Elves

The elven race is a timeless curiosity in Teiravon, living without aging, free of a finite lifespan, yet blood and flesh mortal just the same. The exact origins of the elven race is a point of contention and speculation, even among their own kind. Were they once Fae, or have simply always been? Their ageless state lends themselves to an easy fraternity and a certain patience for taking a lengthy view of things. But not all elves found this longevity a blessing.

Other creatures, they noted, seemed to grow and adapt with each new generation. They could watch in stunningly short time as populations of creatures were transformed by their surroundings. Hair grew darker or lighter, nostrils flared fuller to take in more air in mountain climbs, skin grew darker or lighter as their habitat dictated. Yet here stood perfect and permanent elves, a new child born perhaps once a decade among their population. Elves could see no particular difference between the eldest of their number and those barely a century aged. Surely what ever forces augmented these other races must be studied in depth. And so began their great work, they called it “Tenrimere”, “what time desires” and set to work. Could man or beast be made like elves given suitable habitat?

What were the limits of this transformation? And indeed could elves themselves benefit from its secrets. All these questions were central to the project, but the results would leave the elves torn deeply, shattering the easy fraternity which was, unknown to them, their greatest accomplishment.

Celestial

Through a period of several hundred years, the elves of the Tenrimere began to change. By selecting for the most keen mind, the most graceful symmetry, the best and brightest of each generation were paired off to immediately set to work on the next. A culture of exceptionalism grew into a steady idolization of the Sun itself. Struck upon as some ancient form of tribalism it received a new awakening as the elves of Tenrimere took on an increasingly golden skin tone, dubbing themselves Celestial elves. It was not long until this fascination began to strongly impact the society and the selection process determining pairings. Through each successive generation of Celestial elves there would be those who were not deemed suitable to proceed as progenitors of the next generation, those the project determined it was ultimately detrimental to their goals to permit to sire any children. They had sought the sun but missed the mark and would forever only be one among the thousand twinkling stars, known as Sidereals.

Sidereal

Sidereal elves naturally tended to quickly make up a significant majority for much of this intermediate period, they were born into the midst of the Tenrimere project but were not considered suitable for its grand designs, they were relegated to lesser citizen status. As sidereal numbers grew however it began to be noticed that the original Elven population appeared to be thinning, not only in their percentage of the populace but in real numbers. Something very wrong was happening to the elves, though many Celestials argued it was simply the simple principles that those of inferior physiology would die out disproportionately to those superior celestial elves it was clear that fewer elves lived now who could remember a time prior to the Tenrimere project.

Terrestrial

In secret a conclave of the last remaining elves who predated this time met to discuss the future of their people. The time had long since passed to hope to reverse this course but steps needed taking to preserve the sanctity and nobility of the elven people. It was decided then that the remaining elves would abandon their home in the Twofork river delta, leaving the extents of elven civilization and trekking back in to the wilds, to commune once more with their natural state and the spirits which were their forebears, and perhaps to atone for what their race had done. These elves would be known by those they left behind as the elves stuck down upon the earth, the Terestrials.

The Empire

With elven peoples progressing so triumphantly towards perfection it was incumbent upon them to see their fellow races. without the knowledge of the Sidereal elves, a project was begun on the indigenous orc tribes of the great western jungles. The results of the Tenrimere project was obvious and evident on the self professed glory of the Celestial elves but would it be as effective when applied to the backwards and primitive orc populations? The naturally short life cycle of an orc meant that the project was dramatically accelerated compared to the requisite centuries required for the elves.

Meanwhile as Celestials worked in secret to create a superior breed of orc the Sidereals set to work on humanity, but their designs were less interested in their breeding than their culture. The elves had decided that it was best to unite the peoples of the various races until the banner of a single encompassing empire, envoys were sent to peaceably unite the various human villages and dwarven settlements to invite them into a harmonious alliance. The Dwarves being well versed in law and bureaucracy were able to come to an accord which secured profitable trade and rights of migration while retaining a large degree of autonomy with respect to law and order within the mountains. The Humans however, took some time longer to convince. But after the fall of one of their major governmental seats to a horde of ratmen and lizardmen, the remaining human nobility were forced to agree to enter into citizenship of the empire.

With alliance and territories in place, the newly born empire set to work establishing its crown jewel “Alcarin”. After initial efforts at quarrying rock from the nearby Worldspine mountains, the dwarves determined the rock there unsuitable for the new capital’s construction and set out overseeing the construction of a new quarry to the north west, known colloquially as “the Pit”. With fresh cut stone flowing out of the pit and shipping from Frostbay into the mouth of the Twoforks, slowly and surely Alcarin rose.

Revelation

Perhaps it was the Sidereals chafing under the deliberately discriminatory design of the city, built into upper, mid, and low caste housing. Perhaps it was an underlying xenophobic animosity that had been increasingly growing in the Sidereals. Or, perhaps it was the shock of seeing what the Celestials had done in secret suddenly made manifest in front of them that started what would come to be known as The Schism.

The Celestials had naturally created extravagant housing and beautiful parks at the highest level of the city, reserving these for both the Celestial elves and the newly woo’d human Nobility. Sidereals were relegated to a merchant caste in the central level if they could afford it and the common level if they could not. Since there had been little need for commerce or mercantilism (A recently acquired taste from the Humans and Dwarves) many Sidereal elves were impoverished and feeling increasingly disenfranchised. This sense of disenfranchisement turned into open and bloody revolution when the people of Alcarin were gathered for a ceremony in which the Celestials were pleased to announce the culmination of their secret project, The KeenEdge Orcs.

Row after row of broad shouldered, firm chinned, pale skinned, and short tusked orcs stood before the gates in salute to the Empire. It was then that they announced that the position of Marshall of the Garrisons for Alcarin, the man who would command the newly minted armed forces of the Empire would be none other than Kalgar Keenedge, an orc of their number. This was the spark that ignited the powderkeg of resentment among the Sidereals. The crowd turned immediately ugly and increasingly violent, what followed was a riot that burned through the common district.

It was days of armed conflict and attempted revolution to wrest control of the city away from the governing Celestials but their newly formed military was quite good at their job despite the inferior numbers. Hundreds of Sidereals were cut down in the streets and when at last the revolution had ended what once was a dramatic population imbalance in-favor of the Sidereals now had their numbers slightly under that of Celestials. The survivors of the bloody insurrection were cast out of the capitol and the empire and fled to parts unknown to the empire, living as refugees and outcasts. The Celestials meanwhile resolved to open the government to being more egalitarian so as to avoid this sort of peasant revolt in the future. So with Sidereals banished; the first Council of Tenrimere was established, with only few governing edicts. That it be elected from the citizenry and that it serve the realm and it’s people.