Evernia Part 1: The Elves and the Dwarves

Elves and Dwarves, Dwarves and Elves.  Evernia.

Most of the Southern Mountains rise up close to the Sea of Storms, sheltering Nerath and the Thousand Kingdoms from the Sea of Storms.  Evernia, on the very eastern end of the Southern Mountains, is the exception to this rule - a large land of rainforest and rivers on the south side of the Great Mountains.

Evernia is dominated by the World Tree.  This massive tree towers above the rest of the rainforest, often looking more like a small, greenery-covered mountain than a tree.  It is old beyond measure, scarred with burns from ages past, and with a root system that stretches throughout Evernia.

It also is, according to legend, the origin of all elves and the source of all nature magic.

The World Tree shelters Evernia from the worst of the Sea of Storms, and on its massive boughs the elves once grew the Nine Cities of the World Tree, which eventually joined to become Evernia City.

----

Long ago, when the Elves had recently emerged from the World Tree and were growing the Nine Cities, the World Tree let them know it was under organized attack.  The leaves whispered of an army of blades, and the branched creaked with the marching of metal-shod boots.

The elves ventured down from the World Tree and looked for this menace, but while they scoured Evernia from the sea to the mountains, they found no army.  They climbed the mountain and explored the plains of what would eventually become Nerath, and even set sail over the Tranquil Sea to explore the land beyond - the land that would eventually become the Thousand Kingdoms.  The threat, however, was never found.

After the Nine Cities were well established, many elves who did not want to live in the cities ventured down into the forests, creating small villages in the canopies of the (relatively) lesser trees of the rainforest.  While most of the forest grew on the roots of the World Tree, the forests also extended up the south side of the Great Mountain, enjoying the plentiful sunside on the southern slopes.

Here the ground was dirt over stone, rather than over the World Tree's roots, and once settled, the Elves observed that they were not alone.  During the night, short creatures would emerge from the ground, cut the trunks of trees away from the trees' roots, and carry those trunks into their holes.

Their curiosity piqued, the Elves met some of these short creatures, and eventually befriended what they called "Dwarves".  In time, the Elves learned that the Dwarves lived throughout the Southern Mountains, digging out great halls or rediscovering those of centuries past.

The Dwarves taught the Elves the secrets of metalcraft, and the Elves taught the Dwarves the secrets of magic.

Things were good, for a time.

Yet this time of harmony inevitably came to an end: As the Elves learned just how extensive the dwarven tunnels were, they realized that the army attacking the World Tree was doing so from below - generations of dwarves had been mining the roots of the world tree for wood.

Other trees came and went, but the World Tree was sacred, it was the origin of Elves, their protector, and the source of their life and magic, all in one.  This was sacrilege.

And so the elves waged war on the Dwarves, using their magic and their new steel weapons.  The Dwarves defended themselves, using their steel and their new magical knowledge.

But more than the skill, tools, or numbers of the combatants, the war was decided by battleground - the Elves could never conquer or keep any of the underground dwarven outposts, any more than the Dwarves could occupy the arboreal villages and towns of the elves.  Moreover, the Elves never were able to conquer a single dwarven hall, and the Dwarves never so much as set foot in the Nine Cities.

Eventually the conflict reached a stalemate, and the elves, realizing their vengeance on behalf of the World Tree would never be complete, instead offered a peace treaty to the Dwarves - never touch the roots of the World Tree again, and we will forgive your past transgressions.

The dwarven halls, one by one, eventually accepted the peace treaty.  In time, additional treaties were made: Elves would be allowed in the Dwarven Halls beneath Evernia and allowed to monitor the World Tree's roots in exchange for a continuous supply of wood. Dwarves were given free access to the Nine Cities in exchange for building fortresses on the Southern Mountains to protect  Evernia against the human tribesmen in the north.  Elves taught the Dwarves the secrets of boat-building in exchange for a cut of any dwarven crafts sold overseas  (though this turned out to be fiasco, as dwarves became notorious for sea-sickness).  Dwarves built tunnels linking the Elves in Evernia with their brethren in forests far away, in exchange for elvish help altering their native fungus to produce usable wood and light.

As the centuries past by, the Elves and the Dwarves grew closer and closer.  The Nine Cities connected themselves, and the new Evernia City was home to countless elves and dwarves.  Similarly, the dwarven metropolis of Roothome, directly beneath Evernia City, became host to a mixed population of elves and dwarves.

Things were good, for a time.

Of course, the human tribesmen to the north, living on the mountains and the plains, did not stay tribesmen forever.  While the elves and the dwarves enjoyed their harmony, the humans built an empire to the sun god on the backs of elephants: Nerath.

(Part 1 of 2)