History
Elves were created along with the other Conclave races when the Olympians moved from Greece to Cimmeria. The elves joined the rest of the Conclave races in war against the goblins. After fifty years of war, the elves left the Conclave to setup new societies in the different forests of Cimmeria. Four elven leaders led the largest groups of elves to four different forests. Croshan the Honorable took his people to the Whitewood Forest. Rarventataa the Wary took her people to the Dry Woods (which would later be known as Bigby’s Forest). Valor the Boastful took his people to Valor’s Forest and promptly named the forest after himself. Kithania the Strong took her people to the Hardtop Forest (now known as the Robber’s Forest).
The Dragon Hegemony put pressure on the elven people just as it did the other races of Cimmeria. At the start of the Dragon Hegemony the four elven kingdoms were attacked. Raventataa, Valor, and Kithania were all slain in the fighting. Rather than resist the dragons, Croshan elected to hide his people. He cast a powerful spell that forever changed the Elves of Whitewood. Their skin turned pure black and their hair pure white. Croshan’s people became Dark Elves adapted for life below ground. They went into the Underdark to escape the dragons.
The Dragon War sparked a civil war amongst the elves. Some had chosen to honor the dragons supremacy as the greatest beings in creation. Others still yearned for their freedom. The two sides were known as the Naturalists who favored the dragons and the Patriots who opposed them. In the end the Heroes of the Dragon War were able to defeat the Naturalists along with the other allies of the dragons. The surviving Naturalist Elves settled into different druidic communities around Cimmeria.
After the Dragon War the different subraces of elves remained separate. The dragons destroyed the monarchies of the three surface subraces. Without a clear leader to unite behind, the surface elves fractured state persisted to this day. Today, elves are known as fine wizards and craftsmen. The rest of Cimmeria sees them as unreliable in times of need as elves are more likely to retreat to the safety of their forests rather than soldier adversity with the other mortals of the Conclave.
The Dark Elves have largely hostile interactions with the surface world of Cimmeria. They raid a particular region of Cimmeria for decades, popping up from the Underdark and then retreating into their tunnels. Once that region develops the training and techniques to counter Dark Elf attacks, the Underdark pillagers move on to another area. The cycle repeats itself. The Dark Elves have even returned to some regions centuries later when the people there have forgotten how to fight invaders from below.
Elves have occasionally stood alongside the other races to fight an existential threat. When Kruk-Ma-Kali invaded Eastern Cimmeria he devastated Valor’s Forest. The elves fought off the attack with spells and traps. Through their protective magic they escaped total annihilation. Kruk-Ma-Kali promised to return, but his assassination forestalled any future repeat invasions. After Kruk-Ma-Kali the elves helped once again during the Second Alliance War, fighting with the Rebellion against Xoria’s dragovinians.
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