The Kinslayer Wars

Following the newly annointed Speaker of the Sun's rise to the throne, the Kinslayer War begins. Pitting elf against human, half-elf against half-elf, and each against their own, the border war between the Ergosian Empire and Selderaine would have no clear winner, except for death itself.

The Conflict

Prelude

The elves of Amnestria are a united people, referred to as the Selderaine. Elven society exists in a strict caste system broken into the following: rulers, administrators and warriors, then artisans, merchants, tradesmen and farmers, and finally the labouring classes. Ruling over all was the Speaker of the Sun, deemed to be closest to the Creators, the Speaker served as ruler and spiritual adviser.
At the time of abdication for the Speaker of the Sun, Sithel, he possessed twin sons, Kithas and Elrothas, the latter who was named to succeed him. During this period of the Selderaine reign, they were at war with the humans of the island nation of Ergosia - but the war was at a stalemate. In order to change the outcome of the war, one of the twin brothers, Kithas, followed a vision, presented to him during reverie, and brought his twin brother with him in search of griffons to tame. The journey served to heal a growing rift between the two brothers, over who was to lead, as they fought to stay alive in the harsh mountain landscape.

Aftermath

The elven nation of Amnestria, once controlled by the Selderaine people is severed. The Selderaine are to be henceforth be known as the Sunari and the Lunara.

Historical Significance

Following their pilgrimage to the harsh mountains, following Kithas' vision, the brothers were successful in procuring griffon eggs. Upon returning home, the Selderaine began the arduous task of raising and training the beasts for war. All the while Kithas had become infatuated with an elf maiden, Linsha, from a noble house. The two became close, and fell in love. When his brother selects Linsha to be his bride, Kithas is devastated but has no choice but to heed the Speaker's wishes.
Kithas was appointed captain of a band of warriors known as the Wildrunners and departs Elladrel with them to harrie the Ergosians. While on patrol, the Wildrunners come across a lone, pregnant wood elf in the wild. Kithas and the Wildrunners rescue her and during the month of travel back to Elladrel, she is killed by Ergosian brigands during a skirmish. Distraut over the death of one so innocent, Kithas decides to stay in Elladrel over the winter and endures the sight of the Speaker and his wife, the woman whom he onced loved - and who loved him, raise their two children, in apparent marital bliss. The night before Kithas was to return to the front lines and rejoin his Wildrunners, Linsha steals into his chambers, confessing she still loves him, and in a moment of weakness, the two spend the night together. The following day, Kithas leaves Elladrel, disgusted with himself for betraying his brother.
Years later, Kithas and the Wildrunners found a settlement by name of Belil’thalon in the Orar'Shilmista. Belil'thalon is unlike Elladrel and is not built on the tenants of the caste system. Kithas is crowned Speaker of the Moon by those who follow him and soon takes a human woman, named Rosali, to be his bride. Rosali, and several other humans living in the elvish settlement, were refugees of an Ergosian raid in previous years. Elf and human live happily together, and have two children - daughters, until she is eventally taken by the passage of time. Many of the Wildrunners follow suit, taking human companions over their many years away from Amnestria. During those years, Elrothas learns of the betrayal of his wife and brother, banishing her from Elladrel, and furthermore condemns Kithas for wedding a human, a human no different than the Ergosians who spill elven blood, exiling him from Amnestria. The exile is more of a formality.
The Wildrunners and Kithas still remain loyal to elven people as a whole and continue to fight the Ergosian armies, defying Elrothas' decree. When the Ergosian army is eventually pushed back from the Amnestrian borders, Elrothas retracts his issue of exile, allowing the Wildrunners and his brother to return to the northern terriorties.
Kithas declines, instead chosing to return to Belil'thalon. Centuries of life outside the borders of the elven lands, experiencing other cultures and finding companionship in non-elves, the Speaker of the Moon and his people opt to forge a new path, casting away the traditions of the Selderaine - and in doing so choose the name Lunara, or Moon elf, for their people. Kithas weds again, mingling elven and human blood for the second time, and has a son.
When his father comes to visit Belil'thalon at Kithas' behest, Sithel is killed by a lone Ergosian assassin. Upon learning of the assassination, Elrothas becomes inconsolable with grief, blaming his brother for their father's death and his failed marriage. Elrothas formally severs the Amnestrian people into two; the Sunari (or Sun elf) and Lunara (or Moon elf). The two brother never speak again in the realm of the living, but on his deathbed, years after Kithas' passing, Elrothas forgives the Lunara people and decrees that should they wish, they may one day return to Amnestria.

Start Date

11600 BCR

Ending Date

11000 BCR