The Late Sylvan Empire

The Sylvan Empire understood leadership in the context of the elves’ former masters, the dragons. They desired someone to serve them as they had served, but the humans and Halflings were too independently minded.

Goblins were servants of the demons, and some had slipped out of the caves around Karm Lema and formed small bands on the surface. The elves found their demeanors to be properly subservient, but their strength was lacking. They began to experiment on them, making them bigger, stronger, and more suitable for work. They called these new creatures “orcs” and impressed them into service—after all, they had created this new race.

With this labor force, elves began to do less for themselves. Their armies were comprised of orcs. Their cities were built by orcs. Even household tasks were carried out by orcs.

Many elves became increasingly uncomfortable with their society. They felt increasingly detached from the world around them, more isolated. While some responded to this feeling with increasing hedonism in the form of parties, food, and entertaining illusions, others longed for a way to return to a simpler life.

There was no unified plan of migration. The elves began leaving by themselves or in small groups to form simple settlements in the remote Zerif Forest. These communities were intended to be isolated, but naturally they started trading with one another, and gathering a few times a year for stories and companionship. Other races were welcome to come, so long as they kept the spirit of the movement. The forest was still ostensibly under Sylvan rule, but the armies and bureaucrats never went there.

A religious movement began to emerge, calling themselves the Seekers of the One. They claimed that since there had been numerous divine avatars, and since they all came from the same god, no one of them could be correct by itself. You needed to understand all of the One God’s avatars to really understand theology. They began exploring different cultures and traditions, travelling around the world and then coming back to share what they had learned and compare notes.