The Children of Gelthena

Shey'anor tith'vala,

….. Welcome home kindred of the blood to the great and noble realms of the Gelvani. Long ago we were cast out of Arvanis and set down upon the World of Naeja. For five thousand years we Gelvani have resided here, in exodus amongst the mortals, and in that time it has become our home. None now live who can say they walked beneath the boughs of Arvanis or looked upon the face of Gelthena. Though the memory of our eternal paradise still fills our souls, it is in Gelvanmyr that we are home. Our own divine ancestors, the que'vatha, breathed life into this world, and Gelthena herself prepared for us its verdant forests. In the wooded realms of Gelvanmyr we have become one with the land and live in harmony with nature. We have also reached beyond our borders, and to make allies of the duneimen and duervar, but not all mortal races have been of a peaceful mind.
….. Since the earliest days of our arrival we have been threatened by a vile and cruel race, the Orog (orcs). The orcs have tried in vain for millenia to drive us out of Gelvanmyr, but we will not yield. They pursue their goals with violence and bloodshed, suffering terrible losses and yet returning again and again decade after decade. They follow each great war with a bout of rampant breeding, and quickly replenish their numbers with young and able warriors. Many Orog-Khan (orc-wars) have been fought and though a few times they have threatened the very heart of our lands, we have always been victorious.
….. The wars we fight are not always with the orcs, though. Gelthena cursed our race for starting the first Valatha'Khan (blood-war), and since being cast out we have never truly had peace. Our kind are divided into four blood lines, and they rarely ally for the greater good. The Que-Gelvani are a haughty and self-purposed race who believes they should rule above all the others. The Drey-Gelvani are a free willed warrior race who refuse to serve under any other. The Seyl-Gelvani have devoted themselves to nature and are so reclusive and unorganized that even we do not know where they all are or who, if anyone, can lead them. Even we Grey-Gelvani, the most knowledgable and intelligent of our race, have been guilty of fostering disharmony, as we have seperated ourselves from our kin and often believe we are better than the other blood lines. It is preached by Gelthena's priests that if we are ever to be recalled to Arvanis we must unite and bring peace to our people. That possibility has never seemed less possible than now, as centuries of compromise were recently ruined by one of the worst Valatha'Khan since the fall of the first Celothene. It was a war that crippled both Mirivia and Shanothyr and left us exposed to even greater dangers from beyond our borders. What worse, it coincided with a terrible war within Arvanis, which vanquished two of the que'vatha, changing the very fabric of the gelvani forever. Mending the wounds from these wars will be a long and difficult struggle.
….. Though many of us would close our borders and spend devote ourselves to reverie, most recognize that turning our backs on this world would only make us more vulnerable to its dangers. We are responsible for many wonderful things and many terrible things within this world and we should not abandon those responsibilities. The truth is that we have found our own way and some have even reconciled themselves to a destiny bound to this world. The realms of Gelvanmyr have stood longer than any duneimen kingdom, our borders are strong, and our culture withstands. Recent wars have proven to us that we cannot live on this world and not live within it. We have the power to control its fate if we could only cease our our inner conflicts and commit ourselves to a greater good.
….. But, the world has fallen into darkness, and we have begun to sense that something terrible looms in the near future. A new race of orcs has emerged, called the Barukar, who are not like other orcs. They spread like a disease through all the clans and soon they threatened every nation. Much stronger, more intelligent and more cunning than other orcs, we underestimated them. We thought we could ignore their threat but their invasion came swift. They overcame our defenses and a third of our forests were in devastation before they were routed. We fought them well, but we cannot say it was our victory alone. Rumor abounds of those final days of that Orog-Khan. Men who were there speak openly of a battle in the heart of Shanothyr, of an army of orcs joing the battle against the Barukar, of a titan arising from the earth, and of the gods appearing to destroy him. Some say it was Tolathar and Kalthanan who fought to fell a new giant lord the orcs called Nalghivorn. Others claim it was Tiercellis himself, who fought side-by-side with the orc lord G'Morgh to defeat the ancient titan Vornikar who the barukar had reawoken from the long sleep. Whatever happened, their newly risen lord was quickly defeated and they were forced into retreat. Now they fester in other lands they have conquered, plotting to invade us again and finish what they started. But this is not the only evil arising in these times, for after this war the sense of impending danger has only grown more urgent. Our allies amongst the duneimen claim the stars fortell a war to come greater than any known since before our arrival. The duervar say the titans are reawakening and soon Naeja will send the gods, even our own, to battle them. Though this fortold moment is far from their lifetimes, we Gelvani may see it in our own, if we remain upon the World of Naeja.

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