Elves

Elves were the first people -- that much is almost indisputable, as every other race's story of their entry into the lands surrounding the Algostam plains mentions them. According to the elves' own history, they were created by the goddess Viandra to serve as her special servants. Their charge was the forest they named Unuviel Belore -- the Spirit Wood -- and were trained in the magical arts of the druids in order to accomplish this task. The elves believe that their souls pass into the trees of the Spirit Wood when they die, and as such, protecting the trees is a way of protecting the souls of their own ancestors. They founded a great city in the woods, known as Tira Luthien, and watched over their forest for four millenia, studying druidism, the arts of war, and arcane magic, the last of which they developed a special affinity for.

As time passed and more races entered the Algostam region, the elves came to understand that they were unlikely to succeed in defending the city against a massive attack. As fortified as their city was, and as strong as their hearts were, the elves never were a terribly populous people. At their height, the elves only had perhaps three hundred thousand souls in their kingdom, and not all of them were warriors. So instead, the elves decided to be the great race of diplomats, declaring that they would bring peace to the Algostam forever. The result of their labors was the Grand Confederation, whose early victory over the orcs at Happat Utthuk seemed to indicate that the elves had succeeded in creating a great military power that would never strike at the Spirit Wood. It seemed that the elves had, for the time being, succeeded admirably in their goal of protecting Unuviel Belore.

And then, thirty years ago, the hobgoblins invaded from the south, and Unuviel Belore was overrun.

The hobgoblin army numbered in the millions. The Grand Confederation sent troops as soon as they could, but they came too late -- Unuviel Belore burned before the onslaught of the hobgoblin armies, who attacked without explanation or mercy. Almost all the elves in the forest were killed defending their kingdom. What elves survived were either those refugees who escaped the destruction of their homeland or those who had, for whatever reason, chosen not to live in the forest. There are now perhaps twenty thousand elves left in the world. The hobgoblins burned Tira Luthien to the ground and constructed their new capital, Kal Kathorn, atop its ruins. The hobgoblins have cut down or destroyed perhaps half of the forest now, snuffing out thousands and thousands of elvish souls.

The elves are, as one might expect, now a dour and fatalistic people, mostly given into despair at the notion that their beloved forest has been destroyed. Many believe that their race itself is destined to fade, and they represent the last of their kind. For this reason they look upon the half-elves with a mixture of hope and disgust -- hope, in that the half-elves may now be the best hope for the continuation of their culture, and disgust, in that now there are more "impure" children of Viandra than pure. Their relationship with the other races remains mostly positive, though the elves realize that most view them with pity, a notion which fills them with anger. Humans remain their fastest friends, though since the fall of Unuviel Belore, the elves have attempted to strengthen their ties to the dwarves  -- Unuviel Belore lies to the south of the dwarvish homeland, and if Kal Kathorn is to be invaded, they will need to march through dwarvish halls.

Regions
Elves, of course, mostly come from Unuviel Belore. Since the forest's invasion, however, they have spread throughout the Algostam and live in small numbers in all the regions. The only city that still has a strong Elvish population is Dreta Astar, a city at the edge of Unuviel Belore, the Algostam, and the mountains of Tel Arnog. Elvish love for magic has led many of them to relocate to Mageholme on Dol Janath.

Racial Traits

 * +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, –2 Constitution: Elves are nimble, both in body and mind, but their form is frail.
 * Medium: Elves are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
 * Normal Speed: Elves have a base speed of 30 feet.
 * Low-Light Vision: Elves can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
 * Elven Immunities: Elves are immune to magic sleep effects and get a +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells and effects.
 * Elven Magic: Elves receive a +2 racial bonus on caster level checks made to overcome spell resistance. In addition, elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Spellcraft skill checks made to identify the properties of magic items.
 * Keen Senses: Elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception skill checks.
 * Weapon Familiarity: Elves are proficient with longbows (including composite longbows), longswords, rapiers, and shortbows (including composite shortbows), and treat any weapon with the word “elven” in its name as a martial weapon.
 * Languages: Elves begin play speaking Common and Elven. Elves with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Celestial, Draconic, Gnoll, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, and Sylvan.