Great Elf

A Great Elf differs from the other modern elves in that they have bonded their spirits to the Great Tree in Ellendar. Great Elf communities typically keep themselves apart from other races on the world. They gather is places away from other civilizations where they can commune with the one. This lends Great Elves a mystique or otherworldly nature not found among the far more common Forsaken Elf.

See Also: Elven History

During the Age of the Gods Ellowyn and her court returned to the mortal plane. The elves had been scattered across the world scraping out a living in the hidden places. On the continent of Miran was an forest untouched by the ravages of the Age of Legends. It was this forest where the gate to the Celestial Court was found and where the elves made their final fight to turn aside those driven insane by the Heart of Mir.

In this forest she brought forth a tree from the fae lands that grew in her sacred grove. Where the branches of the tree reached the elves would always find solace and where the roots dug the elves would always find community. She accepted the fealty of those elves who wished to pledge their loyalty to her and this community. From among their number she chose the first Queen of Ellendar (Land of Ellowyn) to guide and protect this community. The most pious and knowledgeable became the arborists who tended to the tree.

From this start spread a large and distinctive community. All Great Elves are bonded to the tree, obligated to their Queen and through her to Ellowyn.

At the start of the Age of Heroes less than a quarter (1/4 of all elves) are Great Elves, but their influence over the perception of elves is outsized to their true number.

Being a Great Elf is not just a reflection of physical changes, but societal ones as well. Belonging to a single greater community has bonded them together in a way that would seem alien to most other ethnic cultures. While many of the godly races have been unchanged over millennia with only slight variations in culture the Great Elf community is bonded to a single purpose and Queen.

A Great Elf belongs in the same species as a Forsaken Elf and Half-Elf.