First Sundering

One of the most dramatic events in the long history of elves was the socalled Sundering.

History
It happened thousands of years ago and was a high magic ritual, cast by the strongest High Mages of all elven realms at that time.

Place of the Gathering
Hundreds of years before the ritual began, elves prepared the place for the casting of the magic. The place was sorrounded by small villages, where the elves lived. The gathering place itself was at a special place in the heart of the continent Faerûn. They built there a tower of white granite wich reflected the colours of the sky. It was higher than any tower built by elves before. A stair curved along the inner wall and on each step was a seat of stone with the name of the mage engraved, who would take place on it during the casting. When everything was ready and the time of the casting neared, the best high mages of the realms where sent there. Mages of all races, except the evil dark elves and the unmagical sea elves came to the tower.

The Casting
Before sunrise the mages took their seats and waited for the mage, wich functioned as the center of the ritual. It was the young wild elf Starleaf. Her place was in the middle of the tower and she began the magical song and the mages joined in. They unleashed the magic of the Weave and canalized it through their bodies, fueled it with their own life forces and their very souls were ripped of their bodies.

Result
Starleaf was the only one who survived the casting and she saw the others die. But she also feeled the tremors of the earth who was ripped apart to form an island in the Trackless Sea. The coast of Faerûn was destroyed by tremendous earth quakes and floods. Hundreds of elven settlements were destroyed, others changed forever. Another change was maybe even more dramatic in result for the future. The city of Atorrnash was destroyed and with it much of the first Ilythiir empire. Many dark elves died, but most of them were worshippers of Vhaeraun and with that Lolth became the dominant goddess for the survivors.

But the original goal was achieved. A place for the good elves of Faerûn was created and the island of Evermeet rose from the depths of the sea. When the casting was done, Starleaf awoke at Evermeet and met there the gods Corellon Larethian and Angharradh. Both revealed that the elves succeeded with their help. But that also means that the elves were not the only ones to be blamed for the destruction of Faerûn.

Politics
Not all elves agreed with the ritual and its plan. With every passing year the tensions between the Ilythiiri of the south and the elves of the north growed. It was that why the northern elves chose to exclude the dark elves from the ritual and this heightened the animosities between the races. But the gold elves stood firm and wanted to create the promised land at all costs. In accordance with old prophecies the land should be named Evermeet and it would be a safe haven for all children of Corellon Larethian. There was also resistance from the side of scholars, who studied the ancient texts. They warned against the casting, because the ancient realm of Tintageer was also destroyed by a mighty high magical ritual. But their warnings were unheard and no one wanted to believe the old stories.

Literature
3. Edition: Novels:

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