Elf

First Convergence

Technically speaking, the elves are an alien presence on Teranuz, having originally crossed over into the Material Plane from their native home within the Feywild. The first elves arrived in the Prime Material Plane during the Pre-Vancian Era; while it is believed that the elves' arrival was aided by an abundance of naturally-occurring Convergence Zones linking the planes together, the majority of these Zones no longer exist, implying the two planes were in closer proximity in the past.   Upon their discovery of the Prime Material Plane, the elves found a new world abundant in both space and research, and began to colonize this newfound dimension almost immediately. As multiple elven factions from the Feywild laid claim to the lands of Teranuz, competition led to a magical arms race as elven mages began to further advance their understanding of magic and its uses in order to better exert control; this arms race would eventually explode into the thousand-year conflict for control of the plane known as the Millennium War.  

The Fade

As the Milennium War raged on for centuries, the conflict reached a bloody crescendo in an event which would be later known as the Battle of Scar Valley, centered on the location of the same name in present-day Crestfall.   At the site of this battle, which was waged between the Seelie and Unseelie Eladrin (see below), both sides of the conflict were ambushed by the human wizard Vance and his followers. What happened next is a matter of historical conjecture, but what s known is that Vance, possibly through the use of an unknown spell of great magnitude, instantaneously erased the accumulated nearly magical knowledge of all elves on Teranuz simultaneously, essentially reverting entire elven civilizations back to the magical and technological level held prior to the arms race of the Millennium War. This event would later come to be referred to as The Fade.   The result of the Fade lead to the cessation of the Millennium War almost overnight, as both sides of the conflict suddenly found themselves unable to remember their most powerful spells or operate the magical weapons and other equipment that had been created over the course of the War. As a side effect of whatever magic was used to create The Fade, Vance was left in a weakened state and unable to perform magic, causing him to be easily assassinated by his lieutenant, a human fighter named Kas.  

Elves of Teranuz

The effects of the elven colonization of the Prime Material Plane, as well as the ensuing Millennium War and The Fade, had long-reaching effects throughout the world of Teranuz.  

Crestfall

  At the dawn of the elven emergence on Teranuz, the continent of Crestfall was initially seen as a highly desirable land by both the Seelie and Unseelie courts of the Eladrin: the name "Crestfall" is derived from the elvish name Cresdvol, meaning "high throne". While ostensibly opposed to one another, both the Seelie and Unseelie Eladrin were equally ruthless in their swift occupation of the continent; this was to the detriment of the land's native inhabitants, including the humans of Crestfall, who were largely enslaved by both sides to use as a source of labor as well as test subjects for magical experimentation.   Over the course of the Millennium War, dissension arose as some splinter factions of the Seelie court became increasingly opposed to the brutal levels of magical destruction and oppression being enacted upon the continent and its native inhabitants; these dissenters would go on to defect from the Seelie court and retreat into Crestfall's forests and deserts; the descendants of these splinter groups would later be known as the wood elves and desert elves, respectively.   Following the Fade, the now magically-stunted elves were systematically hunted down by the humans and other races which suffered the elves' subjugation during the Millennium War, prompting the elves to withdraw into isolated communities far from the other civilizations of Crestfall: the Eladrin of the Seelie Court came to inhabit the Northeastern portion of Zholia, forming the city of Alfhaven and becoming the precursors to the High Elves. The Unseelie Court, meanwhile, retreated deep underground beneath present-day Scar Valley, where they would go on to become the ancestors of the present-day Drow.  

Enkidu Archipelago

While there is not much evidence to suggest that the Enkidu Archipelgo suffered under elvish rule to the extent of other locations on Teranuz, it is believed that the island chain was considered the territory of the Unseelie Eladrin during the time of the Millennium War. During this time, surviving records suggest that the Archipelago was utilized by the Unseelie as a testing ground for experimental and potentially devastating magical items, spells, and other creations. What effect, if any, these experiments had on the development of the native races of the Archipelago is currently inconclusive.  

Uzai

While the Seelie and Unseelie Eladrin vied for control of present-day Crestfall, the smaller, seemingly less-impressive continent of Uzai to went largely unnoticed by both of the Eladrin Courts. Due to its perceived insignificance, the Eastern continent became a prime starting point for a much smaller faction of elves looking for a foothold in the Prime Material Plane: the Pallid Elves, a unified collective of eight elvish houses originally hailing from a region of the Feywild known as the Twilit Border.   Rather than outright enslave the native inhabitants of the continent like their peers in the Eladrin Courts, the Pallid Elves approached the native Uzaian denizens with a deal: in exchange for swearing fealty to these elven families, the native Uzaians would be rewarded with special privileges, including the arcane knowledge of the Feywild. From this agreement came the formation of the eight Elven Daimyos, whose descendants continue to rule over the eight provinces of Uzai (though not without their own share of conflict in the form of infighting and resistance groups).

Notable Elves

Player Characters

 

• Elduin Anura, a ranger and druid as well as a member of the adventuring party Notorious FFP.

• Kenshi, a ronin samurai who previously allied himself with the Reclaimers.

• Normith'rand the Wandering Drunk, a kensei monk/inquisitive rogue who previously lent his services to the Reclaimers.