The Elves

Society

Elves share an ancient culture, one that they dream of restoring to its former heights. Both wood elves and high elves are extremely protective of their customs and traditions and take steps to prevent outside influence. There are groups of elves that have been assimilated by human cultures around Ylarra and elves in Myfenor and Aerimor look down on their culturally "inferior" cousins.
High elven society is traditionally divided into houses, each with its own motto, emblem and agenda. Wood elven society is more nomadic, with different groups or "families" roaming the vast Aerimor forest and convening periodically at their capital to address important matters.

History

The history of the elves is ancient, going back to time immemorial. According to their own myths, the elves came to Ylarra from Venera, a continent far to the west, around the beginning of the Age of Creation. They migrated in great numbers after Venera was rendered uninhabitable as a result of the War for the Source . Being extremely well-attuned to the Source (saidin and saidar), their ancient civiliation had come to depend on these forces to function. The creation of The Weave and the subsequent disruptions to the Source caused fatal devastation in Venera. This forced the elves to look for a new home.
The elves established themselves in Ylarra by the end of the Age of Creation, claiming forests and founding their two ancient kingdoms, Myfenor for the High Elves and Aerimor for the Wood Elves. Both societies are distintly different from eachother. Where Myfenor elves prefer urban settings built on the power of the Weave, Aerimor elves prefer woodland settings that do not disrupt the forest's natural beauty.

The Age of Legends

During this time of peace and prosperity, the elves focused their energies on recreating the splendour or Venera in Ylarra. Myfenor and Aerimor were reportedly the most beautiful forest cities in the world, build both by magic and traditional engineering. The elves prospered and studied the magical arts. The Breaking of the World changed everything, nearly destroying the elven cities and leaving the surviving elves scrambling for security.

Reclaiming Ancient Homes

Similar to the other races, the Elves fought to find and rebuild their two kingdoms. Myfenor was reclaimed and rebuilt. The Aerimor elves were enslaved by humans and entered a period of slavery, serving the humans for more than 7 centuries. After learning the fate of their kin and failing to liberate them, the Myfenor elves secluded themselves in their enchanted forest for generations, to resurface hundreds of years later, during the War of a Thousand Years.

The Return

The Myfenor elves return as allies of Ourania Themis near the middle of The War of a Thousand years, helping her unify the continent and putting an end to elf slavery. Some elves remain isolated in Myfenor, while the previously enslaved Aerimori reclaim their ancient lands and rebuild. Others mingle with the humans and are absorbed by their cultures.

Present Day

After Themis' death, the elves became targets of their greedy neighbours, who tried to invade the forest and take advantage of its resources, most notably the famed Eldarquartz crystals. The elves resented that invasion, so now the elves of Myfenor and Aerimor keep to themselves, not wanting to become targets for their more aggressive human neighbours.

Cultural Groups

Elven civiliation is traditionally divided into three groups: The Myfenor elves, or High Elves, who live in isolated Myfenor (see Crystal Queendom of Myfenor ; the Aerimor elves, or Wood Elves, who live in the Aerimor forest and do not tolerate visitors; and the Sylvar, or city elves, who live scattered on human lands.
High elves believe that elves are superior to all other races and scheme to rebuild ancient Venera and rule over the humans of Ylarra.
Wood elves live in isolation in their ancient homeland and are very protective of their newly re-discovered heritage. They work hard to rebuild ancient Aerimor as an independent kingdom and look for minimal outside influence.
Sylvar elves are though of as a homogenous group by high and wood elves, but do not consider themselves a single culture and only refer to themselves as Sylvar or city elves when dealing with the other two groups. They descend from those elves who interacted and mingled with Ylarra's human population and are defined as a group by their difference from the other two kins than by any strong links between their various subdivisions.
There are also other kinds of elves (moon, aquatic, snow, etc). Work in progress.

Religion

Most elves venerate the Seldarine, the elven pantheon of gods, that resides on the astral dominion of Arvandor under the leadership of Corellon Larethian, also known as the Creator of the Elves. There are many gods in the pantheon, each with a distinct portfolios. These include:

• Corellon Larethian, leader of the Seldarine and god of magic, warfare, music, art and crafts.
• Sehanine Moonbow, goddess of the moon, dreams, mysteries, secrets, travel/journeys; she is also the protector of the elven dead and patron of the moon elves. Often described as Corellon's consort.
• Aerdrie Faenya, goddess of the wind, weather, avariel and aarakocra.
• Deep Sashelas, god of the seas and of the aquatic elves.
• Erevan Ilesere, god of trickery, mischief, and rogues.
• Hanali Celanil, goddess of romantic love, beauty and joy.
• Labelas Enoreth, deity of time, history, and knowledge.
• Solonor Thelandira, god of hunting, archery, and survival. He was also the guardian of the boundaries between civilization and the wilds.
• Tarsellis Meunniduin, god of mountains, rivers, wilderness and snow-elves.
• Vandria Gilmadrith, goddess of war, justice, and grief.

See Elven Religious Practices .

Magic

For the elves of Myfenor, magic is a sacred science. Corellon entrusted them with the gift of saidin and saidar and when Venera was destroyed, he brought them the Weave. They have their own organization, @[The Pillar of Corellon]that trains all spellcasters and they do not share anything with outsiders.
It is common knowledge outside Myfenor that the elves use special crystals to power their magic. In truth, the elves use the weave to cast their spells and are subject to the same rules and limitations as all other weave spellcasters. However, they use crystals as spellcasting foci. Those crystals are produced in Myfenor, are called Eldarquartz, and are handed out to all spellcasters by the Pillar of Corellon.
In fact, no elf trained by the Pillar of Corellon would ever use anything other than a Eldarquartz as a spellcasting focus.
The elves of Aerimor send their spellcasters to Myfenor to be trained by the Pillar of Corellon mages. Many Aerimori spellcasters return to Aerimor free of ties to the Pillar or Myfenor after decades of training to assist their kin in rebuilding their lost civilization.

Political landscape

The High elves of Myfenor are ruled by a Queen, supported by a council of Elders. The Wood elves of Aerimor elect a female as their ruler once every decade, naming her Queen of Thorns.