Slowly, the Faendryl began to change. Their features became even finer and sharper. Those living in the deepest caverns, those closest to the ruins of Maelshyve, found their skin darkening to a brown or black. As their aptitude for magic increased, they became physically weaker.

The Faendryl also became increasingly bitter towards the other elven houses. Many believed that their exile had more to do with political opportunism than anything else. As they regained their strength, they began to look southward toward their ancestral home. Some counseled a war to regain it.

Others within House Faendryl sought a peaceful reconciliation with the other houses. This included Rythwier Faendryl, XXXVII Patriarch of House Faendryl. He arranged to have his eldest daughter, Chesylcha, wed a prince of House Ashrim. She traveled to Ta'Ashrim, the sea-elf capital, with a wedding party numbering in the thousands. All hoped this would bring peace to the elven houses and help them begin the restoration of their empire.

Chesylcha never made it to the wedding. There are as many stories about her death as there are storytellers. Whether it was a Nalfein or human assassin, or whether she simply fell ill, none are certain. Most believed what served their own ends. Within House Faendryl, those who had counseled war to regain their rightful place used the princess's death to begin one.

The war began and ended with a Faendryl assault of the Ashrim home islands. Faendryl losses were horrendous. Their navies were no match for those of the sea-elves. However, a few ships did reach the harbor of Ta'Ashrim, and those few sufficed. The Faendryl's greatest spellcasters were on one of these ships. They struck at the Ashrim capital with the same spells they had used to destroy Maelshyve, but their abilities and knowledge had increased considerably. The sea-elves were not merely defeated, they were obliterated. Their home islands were reduced to lifeless, smoking rocks jutting from the sea.

There were no known survivors among the Ashrim. Certainly, some must have escaped, simply by virtue of having been elsewhere. If so, they have remained hidden since that day. House Ashrim no longer exists.

House Faendryl also ended, after a fashion, with the sea-elf war. After the Ashrim were destroyed, the other elven houses no longer considered the Faendryl to be true elves. Indeed, the changes in their physical appearance lent credence to this. Since that time, the Faendryl have been known to all as the Dark Elves.

One tribe decided to build a settlement in an uninhabited mountain range. Within weeks, a dwarven army had appeared, seemingly from nowhere. The dwarves attacked immediately. At first, the giantmen considered the dwarves an amusement, more or less fat, bearded goblins. But they soon learned that, despite their height, the dwarves were nearly as strong as the giants, far more organized in battle, and armed with the finest weapons and armor their master-smiths could forge.

This odd little war lasted the entire summer. The dwarves could not force the giantmen to retreat off the mountain, but the giants could not defeat the dwarves, either. In the fall, the giants decided to continue their migrations. They had not been defeated by the little people, but they never returned to that mountain, either. Before they left, they forged a compact with the dwarves there at the peak they called Sunfist. This peace has lasted thousands of years.

The dwarven-giantman war remains unexplained. The giantmen never learned the reason for the dwarves' attack, and giantmen certainly need no reason to fight a war. The war did have an unexpected result, though. The dwarves and giantmen each gained the other's respect for their abilities in battle. Over time, they began trade. Today, the races are staunch allies, aligned more closely than any two other races in the land.

The largest of these cities was the port of Tamzyrr. The Overlord Selantha Anodheles, later the first Empress, extended its control to the surrounding baronies, and then further. Her own ancestry is unclear. Many say she was of mixed human and elven blood, a sign of elven meddling in human affairs. Indeed, it is hard to believe that her rapid series of political and military victories was entirely the fruit of her own talents, as considerable as they were.

Eventually, the Turamzzyrian Empire grew to control nearly as much land as had the Elven Empire at its height. In the process, the humans have restored a measure of order to the land.

Over the intervening centuries, other families have risen to challenge the Anodheles for control of the imperial throne, and it is not surprising to some that their number is not much greater than that of the existing elven houses. In fact, there are constantly new contending families which rise from obscurity to assail the circle of the empire's noble families, touting their lineage as being unmarred by elven blood and claiming a total freedom from elven influence. Some view the lack of refutation from the noble families as tacit confession of elven influence and support.

For the past two years the Throne of Turamzyrr has been held by the Empress Mynal'lyanna. She is rumored to have the backing of a cult of Luukos. Two of those who contested her claim to the throne were struck down with diseases which defied all treatments, and one was attacked by undead in the first such attack ever recorded in the city of Tamzyrr. The victim was held in confinement until he displayed signs of the Curse of Luukos, and then was mercifully slain before the curse could fully manifest itself. A cold, and calculating ruler, Mynal'lyanna has vowed to extend the empire's holdings beyond the shores of this land, and to bring all inhabiting races beneath the rulership of the empire. Her supporters point to this openly anti-elven stance as proof that her rise to the throne is free of elven influence, and is a clear signal that the power of the elven houses is beginning to fade. Detractors suggest that her vow is a sign of her megalomania, and fear that the powers that back her are anything but human.

In the two years since her rise to power, Mynal'lyanna's imperial troops have doubled in numbers. Used by former emperors to garrison the city and as shipboard troops to ensure the safety of coastal commerce, the empress has instead used her troops to isolate baronies, which have failed to fulfill their imperial obligations.

All of this has had an effect on even a distant frontier town like Wehnimer's Landing. Neighboring barons who have viewed the Landing as too distant and paltry to trifle with in the past are now reassessing the situation. Wehnimer's is a port town, and given the empress' vow to expand the empire across oceans, any port has a new potential for trade and a possible influx of imperial silver as new ships are commissioned. Also, with the empress' increase in troops has come an increase in the baronial taxes to support them, and every baron is now looking for any undeveloped source of income, which might lie close to hand. Even if that source does not currently lie within his barony.

Perhaps more significant to the daily life of those in Wehnimer's is the sudden influx of those displaced by the new policies which Mynal'lyanna has put in place. Non-humans have fled the inner regions of the empire as existing prejudices have been reinforced by imperial policies. And while those with money and influence have been able to purchase exclusions from certain new laws, the common folk of non-human races have been stricken with a series of prohibitions and restrictions that are pointless other than to humiliate and degrade.

Rone himself grew restless. As his town grew into a city, he found his taste for adventure returning. He was last seen heading southeast with a pack train of supplies. Many believe he sought Deepholt, the legendary underground city said to have been founded by Osriar Melenthrope. As neither Rone nor anybody else has ever returned from Deepholt, its very existence is unsubstantiated.

The three emissaries returned in six sacks, borne at the vanguard of a Krolvin war party. The Krolvin have no use for trade. They take what they want. The citizens of the Landing were hard-pressed to defend it. Though many accomplished warriors, wizards and the like called Wehnimer's home, they were vastly outnumbered. It appeared that the Landing would fall.