https://youtu.be/f3EoE8l8NSo

They are the most prideful and zealous of all elfs, the Silvanesti have a long and isolationist history, ripe with veins of treachery and war. Let's learn more about the history of the Silvanesti Elves!

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Transcript

They are the favored of E’li and yet they have known little more than torment in the later ages of Krynn, not entirely undeserved I might add.

Intro

Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about Silvanesti Elves. I would like to take a moment and thank my collaborator patrons, the Heroes of the Lance, and invite you to consider becoming a patron or member of this channel by visiting the links in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate link. I am referencing the Races of Ansalon sourcebook for this information. If I misspeak or leave something out, please let me know in the comments below.

Discussion

In The Foundation, in the Age of Dreams the gods populated Krynn with three races. Gilean created humans, Takhisis created Ogres and Paladine created Elves. It didn’t take long for the races to claim territory and form tribal communities. When the Ogres enslaved Humans in order to build their empire, the elves watched from the safety of their forests. The elves watched as the Orge nation split from within, as their slaves revolted and as the Ogres degenerated into monstrous visions of what they had once been. There is something poetic about the Ogres descent that is echoed in the elves' own descent, for as the ogre’s forms became twisted, the elves' home would follow.

In the Time of Light, in the Age of Dreams, Silvanos Goldeneye believed his race was superior to Ogres and Humans, and as he and his people watched their civilizations fall. He convened the first High Elven council, Sinthal-Elish, where they decided to scavenge the Ogres ruined cities and built their own civilization in the forest of Silvanesti, where they believe all life began. Silvanos became the first Speaker of the Stars and married a woman named Quinari. Not every elf was content to serve Silvanos, and a group led by Kagonos rejected Silvanos’ mandate to be a servant caste in Silvanesti. He turned his back on Silvanos and his new kingdom, and disappeared into the forests.

The elves quickly learned that the forests they claimed were already occupied by none other than the first creations, Dragons! Thus began the First Dragon War. Thousands of elves died in the battles and when they were on the verge of becoming extinct, the gods of magic, Lunitari, Solinari and Nuitari granted them the knowledge to create Dragonstones, rune bearing crystals that could trap a dragon’s soul. The elves used the stones with relish and ultimately defeated the dragons, casting their trapped souls into the abyss of Nemith-Otham, thus ensuring their survival. The elves then hid the stones underneath the Khalkist Mountains knowing they would be safe and forgotten.

There they lay, safe and forgotten, until the Dwarves began excavating their new mountain kingdom of Thorin. They decided to destroy the stones in the Lords of Doom, but were ambushed by Ogres on the way, and the Dragonstones were lost and the dragons released! The dragons unleashed hell on the elves. They commanded armies of Bakali and Ogres in the Second Dragon War and laid siege to Silvanesti. A trio of sorcerers called forth magic and with it demanded that Krynn itself swallow the Dragons.