The disappearance of the
eladrin has long been and continues to be a topic of much scholarly debate. The greatest scholars and philosophers of eras past could not come to a consensus on what occurred, and it seems unlikely that any of our day are at all closer in that endeavor. While the answer remains elusive, the research that has been done into this event has at the very least determined what likely didn't cause the event, narrowing down the list of possibilities considerably.
What We Know
In the years leading up to their disappearance, the eladrin were one of three dominating forces in the whole of Yrnath. The eladrin, alongside the dwarves and the dragons, had created a robust and advanced society, much more powerful than anything the rest of the world was capable of at the time. Unlike the dwarves, who built their civilizations in massive underground complexes, the eladrin opted to build their empires on the surface, subjugating those around them and regularly challenging the dragons for territory.
There is a concensus that the eladrin were working on something massive during this time. This is partly from what information we have from the Age of Domination, as well as from interviews with eladrin who defected during the Slaves' Revolt. Based on this knowledge, many of the devices they were working on during the Age of Domination were in development for centuries, beginning prior to their disappearance.
One day, circa 740,000 BFE, all sounds from the eladrin cities fell silent. When their elven relatives ventured inside, they found them completely abandoned. Food sat half-eaten on plates, rituals and potions left half-finished. There was no trace of death or of powerful magic. It was if the eladrin suddenly ceased to exist.
Prevailing Theories
While there still remains a significant amount of speculation and theorizing, centuries of debate following the end of the Age of Domination have led to a handful of themes to emerge. While each theory varies wildly in its details and specifics, most that have been published and presented can be simplified into one of the following three general concepts.
The Hyper-Evolution Theory
This theory centers on the idea that the eladrin were getting too technologically advanced, so much so that their rate of progress began to concern even the gods, or perhaps even entities beyond the gods themselves. If they were to be approaching such a level of power, it would then make sense that some cosmic force would have intervened in an attempt to either slow their progress or stop it altogether. If such a force were to exist, however, it is likely that the dwarves would have disappeared in much the same way. Instead, the dwarves would continue on to achieve a much higher degree of technological advancement prior to their own societal collapse.
The Desired Invasion Theory
This theory centers on the idea that the eladrin were growing complacent and bored with their lot in life as the superior force on Yrnath, and so they all collectively abandoned the world in the hopes of letting the other races develop more. Once the other races of the world reached a certain point, the eladrin returned to Yrnath, welcoming the challenge such an invasion would create. This theory ultimately presents the eladrin as a wholly war-centric people, a notion that many elven researchers have done their best to push back against.
The (Mis-)Tuned Experiment Theory
This theory, which is a combination of two similar theories, centers on the idea that the eladrin were working on a grand experiement in their final days. Many have suggested that the eladrin were attempting to look beyond the Prime Material and towards the Outer Planes, and might have been working on a device capable of transporting them between the planes. It's believed that either the device misfired or was intentionally used, causing the entire eladrin people to be teleported from this plane. While this is the most commonly-accepted theory, many do acknowledge the shaky nature of its logic. This theory posits that the eladrin had built an entire network of teleportation systems throughout the entire world, that was designed to only teleport them but leave their cities (and their resources) behind. Many provide this as evidence to suggest the teleportation was accidental, with the system being incorrectly calibrated when it went off.
