Book 69 -- History of Elves and Dark Elves, Part 1 (last revised 11/23/02)

by Einsiedler, transcribed by Xeno

I, Xeno, recently had the privilege recently of talking with an old
hermit, Einsiedler. He lived just outside the walls of Barstow before
the Demon Wars, and is currently making his home in the guild until
Barstow's liberation.

Einsiedler maybe hard to be near with his humped over back, bowed
legs, and persistent body odor, but the words that come out of his
mouth when he's had a bit of ale have the ring of truth. The other
day he waxed on about the elves of the lands. I have transcribed for
all the details of his tale.

The history of the elves and dark elves is so intertwined that it is
impossible to tell one and not the other. Therefore it is always
useful to tell this two sided tale from each sides point of view. Be
careful who your audience is though, for both sides believe they have
a monopoly on the truth. I have talked to both elves and dark-elves
about this blood feud, and have come to believe the following:

Back in the mists of time, before any current living elf was alive,
when the Grand Forest covered most of the lands, before the humans
could walk erect, before the dwarves came from the earth's belly,the
elven tribes ruled supreme. Each of the tribes ruled a portion of
the forest and conflict always arose. However, during the Festival of
Life, in the spring, a truce was imposed by tradition, and the tribes
would meet in the clearing in the center of the forest where the
Pillars of the Past stood. During the festival, the various tribes
would trade, arrange marriages, and have tournaments of skills.

The elven tradition told that the Pillars were the last standing
structure of the elves before the elves followed their idyllic ways.
The elves discovered that their long life-span surpassed the
longevity of manufactured and created items of their hands, and
therefore began to doubt the value of those items. The elves of the
cities looked around them, and saw that the forest was eternal due to
its renewing and regenerating ways. Therefore the life of the forest
and not the life of the cities and its buildings became the way of
the elves.

The one exception was the Pillars, whose origin had long been
forgotten. The Pillars did stand the test of time. The elves would
then meet at the Pillars every spring to contemplate the Pillars.
The meetings were held, but no adequate explanation of the Pillars
would come. Over time the Festival of Life had a more practical
cultural use and less of an agenda concerning the Pillars.

One festival, many years later, two twin sisters, strangers appeared
during the festival. The Strangers offered to explain the riddle of
the Pillars. It was quite obvious to the council of elves that the
Strangers were much more than they seemed. Each stranger had a
musical instrument, a lute, and the other a flute.

However there would be conditions set for such knowledge. The Lute
Carrying Stranger would only share her knowledge with all the tribes
sharing equally in such knowledge if all the elves swore loyalty to
her and follow her laws in using the knowledge she would bestow upon
the elves. The Flute Carrying Stranger would only share her
knowledge with the leader of the strongest, most powerful, wisest
tribe of the elves. Only one or the other gift was available to the
elves, not both. The elves would have one day to decide.

The council met and debated. Equal knowledge, and tempered power
would keep the delicate balance among the tribes the majority
reasoned. However, the leader of the one tribe, the now exiled
tribe, reasoned that she could possess the knowledge and later share
it with the council, and therefore the elves need not swear loyalty
to a Stranger. Many in the council agreed as well. As was the
tradition of the council, the majority vote ended the debate and the
Lute Carrying Stranger's option was chosen. At first the leader of
the now exiled tribe accepted the decision, but the more she
contemplated the angrier she grew. How dare those who were less put
limits on the first and foremost of the elven kindred?

Then the leader of that tribe could not resist the temptation, and
secretly approached the Flute Carrying Stranger and asked for her
gift. The gift was that of magic. Magic was the answer to the
riddle. The knowledge of magic was bestowed upon her, and she kept
the gift a secret and fled with her tribe to their homelands. The
Flute Carrying Stranger laughed and disappeared.

When the council approached the Lute Carrying Stranger and presented
their decision, the First Twin said that it was not their decision
anymore but that of the first and foremost of the elves. However she
was not to be found. From then on the first and foremost of elves
would be known as Fonrein.

With the new knowledge, the very nature of existence bent to her
will. However, the power Fonrein was given was corrupt and all
created with it was corrupted. From the lesser beings in woodlands,
she created goblins, ogres, and trolls, and unleashed them onto the
lands. War having broken out between Fonrein's tribe and their
minions on one side and all the other elven tribes on the other many
parts of the Grand Forest were forever destroyed.

The alliance of elves approached the Lute Carrying Stranger and asked
for help. The First Stranger wanted to refuse the elves, but she
could not ignore the cry of the Grand Forest and all its innocent
inhabitants. The First Stranger called upon two of her kinfolk,
Dyrellan and Anvarri to teach the elves magic to battle Fonrein but
at a price. In return for the gifts, the elven tribes were to rid the
face of the earth of Fonrein and her tribe, and then use the
knowledge and power given to them to become the stewards of the world
and all its inhabitants.

Overtime, the elves fulfilled the bargain, and they did drive Fonrein
and her tribe from the surface of the earth, but with the knowledge
of magic, the elves again built cities and structures that defied
time, and the elves left in the past their idyllic ways.

As the years passed, and contact was made with the other races, the
elves taught the gifts of Dyrellan and Anvarri to them so that all
the races could enjoy and benefit from them. Some such as the
faeries and brownies fully appreciated the gifts, others, such as the
humans, goblins, and their kind understood the uses, but did not
appreciate the nuances of the gifts, and others such as the dwarves,
rejected the gift altogether.

The dark elves however tend to look at things a bit differently, but
I grow tired come and bother me another day about the dark elves view
of the feud.

The End

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