Elves

Immortal made mortal, perfection made imperfect, and strong made weak, the elves of Karnum are majestic to behold yet behind their veils of mystique and marvel they are a sorrowful race. Elves were once immortal and comparable to celestials or fey however in the same way that angels can fall and summer queens can become mortal they fell from grace. Their years were limited to 750 years and their powers and potentials were muted if not taken away entirely. However, after this their highest goddess, Haiyun, made a promise to them. Should any elf live a perfect life until their 750th year they shall be restored to their former form. However, it was never promised that they would remain in this form should they make a mistake similar to what had befallen their ancestors, nor has it ever been entirely clear what it means to live a "perfect" life, leaving many elves debating the meaning of this promise to this day.
There are many kinds of elves, each with a distinct culture and with distinct abilities, however the most important part for any member of another race to remember when dealing with elves is that each sub-race of elves has different beliefs to what it means to live a "perfect" life, or their Ilugund. High elves believe that among other things a mastery of magic is required to live the perfect life, wood elves believe that a unhindered unity with nature is required, and so on and so forth. Although most elves quickly give up on the path to perfection and decide to instead live their 750 years however they wish the influence of these requirements to attain immortality have still molded the societies of these elves to support these lifestyles with most wood elf conclaves living in forests and most high elves having ready access to tutors to teach them the ways of elvish magic.

Conservation Status

The truth is that the drow are right. Haiyun is dead and Edrasyl is devastated. Although everything up until the drow in the legend is true that is where truth gives way to myth invented to deny the horrible truth. As Haiyun's realm was devastated she began to grow weak and in a final attempt to preserve her realm and her remaining power she rallied the remaining untainted elves and led an assault against the invaders. It lasted years with nearly no hope of ending. Eventually, the tide began to turn in favor of the elves as the outsiders supply lines began to wain with no more trees to burn and many forges being destroyed by the elves. However, just as the outsiders were about to banished for good, the Craftsmen, or by their common name the Azer, came to the elves and made an offer. They had created a vessel which was capable of capturing and harnessing the power of a god and told the elves that if they would help them kill Haiyun, then they would capture her power and give it to the elves so long as they allowed to Craftsmen stay in Edrasyl. The elves were divided, some wanted to stay loyal to Haiyun but many desired her power for themselves. In the end a great betrayal occured and the elves turned against one another and Haiyun was heartbroken to find so many of her subjects out to take her life. In the end there were too few still loyal to Haiyun and she was too weak, and thus she was slain. The Craftsmen were there to capture her essence in the great artifact however the death of a god was far more violent then they thought and in the explosion of divine power only a fraction was captured. As she died she used the power that was not captured to banish all elves from her realm and thus the traitors were made into drow and banished to the depths of Karnum and the loyal elves were made into Eladrin, with much of her remaining power going into them as she viewed them with more love than she had ever known. The rest of her power coalesced into 4 minor gods, each in correlation to the banished races, Tunon for the High Elves, Jisun for the Sea Elves, Polovon for the Wood Elves, and Karn for the Plain Elves. These four gods provide the new elves with divine intervention excepting the drow who betrayed their mother and the Eladrin who already have some of her old power within them. To this day they struggle against the outsiders in Edrasyl although it could never be called a war. They hide within strongholds, often with a few contingents of Eladrin to protect them, although they have long lost the hope of reclaiming their realm. In addition, and perhaps worst of all, the Craftsmen kept their promise to the drow and to this day they hold the

Related Ethnicities

• Plain Elves