The Creation of Lumiwells

A century after the fall of Lumispire, the High Elves of Mountainrun lived in quiet endurance beneath the canopy of the Crested Spire. Though they had carved out a refuge at the mountain’s base, the pulse of magic that once flowed effortlessly beneath Lumispire no longer sustained them. The grand leylines that had cradled their former home ran deep beneath the earth, far out of reach.

In their absence, magic dwindled. The simplest of enchantments faltered, and the wards protecting their borders flickered. The elves needed a new source of power—a fragile substitute for the leystones that were beyond their means to craft anew.

The Lumiwell of Tears – The First of Its Kind

In 1300 BGW, the elves of the Under City began construction on what would become the first Lumiwell. Unlike the towering leystones of old, the Lumiwell drew upon shallow veins of magic that traced faint lines through the land. These shallow strands could not fuel great wonders, but they could sustain the flickering magic necessary to protect and empower elven communities.

This first Lumiwell, built beneath the branches of the newly planted First Tree of Mountainrun, became known as the Lumiwell of Tears.

Its design was humble—a slender column of carved stone, spiraled by living branches of silverwood, crowned by a single droplet of shimmering arcane light suspended above the basin. This droplet, glowing faintly with silver and pale blue, seemed to reflect the weight of an entire people’s sorrow.

Legends say the droplet formed when Aranethil Starleaf, standing beside the artisans as the Lumiwell flickered to life, wept quietly for Lumispire. Each tear shed by the elven exiles, both seen and unseen, fed the faint light that hovered above the well.

Though fragile at first, the Lumiwell of Tears became the heart of the Under City. Its light sustained the wards woven through the new capital, ensuring that even in exile, the elves could preserve a fragment of their former strength.

Growing the Light

The Lumiwell of Tears began as a modest creation—no larger than a simple fountain—but as the decades passed, the elves refined their craft. By 1275 BGW, elven artisans expanded the Lumiwell, carving intricate runes into its base and reinforcing its structure with salvaged fragments of drakthorite and shards of broken leystones from Lumispire’s ruins.

With each addition, the Lumiwell’s light grew stronger, though never as brilliant as the Starheart. It became the largest and most intricate Lumiwell in the Ancient Reach, its glow visible even through the thick canopy of Mountainrun’s forests.

At the peak of its construction, the Lumiwell of Tears stood as a multi-tiered structure, its upper levels shaped by intertwining branches that seemed to lift the arcane droplet toward the heavens. Beneath its glow, the Under City thrived.

Lumiwells Across Mountainrun

As the elves' understanding grew, Lumiwells spread to other elven communities throughout Mountainrun.

• Small towns and outer settlements constructed modest Lumiwells, drawing faint magic to sustain their wards and enchantments. These wells, while smaller, followed the design of the Lumiwell of Tears—spirals of wood and stone, echoing the lost spires of Lumispire.
• In larger cities, Lumiwells grew more elaborate. Places like Caashara and Yarrin developed Lumiwells large enough to sustain entire districts, though none ever surpassed the Lumiwell of Tears.

However, the creation of Lumiwells came at a cost. Each well required fragments of rare materials, relics of the old world that were slowly dwindling. Though the elves had become masters of subtlety, they knew that one day, these materials would run out.

A Symbol of Loss and Hope

Lumiwells became more than just sources of magic. They served as silent memorials to Lumispire, crafted in the image of the lost city’s spires. Elves often gathered at the Lumiwells during festivals or moments of remembrance, offering quiet prayers to Leyara and honoring the sacrifices that had allowed them to endure.

But they also served as a reminder of the divide that now defined elvenkind.

Though the Wood Elves of Mountainrun shared the forest with their High Elven kin, they did not aid in the creation of Lumiwells. To the Wood Elves, magic flowed naturally through the land—to capture and shape it was to deny its essence.

The two peoples lived side by side but walked different paths. The High Elves remained beneath the mountain, their Lumiwells flickering faintly in the night, while the Wood Elves thrived above, in groves untouched by arcane craft.

There was no hostility—only distance.