The Silvanaes and the Grand Armada

^{As investigated by Elyadan Takmarin and Hasturiel Tylocostathan through the books and texts found in the Water Temple of Blackloot Island.}

At the tail end of the Kinslayer Wars, some of the departing Silvanesti did so by sea, on what was later known as the Great Armada. The Armada left to the lands that would one day become Qualinesti.

The Silvanaes are the descendants from elves that left Silvanesti with the armada then, but were blown off-course during a great storm and ended up in an unknown land - that they later learned it was another continent called Taladas. There they called the land Armach.

What they found in their new land of Armach was a disorganized collection of petty tribes. The Silvanaes were amazed at what they considered the primitive state of the locals. They were accustomed to the grand cities of Ansalon and the glorious history of their own people and the human empires. Here they found people living at a level of barbarism almost beyond their imagining. In Ansalon, the only creatures who lived such lives were dark and evil. Humans, elves, even kender had advanced past this barbaric state.

Thus, the Silvanaes at first saw the natives as evil and dangerous and set about carving their own homeland. Fighting quickly broke out between the natives and the elves, based on these misunderstandings and confusions. However, the superior equipment and training of the Silvanaes quickly carried the day in such battles. Within a little time, the elves had established themselves as masters of the Hoor Bay basin.

In setting up their new homeland, the elves did not seek to conquer and rule the natives. Instead, they drove the humans away, attempting to set up an empire of elves only, just as they had in Silvanesti. At first, they were easily successful, attacking the humans and seizing their properties. As their own land expanded, the task became more and more difficult. The elven warriors were few in number and quickly reached the limit of what they could defend. The tribes became larger and stronger, as the refugees from the elf lands joined with the natives on the borders. Eventually growth of the elven lands came to a halt.

There the situation would have remained had it not been for the superior culture of the Silvanaes. The humans, unable to overcome the better-trained elves, eventually turned on each other. Those astute leaders who shared borders with the elves turned to the Silvanaes. Alliances were made and the culture of the elves gradually spread. Although the leaders were only interested in the elvish arts of war, it was not long before other aspects of elvish culture became sought after.

As a result of this process, the Confederation of Armach was created.