Elves

Elves (also elfarr, meaning First Friends in Uliarre) are the youngest of the First Children, created not long after the wyrmkind and the now-extinct halfirii, and the first sapient beings to dwell on the continent of Ariandor. They have a strong affinity for the natural world, and nearly all choose to live within the woodlands across Ariandor. Except for dragons, they are the only race still able to naturally access the magic granted by the gods during their making. History

The Age of Dawning

Not long after the god Halfir created the sky-eaters and the earth-tremblers in the first days, the goddess Syl mourned that there was no beauty for her to find on the new earth. Her brother Arthon created a lyre from the light of her favorite star and sang her a song so beautiful, it made her cry. Her tears fell from the sky and formed Lake Cúilian, deep in what would become the Elantari Forest of Ariandor.

Beside Lake Cúilian grew a massive willow. After living for many years, the willow spoke to Syl and begged for a companion. Syl brought forth another tree like it, but neither willow was satisfied; they wanted Syl to walk among them and sleep beneath their arbor. Knowing she could not, Syl created for them each a creature like her, and called these creatures Taurn and Salia. She gave them long, slender limbs, faces like the yar'vala, and voices nearly as melodic.

When Taurn and Salia grew weary of speaking only with trees, Syl created for them husbands who would give them children. The Twin Mothers and their husbands brought forth many children, and Syl created for those children husbands and wives, also, until the forest teemed with the creatures the trees called the elfarr.

The Culling

For many generations, the elfarr grew and settled among the forests and fertile valleys of Ariandor, and Syl added to their numbers as she saw fit. They created symbols for words, wrote poetry and made music. They learned to clothe themselves, and build homes, and gather food. They knew only peace, and brought joy to Syl and all the elder gods. Eventually, however, their number became so great, the land struggled to sustain them, and the trees and animals of the earth began to fear them. The elfarr despaired, and Syl worried the wyrmkind, newly arrived in Ariandor, would view them as a threat. Syl spoke with Halfir, and together they created AinPalur, the Otherworld, in which the souls of Syl's children could dwell without want until the end of all time.

Syl spoke to the elfarr and taught them of death, but they were afraid to leave the earth. The Twin Mothers rose out of their arbor beneath the willows and agreed to travel to the Otherworld with their husbands. Their kin soon saw the wisdom of traveling with them, and Syl took up nearly half of their number in what became known as the Culling.

To prevent the elfarr from becoming such a large number ever again, Syl placed a limit on the years of their lives at one thousand. She gave them The Yearning, so that they would know when they were to travel to AinPalur and not fear it as they had at first.

The Fracture

When Syl's brothers saw that she was able to create stability among her creations, they, too, wished for children upon the earth that would love them. Thus were dwarves, trolls, kender, and men created. The elfarr were not pleased by this event, as they found these new creatures crass and ill-tempered. Though they agreed to avoid relations, they differed in how they thought this was best achieved.

The elfarr fractured, for the rise of the younger races was only a catalyst—many had desired for some time to create a central government modeled on the hierarchy of the gods, but none could agree on who or how many would rule, or in what capacity. The first among the Twin Mothers' children rallied for a monarchy, and made Taurn's eldest living son, Enlantir their king. They called themselves the Highborn, and they chose to live in cities in the foothills of mountains and on windswept plains. The elfarr who desired a more confederal oligarchy became the tribes of the Sylvan (formally Syl'vaan, the Children of Syl), and chose to remain in the forests in which Syl had bred them.

The Highborn then made a peaceable plea for avoidance with the younger races, while the Sylvan shunned them with prejudice, retreating farther into their forests and using their magic to confuse and confound any who would wander into their holdings.

The Great Purge

For hundreds of years, life in Ariandor was this: elfarr living apart from the other races in relative peace and prosperity. One cold winter morning, however, this all changed. From out of the misty seas to the north, great black ships came carrying the creatures known as kith, bent on conquest. It took them only three years, after which Ariandor was subjugated and its native races enslaved.

The kith ruled Ariandor for a century. At the end of this time, a human man named Feyiros gathered the best and strongest from across the continent and trained them to become a formidable army. After ten years of warfare, Feyiros and his Wardens defeated the kith empire and freed Ariandor.

Peace was not to last. Once the tribes and cities of men united behind Feyiros and named him their king, he grew overly ambitious; he desired to rule all of Ariandor. The elves and the dwarves came to fear Feyiros' appetite for power, and together they made a pact—it was decided that Lianna, Daughter of the House of Elantar, would be sent to seduce King Feyiros. Lianna was successful, and the king married her and named her his queen. On their wedding night, Lianna tore open Feyiros' chest with the dwarves' dagger, and stole away with his heart.

Civil war erupted, and for a time the kingdom was in chaos. Eventually, the Clans quelled the uprising and turned men's anger toward the other races. They fought the elves and the dwarves, kender and trolls—even dragons fell to their might, and were driven from the land into the sea. Rather than risk extinction, the elfarr retreated into their forests and shored up their boundaries until the humans' anger subsided. There they remained, most indifferent to the world outside, until

The Siege of Candurys

Physical Characteristics

Elves are lighter and more graceful than any other race; they have slender builds and long, willowy limbs. They are typically shorter than the average human, with heights ranging from 1.60 meters to 1.72 meters. As a result, at a distance, they may on occasion be mistaken for human adolescents.

High Ones have hair colors ranging from nearly white to brown, and most have light-colored eyes. Sylvan elves have hair in shades of red and brown, some with black, and they have dark-colored eyes. Some variations naturally occur. Besides eyebrows, full-blooded elfarr do not grow facial or body hair.

All elves have almond-shaped eyes and angular features which would be severe if not tempered by an ethereal elegance. Their most defining physical characteristic, however, may be their elongated ears, which are shaped like leaves.

They are universally considered exceptionally beautiful creatures; even dwarves are drawn to them in ways they do not understand.