For more than two millenia, the island kingdom of Narevoreen has lived in splendid isolation. The elves achieved an advanced and stable civilization while most humans still lived in primitive tribes, and thanks to their stable population never felt the urge to expand. Powerful magics and a large fleet protected its borders and turned away all outsiders. Any humans who washed ashore were put to death. It seemed to the inhabitants of the islands that this life would continue indefinietly. They were wrong.The only elves who regularly interacted with the outside world were the members the Royal Navy. They were tasked with the defense of the islands, but individual captains often sailed to other locations to trade, explore, and sometimes raid them. The Navy High Command turned a blind eye to these activities as long as there was no immediate threat to the islands and figured that this was good training. However, in recent decades the activities of elven pirates along the western coast of the continent started to seriously disrupt sea trade between the human port cities.
Finally, the human cities had enough. Five years ago, a coalition of port cities assembled a vast fleet of the most modern human ships, staffed with expert sailors and the most experienced battle wizards the cities had to offer and sailed towards Narevoreen to put an end to the elven pirates once and for all. The elven Navy met them head on, confident in their superiority.
To their shock, the humans won, and most of the Navy, the pride of Narevoreen, sank to the ocean floor. The human fleet sent representatives who demanded that Narevoreen should (a) stop supporting pirates, (b) pay compensation for the damage caused by elven pirates, and (c) open up one of their coastal cities to trade with the human cities. Refusal of these demands would cause the human fleets to continue to lay siege to the islands.
The representatives of Queen Meeral hastily agreed. Any elven captains that didn't stop to stoop to piracy were declared renegades (though some elements in the nation continue to give them covert support). The compensation was easily paid - the treasures accumulated over the centuries were much vaster than the humans had even dreamt of. And the city of Navar was opened up to welcome foreign traders.
Many members of the Elven Court now realized that the nation had to modernize - and fast, before the human cities became even more powerful and turn Narevoreen into a mere colony. So they set out to turn elven society upside down. The brightest young elves were sent abroad to human cities to study their ways and learn their advanced technologies - both magical and otherwise. Human-style commerce gradually supplanted the old informal barter system. The first railroads and Nexus Towers were erected. Some mages even started to experiment with fertility magics to offset the traditionally low elven birth rate. And one year ago, to the surprise of the humans, the nation opened up to outsiders completely, and now foreigners can recieve permits to stay in the islands for up to three months (longer in special cases) without any hindrances.
While the progressive elements have the ear of the Queen for the moment, many traditionalists vehemently oppose this movement, and have been exiled to small, distant islands for the most part, where they plot in secret to purify the nations of all outside influence. Their elven patience is sorely taxed by the rapid changes moving through their society, and some grow increasingly desperate and will resort to violence soon.
If they knew that members of the Court are currently secretly negotiating for a political marriage between the Queen and the Doge of Atalus, the ruler of the largest and most powerful human city of all, they might try to start an all-out civil war.
Industries
Life and Society
Government and Politics
Groups and Organisations
Erquar: The progressive faction currently dominates the Royal Court, and have strongly pushed the "modernization" of Narevoreen ahead - with visible results in some of the major cities. However, first strains are beginning to show in this faction, as the ultimate goals of its members diverge. Some want to merely catch up to human magical and technological knowledge so that they can close the Realm again, secure in their new defenses. Others want to establish permanent trade links to human cities, especially Atalus. And others still want to use this newfound knowledge for revenge against the humans - or even establish a new elven empire with colonies on the continent! Queen Meera seems to be merely observing these conflicts, but in reality is actively subtly shaping them into a direction that suits her needs.Naurimar: The traditionalist faction has mostly been removed from the Royal Court, though some members still remain there - either by hiding their true allegiance, or by having enough blackmail material on other Court members to make their removeal problematic. The Naurimar faction fights the changes in the Realm, as well as its opening to humans, with all the power they have, but most of them realize that they are currently fighting a loosing battle in the political arena of the realm. Some of them have retreated to more remote power bases, while others try to engange in subtle sabotage against the humans and those who deal with them. Many, however, feel that their time is running out, and they might soon resort to large-scale rebellion - or even outright war. They justify this by claiming that the Erquar are holding their beloved Queen hostage - not realizing that behind the scenes the Queen herself is one of the biggest forces for change.
Neidar: This large clan of elves is famous for its smiths and enchanters, and the most potent artifacts in the history of Narevoreen were created by them. After the opening of Narevoreen to the world, an increasingly large number of elves from this clan have set out into the world to search for the Tingmaril, jewels fashioned by a famous ancestor of the clan in the early years of Narevoreen which were stolen by a demonic entity of vast power.
Religion
Important NPCs
- Queen Meeral (N female elf ari6/sor7) was an extremely intelligent and charismatic women, and highly qualified to rule her realm even apart from her birth into the royal family. But most of the job of governing her realm was traditionally left to the members of the Royal Court, leaving her with little to do other than performing the public ceremonies tradition expected of her, raising the four children she had with her now deceased royal consort, and dabbling in the arcane. In short, she was extemely bored, but it seemed like there was nothing she could do to change this. But all this changed five years ago.Like most elves of Narevoreen, she had never seen a human before and believed the stories that they were nothing more than uncouth, hairy barbarians with nothing to offer the elves. The defeat of the Elven Navy by the rag-tag coalition of human cities was as much of a shock to her as to any other elves. But what really surprised her was the Doge of Atalus, who came personally to the negotiations for the peace treaty. He bowed to her, charmed her with his wits, and spoke of great possibilities in a future alliance between her realm and his city - all in flawless Elvish. He then skillfully outmaneuvered the other human negotiators and made sure they gained mere tokens for their efforts in this war, all the way letting them believe that they had recieved a grand price. When the city of Navar opened, it was merchants from Atalus who established their presence first and made the biggest wins.
All in all, the Queen realized that she had finally found her intellectual equal in this human who was a mere quarter of her age - and what was more, unlike too many of her advisors, he was not bound by the stifling elven traditions, and his skill at politics far exceeded that of anyone else she had ever met. It wasn't Meera who first suggested the poltical marriage - an old elven tradition to bring peace between warring clans - but she readily agreed. While her advisors think of this as nothing more than a political gesture of goodwill towards the human cities (they certainly do not expect children or even heirs to the kingdom to come from this union - even if the Doge would dare to touch her and the Queen permit it, they expect the Queen to use the commonly available elven anti-pregnancy medicines), the Queen dreams of a true partnership between them. She feels the Doge has much to teach her - and when she has learned everything, they will shake up the world.
At the very least, it will be interesting to see what happens next.
- Alande (CN elven female rgr5/ftr5/wiz4) is one of the most infamous elven pirates, and despite being declared renegade by the Royal Court and having a huge bounty placed on her head by various coastal cities, she remains at large and continues to plunder merchant ships along the western coast lines. She recieves covert support from certain members of the Naurimar faction, but the truth is that she secretly likes the opening of Narevoreen to new ideas. She hopes to gather enough followers to conquer a small coastal realm of her own - and then be welcomed back by the Royal Court as a colonial governor.
Major Geographical Features
Forest of Fomoraig: Elves are not the sole inhabitants of Narevoreen, though they certainly are the most prominent in most regions. Not so in the Forest of Fomoraig, where satyrs, centaurs, and a multitude of fey creatures live and hold their own councel. Any visitors are advised to be on their best behaviour at all times, for while the inhabitants can be generous and curious about outsiders, they are also capricious and wrathful when offended.Lake of Ormalluin: This lake sits at the center of the largest island, and is considered to be the heart and soul of the elven people. Two unique kinds of trees with silver and golden bark and leaves are found on its shores - the silver ones on the northern shore, and the golden ones at the southern shore.
Now the lake has become a popular destination for tourists from the continent, and many elves are outraged to find grafitty cut into the bark of the sacred trees.
The Stone Coast: This stretch of coast was the location of an earlier invasion attempt by the Atalan Empire. Several legions of Atalan soldiers landed here, only to turn to stone to a man once the sorcerous defenses of the islands were ready. The statues of the men that once were still stand on the beach, as a silent testimony to the magic of the elves.
Many people - including many elves - wonder why a land that was able to defeat an earlier invasion so easily could not deal with the recent human fleet. The truth is that this feat was not easy, and only the most learned sages of the Royal Court know what the elves had to sacrifice for making it happen.
Important Towns and Cities
Eluvanar (Small City, 78,735): Located on the westernmost island, Eluvanar is the capital of Narevoreen. Its location symbolized the realm's detachment from the affairs of the continent, and by implication, the affairs of humanity. Now that isolation is over, and for the first time in elven memory, humans have begun to visit the capital. And a splendid view it is to their eyes - soaring buildings of stone and marble carved to the finest specifications conceived of elven aesthetics meld together seamlessly with elven tree architecture to make a city that seems more majestic and alive than human cities many times its size.Eluvanar also has the largest port in Narevoreen, though these days Navar sees more traffic. The large fishing fleet aside, Eluvanar is now the starting point for many elven expeditions exploring the oceans to the west, north and south, for many adventurous elves hope that in some distant land across the sea they will find knowledge or magic that allows them to make their realm safe from the humans again.
Ibeth (Town, 17,744): Long a city of scholars and wizards, this city now boasts several schools and universities dedicated to studying human technology and magic. Most of the elves who leave for the human cities return there periodically to hold lectures on their findings, and there are always several projects going on tryint to recreate this or that human innovation. There are also now several human guest professors who have been enticed by the promises of excellent wages and the opportunity to study this new land and its strange customs and inhabitants from up close. Some of these people have "gone native" and married into elven families. As a result, many of the conservatives see this city as an example of everything that has gone wrong with their nation.
Navar (Town, 13,423): The only city in Narevoreen open to humans until very recently, and still the only port open to human ships, this port serves as a popular way station for ships wishing to travel across the Western Ocean. While supplies here are quite expensive, they also tend to be of the highest quality. The Foreigner's Quarter, the part of town where humans are allowed to stay indefinietly (as opposed to the three-month limit for the rest of the nation), is rather small, and thus very cramped compared to the the rest of the city. However, it is very lively - elven merchants and craftsmen trying to sell their wares for the highest bidder, rowdy sailors enjoying their last chance for drunken revelry before heading out to the sea, and young and curious elves asking traveller about the wider world are common sights here. Since the elves don't recognize the laws of other nations, Navar has also become a refugee for criminals from all over the Known Lands - as long as they have not harmed any elves, and as long as they don't disturb the peace in Navar, the elves do not mind their presence.
Toressea (Small Town, 6,442): A small island facing the continent to the East, Toressea was the impregnable fortress that guarded access to the islands. Its mythos of invulnerability vanished when the fortress was heavily damaged by the human fleet and its defenders were beaten. Now the elven sailors and marines overseeing its reconstruction must watch helplessly as more and more human ships arrive in the sacred waters of Narevoreen. They are spoiling for a rematch, but they are all too aware that their time has not come yet.