Reunification!

[Knightfall]

Okay, Spike TV just played the two Star Trek: TNG episodes regarding Reunification. And while it was on I began to wonder "Has anyone thought to use that storyline for a possible elf-drow reunification plot?

Or it could be applied to the Gith races or maybe even dwarves and duergar, if you stretch the concept.

So, who has considered such an idea? Who has actually run an elven (or gith) reunification plotline in their own campaigns? And if you did what was the result?

Cheers!

KF72

 

[Mage of Spellford]

Hi,

I ran a campaign way back in the late 80s to early 90s that
dealt with the reunification of the two races: elf and drow.

The drow in my campaign were not chaotic evil, more extremely lawful-neutral
with some lawful evil tendencies.

The sundering of the two races happened a long time ago, after a
disagreement between two factions of elves over whether or not to use a
divine artifact to fight against powerful evil invaders.
The elf faction that eventually became the drow were cautious and warned
about the unknown consequences of using the divine artifact but the majority
of elfs decided to use it with the predictable dire results.

IMC both of these races were matriarchies with the females
as the landholders as well as rulers. The aim of the campaign was for the heroes to
find the king of the elves, who had been lost since before the
sundering of the two elf races. The two queens would marry him
and thus reunite the two races.

Adding fuel to the fire...the drow were being mercilessly driven upwards
into the sunlit lands above by another enemy and the surface elves were having a
lot of difficulty with humankind that kept pushing back the borders of their
lands.

The great war between the two elf races was fast reaching a climax that would leave both races on the edge of extinction.

The characters did eventually succeed in rescuing the elf king (in the nick of time)
and the two races began the long slow process of setting aside their mutual
distrust and hatred.

As with all things elven the process of reunification will
take a very long time. For now the drow have taken (with elf assistance) a
wild land of rugged mountains and deep mist filled valleys as their own.
There is some trading and commerce between the two races and the drow (now coloquially known as mountain elfs) are being seen more often
even if they are still enigmatic.

One interesting thing is that with the cessation of hostilities between them, both elf races have begun to take steps to deal with the burgeoning problems brought to the world by humans...


And of course the evil invaders have returned and are quietly and carefully preparing...using the friction between the elfs and the other races together with the inherent distrust between the church and the wizard guilds to further their own agendas...

M

 

[Imruphel]

In the 2E Forgotten Realms product Cormanthyr there is a high magic ritual for transforming a drow into a surface elf. I can't recall how much flavour text accompanied it but it might be work a look for some ideas.

In one of the books of Raymond E Feist's original Riftwar trilogy there was a scene where a moredhel (evil elf) returned to the elven home and was transformed into a normal elf. I can't recall whether it was Silverthorn or Darkness at Sethanon.

 

[Knightfall]

In the 2E Forgotten Realms product Cormanthyr there is a high magic ritual for transforming a drow into a surface elf. I can't recall how much flavour text accompanied it but it might be work a look for some ideas.

In one of the books of Raymond E Feist's original Riftwar trilogy there was a scene where a moredhel (evil elf) returned to the elven home and was transformed into a normal elf. I can't recall whether it was Silverthorn or Darkness at Sethanon.

That's interesting, if not a little strange.

If a drow elf really wanted to return to the surface world then I think such a character should have to struggle through the conflicts and what not. Actually transforming a drow character into a surface elf sounds to much like a metagaming thing to me.

But to each there own.

KF72

 

[mara]

That's interesting, if not a little strange.

If a drow elf really wanted to return to the surface world then I think such a character should have to struggle through the conflicts and what not. Actually transforming a drow character into a surface elf sounds to much like a metagaming thing to me.

But to each there own.

KF72

In Feist's work, the physical differences between the elves and the dark elves are minimal. The transformation is subtle, such as a difference in stance and posture that indicate that the dark elf has let go of its aggressive nature. I find the idea of a Faerunian drow changing into a normal elf to be a little odd, as well.

 

[delericho]

Yeah, I ran that very plot some years ago.

I went through a phase with my homebrew that I wanted to remove all traces of TSR IP from the world, including such things as beholders, illithids, and drow. Of these, the only ones that couldn't easily disappear were the drow (or my equivalent thereof). So I had the dark elves and (my equivalent of) the grey elves engage first in a truce, and then full reunification.

Shortly thereafter (about 20 years in-world), the reunited (and extremely xenophobic and insular) race performed a ritual to reclaim the ancient immortality of the elven people that had been lost when the race fractured. It later emerged that the price of this ritual was the lives of the children of the race, and their ability to procreate.

The setting has now had the timeline advanced about 500 years. The reunited elven race has now disappeared. The occasional drow is still encountered, but these are an oddity. And something has gone wrong with my 'regular' elves, the ones who had nothing to do with the immortality/reunification of the dark/grey elves. For the past century, no new elves have been born, although their elders remain very much mortal.

 

[Drowbane]

Yeah, I ran that very plot some years ago.

I went through a phase with my homebrew that I wanted to remove all traces of TSR IP from the world, including such things as beholders, illithids, and drow. Of these, the only ones that couldn't easily disappear were the drow (or my equivalent thereof). So I had the dark elves and (my equivalent of) the grey elves engage first in a truce, and then full reunification.

Shortly thereafter (about 20 years in-world), the reunited (and extremely xenophobic and insular) race performed a ritual to reclaim the ancient immortality of the elven people that had been lost when the race fractured. It later emerged that the price of this ritual was the lives of the children of the race, and their ability to procreate.

The setting has now had the timeline advanced about 500 years. The reunited elven race has now disappeared. The occasional drow is still encountered, but these are an oddity. And something has gone wrong with my 'regular' elves, the ones who had nothing to do with the immortality/reunification of the dark/grey elves. For the past century, no new elves have been born, although their elders remain very much mortal.

And Gruumsh One-eye falls to his knees while thrusting both arms skyward yelling... SCORE!!!

 

[delericho]

And Gruumsh One-eye falls to his knees while thrusting both arms skyward yelling... SCORE!!!

Pretty much.

Although, the orcs in my setting don't know anything about the troubles of the elves, and the orcish gods spend most of their time inflicting troubles on their chosen people (my orcs have a very adversarial relationship with their gods), and tend not to concern themselves with what's going on with other races except to hate them in a non-specific way.

But, certainly, it all ties in with ancient promises and prophecies. Like many worlds, this one has had several ages. The first age was the Age of the Gods, then there was the Age of the Elves and the Age of Men. The setting is now deep into the Fourth Age, but no-one in the setting knows yet who 'owns' this age. Tentatively, it's the Age of the Orc (as it was promised that one day they would inherit the world), but I'm not committed to that as yet, in case I have a better idea.

 

[Piratecat]

In KidCthulhu's Scarred Lands game right now, we're reuniting the ancient friendship of the elves and dwarves that was sundered during the Titan War. The two races had been going to stand united against the common foe, but (convinced that he was going to be betrayed) the dwarven god took his followers to safety. The elves got creamed. Everyone is bitter and has hated one another for years, while evil humans are taking advantage of the rift.

...and we, somehow, may have a chance to fix this. It's pretty thrilling stuff in-game.