THE HISTORY OF LIRYNN
Courtesy CD Mjollnir

Lirynn is the oldest of the Kingdoms of Telgard, which is only fitting as the elves are the oldest race of the world aside from the gods. It is a forest nation; practically all the land controlled by the Lirynn Monarchy is forested, with massive trees of all types. No nation since before the Race Wars has successfully been able to penetrate far into these forests; of all the races, the goblins had the most success, due to the jungle nature of their own home.

Lirynn was created when, during the Race Wars, the elven race was being pushed back by all the other races. The Race Wars had long since turned from being merely a push from the other races for room to live to a bitter war filled with hatred. Though they lived long, the elves' knowledge was not enough to prevent them being nearly overrun, and only the actions of a long-forgotten hero enabled the race to survive and to slowly begin repopulating itself. This hero had gathered the elves together to withdraw into what is now Lirynn, and because none knew the trees as well as the elvenkin the elves were able to use their forest home as a defense and a bulwark against the attacks of the other races.

The Race Wars gradually cooled, turning briefly into squabbles between the other races which eventually decided the final boundaries of the Kingdoms. The elves, however, paid no attention to the other races so long as they were left alone...and their skill of using their forest home as a defence ensured the latter, at least.

Because of the Race Wars, Lirynn has almost always been rather isolationist. Even the humans, traders par excellence, could not get their caravans far into the borders of Lirynn. Rare is the non-elf who has even seen Silverdawn, let alone lived there. The elves did this because of the wounds they had taken during the Race Wars...elven couples almost never produced more than two children in their lifetimes, and so in order to protect themselves, the elves did not allow other races onto their soil for long because of the potential threat.

But it did not take long for the uneasy stillness in Lirynn to dissipate, despite its isolation. In the year 212 SR (After the Wars), only a half a generation, the Elven Throne was challenged by an insurgent. The hero whose name is forgotten was defeated by reputedly foul means, and Lirynn was seized by the insurgent's forces.

The fight nearly tore the Kingdom apart. The borders of Lirynn were completely sealed, any non-elf killed on sight. Meanwhile, brother fought brother and husband fought wife, loyalties torn by the civil war. The elven race was nearly destroyed a second time, this time by their own hands.

It wasn't until there was an invasion by Mirg, trying to take advantage of the civil unrest, that the elven nation ceased fighting each other in order to drive off the goblins. Mirg was thrown back, but the problem within the borders of Lirynn remained.

It was decided, for the continuity of the elven race, that the two sides would rule jointly. Thus began the custom of the Warrior Monarchs: a pair of monarchs, each one chosen from one of the two sides, who ruled jointly with a firm hand. In reality, the peace achieved was an uneasy one, and skirmishes still occured occasionally. However, at this time was instilled the Throne's most stringent law, designed to ensure that the elves would continue to exist: Whosoever shall spill out the life of an Elf shall be marked for death; the hand of every elf shall be turned against him, and whosoever succors him, and whosoever defends him, until the murderer be dead. This law did not extend solely to the elves...a requirement of every ambassadorial agreement outside Lirynn even now is that if an elf be murdered, the murderer be handed to the Lirynn crown to die.

Lirynn was ruled thus for many centuries. The elves more or less ignored the other, less civilized nations, believing them inferior and dangerous. It was not until the Scourge that life within Lirynn changed again, and this was not for the better.

The Scourge cost the elves a significant number of lives. Not nearly so much as the dwarves and humans lost, yet the elves could be said to have felt the loss more deeply, as each loss of life tightened the noose about the collective neck of the elven race. The sacrifice of the Warrior Monarchs of that time is today doubly mourned and revered as a holy day, as it was the loss of two of the most important and valued members of elven society, which at the same time prevented the loss of more elven lives.

After the Scourge came a bigger change. The son of one of the Warrior Monarchs succeeded her to the throne, but there was no one of the other side to join him. For the first time in several hundred years, Lirynn was ruled by a single monarch, and the elves did not know how to handle it. Civil war threatened again until the son came up with a solution. He would rule until one from the other side was old enough to take the throne himself...at that point, he would step down and advise the younger monarch who would have de facto power over the advisor. When the younger monarch came of age, he, in turn, would advise the next monarch. Though not as good a solution as was achieved with the creation of joint rulership, it prevented the elves from becoming completely extinct, and this form of rulership exists to this day.

Today, the Monarchy has relaxed its stringent policies of isolationism, and trade has been able to penetrate further into the forests of Lirynn than ever before. The traders are closely watched, and almost no traders ever get as far as Silverdawn, but the number of traders is growing, travelling from village to village displaying their wares and buying elven products. The elves do not make this comfortable, however; elves still maintain a prejudice of superiority against the other races, and they know that greed will overcome the discomfort suffered by the traders.