Citadel of the First Light
The Source alone knows when the first, and by far the largest, elven city was founded. Far into the mists of the early Dawn Times, The Source created The First of All, the first elf, the first sapient being to live upon Lia'Neir'Aratha, and the first "child" of The Source. The "birth" of The First of All marks the beginning of history, but this ageless being, created without the seeds of death within, lived alone for uncounted ages, content to explore the world created for them and walk in harmony with The Source and creator of both world and occupant. Eventually, The Source chose to create others, brothers and sisters for the first elf. Eight were the number of these first elves, four brothers and four sisters. These eight lived in community for more uncounted centuries, eventually they prayed to The Source for more of their people, and they were blessed with 4088 more siblings, for a total of 4096 in this first generation. These, then were the builders of the first city. The Citadel of the First Light, as they named it, in reference to the dawn of the world and the First of All, was a living city, a realm built through careful husbandry of trees and plants until the forest grew into a place to support and shelter their people. Trees grow slowly, and it is thought that no less than 100 generations of trees grew old before the elves learned how to grow a city in a way that produced the forms needed while also promoting the greatest possible health of the trees themselves. The trees of the citadel, named in the ancient histories as Aef'Lige'Niar, or Living Light of Home, were exceptionally long lived, meager surviving records suggest a lifespan exceeding sixteen millennia.
It is truly unfortunate that no living being remains from that time, the sight of a living city, a citadel and home to millions, all grown and alive as a forest of carefully bred trees and other plants. There was a wall, a living wall of dense bramble intermixed with fines, carnivorous plants, and strengthened by yet another species of tree, the Aef'Cor'Maerf, or Strong Bastion of Life. Throughout the citadel every structure, every support, every element of this vast city was formed from living plants. The water flowed through vast networks of "pipes" formed by plants bred to grow vast hollow roots with water-tight interiors. The walkways formed from vines trained to grow in long lines with flattened surfaces. Everywhere life supported life, protected life, and nurtured life throughout a vast green world covering hundreds of square miles in the midst of a continent-spanning forest.
RUINED SETTLEMENT
21909 BE
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