History of the Eladrin in Dort

From legend to life to being hunted, the story of the Eladrin in Dort is one of greatness and, also, great sorrow.

Before ages, in the time even before the Ancients, it is rumored that Ix created creatures of magical power, but didn't want to put them in the realm of the worlds. Many scholars proport the realm was the Fey realm, known as the Feywild. It was a realm unstrained by the physics of the real world where extreme things were happening. From these rumors of old, it is said many of the races that exist now from the Fey came directly from Ix toying around with sentient life before life was created on Dort. One such race believed to be older than even the Ancients is the Eladrin. They are said to also be the template used when the Elves were created. In some of the wildest rumors, it is said that Ix walked with the Eladrin.

For tens of thousands of years, the Eladrin resided within the Fey, happy, content and full of life. Mastering the magic there and being imbued with it, they took on some of the chaotic characteristics of the Feywild. As time progressed, the Fey living in the Feywild explored their realm and gained in knowledge. The scholars of the Eladrin explored their realm and their universe, some couldn't come to understand the rules of the realm nor the chaos that was every present there. They imagined something else much less chaotic must exist. After generations, a young wizard accidentially discovered how to create a portal by misreading some of the Ancient language he'd studied. That portal opened up to the prime material plane. As he peered through the portal, he saw a world bland, uniform and without change. He first thought it was a picture, static. After a few minutes of staring into the new portal he'd opened, he saw movement and began to realize it was what the scholars said should exist out there.

This discovery lead to a sharp division among the Eladrin. Many wanted nothing to do with the new world and some of those also wanted no one else to interact with the new world. Some wanted to explore the new world, yet others were content to just know it existed and didn't care either way. Those who wanted to go and those who didn't want anyone to go clashed heavily. As this information spread across the Feywild to all of the Eladrin clans, each one wanted to ensure they also had a say in the use or banning of using the portal. Sides lined up and no decision seemed to work for all parties. Eventually, at a particularly heated discussion, one side attacked the other side. Of course, both sides claimed the other side provoked the attack or lied about who started it. In the end, it doesn't matter, once the world of the violence got out, the attacks spread to many of the clans. After many dead Eladrin, the people who were indifferent about the discovery had had enough, losing loved ones, and stood up and said that those who wish to go can, but those who do can't come back.

When the dust settled, the Eladrin who wanted to go got together and gathered what they believed would be useful in this new world, supplies, food, and whatever else they could gather. The wizard who'd discovered the portal was summoned and asked to open the portal again (as no one had been able to reproduce the portal's spell). He opened a portal and tens of thousands of Eladrin entered the world. The wizard stayed behind and, once the portal was closed, there was no way for the Eladrin to return.

Every few years after that, the wizard would gather those who wished to leave and would open a portal to allow them to leave. As time progressed, the clan rulers abused this exile and would send criminals to the new world. Even more secretly, they would pay the wizard wild sums of money to allow them to go and come back. A black market of food, materials and supplies from the new world started in the Feywild.

As the Eladrin came into the new world, the first shock was the lack of change and the absence of magic. The world was so harsh, hard, bland and boring. Many of the exiles regretted their choice to come to the new world within the first few months. The food was different, some of the things they thought were food were not, and Eladrin died as they worked through what they could eat and how to navigate this new world's weather and day/night patterns and, soon after that, seasons.

As the Eladrin came into the world, many people believe it was Antaea they landed on, tens of thousands of new beings in a kingdom was certain to get the attention of the local lord. Except, they came though in a largely unsettled area, still claimed by a king, but it was miles away from any settlement. It wasn't until a couple of human explorers, Wetha and Frost, encountered the Eladrin that the Eladrin were even aware that other intelligent being existed. Wetha and Frost wrote extensively about their first encounter with the Eladrin. They'd observed the Eladrin for a couple weeks before they were discovered. Since neither spoke the other's language, it was a tense meeting. In Frost's account, they were taken to the chief of the clan and set down infront of their scholars who asked them a variety of questions, which they couldn't understand, and cast various spells on them. They took all of their supplies and equipment to examine. Left them almost naked.

With some basic communication hand gestures, the Eladrin were satisfied these people weren't a threat and they weren't also harmful to them. Wetha and their scholar set to the task of learning each other's language. They stayed with them for a couple years, Frost returning to their leader to tell them about the group with his notes while Wetha stayed.

As the Eladrin learned the local language, some of the history and the customs of the new world they were in, they realized they had a lot in common with the peoples here. The local lord, at some point, came to visit the group. Both out of curiousity and to assess if they were going to be a true threat. The lord was welcomed as the elders in the Eladrin were trusting and the lord took the trust to learn all about them and their capabilities. He was terrified at their ease of innate magic use. The ability to shift forms and their ability to step easily at distances. However, he also noticed the Eladrin weren't a warlike people by nature and sensed no hostility from them. He decided to trust they would leave him alone and not be a threat to his rule.

Word spread rapidly once the lord returned with his court from the first meeting. The stories of the Eladrin were wildly exaggerated and spread quickly and far. People from far away came to visit the Eladrin and see if the rumors were true. Foreign kings sent spies and agents to check on the rumors of their magical abilities and their desire to be peaceful. As some of the Eladrin wondered out to the world around them, having learned the language, they found a lot of people didn't trust them to begin with. A foreign feeling for many of the Eladrin. There was an uneasy acceptance for most of the races of the world. Except the elves.

After a few hundred years of the Eladrin being in Dort and becoming part of society, albeit a small portion of society as they'd remained largely in Antaea and didn't grow their numbers much, a disupte arose between the elven scholars and the Eladrin historians over which race was first. The Elves claimed they'd been the first race created, disputing the Dwarven claim of the same, and that they clearly were the template for the Eladrin, while the Eladrin claimed they have existed for tens of thousands of years. The Elves, having learned about the Feywild said there was no way time worked the same way, while the Eladrin pointed out their ancient history includes walking with Ix. The Elves came after the Ancient betrayal of Ix, so resented the Eladrin for being before them.

Some of the Elves, full of pride, wanted to eliminate these - as they called them - false elves as they saw them as impure and incorrect versions of the better, true elf form. They also didn't want people to inter race marry. They called themselves the Zealots of Pasha, as Pasha was the first elf to declare the Eldarin as corrupted versions of what a true elf is. The Zealots of Pasha grew in numbers and power and began to plan on what to do. They had spies within the Eladrin community and learned about the portal and the abuses from the other side. They plotted with some of the Eladrin from the Feywild who never wanted the portal to be opened to stop the influx of Eladrin.

Once the Zealot of Pasha had everything in place, the conspirators from the Feywild set the wizard to open the portal at a specific time and spot and the elves were waiting on the other side, and they rushed in, attacked and killed the wizard and then exited the portal and went on a rampage, attacking the Eladrin where ever they were found.

The lord of the land where they'd largely taken up residence sent troops out to defend the Eladrin and, after a bloody and deadly battle, the Zealots were defeated. But the damage was done, the numbers of the Eldarin were drastically low.

The Eladrin, not wanting to be made extinct in the world, got together and decided to split apart and take up residences around the world so that they couldn't be eaily targeted as a unified group. While the Zealots were defeated and most of the world supported the Eladrin and even provided support and offered protection, the trust was broken. The Eladrin wondered Dort looking for places to settle and they settled in all four corners of the world. Kingdoms who had Eladrin settle in them provided them with lands and places to live. Most Eladrin settled in smaller towns and villages across the world, avoiding larger cities and avoiding overly elvin settlements. For centuries, the Eladrin maintained marriages and growing their population until the new generations had no connection to the betrayal of the elves and began to travel, settle and intermingle with all races of the world. As with all long lived races, the population growth is slow and, until this day, there are very few Eladrin in the world. Even less that travel much.

In very recent times, a magician, Qualin, unlocked a way to drain the very essence of the Eladrin and their magic. Qualin uses the magicial essense of the Eldarin to perform rituals, she is looking to unlock the secrets of travel to the Feywild. She calls the extracted magical essence feyion. The draining process usually kills the Eladrin, but if it doesn't, they're unable to switch appearances and lose all fey abilities.