Eric of Elfsholm

Elfholm South of the Willow River, there are miles of rich pastures rising gradually into the hills and woodland of the Elven Downs. Eventually, the hills rise into a proper forest before thinning again on the bare spurs of the Weiland Mountains.
Over the last 75 years, as Bayport has grown from a small port at the mouth of the Willow River to a major trade center for ships from around the greater bay as far as Lenay, Oceanside and beyond to the cities of the Kingdom, a flood of settlers has crossed the river and begun farming the lower downs. As the settlers have spread their farms and villages higher across the downs, tensions between them and the Elves living in the forested hills beyond the open spaces have increased.
The Elves have long regarded these lands as their own territory. Though they don’t usually view land as property, and take a communal view of its usage, the farmers moving in see the land as unclaimed, and are very protective of their possession of it. Throughout most of the inhabited realms, Elves have forsaken this traditional view of land and open spaces, but the Elven Downs are revered as a lost ancestral holding, deep with significance and loss. For this reason, the increased settlement has been seen as an affront to their culture and traditional ways, and has caused a resurgence of Elven pride.
Eric Years ago, beyond the recorded history of current residents of the South Ward, a great Elven kingdom grew across the wide forests that then covered the hills rolling down to the sea. Eric was a wanderer who had been drawn to the wooded land overlooking the Great Bay by a series of dreamy visions from the woodlands east of the mountains. According to legend, a great leader had been foretold to arise from the region where all lands came together who would flow down from the north to conquer the great cities of the south along the waterway.
Eric convinced his people to form a great army, then led them north across the Willow River into the mountains above Bayport. They would cross the White Passes and dare the canyon trails and rapids to reach Golden Lake. Then, after overrunning the settlement at Waynesburg, they would ride down the Great River to Dassal and wipe it from the map. In this, they would gain control of the entire territories west of the Great River and Golden Lake on either side of the Willow. He saw himself as the fulfillment of the legend, and charmed the entire kingdom of Elves to accept his reality.
Eric assembled his army and climbed into the White Passes, where all trace of him vanished. None of his army ever made its way through the mountains to Golden Lake, and none were known to return to the region of Bayport. South of the Willow River on the Elven Downs, the remaining forces of the elves gathered to defend themselves from a force sent to deal with the threat they posed on the valley settlements. Greatly overwhelmed, they closed ranks and made their final stand high on the upper downs, among the towering pines at the edge of the desolate peaks. Details of the battle never made any published histories, and only legends told its tale.
Over the many years since, the upper slopes came to be known as the Elven Stand, though whether because of the legendary last stand of the Elven armies, or because of the towering trees that marked their last known position, no one really knows.
Separating the Myth The memories of Elves, like their years, are long. Walking over the Elven Downs today reveals little trace of habitation beyond the small towns and homesteads springing up as the inevitable spread from Bayport occurs. Yet no one doubts that Elves once lived here, since they claim it to be so. It is true that many Elves still live throughout the area, in the forests and mountains to the south, as well as on the Downs and in the lowlands along the coast and river valleys, and the entire region is known for its deeply rooted Elven place names.
Still, without ruins and any remnant of civilization in cities or continuous inhabitance, there is reason to question a lot of the details of about the lost kingdom and Eric. Some genuine historical research has been started in just the last seven years to link the two with the region more definitely, but without much hope of success. Too many years have passed. There are a few prominent archaeologists known to be working in the Elfsholm region, but no details of their work have been spread yet.
The common consensus seems to be that Eric was likely a half Elven outcast from one of the southern cities in or near the Kingdom. Bitter, perhaps, over some slight, he decided to raise an army to exact his revenge. This is all speculation and retro-logic, but the reasoning is sound. Given the almost universal belief among the Elves of Elsholm and those claiming it for ancestral reasons, Eric had an almost mystical power that drew support from all he encountered. He was certainly extremely charismatice, or intelligent enough to understand how to manpulate the Elven population. Such theories tarnish the romantic legends, but fit more soundly from a human perspective.
Ultimately, this may be the real secret to Eric of Elfsholm, the conflict between Elven and Human populations. Accepting that Eric was likely a half-elf, this fits even better. He was cast out of human society, and welcomed into Elven society. His anti-human beliefs and rhetoric found sympathy in a population already being encroached upon by the sprawling of humanity. Even if he only raised a fringe group of fanatics that failed miserably in their rebellion, their stance against the spread of human civilization into Elven realms only grew and strengthened with the passage of time. Coupled with the recent surge in human resettlement, the legend of a mythic resistance in the form of Eric and his followers surged as well.
Perhaps the real solution to this puzzle lies north of Willow River in the White Mountains where the expedition disappeared. Perhaps the man to solve the mystery is Jax, a charismatic kobold with his own theories of power in the Mountains. But that is anotherconsideration altogether!