Shaiyo

In ancient days, remembered perhaps only by Elves and Dragons, the lands of the Northeast were green and lush. In those days, the land was named Eliendis, and was populated mostly by the Elves, but also by many enchanted creatures of faerie -- unicorns, centaurs, pixies, sprites and the like. The entire country earned the hatred of a former Druid named Camlek -- he, too, was an Elf, but though he was not one of the Dark Ones, his heart was twisted by Evil. For some reason untold, he came to hate all things of the wood, and indeed sought to destroy it, and he nearly succeeded. He was able, through mighty magic, to turn nearly all of the land into a wintry waste -- all but the small city of Shaiyo, which was somehow protected from the magic by the Inland Sea. Finally, Camlek's dwelling was discovered, and the Grand Druid Billin challenged him to single combat. Though he tried to evade the challenge, Camlek still held the ways of the Druidic Order and answered. In the end, both combatants were utterly destroyed, and for all the long years afterward the Druids have sought to reclaim the land of Eliendis, which is now more often called simply Luy -- The Waste.

Most of the surviving Elves were so distraught over the loss that they either went wandering or migrated to one of the Lanad's other forested regions. However, a small but hardy band remained in Shaiyo and maintained its beauty. Shaiyo became as an oasis -- a small pocket of green in the midst of the barrens, where even the temperatures remain warm, as they once were. Ever since, the Elves of Shaiyo have left their enclave only at great need. The only exceptions have been the Priests of Liyyera who, as their goddess asks, go out into the world to spread love and beauty. Only once have they gone to war, and that was during the Wars of Arin some fifty years past. In those wars, the Elven King Calebran was slain by the infamous Drow archer Delgon.

Now it happened that Calebran left no children, and his wife wasted away from grief a short time later. The most senior of the King's advisors, Meryssal, became the city's steward, and she commanded a search for someone of noble blood be sought to rule the city. For twenty years, the search proved fruitless, but just as Meryssal was about to give up, a young Half-elf named Lukeon, whose great-grandsire was brother to the King in the time of Camlek and was one who left the city in the time afterwards, was found. Lukeon was a warrior and a holy man of Vodyus, but was an adventurer by trade. After some time, though, he was convinced to take up the crown. His reign has been marked by great wisdom for one who is, for an Elf, so young, but he is also renowned for his desire to reunite the Elves of the North with their brethren in the southern forests. He is also known to have a distinct lack of grace for an Elf, which is often fodder for jokes throughout the land. He is still thought of as the New King, though he has ruled nearly twenty years now, and likely always will be.