The Wood Elf realm of Athel Loren in the heart of the Loren Forest is all that remains of the once numerous Elven colonies of the Old World. Thousands of years ago when the Elves and Dwarfs fought their long and bitter war, most of these colonies were destroyed. Many proud Elf cities fell into ruin, including the great port of Tor Alessi where the Bretonnian city of L'Anguille now stands.
THE PARTING
The Elves left the Old World to face new troubles at home, in the land of Ulthuan, where civil discord was brewing a war which would eventually split their people asunder. However, not all the Elven colonists abandoned their homes. A few refused to do so, and retreated instead into the vast forests of Loren.
THE PEOPLE OF THE WOOD
Wood Elves are physically identical to their cousins the High Elves. They are tall, graceful in all their movements, and extremely agile. The bow is their principle weapon, although they are not afraid of hand-to-hand fighting as they are very skilled warriors. They prefer not to wear much armour, so they can move as quickly as possible through the dense woods. Over the centuries they have grown into a distinct and independent people. They have relinquished all former ties with Ulthuan and its Phoenix Kings, and have chosen to tread their own path of wisdom and natural lore. Today the Wood Elves shun contact with other races and show no mercy to those who invade their woodland realm or who cause malicious damage to its ancient trees. The Elves have grown to love the trees and the woodlands, and have learned to live alongside the spirits of nature and the magical principles of the land. They have distorted the space around their realm by means of strange enchantments, so that it is almost impossible to enter Athel Loren without the leave of the Wood Elves themselves. Most who wander unwelcome into the greenwoods quickly meet with an untimely end, and few that enter with malicious intent ever leave alive.
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The Forest of Loren. |
As they took to their new lives the Elves built shrines to the ancient Elf gods Kurnous and Isha, the wild hunter and the earth mother. The mages discovered places in the forest where magic was strongest, and there they set stones to fix the magic and contain it safely. As the Elves made new shrines and uncovered new sources of magic the forest itself seemed to respond, as if the primeval spirits were being called forth from trees and stones.
THE KING AND QUEEN IN THE WOOD
From the oldest tree in the forest, the Oak of Ages, came forth the King and Queen in the Wood to rule over the Elves. In the outside world stories began to circulate of the magical realm of the King and Queen in the Wood, gods made flesh to rule over the land of Athel Loren. Few dared to enter the woods, whilst in far away lands the very name of Loren was enough to conjure images of sorcerous deception and mysterious power.
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