Elves
In the year 25001 ROE, the Elves were a unified and prosperous race. Their advances in the studies of Magic were beyond contestation and granted them power of unimaginable capabilities. They would devote themselves to the many aspects of life and it's bounties. Their hunger for knowledge, power, might and domination knew no bounds. For 25,000 years the empire of the Elves grew, expanded, dominated the planet and all the other races of Arelia. Then, they turned their search for more power, towards one another. Thus began the Great Wars of the Seven Crowns. This tore the once great Elven Empire that spanned the globe into the many smaller nations we know today.
The Elves though, no longer exist, not as they once were. You see, in the beginning of the Wars of the Seven Crowns, seven great Elven leaders took their many followers to start anew. Of them, the first to accomplish this were the Elves we know today as the Kalahari Elves / Desert Elves. They traveled to the great desserts knowing full well the others would not follow and used Elven High Magic to transform themselves to be better adapted to their new home. It was they who were the first to develop their own unique language and culture.
The people we know today as the Sea Elves took to the oceans to cut themselves from the ties of their earth-bound kin and used powerful Elven High Magic to transform themselves in order to better adapt to their new domain. The High Magic had an additional effect though, instead of the simple adaptation to sea life, it also altered their bodies in a manner that removed the two genders and replaced them with three. Male and female were replaced with Mara, Satra and Eoastra. Mara are more masculine. Satra are more feminine. Eoastra are androgynous. An Eoastra is required for a Mara and Satra to have child. It is the Eoastra that carries the child or children to term and acts as the primary caregiver while the Mara and Satra act as instructors. This bond between the three are lifelong.
The people we know today as the Ice Elves went North to the frigid lands there. They too used Elven High Magic to transform their bodies to be better adapted to their new home. This made them more robust to such harsh environments and ensured that enemies without these great boons would not last long in their realm. It was this tactical choice that ensured their species survival during the Great Wars of the Seven Crowns.
The people we know today as the Avariel Elves are those who suffered the greatest of casualties during the Great Wars of the Seven Crowns. They once numbered in the millions and are now less than ten-thousands remaining in existence. Fear of being wiped out from existence had them look to the heavens for escape and escape they did. The few remaining among them who were masters of Elven High Magic transformed the remnants of their shattered people and helped them take to the skies. Their bones, hollow and light and whings sprouting from their backs the all flew to find safety in the skies. They came upon the Northern Sky Temple under the care of the Owlin and Aarakocra who both agreed to give sheltered to them.
The people we know today as the Wood Elves, the people of the Hijau Kekal Kingdom desired to focus on their connection to the land and nature as a whole. They searched and found their home in one, continent-spanning, forest. They could not be more happier. They used Elven High Magic to transform themselves in order to ensure they were more one with nature. They were happy in this but not for long, for they soon found themselves along side unwelcome neighbors.
The people we know as the High-Elves had arrived in the larger portion of land next to their enemies. They chose to focus more on the magics that made their people great and used Elven High Magic to further attune themselves to The Weave. This worked and worked well. They used their abilities to then establish their new kingdom quickly before going to war with their former kin.
The people we know today as the Drow, were those who went into the Underdark. Fully content to let their surface dwelling kin squabble over the surface world, they would expand in the dark places of the Underdark. They were not the first here however, so they needed to adapt quickly or risk being devoured by the beasts of the Underdark or taken over by the other sentient species. Using Elven High Magic, the adapted quickly and transformed themselves into the Drow we know today.
Thus ended the last of the true Elves of days long past.
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