1 - 104 B.E
The Elves awoke with an innate understanding of their gifts, particularly their unnaturally
long lifes. There were a thousand First Born Elves, and they had awoken as fully formed adults. Understanding that they would never grow old or die of age, they realized they had plenty of time on their hands. They immediately began working together to build shelter and secure food and water, founding the First City in the process, however things quickly took a dark turn. It all began when six months after their awakening, an Elf figured out how to use magic for the first time. This incident led to the accidental death of another Elf, and threw the entire burgeoning nation into turmoil.

The Trial of the First Mage is considered the beginning of the First Great Elven War (GEW1). It lasted for thirty years, during which time the Elves learned that they could be killed, and also discovered their preferred method of warfare, one which would be used for the rest of this civil war and the others that followed: parliamentary debate. Understanding the true devastation of ageless beings killing each other, they instead opted to hold congress to settle their disputes. Elves have always been excellent bureaucrats and politicians, largely due to their impressive memories, long lives, and fondness for holding a grudge. GEW1 is divided into three main eras; The Trial of the First Mage, the founding of the laws and processes, and finally the election of the First Wunvega. Eventually, the first mage was found innocent after three decades of harsh rhetoric and heroic displays of logic.

The founding of laws and processes was the most grueling part of the war, lasting for seventy long years. The once unified Elves had begun to draw battle lines between friends and neighbors, all having different opinions about how the Elven nation should be governed. This was also the period where the first Elven children grew to maturity and began having their own children, deepening their own familial connections rather than those in the larger community. There are grudges that persist to this day as a result of these congresses, as unforgivable insults were thrown; some so profane they have been redacted from official accounts of the sessions. The brutality of the discussions began to break when an Elven astrologer brought a divine revelation to the floor; the Elves must elect a leader to end the war, and that leader would be blessed by the stars.

The election of the First Wunvega was the final four wars of the year, and although many of the proceedings were much calmer than decades past, it was still considered a conflict. In the final vote, eighteen-hundred-and-three votes were cast; one for each Elf of mature age at the time. The elected leader was Eochaid I, and he would reign as the divine leader of the Elves for five hundred years. After receiving the Wondrous Gift from the stars above, Eochaid led the Elves into a golden age of growth and peace. As a unified nation, the Elves expanded outside of their crater until they eventually had settlements all over the Eastern Continent. This golden age lasted until the next election, when the Second Great Elven War began.

600 - 1068 B.E

The Second Great Elven War (GEW2) began as the Elves prepared for the next election of the Wunvega, when Eochaid I attempted to retain his position. Believing that he had led the Elves into the brightest age of prosperity they would ever know, Eochaid used his Wondrous authority to extend his reign for another five hundred years, regardless of the results of the upcoming election. This decision directly undermined all of the laws and processes that were set in GEW1. In the late winter of 600 B.E., those who opposed Eochaid called all of the First Born into a congress to discuss the celebratory plans for the spring equinox. Once all of the Elven leaders had arrived, an Elf who had been planning to campaign against Eochaid declared war, sealing the First Born in the meeting hall for over a century. This Elf had her name removed for this act of treachery, and as such is only referred to as the Insurgent, or the Usurper, in Elven records.

The first congress of the war was a brutal one, and was ultimately unsuccessful. None of the First Born were allowed to leave the congressional floor during this time, and were forced to rely on the allegiances they had made on the outside to survive. The dominant families were able to keep their leaders supplied with food and outside information, giving them an advantage in the heated debates. Meanwhile, the less established families struggled as they lacked the outside connections necessary to survive their imprisonment. During this time, forty nine First Born elves died from starvation in the meeting hall. In the earlier years of this congress, the bodies were removed and buried, however as madness began to set in, they were cannibalized to keep the lesser houses alive.

The imprisonment ended in the Battle of the First Born (709 B.E.). Fed up with their endless imprisonment, a group of Elves began to riot, and threw the entire congress into chaos. They began attacking the doors of the meeting hall, and those who attempted to stop them met a tragic end as the families solidified their battle lines with blood. The battle lasted a week, and when the doors finally opened, two-hundred and eleven First Born had died, including the Insurgent and her supporters. Eochaid still survived, however, and so the war continued as the dominant families began to stake their own claims to leadership.

709 - 1068 B.E

After the Battle of the First Born, the Elven nation irrevocably split. Refusing to sit for another congress, the Elven families began to separate and claim their own lands under the banner of their respective First Born leaders. The First House, one that was allied with Eochaid, was House Crenia. House Crenia believed in law and order above all things, and that Eochaid was the divine chosen leader of the Elves. Eochaid granted House Crenia governing power and status under the banner of the Wundvega, and appointed Crasys Crenia to lead the House to glory. Crasys used bureaucracy and contractual loopholes to claim the most fertile lands on the Eastern Continent, and held the First City as their capital. While Crenia was shaping the Elven nation into their new world order, another House arose to debate Eochaid’s claim to endless leadership. House Vildeen, the Second House, formed from a group of Elven scholars, astrologers, and historians. House Vildeen, at that time led by Verdanious Vildeen, argued that the stars proclaimed that the Elven leader could only be chosen by election, and that election would take place every five hundred years. The Vildeens settled in the marshes and dense forest south of the First City, and uncovered ancient Immortal ruins. These discoveries led to them uncovering powerful ancient magics to aid their cause, and so they quickly became a force to rival Eochaid and House Crenia. Their gifts for astrology allowed them to divine the future, making it nearly impossible for them to be defeated in a proper debate.

While the first two Houses were preparing to go to war with each other, another House had surprisingly gained its footing. This Third House was formed from the surviving members of a few lesser families that struggled through their imprisonment, and became House Onvalia. In the beginning, House Onvalia was content to sneak away from the conflict, and form a foothold in the highlands east of the First City. That is until they built mines and discovered precious metals and jewels buried just beneath the surface of their new home. They quickly expanded throughout the east, claiming the largest territory on the Eastern Continent at the time, all of which was built around bountiful deposits of minerals. By the year 850 B.E. House Onvalia, led by [REDACTED]^[1] was the richest government in all of Wundera, surpassing even the Sea Dwarves in the south by a staggering amount, and had become a mighty contender for the claim on the Eochaid’s throne. This wealth would continue for millenia, and House Onvalia would become a powerful, and oftentimes wicked, force in the Elven political stage.

The war between the first three Houses raged on and on, largely due to many of the Elves' refusal to attend congress. As this battle of nobility and gerrymandering continued into its third and fourth centuries, some lesser families began to band together to avoid being caught in the crossfire. The Fourth House was House Ren, led by Iovar Ren, and claimed the western coast line as their own. During this period, House Ren had little involvement with the conflict surrounding the election, and instead chose to focus on protecting the Elven nation as a whole. Their location led to a love of seafaring, and an obligation to protect the Elves from foreign invaders arriving by sea. While Iovar Ren still sent delegates to the First City to aid in the war effort, he understood that the Elves were weakest when divided, and so protected the nation from monsters and conquerors. House Ren continued to guard the coasts for their entire history, and maintained their ideologies of unity and upholding the greater good. The Fifth House, House Lichesa, quietly formed in the north during this time. Composed of the lesser families that had turned to cannibalism and murder to survive their imprisonment, many considered these radical Elves to have solemnly accepted their banishment. This could not have been further from the case, as the Elves of House Lichesa had learned the secrets of necromancy. Led by [REDACTED], House Lichesa arrived in the First City in the year 971 B.E. with a delegation of undead Elves, and a controversial new philosophy; the only true immortality was undeath. They made a claim for the throne of the Wundvega, and so the Five Great Houses of the Elves were formed. This was a particularly bloody period of GEW2; it’s believed that up to three thousand Elves, five of which were First Born, were killed during the forming of the Houses, typically during territory disputes or the displacement of villages.

By the year 1000 B.E, the entirety of the Eastern Continent had been claimed by one of the Houses, each of which had established its own government, built its own cities and roads, and minted its own currency. Even House Crenia had established its own sovereignty outside of Eochaid’s authority. Realizing that his position had been reduced to a shadow of its former power, Eochaid called together one final congress to end the war. The leaders of all five Houses arrived in the First City in the fall of 1014 B.E. to devise a plan to end GEW2. Not much is known about the details of these final congresses, as many of the agreements made have been kept secret by the attending nobility. The war officially ended in 1068 B.E. when the plan had been finalized and announced to the public. Henceforth, the Houses would act as one unified government while retaining control over their own territories, under the leadership of a Wundvega. The First City would remain neutral territory, with the addition of districts for each of the Five Houses. Elections of the Wundvega would resume, and be held every five hundred years, except the candidates on the ballot would be chosen from a single House, rotating with each election. Eochaid’s reign as Wundvega had ended, and House Vildeen devised an appropriate punishment for his crimes. Eochaid, and every future Wundvega at the end of their reign, would be turned into a constellation and placed in the sky so they could watch over the Elves for eternity. This ritual eventually became considered a great honor, and the tradition continues to this day.

12th - 27th Century B.E
The Age of Discovery was a time when the Elves were learning their place in Wundera. It was a period of exploration, scientific advancement, and philosophy, as well as international conflict. Now that the Elves were once again acting as a unified nation, they were free to focus on the advancement of their society. This is also the time where the Elves discovered the other peoples of Wundera which often resulted in conflict, save for the exception of the Dwarves.

1133 B.E onward
Although Elves were aware of the presence of Dwarves on the Southern Continent, they had few interactions until the year 1133 B.E. At this time, House Ren had advanced their shipbuilding abilities to undergo longer voyages than before. They sent their largest ship, Iovar’s Comet, on its maiden voyage around the world, laden with all the luxuries that Elves could offer for the sake of trading and diplomacy. The crew quickly discovered that the ship was not suitable for open waters, and so they changed course; sticking closer to the coastlines in the hopes that Iovar’s Comet wouldn’t sink.
The ship continued to fall to pieces during its voyage and the crew was forced to dock at the first suitable port; Sevarga, capital city of the Sea Dwarves. The crew was shocked to find a city as advanced and wealthy as Sevarga that hadn’t been built by Elven hands. Upon seeing the treasures aboard, the Sea Dwarves welcomed Iovar’s Comet, and agreed to repair the ship in exchange for a portion of the Elven trade goods. The crew of Iovar’s Comet spent a year in Sevarga, building a relationship with the Dwarves and learning their culture, customs, and most importantly: what they could offer the Elves. With their new and improved ship, they charted a course home with a delegation of scholars and diplomats from all three of the Dwarven Clans who were headed to the
First City.

The Dwarven delegation arrived in the First City in the winter of 1135 B.E. The Wundvega at the time, Viera I, welcomed them with the utmost hospitality to discuss how the two peoples could work together. This initial meeting was a fantastic success, and was the beginning of a relationship of peace and collaboration that persisted through most of the Second Age. The Dwarves taught the Elves the scientific method and the intricacies of magic, as well as shipbuilding and how to make glass. In exchange the Elves gave them precious gems and other fine luxuries, as well as helped the Dwarves advance their architecture, art and music, and map making abilities. As time went on, both societies flourished with the spirit of cooperation between them. At the end of the fourteenth century B.E. House Ren, hopeful that discovering other lands would prove to be just as fruitful, once again set sail with the goal of sending a ship around the world. In the year 1395 B.E. six ships set sail from Port Ren; three headed west across the open waters, and three heading north along the coast.
None of these ships returned.

15th Century B.E and onward
After realizing that the initial ships would never return, the Elves' confusion began to turn to fear. It was extremely unlikely that all six ships had been felled in a storm, and so the Elves set out to discover what had happened to their countrymen. A fleet of ships spent decades searching for the missing vessels, and while the remains of those ships wouldn’t be discovered until much later, a viable culprit for their disappearance had been found.
In the year 1478 B.E. a letter was sent to Iovar Ren describing the horrible creatures that a scouting ship had encountered. These monsters looked very similar to Elven children, except even their tallest stood no more than three and a half feet tall. They utilized sharp blades and advanced engineering, and their impossibly tall patchwork ships would hold several hundred warriors at any given time. The author named these creatures the Gnomes, and described how they would chase down Elven ships and destroy them, claiming the treasures for themselves and using the ship itself to construct bizarre machines. Outraged by this news, Iovar Ren called a special council of the Houses to discuss the Gnomish threat.
All deep sea voyages were suspended until the special council had ended, which occurred in 1566 B.E.

The special council had decided the Gnomes were a monstrous race, and immediately criminalized piracy. They also decided to declare war against the Gnomes, and began building an armada to defeat their new enemy. Elves are not particularly quick at building anything, however, and by the time they were ready for battle in the year 1602 B.E., the Gnomes had already been raiding coastal Elven villages for a decade. The war was much more difficult than the Elves had previously anticipated. The Elves had superior tactics and access to more powerful magics, but the Gnomes had vastly superior numbers, and bigger and faster ships. The Gnomes also didn’t appear to have any form of government that could be bargained with, and so the Elves found themselves in a slow and tiring battle against individual ships as they appeared. The war didn’t officially end until the signing of the Treaty of Allied Peoples, over twenty-five hundred years later, but by the 19th century B.E., the war had shifted into a general hostility rather than active pursuit. Many Elven sailors had learned how to avoid Gnomish pirates during their voyages, and the Gnomes had decided that land raids weren’t worth the risk. Elves had discovered both the Western and Northern continents around this time, which presented new threats and opportunities.

1899 - 2614 B.E
The Giant Wars is a period that consists of three officially declared wars spread throughout seven centuries of conflict. The Elves had interacted with Giants long before the first Giant War ever began. At the time they believed that Giants were solitary monsters who lived in small groupings of two to three families. House Lichesa drove many of the Giants out of the Eastern Continent when they claimed the northern border as their own, however, the Elves wouldn’t discover the truth about the Giants’ capabilities until well into the first Giant War, and by then it was far too late.

The Giants struck first in the year 1899 B.E.
The Elves had recently lost contact with a patrol ship that had sailed north, and on a dewey summer morning they found the missing vessel. The Giants had somehow launched an entire galley nearly twenty miles directly onto a village on the northern coast of Lichesan territory. The village and ship were both destroyed in the process; there were no survivors. The Elves were outraged at the brutality of the attack, and immediately declared war, vowing to seek vengeance against the Giants. The following year, they sent a force of five hundred soldiers across the Gravechill Channel and into the Northern Continent. Only one Elf returned from this expedition, and her accounts of what happened shocked the Elven leaders. After a few years of skirmishes with lone Giants, the expedition force had stumbled upon a Giant city that was much more populous and sophisticated than they thought Giants were capable of. The Elves launched an attack, only to be met by a single Giant standing just outside the edge of the city. The Giant began chanting as the Elves descended upon him. Suddenly, the earth opened up beneath them, and giant fists made of dirt and stone rose up and buried them in moments. This Giant’s name was Aghrok the Vast, a master of the Old Word, and he would go on to be a recurring figure in the wars to come.

Around 2230 to 2500 B.E
The Old Word, the secret magics held by Giants, proved to be extremely challenging to the Elves; a single warsinger could demolish entire battalions of Elven soldiers, and only the most powerful of wizards and clerics could hope to prevent the effects. Although this period was filled with great strife and tragedy for the Elves, it also caused them to perfect their Warcraft. The Elves struggled to survive the first few centuries of the wars, as the Giants had pushed down in the Eastern Continent, claiming the bulk of Lichesa territory and parts of Crenia and Onvalia. The Dwarves refused to aid the Elves in their war against the Giants, adding tension to their trade agreements and allyship. The tides began to turn in the Elves favor in twenty-third century B.E., when several new technologies were discovered. The first was Elves perfecting their designs of siege weapons, particularly the ballista, trebuchet, and snare thrower. These creations were inspired by the very same weapons the Giants were using against them, and with them the Elves were able to defend their armies from surprise attacks.

The next advancement came in the year 2283 B.E., when the Elves began an informal trade relationship with the Humans. The Humans had recently learned to navigate using the stars, and with it they had sailed all the way across the deep waters onto the banks of the Eastern Continent. Knowing they couldn’t afford another war, the Elves welcomed the Humans, and began discussion on how the two peoples could benefit each other. In the beginning, Elves taught Humans wizardry, as the only magics they were capable of were those bestowed by their bizarre gods known as the Wonders.
In exchange, the Humans taught Elves how to domesticate various species and utilize them as warsteeds. Until that point, Elves had only been able to domesticate oxen and other livestock, and the concept of riding an animal was completely foreign to them.
Once the Elves were equipped with horses, battle bears, and riding wolves they were much faster than the Giants, making it easier to avoid their powerful elemental spells.
Later, Elves would learn to domesticate drakes, griffons, and other flying beasts, making them more effective at targeting a Giant’s weak points.
By the year 2355 B.E, the Elves had forced the Giants out of the Eastern Continent, however the conflict continued as the front line shifted between the banks of the Gravechill Channel.
Although their tactics and weaponry had advanced greatly, the wars would continue on for a few more centuries. In the end, it was magic that brought a permanent end to the Giant Wars.

2533 - 2614 B.E
At the beginning of the twenty-sixth century, the surviving First Born Elves had retired from the fields of battle. Many of them returned to their Houses, and began to aid their wizards in developing an end to the fighting. It was House Onvalia whose research would bear fruit, and in the year 2533 B.E. there was a breakthrough that would alter the course of Elven history forever. Adonna Onvalia, a lowly baroness who was far removed from the core nobility, had discovered the secrets of blood magic; a powerful discipline that allowed the caster to manipulate the blood of living beings.
Lady Adonna demonstrated her abilities before the Wundvega and her council by causing the heart of a captured Giant to stop beating in seconds. The Elven leaders were thrilled by this discovery, and gave Lady Adonna the approval to open an academy immediately.
By the year 2600 B.E. there were thousands of fully trained blood mages across the Houses, and Lady Adonna was their leader. Under her guidance, they used their overwhelming powers to bring the Giant forces to their knees.

The blood mages allowed Elven forces to push far into the north, and House Lichesa ensured that the Giants never set foot on the Eastern Continent again. They had been collecting the corpses of fallen Giants, and in the year 2608 B.E. they had mastered the art of reanimating them.
Lord [REDACTED], the leader of House Lichesa, ordered his forces to position Giant corpses along the entire northern coastline. Then, he and his necromancers raised the dead Giants and ordered them to stand in place, erecting a long, snaking line of undead defenders. Horrified by the desecration of their fallen siblings, the Giants launched a final, all out attack against the Eastern Continent.
This force, led by Aghrok the Vast, was the mightiest army the Giants had ever mustered, and had hundreds of warsingers and elementalists within its ranks. Between the wall of undead Giants, and the powerful blood mages positioned in between, the Giant army was devastated. This was the last battle of the Giant Wars, and after a few years of peace talks and agreements, a ceasefire was declared. The wall still stands today as a standing graveyard; an eternal testament to the cunning and might of the Elves, and the greatest tragedy the Giants had ever known.