D&D 5E Corellon, the Elven Schism and Manichaeism

[SehanineMoonbow]

Mordekainen elf lore is the best elf lore official D&D has ever had. They are all constantly reincarnating divine blood droplets trying to free themselves from their past mistake of becoming too attached to a form and plane so that they can once again experience true happiness and freedom. Alongside this, they grow up slowly because they are blighted by their own past memories, and only once they reach adulthood are they able to actually make new memories. Then, as they age, they begin to be sucked into their past memories again, and rooted to their old lives they "leave" this world and die.

Its such a cool twist on Buddhism for fantasy and its a big shame people don't talk about or use it more.

I haven't been a fan of most of the lore changes MToF made to the elf and drow lore, as I said above, but put the way you did, I guess it does lend itself to some poetry. Elves have always believed in reincarnation, but MToF turned it into a forced thing, whereas before, Arvandor had been a reward, rather than what I call a temporary summer home. And the drow are portrayed as somewhat soulless (even the Eilistraeens). Can't say I'm a fan, but I agree the memory of past lives, and the struggle to atone, along with the Mysteries of Arvandor, does lend itself to poetry.

What I did like is that they kept the gender fluidty of the Seldarine (Corellon's been the best known for it, but it's true for all the members), and that the elves were born of Corellon's blood.

 

[Azzy]

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes actually changed a lot of elf and drow lore that had otherwise been fairly consistent. The whole primal elf thing, how/why Lolth betrayed Corellon, and the elves being denied permanent residence in Arvandor, plus the whole cutting out the tongue thing with Vhaeraun, are all things that were hitherto not a part of elf and drow lore (MToF also paints drow as kind of soulless). The only thing that MToF really kept was the gender fluidity of the Seldarine and that the elves sprang from Corellon's blood in his fight with Gruumsh. Even if it is an unreliable narrator, the changes seemed pretty random to me, even if some of it was poetic, considering beforehand the lore had been fairly consistent. I've gone into extensive rants about MToF lol.

Yeah, that's pretty much how I felt about the Realms-specific lore about Lolth being a former goddess of the Seldarine becoming the assumed standard for non-Realms settings. As far as I'm concerned drow still just worship major demons (like Lolth, Grazzt, etc.) and elder evils (Elder Elemental Eye, Tharizdun, etc.), Lolth only being one of the most popular.