Corellon), though most as presented as taking on the form of one of the other.
The many members of the Seldarine include:

• Corellon Larethian, a greater god and leader of the Seldarine; he was the elven god of magic, warfare, music, art, and crafts. (Arcana, Life, Light, War)

• Angharradh, a greater goddess of spring, fertility, planting, birth, defense, wisdom and consort to Corellon; commonly believed to be a combination of three other elven goddesses (Sehanine Moonbow, Aerdrie Faenya, and Hanali Celanil) formed when Lolth rebelled and was exiled. Sometimes described as Corellon's consort. (Knowledge, Life, War)

• Aerdrie Faenya, intermediate goddess of the wind, weather, and avariel (winged elves). (Tempest, Trickery)

• Deep Sashelas, intermediate god of the seas and of the aquatic elves. (Knowledge, Tempest)

• Eledrin Liothiel, intermediate god of abundance, gardens, and the harvest; an aspect of Rillifane Rallathil. (Nature)

• Erevan Ilesere, intermediate god of trickery, mischief, and rogues. (Trickery)

• Fenmarel Mestarine, lesser god of outcasts, scapegoats, and isolation. (Nature, Trickery)

• Hanali Celanil, intermediate goddess of romantic love, beauty, and joy. (Life)

• Khalreshaar, an interloper goddess in the elven pantheon. Believed by half-elves to be the daughter of Silvanus and Hanali Celanil, and as such, the first truly half-elven deity. (Life, Nature)

• Labelas Enoreth, intermediate deity of time, history, and knowledge. (Arcan, Knowledge)

• Lashrael and Felarathael, twin solars who were worshiped as demigods by some elves, particularly sun elves. (Light)

• Naralis Analor, lesser god of healing and suffering. (Life)

• Rillifane Rallathil, intermediate god of nature, woodlands, and wild elves and/or wood elves. (Nature)

• Sehanine Moonbow, intermediate goddess of the moon, dreams, mysteries, secrets, travel/journeys; she is also the protector of the elven dead and patron of the moon elves. Often described as Corellon's consort. (Grave, Knowledge, Light)

• Shevarash, demigod of vengeance, loss, and hatred of the drow. (War)

• Solonor Thelandira, intermediate god of hunting, archery, and survival. He was also the guardian of the boundaries between civilization and the wilds. (Nature, War)

Type

Religious, Pantheon