Aelvar

The aelvar are the proto-elves. Descendants of the lightborn and ancestors of the gwerin, puun ihmisia, and goroesi, they forged the first world-spanning empire. This was destroyed by Moon's Fall.

Creation

The lightborn who accepted mortality after the Dawn War fell under the influence of the titans during the Age of Tyrants and were shaped by them to be overseers and "house slaves". They retained an innate connection to the Astral plane, inheriting a measure of the grace and agelessness that characterizes their astral relatives, the lucians.

While they were taught fragments of runic lore and also wielded minor wild sorceries and the first stirrings of harmonic magic (taught by Leviathan's agents), their powers were minor and completely unable to compete with the tyrant races.

Empire of Wizardry

In the aftermath of the backfiring of the Orb of All Might, the aelvar, now freed from the dominion of titan and wyrm, saw their chance. They sought out the Eternal Library and the Cosmic Forge residing therein and made the First Wish, creating wizardry out the fragments of runic magic and true sorcery that remained. Binding spoken and written words, they learned quickly to manipulate reality. And without the gods or other powers to constrain them, they developed magics that reshaped life to their whim.

Aelvar sorcery, unlike modern "regulated" wizardry, focused on manipulating matter more than elemental forces. The ancestors of modern spells such as polymorph and alter self were commonplace, but were able to make permanent alterations and were not limited to existing forms. The aelvar wizard lords used these enchantments liberally, reshaping plants, animals, and even sentient beings to suit their needs, desires, and whims. Many, if not most, of the "monsters" and strange creatures owe at least part of their origin to aelvar manipulation. Of course, the Twisted was incredibly active during this period, walking the land in mortal form and urging the wizard lords to experiment with greater abandon.

The aelvar empire covered almost all of what is now Noefra and Soefra, which at the time were joined as one. Only the Dragonreach, by imperial decree, remained neutral and in the possession of the dragons. In exchange, draconic rampages were limited and constrained, and the dragons served the aelvar as mounts and advisors (something the proud dragons have never really forgotten nor forgiven).

Those who could not or would not work wizardry became progressively more ostracized, leading to the creation of the ihmisi race to mark those "degenerates" and strip them of their near-immortality. As with most acts of hubris, this backfired badly.

Downfall

Moon's Fall

Main article Moon's Fall.

Aftermath

In the aftermath, the remaining aelvar lords used the Eyes of Qa'desh to split the continent apart, separating Noefra from Soefra. The survivors mostly stayed on Soefra, leaving only a remnant on Noefra.

With the wizard lords dead or fled, the aelvar (now gwerin) people scattered to their Houses. A racial memory of cataclysm remains, some say, which is why no great gwerin empires were reborn from the ashes except the hubris-filled Phoenix Empire of the south.

Remnants

There is one aelvar currently living--Queen Raanee of the Crisial Kingdom was born into a minor noble family about 12 years before Moon's Fall and was, through the sacrifice of her parents, preserved through the cataclysm along with her mixed-blood nurse.

Most of the elven races descend from the aelvar--

Gwerin

The gwerin are those who clung to the arcane emphasis and maintained their connection to the Astral until the Cataclysm.

Puun Ihmisia

the ihmisi were an accidental creation, being those who were exiled or made outcast for rejecting the arcane traditions of the aelvar empire and rejecting servitude. They enacted the Second Wish and became wielders of primal power, leading to Moon's Fall.

Goroesi

the goroesi or dark elves were created as crafters of wondrous things and as artists to serve the high aelvar nobles. They get their alternate name from the color of their skin, which ranges from dark grey to black. Thought to have gone extinct at Moon's Fall, two small populations are known to exist. One lives under Moon's Fall Vengeance, having taken shelter in a time-warped bubble for thousands of years, while the other resides under the mountains separating the Great Rift from southern Soefra.