Defenders of the Forest - Liber Fanatica

Chapter VIII: The Laurëlorn
Forest
Ch a p t e r VIII: Th e La u r ë l o r n Fo r e s t
“The first Men my distant kin encountered debased her name as Laurëlorn, but she is truly called Ithiloren,
which means the Silver Wood in your unsilvered tongue. So you see, your brazen language needs tarnish
even her, howsoever she transcends all hard measure of metal.”
Rilielle Tendersong, Spellsinger of Torothal
Hi s t o r y a n d Ba c k g r o u n d
In the years following the alliance between Elf and Dwarf, the
elder races endeavoured to restore and extend the network of
menhirs and obelisks crossing the Old World. In revitalising the
ancient geo-celestial grid, the Elves came upon a forested region
they believed was instrumental to the Old Ones’ design and
built an outpost there. Situated beneath the majestic boughs of
the lornalim trees, the outpost was soon counted amongst the
Elves’ foremost places to study and perform magical experiments.
The Elves named the forest Ithiloren or ‘Silver Wood’,
after the silvery sheen of the lornalim’s bark, a unique attribute
allowing it to refract magic back into its component colours.
And while the Laurëlorn was far removed from Ulthuan and
its raging civil war, the cataclysmic result of that war was felt in
Silver Wood. In an event now known as The Sundering, torrents
of magical energy pulsed along the leyline network, tearing rents
in the fabric of reality and allowing Chaos magic to seep into
the world. The forest outpost at Ithiloren grew into a teeming
settlement called Tor Lithanel as Elven refugees fled inland from
the coastal cities before they sank beneath massive waves ravaging
the northern coastline.
It was almost six hundred years before the white sails of Ulthuan
would reappear on the horizon. Trade between the Elves and
Dwarfs was re-established at last; however peace and prosperity
was to be short-lived as a skein of Dark Elf subterfuge worked
to pit Elven arrogance against Dwarfish stubbornness. The
resulting War of the Beard lasted almost four hundred years and
forced most Elves to withdraw from the Old World once again.
Sa r r i e l t h e Se e r
Sarriel was a legendary figure who is still celebrated in the
fable songs of Laurëlorn. It is sung that Sarriel’s visions foretold
the events of The Sundering, and that he led many Elves
to the sanctuary of the forest. In one tale, he spurns Torothal’s
advances in favour of a Naiad’s, leading to Torothal’s confrontation
with Niseag which determines her destiny as Queen of
Laurëlorn. It is sung that Sarriel was exiled from Tor Lithanel,
and nowadays his name is forbidden from being uttered within
its walls. Some Elves believe that the vengeful Sarriel still stalks
Laurëlorn’s paths, passing judgement on others.
Torothal, a prophetess and appointed steward of Tor Lithanel,
was lured into a confrontation with the river spirit Niseag.
Although it appeared outwardly that Torothal won the contest
of wills and banished the waterhorse spirit, the opposite was
true. While Torothal appeared to defeat Niseag, the river spirit’s
essence had actually become fused with her own. Under Niseag’s
influence, Torothal charged her people with defending the forest.
Much to their wonder and amazement, the forest moved in
concert with her words and the spirits revealed themselves.
Under Niseag and Torothal’s leadership, the Elves now realised
that they were in a partnership with the forest spirits: a partnership
to defend their mutual interests; a partnership they were
neglecting. Torothal was crowned Queen of the Wood and the
forest spirits have lived in relative harmony with the Elves since
that day. Although Niseag’s essence has made Torothal immortal
over time, her sometimes contradictory personality makes the
demigod a fickle Queen.
Th e Qu e e n o f t h e Wo o d
While the Tor Lithanel outpost remained hidden behind a
veil of illusions, Dwarf war parties scoured the forest for Elven
holdouts, felling pristine woodland as they went. The beardlings
enslaved tree spirits and bound them into magical rune weapons,
infuriating the spirits who were too few in number to confront
the Dwarfs directly. Instead, the forest spirits bided their
time and nurtured a growing resentment towards the Elves for
hiding within their glades instead of defending them. A secret
council was convened, at which Laurëlorn’s spirits formulated a
deception that would leave the Elves with no other course but
to fight.
75
Of Ra t s a n d Me n
In the age of Sigmar Heldenhammer, a group of human nomads
called the Belthani came to worship a nature deity called Ishernos,
and learned the ways of the forest. While the Laurëlorn
Elves tolerated the Belthani outwardly, in private they looked
upon them as pawns to be manipulated. Unfortunately, as more
aggressive and warlike tribes displaced the Belthani, the Elves’
influence diminished in the world of Man.