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URBELINDEL : THE ELVEN KINGDOM

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MAIN ENCLAVE MENU

1/GEOGRAPHY OF THE ENCLAVE 2/HISTORY OF THE ENCLAVE
3/RELIGION IN THE ENCLAVE 4/THE FOUR DUCHIES : a- MORANON
4/THE FOUR DUCHIES : b- GORVANON 4/THE FOUR DUCHIES : c- NORLAMON
4/THE FOUR DUCHIES : d- BALLAR 5/ARGYL, THE GATE TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD
6/OTHER INHABITANTS OF THE ENCLAVE : NON HUMAN AND GREYS 7/KUZDALITAR : THE DWARVEN KINGDOM
8/URBELINDEL : THE ELVEN KINGDOM 9/MAGIC IN THE ENCLAVE
10/FAMOUS PLACES AND PEOPLE IN THE ENCLAVE 11/CAMPAIGN NOTES: HOLY WAR IN GORTINA

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8/URBELINDEL : THE ELVEN KINGDOM

2117 AT, in the Kingdom of Thulimas, in the south western part of Dorimghen... A tragedy began. Two Kataluvars, the Shadow elves, came to put an end to an old feud with the king of Thulimas, a Questar (High Elf) called ALORSIMBAS. They murdered him, his wife and his young son. A daughter only escaped their wrath as she was away visiting some parents. These two Shadow elves, trained killers and wizards were ELTERVARADUR and TARSIMBLEK. Not only did they plunge the kingdom in mayhem by murdering its ruler, but they also stole a priceless relic that was a symbol of Thulimas' unity: The Eyes of ARDAWEN, two gems set on a silver circle to be worn as a brow ornament and, according to the legend, endowed with a strong mystical power. The two killers escapped quickly with the gems, but not without leaving some clues behind them that allowed a young noble, LEDELVINDEL, to pick up their tracks. Assisted by a group of friends, some of the worthiest young nobles of the kingdom, Ledelvindel chased the two shadow elves across Dorimghen, trying to stop them before they could reach Argolath and give the precious gems to the warlock kings. The chase was fast paced, violent, terrifying and Ledelvindel companions died one after the other, killed in the many fights that opposed the Questars and the Kataluvars. Eventually, Ledelvindel found his salvation in a small group of adventurers he encountered in Karnedlande. Those were, oddly enough, a dwarf, two human and a Sildar (Wooden Elves). Ledelvindel and his new friends finally caught the shadow elves in the enclave, and avenged the death of the king after a violent battle in the forest of Urbedron in the North East of the Enclave. At last they had retrieved the precious gems. But they also had found remains of an old stronghold of the Kataluvars were the two murderers had seeked shelter. Strangely also, Ledelvindel found out that the gems were reacting to these surroundings. The place had some strong power, directly linked to the earth. Ledelvindel  thought that it would be necessary to guarantee that no evil would come back to this place and that it would also be an excellent outpost and sacred haven for his folks. But to ensure the success of these plans, he needed the gems. Ledelvindel contacted his new king in Thulimas and asked to keep the gems for a while, until the place was cured from its former evil. But the answer was negative. The king ordered Ledelvindel to come back and bring the Eyes of Ardawen. Ledelvindel had fallen under the charm of this area. He had been enchanted by the deep forest, its many springs and soft mossy ground. He decided to stay. And to keep the gems. Thulimas waited. The king was convinced Ledelvindel would change his mind. But he didn't... So they sent emissaries. And an army. And there was a battle, elves versus elves. Ledelvindel was not alone. He had convinced his family, friends, and many other elves to come and meet him in the Enclave, after he had named the place Urbelindel. This situation had been pushed by a strong disagreement in the  succession of the dead king. Some supported the daughter, others backed a cousin, and the rest was behind a nephew who was the one who succeeded in claiming the throne. Many of thos unhappy with this result decided they should seek elsewhere true justice and equity and the new land offered by Ledelvindel seemed like a good choice. After all, wasn't the place blessed with mystical powers and Ledelvindel was a hero. Some offered him to come back to Thulimas and seize the throne. But Ledelvindel declined. In the meantime though, he was the one with the gems, the symbols of power. To many, the true elven kingdom had moved to the Enclave. Thus many were those who traveled north and when the new King sent his army to reclaim the jewels, he was met by a troop much greater than he had planned. The battle took place, in 2140 AT. For long the outcome remained blurred, but eventually, the elves of the Enclave gained some advantage. Many were the great warriors and noble elves who fell this day and Ledelvindel wept when seeing he was the cause for their death. Thus he stepped forward and halted the battle. he gave one of the gems to the leader of the Kingdom's army and asked him to content himself with this trophy and come back to Thulimas. This is how the Eyes of Ardawen were split and how the new Elven kingdom of Urbelindel was born.

The elves of Urbelindel were mainly Questars. They soon felt trapped in the Enclave, far from the sea and too close to Argolath. Thulimas was regaining its ancient splendor and was growing more powerful and magnificent by the day. Elves began to leave Urbelindel, and when a powerful evil emereged from deep underground, an evil burried by the Kataluvar and that even the power of the eyes was helpless to stop, these departures turned into a full exode. Ledelvindel eventually succeeded in stopping this new evil, but his kingdom had been reduced to a small outpost lost in the deep forest of Urbedron. To many elves, Urbelindel was now a legend of the past, and they thought the second Eye of Ardawen had been lost. Ledelvindel decided to keep it in that way, and tired of politics and fighting, remained in his kingdom, welcoming the very few elves who dared to venture in the Enclave.

The inhabitants of Urbelindel became so discreet that even though more people passed through the forest, they never noticed the presence of an elven kingdom. After some time, no other elves were welcomed, and the small colony spent time isolated, some said to guard the evil underground, other said keeping to themselves the benevolent forces they could draw from the eart. And that's the way they remained : secretive and cut from the rest of the world. When the Enclave was conquered and the human came to settle in, no one had any idea there was an elven kingdom in the forest of Urbedron. Some wanderers had strange encounters, but they didn't even know who they had met. Most of the time they remembered falling asleep and waking up in another part of the forest. Some expeditions were lead to explore the forest but they got sidetracked and could never reach the heart of the woods. Later, as human became more insistent, elves made themselves known just to warn them not to go venture into the forest and let them in peace. In exchange, they would never come out and involve in the matters of the human. This was taken as arrogance by the people of Norlamon who highly disliked non human and would have loved to see the elves leaving. But the other duchies put pressure on Norlamon to make them accept this staus quo and it has managed to last so far.

The exact location of the kingdom of Urbelindel is therefore not known. It is somewhere in the heart of the forest, guarded by heavy thickets, and in an area where the ground is cut by deep chasms filled with trees, and that cannot be detected from affar. In fact, deep valleys exist in the forest, often quite wide at the bottom but sometimes as narrow as a few meters at ground level. This makes the Kingdom of Urbelindel a nearly underground kingdom, although in the center there are also houses and palaces hidden high in the trees. Spells, guards, beasts and semi intelligent trees and plants guard the borders of the shy kingdom.

In the bottom of some of the chasm stand buildings of stone, erected some by Ledelvindel, some by the Kataluvars. And it is said that under the buildings of the Kataluvars, great mazes exist that plunge deep to the core of the earth.

The kingdom is still ruled by Ledelvindel, although he is now old and retired from the active duty of daily supervision of affairs thus he is assisted in this task by a council of elders who chooses every 50 years a Lord Protector, whose task is to guarantee the safety and quietness of the kingdom. Ledelvindel though is still the one who keeps the Eye of Ardawen that ensures the safety of the kingdom against the ancient evil. Some chasms are off limit, being said to contain unholy ruins of the Kataluvars that couldn't be turned to good and would have made bad settlements. These areas are sealed and guarded to ensure nothing wrong happens there. There are around 3000 elves living in the kingdom of Urbelindel. half of them are Questar, the other half being Sildar. They have no contact with their surroundings, finding in the forest everything they need for their sustenance : fruits, game, crops they grow in the valleys... Elves in Urbelindel are said to practice magic, especially magic linked to the earth and the nature. Among the wise men  of the council of elders, there is always a high wizard whose role is to control the forces that can be drawn from the mother earth.

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