History of the Sea Elves

The Exodus

As with all Elves on Erasis, the Sea Elves were once Eladrin and made their homes amongst the roots of the World Tree Eladrassil. The first of the Eladrin to leave their ancestral homeland were the ancestors of the Sea Elves. Many of these people came from the coasts of the Fae Isles, and had a wanderlust unlike any Eladrin had ever had. They dreamed of shores beyond their own, and the glory they could achieve in these far off places. Cyniel Moonbrow became an outspoken proponent for these people, and something of a representative for them, as she too longed to see lands she had dreamt of, but her brother, the Arch Druid Elvanduil Moonbrow, however, would not allow it. This led to a great deal of tension on the Isle of Eladri, and violence was on the verge of breaking out.

Finally, Cyniel went one last time to her brother, and told him she was taking her followers away, and if he tried to stop them, there would be bloodshed. Grudgingly, Elvanduil agreed, and Cyniel gathered her people together and they began to set sail from the shores of the Fae Isles. However, in a last minute reversal, Elvanduil sent an army to stop them from leaving. As the opposing forces prepared to fight, Cyniel appeared on the bow of her ship, and raised her sapphire trident toward the heavens. Storm clouds formed in the skies above, and the waves rocked the ships. Sweeping her trident before her, she cut a swath through the sea, creating a dry gap between her people's ships and Elvanduil's. From the edges of this rift she pulled up the waters forming a massive tidal wave, and just before she released the wave toward her brother, she called out to him words that only the Sea Elves now remember:

"You cannot stop us brother. Our souls call us to the seas. And so, you shall never lay eyes upon us again, not until the seas themselves threaten to drown your precious Eladrassil."

With that, she released the wave, smashing into Elvanduil and his army. By the time the wave was past, and the chaos subsided, Elvanduil found himself on the beach amongst the wreckage of his army, without a single sight of his sister or her followers on the horizon.

The Founding

Cyniel and many of her followers found the western coast of Xhaan beautiful and idyllic, and so chose to settle along the coasts amongst the many coral beds and sea caves there. Others followed another Eladrin named Thrail around the northern tip of the continent, eventually settling along the rockier northwestern coast amongst the rapids and shark-infested waters. It wasn't long before it became apparent the price the Eladrin would pay for leaving Eladri and the World Tree. In time they found themselves changing, no longer immortal, but they became capable of breathing underwater due to their close connection to the seas. Though this caused some concern, many accepted that they knew they would be tested and forced to sacrifice something to follow their dreams. It is during this time the Eladrin started to become the Sea Elves.

The War of Aggression

The two colonies kept in contact with one another, but in time the messages became erratic, and Cyniel began to have dreams of something dark and terrible lurking beneath Xhaan, wriggling its way into the hearts of her kin. Taking with her three ships of her finest guard, she set out on an envoy to the northern coast, knowing the center of the continent was far too dangerous to risk travelling through the entirety of the Lizardfolk empire. What she found when they arrived horrified her. Upon reaching the shores of her northern kin, they attacked her envoy, quickly sinking two of her ships with eldritch powers unlike any she had seen before. They called up aberrant beings from beneath the depths and beyond the stars. Cyniel could not escape, so in her last moments, she sent a message back to her people: "Avenge me."

The war which followed was great and terrible. Cyniel's followers, fueled by anger over the murder of their beloved Queen marched across the center of the continent, destroying and pillaging Lizardfolk cities for supplies as they went, while Thrail's followers fueled by madness and devotion to their dark masters did the same. Elf murdered elf amongst the swamps and jungles of Xhaan and not only elves paid the price for these terrible battles. Powerful magics were unleashed on both sides, until vast swathes of the continent were blasted and drowned beneath the waves. Many of Thrail's followers, who had delved further into the jungles than Cyniel's did, perished; while the Sea Elves, who had already begun to change into more amphibious creatures, adapted quickly to being forced beneath the sea. It is said that Thrail fled to his master's temple at the heart of his land and drowned somewhere there as the sea came rushing in. The exact details are unknown, but the Sea Elves knew that not all of Thrail's followers died, instead changing as they had to adapt to life underwater, but in a twisted and unnatural way thanks to the aberrant power they now served.

The Empire Cyniel's daughter, Sela, took up her mother's throne and united her people below the waves south of what is now the Storm Coast. Empress Sela became nearly as beloved as her mother by the Sea Elves, doing much to rebuild that which was lost and to expand their new marine empire. She created the Marine Guard and continued to wage raids and skirmishes against Thrail's followers who became known as Sahuagin. Ironically, Sela maintained peace at the center by waging constant conflict at its fringes, but never full and outright war. Eventually, however, Sela succumbed to her mortality after leading her people through a golden age of expansion and reconstruction. Since then her daughter and grand daughter have tried to maintain her legacy, to lesser effect. The current Empress Glawiel is now ancient even by Elven standards, so soon it must fall to her daughter to prove how she will lead the Sea Elves to a brighter future.