Races of Wild

CHAPTER 1ELVES26built. Down crashed the fortress around Gruumsh’s ears,allowing Araushnee to escape.Enraged, Gruumsh seized his morningstar and ran acrossthe land to confront his enemy, all the while with Corellon’sarrows raining down upon him. The two gods clashed with afury that rocked the newly born world. Furiously they foughtfor a day and a night. Araushnee, who hoped that Corellon’sdeath might give her the opportunity to rise as queen over theSeldarine, secretly aided the orc god. Other gods joined thefight on both sides, and fire rained down from the heavens.On and on went the divine battle thereafter known as theFirst War.At last, the other gods began to withdraw, their strengthand their fury spent. Gruumsh and Corellon fought on, theorc lord’s power waxing in the dark of night while Corellongained in strength during the day. At last, Gruumsh’sgreater physical strength and endurance began to prevailover Corellon’s dancing blade, and the orc god pressed hisadvantage. Corellon turned his stricken, bleeding face tothe sky, and the tears of Sehanine Moonbow, another ofthe Seldarine, fell upon it, giving him the strength for afinal strike. Turning back to his foe, Corellon plucked outGruumsh’s eye with a single, well-placed sword stroke.The orc lord howled with pain and ran from the field ofbattle. Known as One-Eye forever after, he nurses hishatred of the Seldarine in the dark recesses of the world,plotting revenge.Corellon gathered up the soil that had soaked up his bloodand Sehanine’s tears and formed it into mortal beings ofunearthly beauty, which he called elves. Corellon fashionedelves in the image of each member of the Seldarine, thenset them upon the earth to be its stewards. Infused with thedivine power of gods’ blood and tears, the elves took controlof earth’s forested lands, seas, and skies.Araushnee’s treachery did not go unpunished. For herbetrayal, Araushnee was cast out of the Seldarine and transformedinto a demonic spider-form. Renaming herself Lolth,she called to the elves created in her image, the drow, andretreated with them beneath the earth. Sehanine Moonbow,whose tears had given Corellon strength in his time of needand whose silver light had revealed Araushnee’s evil, becameCorellon’s new consort.Seeing the creations of the Seldarine, the other godsscrambled to emulate them. However, their hurry was toogreat, and each of their creations was but a flawed, forlornimitation of the magnificent elves. Because of these flaws, theother races could not live as long as elves or reach the sameheights of civilization. Still, the elves were kind to those racesthat had good hearts and helped them to establish themselves.The orcs, however, seek always to avenge themselves on theelves for their god’s mutilation, and the two races have nurseda deep-seated enmity ever since.LEGENDSElves do not have as many legends as dwarves, gnomes, andhalflings do, but the ones they do espouse are carefully preservedand passed on from one generation to the next. Sinceelves have longer lives than the other mortal races, their taleshave passed through fewer generations; thus, they remaincloser to the “truth” than the tales of other folk, which arediscounted by the elves as mere myth.Elves have raised storytelling to a high art, and nearlyeveryone, not just bards and troubadours, practices it. Manyyoung elves aspire to the kinds of heroism described in thestories, but most simply enjoy listening to their fellows spintales under the stars.Many elven tales tell of heroes, magical might, and greatdeeds of old. A few are cautionary tales told to keep youngelves from acting too rashly or trusting too easily. Most elveslearn all the classic tales of their race before they reach theage of 50, but new heroes are always making new legends totell under the stars.The following are some of the most popular elven legendsever told. Elves consider them all true, as far they know.The Apples of EphiniaLong, long ago, there lived an elf named Ephinia wholoved both the natural world and arcane magic. Over thecenturies, her talents for nurturing growing things and forcreating new spells grew until she was the most celebratedelf in her city. Her gardens were places of wild beauty wherethe loveliest flowers grew in profusion and the earth gaveforth the most delectable fruits seemingly at her command.Everyone knew that her plants were touched with magic,because who else but she could grow lilies edged in silver,nuts of every hue, and sunflowers that sang songs to the sky?Some in her city said that her gardens were unnatural, butmost saw her achievements as a perfect melding of natureand magic.In the prime of her life, Ephinia achieved her greatestwork: a tree that bore apples made of ruby. The tree becamethe centerpiece of her garden, and Ephinia was acclaimedas queen for her magical prowess. The elf city prosperedunder her wise guidance, and all was well for the next twohundred years.At last, however, the city fell on hard times. A greatgreen dragon moved into the nearby forest, and its predationsdrove game from the area and poisoned the land.Orcs came in the dragon’s wake and began to drive awaythe friendly humanoids with whom the elves traded.Ephinia created a magic shield over the city to keep outnonelves, and her magic kept her people fed, though thecity was isolated from all other races. Several elves wentforth to slay the dragon in hopes of freeing their city, butnone returned.Then a strange young elf calling himself Ervadrith arrivedin the city, claiming to be a great-nephew of one of the elders.He said that his parents had been slain by the green dragonwhile accompanying him here. He was taken in for fosteringdespite the lack of a family member to present himproperly. Ervadrith showed a keen interest in gardening, andeventually he earned the right to tend the queen’s garden