Lightborn

In the beginning, the Dreamer created the 8 + 1 Primordials to aid him in the construction of a world in the Dreaming Dark. To serve them in their tasks It created the Progenitor Races, numbering six. This is the story of the Lightbound, those who served Light (Law, Progress) before the Dawn War.

Lightbound, Angels, and Devils

At the conclusion of the Dawn War, the Lightbound had been nearly destroyed as they had served in the front lines of that great war. A small fraction decided to stay in the newly-formed Astral Plane and became the angels. They refused change and so are some of the few true immortals--when one is slain in combat its Spark reforms in the Celestial City. Most of the personality remains, but the capabilities are changed by this transition. Angels are completely devoted to their assigned tasks--they show little personality or individuality while among other peoples. There are several orders of angels (in descending order of strength): solars, planetars, Astral deva, and valorites.

Others stayed in the Astral but did not devote themselves to duty as did the angels. These became the Infernals (also known as devils). They vastly out-number the angels, but don't draw power from the Great Mechanism directly. Instead they draw sustenance from contracts--with gods, angels, elementals, or even mortals. They are the main interface point with the Mortal plane.

Fallen Lightbound

The majority of the lightbound settled on the mortal plane where they were much reduced in power. They attempted to live in peace as much as possible, but were quickly conquered by the Titans and molded into overseers and slave-masters for the earth-bound Tyrants. Within a few thousand years, they had lost their former desires for peace and had become the race known as aelvs. A tiny group of deva rebelled and took up residence on the mortal plane a few thousand years after the Dawn War and thus were denied rebirth in the Celestial City. These planebound deva found themselves reborn time after time into mortal bodies, remembering only fragments of their past lives. It is believed that at the Cataclysm they were granted pardon and reborn onto the Astral plane (and thus are extinct on the mortal plane).

Cysgoroesi

A few of the lightbound who settled in the mortal plane, seeing their fellows being conquered by the Titans, begged admittance en masse into the Astral Plane. It was too late for that--they had already become mortal. However, the powers that were took mercy on them and changed them, granting them freer access across Shadow to the various planes than most mortals as well as the ability to live among the planes. They have settled primarily in Shadow, building library-fortresses and archives in that bleak place. From here they send agents throughout the planes in search of knowledge of all types. They are observers and collectors by nature, gathering interesting things, memories, and people (sometimes unwillingly) and preserving them. It is said that anyone who is willing to brave the dangers and the unpredictable nature of the shadow realm (and its denizens) can enter the libraries and ask a single question, receiving a truthful answer. The cost? A portion of their memory, or sometimes their life (depending on the question and its answer). These are the cysgoroesi, the shadow elves.

Aelvs and Puun Ihmisia

The oldest race to survive into recorded history, the aelves discovered wizardry and were the dominant race of the 2nd Age. Nearly ageless but still very mortal, they prized the arcane so much that they exiled children born without the knack for wizardry. These exiles consciously shed any remaining connection to the Light and the Astral plane, taking up the propitiation of primal spirits and becoming the modern puun ihmisia (nicknamed wood elves). The Second Wish caused the utter destruction of the dominant aelven empire (the Roelwr), leaving broken remnants to assimilate with humans and other races. One group of aelves, inhabiting what became Soefra, retained power and reformed the empire.

Gwerin

At the Cataclysm, the remaining aelves found their agelessness taken from them. Modern gwerin (high elves) are all too conscious of their short (by comparison) lives and have a strong desire to regain the glories of the past.

Goroesi

One other branch of aelvs was separated from the ruling Roelwr before the Second Wish besides the puun ihmisia. These were the goroesi--demi-nobles known for their power of sorcery (rather than the high wizardry of the roelwr). Molded by imperial magics into overseers for the slave races (and the outcast puun ihmisia), they were given unique features to distinguish them from the common herd. Skin black as night, hair like spun silver, eyes in jewel tones. These are the marks of the Goroesi, called "dark elves".

Being warned by the first druids of impending Moonsfall (after the Second Wish), they took refuge as a race in Shadow, where they lived for a generation. On their return, they founded cities in the ruins of Moon's Vengeance, where they have stayed for time out of mind. They still bear the mark of Shadow even after many thousands of years--the light of day is distressing to their eyes. As a result, they live in caves and underground cities. Only recently have they made their presence known outside their hidden strongholds. Even after all this time they bear a grudge against the gwerin as decedents of their former masters.

Tymoroesi

Some elves (usually puun ihmisia by parentage) come under fae influence before birth. Sometimes this is due to a dalliance (knowing or otherwise) between a fae and an elf, sometimes it's simply due to a strong fae or kami presence during conception. Either way, the child is born a bit touched by these alien, mutable beings. These are considered special children, and often become shamans or leaders among the tribes. They don't breed true often, and so are rare. They are most common in Byssia (where connections to the fae and the kami are more openly acknowledged and encouraged) but are not unknown in the Council Lands. The common name for the fae-touched elves is "eladrin," meaning roughly "people of flowing-water."