GOTL - Chaos Wars

Qualinesti Elves

Qualinesti Elves are a branch of elves that live in the southwestern part of Ansalon to the south of Abanasinia and are ruled by the Speaker of the Sun who is a blood descendant of their founder Kith-Kanan. The Qualinesti were originally formed when the Silvanesti prince Kith-Kanan led his followers out of the nation of Silvanesti and formed his own nation to the west. From the beginning of their kingdom being founded in the Age of Dreams, the Qualinesti were far more open and easy-going than their cousins, working and living alongside Humans, Dwarves, and other races. Because of this, the Qualinesti have the most interaction with the other races and there are many adventurers and explorers from amongst their number. Their nation was comprised of one major city Qualinost and a series of large towns and settlements in the forested realm.

Whilst the Qualinesti people are ruled by the Speaker of the Sun, they are in fact governed by the Thalas-Enthia, which is the senate whose members are the leaders of the powerful guilds and communities within Qualinesti society. The Thalas-Enthia govern Qualinesti and how it should be run, however the Speaker has the power to overturn any decision to ensure his people are ruled wisely and properly.

The Qualinesti are builders. Their capital of Qualinost is one of the most beautiful cities on Ansalon.First built in cooperation with dwarven architects and stonemasons, it became a wonderful testament to the skill of Qualinesti builders. Additionally, Qualinesti have mastered the art of forging amazingly strong, resilient, and sharp blades. The keen edge and look of a Qualinesti longsword is unmistakable across Ansalon, and swordsmen of many races seek Qualinesti-forged blades for their quality.

Qualinesti elves bear the elvensight of their race, which allows them to see extremely well in the dark, and also are much more diplomatic than other elves, given their exposure to the other races of Krynn. The Qualinesti worship the gods of light, as well as the nature god Chislev. They do not venerate the gods of darkness at all, and any elf caught worshipping an evil god is exiled and considered a dark elf by every other Qualinesti elf.

Current commander of the Qualanesti forces is Celithruldur, and the forces are known as Aelaes Thondraes Tys (fighter) and Aelaes Thondraes Tys (archer).

Silvanesti Elves

Silvanesti, also known as Sylvan Land, is the original elven kingdom in Ansalon, from where the Kagonesti and Qualinesti elves probably came. Holding capital at Silvanost, this kingdom is famous for its marble buildings, garden-like forests and the towers of Eru at the mouths of the Thon-Thalas. Silvanesti was sparsely populated to the south, and more sailors lived in the east.

At one time a nightmare-land during the rule of the Speaker of the Stars Lorac, it is now abandoned, as the elves were driven away by ogres at the end of the War of Souls .

Age of Dreams
Silvanesti was founded by the great elven leader Silvanos Goldeneye after the First Dragon War in 3550 PC. After wrestling the land from the great dragons, Silvanos was able to create the great elven nation out of the dragon's former homeland. Upon settling in their new forest, the elves set about creating their capital city. They named this city Silvanost and their nation Silvanesti in honor of their leader who had finally united the elven clans. In 2239 PC, the Empire of Ergoth and Silvanesti signed the Treaty of Thelgaard over the cloth trade.

In 2192 PC, the eastern Empire of Ergoth expanded into Silvanesti lands. A terrible war ensued for the next half century taking its toll on both nations. The war ended with somewhat of a stalemate and both nations retreated to lick their wounds. By this time however, the elves that had fought on their western frontier no longer felt welcomed by the rest of their Silvanesti society. Prior and during the war, those western elves had become so heavily interbred with Ergothian humans that they no longer were considered pure blood by their eastern country men. Demanding social change, the western elves declared their independence. With the signing of the Swordsheath Scroll, those western elves moved further west into the forest of Mithranhana and founded the new nation of Qualinesti. Having felt a great loss from the war and the division of their nation, the Silvanesti started to become isolationists from the world around them.

In 1060 PC, the Third Dragon War raged across the continent. The elves endured attacks from Takhisis’s great dragons and defended their homeland. Losing only borderland territory, the elves were able to keep the great hordes of evil from entering into their heartland forests. With the conclusion of the war, Silvanesti was able to reclaim much of what they lost.

Age of Might
In 673 PC, the nation of Silvanesti clashed with the growing Istarian Empire. Istar had sought to dominate most of the key shipping lanes and harbors. Skirmishes between naval merchants soon led to war. Both nations attacked each other at sea until Silvanesti finally created a major blockade across the Bay of Istar. Crippling Istarian trade, the human empire appealed to Solamnia for aid. Solamnia acted as a mediator was able to get both nations to sign the Swordsheath Scroll and thus the war was able to come to an end.

Peace was not to last with Istar however. In 280 PC, Istar appointed the first Kingpriest to rule their empire and tried to promote Istar as the moral center of the world. The Silvanesti become disgusted with this act and begin to once again take a hostile attitude towards the Istarian Empire.

In 118 PC, the Kingpriest enforced the new Proclamation of Manifest Virtue. This proclamation declared evil as an affront to both the gods and the peoples of Ansalon. The proclamation was followed by a list of acts and rules that would judge those as evil. Many of these acts were aimed directly at Silvanesti. With Istar's growing power, the elves knew that they would not be able to win a war should they challenge the Empire's new edicts. The elven King Lorac instead opted to seal Silvanesti's borders. Calling for the evacuation of all settlements outside the woodland border, the King further ordered the raising of the great Barrier Hedge. This last ditch effort of defense was a massive wall of thickly tangled thorny vines and plants that proved impenetrable to outsiders. Those who tried to force their way into the forest by cutting or burning the hedge soon gave up as the hedge grew back at an almost instantaneous rate. Thus with this act, the Silvanesti turned their backs on the world.

Over the next century, Istar gained almost absolute power over most of the other nations of Ansalon. With the elves' evacuation from their western plains and northern deserts, the Empire of Istar quickly moved in and occupied these lands. Istarian settlements such as Pashin and Hurim sprang up on the former Silvanesti lands further proving that the Istarians had no intentions of leaving.

Age of Might
In 673 PC, the nation of Silvanesti clashed with the growing Istarian Empire. Istar had sought to dominate most of the key shipping lanes and harbors. Skirmishes between naval merchants soon led to war. Both nations attacked each other at sea until Silvanesti finally created a major blockade across the Bay of Istar. Crippling Istarian trade, the human empire appealed to Solamnia for aid. Solamnia acted as a mediator was able to get both nations to sign the Swordsheath Scroll and thus the war was able to come to an end.

Peace was not to last with Istar however. In 280 PC, Istar appointed the first Kingpriest to rule their empire and tried to promote Istar as the moral center of the world. The Silvanesti become disgusted with this act and begin to once again take a hostile attitude towards the Istarian Empire.

In 118 PC, the Kingpriest enforced the new Proclamation of Manifest Virtue. This proclamation declared evil as an affront to both the gods and the peoples of Ansalon. The proclamation was followed by a list of acts and rules that would judge those as evil. Many of these acts were aimed directly at Silvanesti. With Istar's growing power, the elves knew that they would not be able to win a war should they challenge the Empire's new edicts. The elven King Lorac instead opted to seal Silvanesti's borders. Calling for the evacuation of all settlements outside the woodland border, the King further ordered the raising of the great Barrier Hedge. This last ditch effort of defense was a massive wall of thickly tangled thorny vines and plants that proved impenetrable to outsiders. Those who tried to force their way into the forest by cutting or burning the hedge soon gave up as the hedge grew back at an almost instantaneous rate. Thus with this act, the Silvanesti turned their backs on the world.

Over the next century, Istar gained almost absolute power over most of the other nations of Ansalon. With the elves' evacuation from their western plains and northern deserts, the Empire of Istar quickly moved in and occupied these lands. Istarian settlements such as Pashin and Hurim sprang up on the former Silvanesti lands further proving that the Istarians had no intentions of leaving.

Age of Despair
The Cataclysm ended Istar's dominance over the world. After the disaster, Silvanesti sent out scouts to report the damage done to their nation. The effects of the Cataclysm had been catastrophic. Blaming the disaster upon the humans, the elves remained in their kingdom and continued to remain isolated from the world.

In 349 AC, Silvanesti was drawn into the War of the Lance. First negotiating a peace with the great Dragonarmies, the elves were soon betrayed. The dark forces turned south and into the woodland border destroying the Barrier Hedge, the growth that had protected the elven nation for unknown years. Knowing his nation's destruction was imminent, the elven King Lorac used a dragon orb that he had rescued from Istar prior to the empire's destruction. While the population of Silvanesti fled south and west out of the nation, the king tried to drive the invading armies and dragons out of the land. Unable to control the power of the Dragonorb, the artifact instead took control of King Lorac and threw the nation of Silvanesti into a nightmare state. The forest and everyone in it became twisted into an evil mockery of what they once were. Seeing the elven nation warping before their very eyes, the Dragonarmies quickly retreated out of the nation desperately trying to reach safety.

Kagonesti Elves

Kagonesti Elves, originally called the Elderwild Elves, are the original and most pure type of elf upon Ansalon, and are the clan from which all other elves hail from. During the Age of Dreams they were simply known as wild elves, and whilst some of their number chose to build great cities and live behind man-made structures (who split from the Kagonesti and became known as the Silvanesti), many stayed true to nature and lived in the wild. During the Age of Dreams, a wild elf known as Kagonos, who was a Pathfinder and nominal leader of the wild elves, led his people away from the council of Sinthal-Elish, and chose to truly separate the wild elves and the civilized elves. At this time, the wild elves begin to wear tribal tattoos and renamed themselves as the Kagonesti.

Originally the Kagonesti dwelt almost solely in the forests of western Ergoth, although during the Age of Might they were hunted down as a menace by the troops of Istar. Almost wiped out completely, the surviving elves witnessed the Cataclysm and destruction of Istar, and over several hundred years grew in numbers once more. The wild elves were also enslaved by their own race, many of them were forced to work in servitude to the Silvanesti and Qualinesti people in the elven cities. The view of the "civilized elves" was that they were educating their barbaric cousins. The Kagonesti were split between those forced to work in elven cities, and those who remained free and in the wild.

The Kagonesti elves dwell in the various forested realms across Ansalon, living in harmony with nature and animals and protecting the woodlands across the continent, although the majority of them still remain in the forests of Southern Ergoth. The elven people are a mix of the original wild elves, as well as the descendants of the Silvanesti and Qualinesti elves, who have chosen to leave their great cities and return to the wild. Throughout near annihilation by the armies of Istar, enslaved by their own people, and living under tyrannical rule of the Gellidus, the Dragon Overlord, the Kagonesti have remained a strong and unbroken people, who rise in the face of adversity.

Characteristics:
The average Kagonesti elf stands at just under five feet tall and weighs between ninety and a hundred pounds. Due to their outdoor lifestyle, Kagonesti elves have tanned skin and are lean and muscular. The hair color of the normal wild elf ranges between light brown to black and they normally have hazel eyes. On very rare occasions, a Kagonesti elf has been born with silvery-white hair, which is sometimes a throwback to an earlier Qualinesti or Silvanesti ancestor. Kagonesti elves are considered beautiful by most non-elven races, but are viewed as wild barbarians and at best exotic creatures by their own cousins. Kagonesti commonly are dressed in leather clothing that has a heavy fringe with feathers and silver jewelry, which they believe deters evil spirits away from them.

The wild elves are suspicious of most outsiders, having been enslaved by their own cousins, attacked by Ogres, hunted by Humans, and having their trees cut down by Dwarves over the course of history. They are peerless hunters and silent in the woods, as well as amongst the most skilled fighters of elvenkind. All Kagonesti have an innate knowledge of nature and the forest, and are normally akin with animals and in the wild and almost lost in a city, until given enough time to adapt. They normally worship the gods of either light or neutrality, but even show a healthy respect for the gods of darkness. However any Kagonesti who was known to worship a dark god, was exiled, and decreed as a dark elf and not welcome in elven lands.

The Kagonesti elves generally live under a tribal system, where each tribe is centered on a chief and his family. Kagonesti tribes either live wild in a forest, or sometimes in portable structures. They do not build permanent structures, as it does not allow them to roam free. The Kagonesti have a strong sense of history and the past, and relate all their tales verbally. The creation tales of the elves has altered over time due to the verbal retelling from generation to generation, however it is the role of the Pathfinder and the shamans of the Kagonesti to remember all the stories of their people.

A Kagonesti child is named based on a certain characteristic that they possess that is likened to something in nature. On passing a rite of passage, they are given an adult name that designates they are to considered an adult in their community. Some elves reach this point at 40 years old, however all Kagonesti elves are considered adults by 70 years of age. The standard Kagonesti elf tends to live up to 500 years of age, however some Kagonesti elves have been known to live up to 700 years old, and a few rare exceptions have been known to live even longer than this.