Asa'rae, Singers of the Ballad of Creation (Ah-za-ray)

"The Asa'rae are peerless protectors of the woodland realms. Their druids sing the Nar'felas, the Ballad of Creation, and the trees grow tall and strong. Since their disappearance, there is an unnatural silence in the forests. A foul omen of things to come, I'm sure." ~ Olari Teldris Firbolg Druid of the Emerald Circle.
The Asa'rae, or Wood Elves, arrived with the second migration of the Elves from the Faewild. Where the High Elves claimed the nexuses of Ley Energy on the continent, the Asa'rae claimed the forest domains. They would come to be protectors of the woodland realms and the only beings, at the time, to learn the Ballad of Creation from the Thae'delas, the Spirit Tree. As a result their druids would sing to the trees and the animals, infusing them with wild nature magic and helping them grow strong. The Balladwould encourage their wild and chaotic nature. Over time the Ballad would give sentience to the trees and the nature spirits. Which would spawn the creation of the Treefolk and the dryads who would come to join the Asa'rae in their stewardship of the forests.
The Asa'rae are harsh to those that would do harm in their domains. But to their friends they are warm, welcoming, and happy to shelter those who require it. During the height of the First Age, they would teach the Ballad of Creation to many aspiring druids among mortal kind. Their teachings would ensure that the Ballad would continue to be sung long after the Wood Elves would fade from mortal memories. The Asa'rae were particularly close to the Firbolgs and the Tabaxi that would come to rest within the woodland realms of Vanigraad. Their relationship with these two races becoming extremely close in the years leading up to the Planar Confluence.
According to salvaged records of the Monarch Courts, the Asa'rae were ruled by Aluriel, the Mage Queen. The Queen is described as a lesser Archfae that graced the Asa'rae during their time in the Faewild and elected to traveled with the Elves through the Phoenix Gates. She is described in records as a woman of otherworldly beauty, her evergreen skin partially grown over with bark and flora. Her seat of power would come to reside within a hallow inside of the Thae'delas where she would sing the Ballad of Creation to the Spirit Tree. Her lilting voice carrying on the wind to soothe the hearts of all those who would hear her song. It is said, from the descendants of the Asa'rae, that the Mage Queen communed for thirty-two days and nights with the Thae'delas when the Elves first settled in the Irristal Timberland. It was from the Spirit Tree that she learned the Ballad, and blessed the Wood Elves with its magic.
During the calamity of the Planar Convergence, the Asa'rae were the first, and the most ardent, defenders of humanity's right to practice magic. Advocating that even the shortest lived of races respected the natural world with a fervor that even the High Elves lacked. The Asa'rae would stand against their kin's assertions that humans were the cause of the calamity. Claiming that it would take more than the mortal dabbling of one race to trigger such a cataclysmic event. As such, the Wood Elves would come to form an alliance with the human kingdoms of old and Asa'rae warriors stood shoulder to shoulder with the empires, as the hordes of Chaos broke against their walls. However, as the conflict continued the Wood Elves would vanish from the battlefields. Causing some scholars to wonder if their High Elven kin forced their retreat, or if the Mage Queen herself no longer saw the virtues of humanity and withdrew her support.
Now, in the fledgling years of Vangiraad's Second Age, one can find the decedents of the Wood Elves in many places across the continent. As well as in the Eastern lands of Iolan. Many are a part of the druid circles who still sing the Ballad of Creation, while others have taken to farming, military service, or lending their bows to the rangers of the Silver Conclave. Some regard these Asa'rae with a cold suspicion. Holding to the old grudges of their forebears. While others may view them with quick glances of pity, for no one deserves to lose the connection to their ancestors. Their once beautiful cities among the trees now overgrown and reclaimed by the forests where their song once echoed. Vacant ghosts of an era of grace long passed.

Culture

Culture and cultural heritage

All of the Asa'rae still revere the natural world and their place within it. Many keep overgrown gardens or greenhouses in cities where nature has fallen to mortal progress. Most will decide on an occupation that keeps them close to nature so as to better protect it, and to hopefully hear the Ballad echoed on the wind.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

The Asa'rae take time during the transition of the seasons to give thanks to Garrow and his Faecourt for the blessings they receive throughout the year. As well as to celebrate the cycle of death and rebirth between the winter and summer seasons.

Historical figures

• Aluriel, the Mage Queen.

Related Locations

• The Irristal Timberland