Aethel Loren
One of the smaller elven empires birthed by the Era of First Flowering, Aethel Loren occupied central Astora, including the lands now covered by the Desolate Waste and the nation of Reinstad between the Northspire and Southspire mountains. The nation was actually a tight confederation of several elven clans who ruled jointly until the unexpected death of their king left the empire without a designated heir. Several successors of varying legitimacy stepped forward and attempted to claim the throne, but none had the support needed to do so. As the crisis of succession grew, the Asfetheas empire to the north used the opportunity to lay their own claim to the region in an attempt to annex the smaller nation. This act started the era known as the Crown Wars, several millennia of near constant fighting between the elven empires that brought most of them to complete collapse. Aethel Loren, for its part, suffered countless invasions during this time, being slowly battered down by its more aggressive neighbors over the course of millennia. Finally, growing jaded and spiteful of their brethren, they turned to worship of the Dark Seldarine, elven gods cast out from the pantheon for their evil acts. They began performing dark rituals and making pacts with demonic forces in exchange for more power, and grew mighty through their Fell deeds. When the Thalanor armies invaded them seeking easy prey, they instead faced an army with strength well beyond their own, and were quickly wiped out. The savagery of destruction at the hands of Aethel Loren made them an enemy of Ose Alari, who sought to contain them before they could spread their evil any further. Aethel Loren quickly struck at their neighbors, overwhelming them and threatening their destruction until they enacted the last Astoran Mythal, cursing the people of Aethel Loren to suffer under the light of the sun. Powerless in the face of this curse, the Aethel people fled from Ose Alari and into the underdark, where they established the kingdom of the Drow.
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