Overview
Aeloria, the kingdom of the "Eternal Light". It was named this was because the High Elves believe in both
Eternals since they witnessed them firsthand. They believe the Eternal Life is the Sun and the Eternal Death is the Moon, so both emit light and bath the kingdom into their (eternal) light.
More correct would probably be "Eternal Star Light" because
Ael means
Star in the elven language, but they thought it was all starlight without making a difference, so it was not pointed out. It was making sense back in the day and they kept it that way.
History
Since the
High Elves are roughly twentythousand years older than the first
Dwarves, they needed a home for themselves and they found it in the vast and lush forests of the south-west to
Pisocenia. They called it
Aeloria, the Eternal Light, or, in elvish tongue
the light of eternity.
The first settlement and - later on - their capital was called the "Haven of the Stars" or in the common tongue "Starhaven". In elvish the capital is called
Aeluinstaror. It was founded near one of the larger rivers, which could also support a port and a few ships. They do not thought about trade or war at this time, but it would be come in handy.
The more loose borders of Aeloria were vast and spreaded out over a good amount of distance, covering a huge span of the south-west coast and cutting the also vast fields in the north where they have their small settlements with farms and smaller groves, forests and fields.
War was on the horizon with the human clans which ultimately would form into the
Dragon Sun Empire, but that was way ahead of their time. They formed small alliances on a few differences with the Elves and brought war over the lands, which was settled a few years after the first battles.
The second war happened as the
Stonekin Dwarves were not happy to hear that they were stealing wood from the forests, but it turned out it was a trap by some Garladans who wanted to bring war over the lands as a diversion for hunting Elves and Dwarves alike. The answer was... unpleasant for everyone.
As the
Copperkin Dwarves settled south of the
Long Neck and in the more direct way of the High Elves to reach
Pisocenia, a few skirmishes broke out and one of the Dwarven attacks reached the capital, but left it only singed, not smoldering. The response from the Elves was fierce and this time the defenses of Grodan were tested for the first time.
A peace treaty was signed after this, but it is becoming weaker over the centuries. Between the first and the second war the Elves built their own University inside the capital to hone their own skills, to deepen their own knowledge, but even the long-lived Elves can do so much.
So they reinforced their borders with enhanced and renewed wards and established a trading agreement with the former
Dragon Sun Empire, the Dwarves and - later on - with the kingdom of
Hulwar.
But there were quarrels inside the Elves ranks. Religious differences pushed a few hundreds of Elves out of Aeloria to the north and the sea. Their natural slightly blue, sometimes tanned, skin colour changed to a more silvery teint and because of their worship of the Moon and its silvery light, they were called
Silver Elves.
Not long after that the Sun worshipping elves did the same, spreading across all over Koria. Some of them established something like a kingdom in the north-east, slightly west of
Ganguk and north from the
Emerald Planes to be closer to what they think - and they are right about that - is the green heart of the continent and the worlds, its lifeforce.
Now the High Elves dig deeper into magic, into warfare and aim to be better than their past selfs. Not only because of their believes and their sacrifices, but also because of their losses and the events that happened during the
Spiral incident.
Starlights Haven
The settlements and smaller villages are all dedicated to supporting the realm and the capital. From afar one can see the silver glittering through the canopy of the forest. Every roof has silver strings weaved into their materials so they can reflect all kinds of light.
The bridges look like tarnished silver, infused and woven into the trees which are growing to support them. One of the more beautiful and beloved trees is the Silverbark, the Aelträd, a strong, high-reaching tree with leaves that split eight-way, which is represented in their crest.
Trade
Import
Export
- Metal which isn't silver, e.g. Iron
- Herbs and spices not found in their woods
- other kinds of woods
- Instruments
- silk
- other sorts of wheat
- rare fruits, even for the fields
- other alcoholic substances
- Aelträd wood
- Silverware
- Fruits of all kind
- Grain and wheat
- linen from their plants with or without silver in it
- seeds from their moon-& sunflowers
- wine
- Starlight Gems, basically small light sources
- Sculptures and anything art
- Oils from their plants
I really enjoy the import and export sections. That's really fun and tells you a lot about the culture, I think :)
Explore Etrea
Thats what I hoped for :)