Elorii: Elves of Arcanis
Once the Ss'ressen were the dominant race on Arcanis. Their empire spanned the continent of Onara, and they conquered or slew all other elder races (ie humanoids). But as their empire aged it grew decadent, and they began to seek more time away from work for their own pleasures and interests.
At first the Ss'ressen wizards were tasked with summoning elementals as slaves. But this did not work very well, as the elementals were present for a limited time. Also, it placed great demands on the wizards. Finally, the wizards summoned the four Elemental Lords, and struck a bargain with them: the Elemental Lords would create a slave race for the Ss'ressen, and the wizards would help this race organize a religion of elemental worship, thus elevating the Lords to godhood. As an additional gesture, the wizards gave to the Lords the Orb of Ankar, an artifact ancient even to the Ss'ressen. The Orb was said to contain the spirit of Life itself.
The Elemental Lords agreed to the bargain, and freed the spirit of Life so that she may grant them material forms on the world. The five of them worked with the wizards in a great ritual to create the five bloolines of the elves, one for each element.
For centuries the elves were a valued part of Ss'ressen society, treated with respect as valued servants. But as the Ss'ressen grew ever more decadent, the elves were treated worse and worse. Eventually, they were worked to death, subjected to foul experiments, and tortured and killed for amusement. Angered at the treatment of their people, the Elemental Lords helped the elves revolt against the Ss'ressen, defeating them so completely that the most serpent men are now nothing but monstrous barbarians.
The elves built their own empire and ruled in place of the Ss'ressen, but without slavery, which they naturally found abhorrent. For many centuries the elves lived in a Golden Age, but then outsiders came- two different groups of humans.
This is where variations of history occur. The elves claim that the first group of humans, whose name is now lost, were peaceful scholars and philosophers. The second group of humans are the ones who currently inhabit Arcanis, and they claim that the first group were servants of an evil outside influence referred to in their texts simply as the Other. These humans were led by the current Pantheon of gods, and would eventually give rise to the Val. They claim that survivors of the first race of humans can be seen in the dark kin.
It is generally agreed upon that these two groups of humans were at war. Elven legends state that they originally sided with the forces of the Pantheon because the first humans had stolen away their Life goddess, Belisarda. But the kidnapping of Belisarda turned out to be somehow benevolent, while the Pantheon turned on the elves and slew the four Elemental Lords, leaving Belisarda as the sole elven goddess. In the course of this, war broke out between the elves and the humans, and the elves eventually retreated to the sanctuary of Vastwood, which became their new kingdom.
The Mother Church, which serves the human Pantheon, naturally refutes these claims. Their history does not extend back this far, and they say claim the elves are lying. Some very early human legends do speak of a stuggle with the Other, and of war with the elves, but the details are not given. Ancient ballads and poems refer to these events as times long ago.
According to elven history, all this occurred roughly 5000 years ago. While the Elorii are technically immortal, none claims to have been alive then- although they also believe in reincarnation, so some elorii do have memories of past lives from that era. The elves recommitted themselves to their single Goddess, who issued a prophecy stating that the Elemental Lords were not entirely dead, and that they would eventually return. This would be the Time of Vengeance, when they would fall upon the Pantheon and their followers and repay their treachery. However, Belisarda also warned that not all humans deserved to die, and that many were the dupes of their evil gods. In addition, she said that the humans would be needed to repell a great evil, so the elves must bide their time and ensure that their vengeance did not fall upon the innocent or the just.
Many elven oracles believe that the Time of Vengeance is approaching. The humans are fragmenting, their gods are distant, and church and empire are rife with internal struggle. A few centuries ago, the elders dispatched agents known as teh Laerestri- or "wanderers"- to travel human lands and take stock of the situation. The Laerestri have now had three or four different generations over the years- some have even settled outside the forests and made families of their own. Many wanderers are seeing the wisdom of the goddess' words with the humans- that not all are evil, and that those existing today are a far cry from their barbaric ancestors. Whether or not they can convince the elders of this remains to be seen.
... besides, the poison spell is far more effective than most of the poisons on that table.
