Arrival of the Elves

Roughly 2,200 years ago, the second great nation of elves arrived through mystic roads from the Summer Lands on the outskirts of the Arbonesse Forest. Unlike those who fought the dwarves and the Northern gods, these elves settled farther south, and their magic and archery was supported by powerful bonds of magic, oaths to their fey queens and kings, and a knack for securing the vassalage of other races. These Valeran elves slowly built their empire from the Western Ocean all the way to the Ruby Sea, ruling the humans, gnomes, halflings, and others who saw in the elves a restored hope for civilization. Their cities were tall, their magic powerful, and their mastery of living things, art, magic, and swift travel gave them a powerful advantage. They swept all other nations before them and built cities in the high places and the forests. They planted the seeds of the World Tree far and wide and pushed dark terrors away from the shadow roads, making them bright passages from one haven to another. The more distant regions were all connected to the elven centers of civilization by the fey roads, magical routes that compressed journeys of weeks or months into mere days or hours.
The elves ruled over at least five centers of culture and imperial power over the span of their 1,300-year reign, each corresponding to a different king or queen: first in the planeshifted and hidden River Court of the Arbonesse under the Emperor Xindrical the Explorer, then the eastern hub of Sephaya on the Ruby Sea under Queen Shillesh Greensun Sephaya, the Daughter of Yarila, and her children who built the Summer Gardens of Gennecka. The empire briefly lingered at the High Court of Liadmura in the Ironcrags where the Eagle Emperor ruled, in a time of conquests. The empire then centered for the longest time in the great capital of Thorn under the High Queen Lelliana Thorntree Endiamon, and her daughter the Shadow Princess Sarastra—mother of the shadow fey bloodlines, driven into exile in the Shadow Realm. Finally, when Thorn fell, the capital rested in the southern metropolis of Valera.
The elves considerably influenced the humans in the magocracies of Caelmarath, especially Allain, Bourgund, and Vael Turog, who learned the arcane arts in the elven style before they created their own. Some believe Parszan and the Margreve Forest also held large elven enclaves, but if so the details are lost—only a certain elegance to their towers, green thrumming ley lines, and overgrown groves attest to their time there.
Those few foolish nations that opposed the might of the elves were quickly brought to heel by a combination of elven might at arms (primarily their swift archers and light cavalry) and elven magic (which, it is said, could bewitch entire armies). The histories of this period are few, but clear in their deep regard (some might say terror) of the elven war machine, and the “sacrifices to Valeresh” that elven armies sometimes made of opposing officers and generals. The elves wiped out entire noble families, officer ranks, and royals who opposed them or rebelled against them.