Races

Shei (Imarelian Elves) - by T.A. Saunders ©2001 v1.5

Racial Articles Zorah's Chosen - The Elves

It is a long held truth that Moon Elves, or Tallis-Shei in their language are the immigrants to the world of Imarel, along with the child race of Humans. The original Elves, called Sivanoshei came to Imarel through a great sorcerous portal constructed by them some centuries before for exploratory purposes.

Moon Elvish legend speaks little of this land that they had escaped from except to say that it was left in cataclysm by an overwhelming population of vampires and other undead fiends. Their world, known only as Ishaela was subject to a great reckoning by the hands of Humans who had fallen under sway to an Arch Demon named Khavos, Spirit of Decay.
Upon their arrival in Imarel the Moon Elves and the uncorrupted Humans they saved from doomed Ishaela set about populating the continent of Shalzaar. At first, Elves gave homes to the refugee humans and taught them language, writing and mathematics. In some cases, a select few were chosen to learn magic in the Elvish tradition under careful and strict supervision to avoid what had happened in Ishaela.

A full thousand years of this secluded untroubled existence had come to pass. Humans eventually branched off from their Elvish protectors and begun building small cities of their own. There had been some tension between the two peoples about interbreeding; the Elves themselves always a bit touchy on the matter, but those Half-Elves that had been born generally found homes with their Human or Elvish families with little difficulty. Despite this small fuss amongst the two cultures, prosperity was enjoyed by all as their peoples advanced.

During this time, the Shar'Vaire had crafted their first Airships and had begun also harnessing the sorcerous power of the Radiance to win their long-fought battle against the dragons of Imarel. With the ability to cross whole oceans and the skies with little trouble, it soon came to pass that the Shar'Vaire and the Moon Elves came into first contact. At first the two cultures were peaceful, exchanging knowledge and sorcerous wisdom freely. The knowledge to even craft their own

Airships were given to the Elves for exchange of various other bits of wisdom the Shar'Vaire required.
It is not remembered how or why this relationship deteriorated with the Shar'Vaire. It is widely believed that when the Shar`Vaire's dabbling in infernal blood had finally reared progeny old enough to take (and in some cases, seize) positions of power in the Empire. The Moon Elves viewed this as a grave threat and began preparing for the inevitable conflict, but it was too late. In 202 BF the Moon Elf colony of Jir-Tasaar (which would later become Am-Tasaar) was attacked with a sorcerous plague, thus marking the beginning of the War of Eternals.

The War of Eternals raged on for over two hundred years, with both cultures being similarly skilled in both sorcery and had the advantage of Airships, there was little in a deciding victory that could be dealt. Where Shar'Vaire had kept the proverbial ace-in-the-hole knowledge of the Radiance, Elves kept their best defense of intricate and difficult to disbelieve illusions that could often hide their forces in plain sight. It nearly seemed this conflict would never find resolution.

To win the conflict with the Moon Elves, the Shar'Vaire crossed a proverbial line that they knew would be dangerous to cross. Calling again upon infernal allies that had once helped them sire sorcerously powerful children, the Shar`Vaire opened gateways to the Hells unleashing all manner of infernal power upon the Elves. It is said that The Nine Lords of Chaos even shared knowledge of dark eldritch sorcery with their eager Shar'Vaire students to further seal the Fate of the Moon Elves by way of sorcerous plagues that pit Elf against Elf and Elf against Human. It was not long then before the Moon Elves were literally crushed as a civilization. And while this technically concluded the War of Eternals in Shar`Vaire victory, it was not long before the Empire collapsed upon itself in civil war with the Cataclysm of D`Mir.