The Great Schism War

Era of Elves / ~400 thousand years ago
The Eldarian civilization flourished under their system of Empire for around half a million years. During this time the politics and the various houses and factions waxed and waned over the millennia. The Empire stood strong against assaults from the outside, even though the direction of the Empire was not always agreed upon on the inside. Eventually however, the deep internal rifts became too much. Those houses that had followed the evil chromatic Dragonlords and favored practices of slavery, raiding and piracy rose up against the more moderate houses that frowned upon such dark ways. When the war broke out it was widespread and bloody on a scale that hadn’t been seen since the warring between the Dragonlords.

Elves fought elves across the Empire, betrayal and stories of atrocities are widespread in the history books of the different elvish factions of today. It was this Great Schism War that began the seeds of separation that would eventually lead to the elven subraces that now walk the face of Andaria. As the War raged for hundreds of years, the rebellious factions grew closer and the worship of dark gods spread among them. They collectively became known as the faction of Darkness. After many long years and hard won campaigns, the forces loyal to the Empire, the faction of Light, finally claimed victory. The Emperor at the time could not order the deaths of so many of his traitorous kin, so he instead banished their collective group to the depths of the world.

Most of the then named elven Exiles retreated to the subterranean darkness inhabited by Dwarves and Orcs, and would become the source of the Dark Elves. There is also legend of an entire island city state of Exiles that was magically condemned to the depths of the sea at this time. This legend tells that these Exiles over time were magically transformed into the Mer Elves, or Sea Elves. Although the story of the rest of the Exiles was not over yet.

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