Deathless Isles of Annwyn
Annwyn was once a realm of verdant islands, lit by the soft glow of a billion stars as they wheeled across the sparkling firmament above. It stood as the original home of the elves, a plane of eternal youth that filled the Nine Realms with light and beauty with its very existence. Creatures born in Annwyn were blessed with the gift of everlasting life, making it a highly coveted place for celestials and fey alike to make their homes, each drawn by the promise of existence in a realm untouched by ageing or death.
Even generations after their exodus, the present-day elves of the Material Plane can still trace their lineage back to two distinct proto-elf cultures: the high elven Lyesalfar and the dark elven Svartalfar. Long ago, the ancient feud between these two cultures developed into an animosity, culminating in a bloody war from which the Lyesalfar emerged triumphant. In their victory, the Lyesalfar made the drastic decision of banishing their Svartalfar kin to the mists of Limbo, severing their ties with Annwyn forever.
This realm also served as the seat of power for a pantheon of elvish demigods known as The Eldest. These divine beings embodied both the beauty and rage of the natural world, and at the height of their power, their influence extended across every plane in the Multiverse. Yet, with the onset of the Syzygy, Annwyn and its rulers all mysteriously vanished at once. While no one is quite sure where it went, it was likely destroyed, since pieces of it have been found drifting through the Astral Sea, and every attempt to locate it has ended in failure.
And with the vanishing of Annwyn, the once-graceful Lyesalfar, whose souls were intrinsically tied to their beloved home plane, fell into a deathlike slumber from which they never arose. Though a few Eldest may yet survive out there, they have either lost touch with their true nature or have become too consumed by their grief to reveal themselves, leaving only the exiled Svartalfar as heirs to this fallen dominion. Very little remains of Annwyn’s existence now, beyond the solemn history of the elves and the fading memories of ancient fey.
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