Elves

Proud and reclusive, the elves are Seronia are a rarer sight than ages past. Even before the Age of Draconism, the elves remember the Mundicide during the Age of Proteanism. According to elven lore, there is two worlds. First, there is the Godly, or Dei. This world was of the elementals, the outsiders and the divine powers. The second is the Allied, or Servus Dei. This world was the one the elves lived in, serving the elements of nature and the gods. The elves shared this world at first with the fae, who in their chaos decided to shape and exaggerated the natural elements to their twisted whims. This was a time of fear and a constant struggle for survival for the elves because while the fae manipulation of the flora and fauna was not (always) malicious, it was certainly more deadly to their race as a whole. 

Ancient lore states that the god's came together and formed a pact to save the elven race: the Ne'hemo Anima. The pact stated that upon death, a fae's soul would become one with the world they had worked so hard to shape in order to eventually return the Second World to it's original state. In other words, a fae that died was lost to the Second World, remaining in the First forever. The fae, while powerful, were not divine beings. Their attempts to resurrect or reincarnate the dead were futile against the power of the gods.

A schism eventually formed in the fae. One side, led by the House of the Morningstar, believed that the gods were cruel and had condoned the death of their souls. The House of the Sagesea believed that with proper respects given to the gods, the fae would be rewarded with an afterlife worthy of the fae. A war erupted, with both sides losing heavily. It wasn't until they fae had nearly wiped themselves from the Second World that they came to discover that the gods had not destroyed their souls out of spite, but delivered them to a mirror world that was every bit as wonderful and chaotic as them.

The House of the Sagesea believed their faith was rewarded by this new realm, while the House of the Morningstar believed they had been proven right because they were denied a place in heaven or hell. Their souls were in a tailored purgatory.

As the world gradually returned to a majority normalcy, the elves encountered the Highdragons, ushering in the Age of Draconism. Unlike the Darkdragons that had enslaved the dwarves, the Highdragons were genteel and served as advisers, rulers and other positions of power for the elves. It was during this period that the elves enjoyed a massive era of peace, training in the martial skills only as a point of pride from former glories. The elves would suffer no major conflicts, yet did not further technology due to a lack of sophisticated enemies and contentment with their quality of life. 

Eventually the first dwarven envoy came to the surface world, asking for help against the Darkdragons. The elves did not trust the dwarves, but deferred to the wisdom of the Highdragons. After the event's of “The Fireball Gambit,” the Highdragons had disappeared from the world without an explanation. The elves set out to find their former allies and instead found the dwarves, who in a mass exodus from the underground have taken resident in the abandoned Highdragon rookeries. The elves splintered into two factions: those that saw this as an insult, even blasphemy and those that did not wish to dishonor the memory of the Highdragons by starting a war with their former allies and in their former domains. The elves became two major factions at this point, one going to war with the dwarves, the other setting out to try and rebuild their society's structure that relied so heavily on the Highdragons for peace and arbitration.

It was during this time that the elves discovered humankind, beginning the Age of Entryism 50,000 years ago. It is named as such not because of humankind's entry to the world, but the elven race's entry into human history, changing their culture and religion. The elves that had decided to wage war upon the dwarves eventually reached a stalemate due to the defensibility of the dwarven rooks, abandoning the war effort. These elves were welcomed back and ingratiated into elven society, bringing with them their new knowledge of war and tactics. However, the humans balked at the preferential treatment these “outsider” elves received over the humans who had worked with the elves to create functioning societies for both races.

The inevitable bloodshed occurred, causing a race war that nearly ended both sides. The elf and human war was the beginning of the Age of Malism, for the evil of all would come out before the end. The dwarves assisted the humans because of anger over a war not yet forgotten. Humans began to experiment with dark arcane magic, which drew concern from the divine-focused elves. The war eventually ended in the verdant elven nation of Thule 150 years ago, when humans drew from dark reservoirs of magic to finally break the elvish army. The elves in turn, used their mastery of the divine and natural world to shield them. The resulting collision of magical forces utterly ruined Thule, turning it into a frozen, barren wasteland. In an epiphany from the horror of the magical catastrophe, the races called for a meeting. The first and only treaty of its kind was created over several weeks: The Treaty of Thule. The main points of the treaty were the division of known land for restitution to the elves, the use of magic in wartime and the absolution of all past transgressions. The elves received a section of protected forest in Selvandi known as The Jaw (Carach to the elves), where humans and dwarves could not attempt to settle, but could live in elvish encampments if the leaders chose to accept them. Next, the use of arcane or divine magic for craven (scry and fry, illusion), vulgar (world changing) and vile (demonic pacts, soul manipulation, blood magic) tactics was forbade, with the exception of bolstering, non-supernal summoning and artillery, in kingdom to kingdom or racial warfare. A collective known as the Painted was founded to enforce this treaty, bearing it in the form of tattoos. Finally, a monument was built to mark the end of the war and the loss of life at Thule. No soldiers or leaders would be punished for their actions in the war in the interest of peace. A major outpost that houses the Rangers of Thule exists to this day, combating the horrors that were unleashed from that war.

The elves left to settle their new lands. Some formed elven only cities in The Jaw, while others found positions of prestige in foreign lands where elven schools of combat and learning are in high demand. To this day, elves are subjects of romanticism and symbols of an age perhaps lost forever. The world has since moved on, welcoming new races and ideas in this Age of Industrialism, which has seen explosive growth in society and technology. Where the elves will fit in this new world has yet to be seen. 

ELF STATS

+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Constitution The elves are graceful and shrewd, but they are more frail than other races.

• Medium: Elves are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
  
• Normal Speed: Elves have a base speed of 30ft.
  
• Low-Light Vision: Elves can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light. See Chapter 7.
  
• Keen Senses: +2 to Perception checks.
  
• Ancestral Arms: Elves treat elven weapons Cu'tad, Las'ech, and Oh'megil (Elven Double Bow, Elven Leaf Spear, and Elven Warblade) as martial weapons. In addition, an elf receives Exotic Weapon Proficiency [Any] or Martial Weapon Proficiency [Any] as a bonus feat at 1st level.
• Dreamtongue: All elves increase the DC of divination and sleep spells by +1. Elves with a CHA of 15 or higher can cast dream once per day. Elves refer to this ability as Lor'enna.
• Elven Lore: Elves have kept records on the major events in history, especially on current and former enemies. Elves receive a +2 to Knowledge [History] on themselves, humans and dwarves. GM's can also allow this bonus to extend to any creature deemed an enemy of the elves. In addition, Knowledge [History] may be used untrained.
• Languages: Elves begin play speaking Common and Elven.
  

HALF-ELF VARIANT

Half elves lose Dreamtongue, Ancestral Weapons, Elven Lore and instead gain the following:

• Half Elf Stats: Half elves receive a +2 to any one stat instead of normal elven modifiers
  
• Marginal Traits: Existing within two different cultures, half elves choose two of the following traits to reflect their unusual upbringing:
• Multitalented: A half elf chooses two favored classes at 1st level and gain +1 hit points or +1 skill rank whenever they take a level in either of those classes.
• Resentment: A half elf with this trait gains a +2 to hit humanoids with the elf and human subtype.
• Dreamtongue: This trait functions as per the elf trait of the same name
• Ancestral Weapons: This trait functions as per the elf trait of the same name
• Quality of Life: A half elf with this trait gains an additional +2 to any stat, except the one initial chosen for their racial modifier.
• Human Heritage: Choose one feat with no prerequisites. You gain this feat as a bonus feat at first level.

Table: Ag'arwaen Random Starting Ages and Aging

Adulthood	Simple	Moderate	Complex
100 years	+4d10	+8d10	+10d12

Middle Age	Old	Venerable	Maximum Age
250 years	500 years	750 years	+5d% years