History of the elves

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A sub-specie of humanity, elves have the advantage of greater longevity (often living 4 centuries) and a natural aptitude for magic. In ancient times, they developed an isolationist culture, joining together in the floating city of Avalon off the British coasts. While most elves would remain within the city their entire lives, a few would journey to the outside world for diverse reasons. These isolated travelers spawned many legends, and left many magical artifacts that remain important to this day. In particular, some elves (under the direction of the demigoddess ((The Lady of the Lake]]) interacted with the warlord whom legends would remember as King Arthur; the human king was gifted with Excalibur, one of the most powerful weapons created by Avalon's mages, and later on placed in stasis in a crypt within the city, intended to awaken one day to wield Excalibur once more. More and more frequent dealings with the expanding human population, however, drove the isolationist culture to move the city up in the sky, above the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

The elves have had their share of conflict over the centuries. Around the time of King Arthur's reign, they had to fight against the dragons in the Wyrm War. A couple of centuries later, it was internal conflict that threatened the city, as two political factions attempted to shape Avalon's culture: The faction of Order, which pushed for duty, honor, and personal responsibility, was opposed by the faction of Chaos, which favored freedom and change. Civil war almost broke out, but eventually, peace was maintained - by way of secession, as the partisans of Chaos left Avalon to create their own city on the other side of the ocean, Wunderburg. The two cities have had limited interactions.


The greatest wizards of Avalon (sorcerers of power levels 13-14) were given the titles of arch-mages. One such arch-mage, Nollius, was also a particularly cruel and ambitious statesman. Capitalizing on that, Asmodeus - the King of Hell - gave Nollius powers beyond those of any mortal wizard, further corrupting him in the process (see The politics of Hell). Nollius took his time plotting a coup, then finally had most of the arch-mages killed and took over Avalon. It was his intent to use it as a base from which to conquer Wunderburg, then enslave mankind, but that would not come to pass.

After the faction of Chaos had left to establish Wunderburg, the remaining faction of Order had set the tone of Avalon's culture. Its people strongly believed in duty and responsibility. Unfortunately for Nollius, they saw his crimes as their collective responsibility - and thus, their duty was to protect Wunderburg (and to a lesser extent humanity) from him. Together, the people of Avalon cast a massive ritual as a desperate measure - the ritual that banished all magic to Limbo. The world at large was safe from Nollius...But Avalon itself would remain in his grip for the next millennium.

Today, the elves of Avalon serve Nollius obediently - several generations were enough for the mighty sorcerer to reshape Avalon's culture. Wunderburg, by contrast, is still in Limbo. Nollius has been watching closely, trying to determine when this potential rival city will return to the world. His research suggests that the area it is returning to is, in fact, Megalopolis - which suits the sorcerer just fine, as Wunderburg's return will cause the two cities to collide in a cataclysm that will destroy both.


Plot seeds:

  • Artifact Hunt: Powerful magical objects from Wunderburg - possibly god-crafted - have been discovered in Megalopolis. Nollius is willing to go to great lengths to obtain them, but he may not be the only one...
  • When Cities Collide: Wunderburg is about to return from Limbo, destroying both the elven city and Megalopolis in the process. Can the heroes discover the imminent disaster on time, and avert it?
  • The God-King of Avalon: Being the most powerful wizard in the world is not enough for Nollius - he intends to achieve true godhood, and the Avatar may end up being the sorcerer's unwilling tool...