The Conflict

Independently, the six tribes of newcomers to Cerilia began to dominate the new land with a fervor never before seen on the old continent.
The goblins dwelt along the coasts and in the plains of Cerilia. The early human settlers therefore immediately came into contact with the goblins. These contacts were almost inevitably hostile and without the aid of the dwarves and elves it is likely that the early settlers would have been destroyed. In time however the disorganised bands of goblins were defeated by the humans, with the surviving goblins either coalescing into true nations, or emigrating en masse for distant lands away from the invading humans. This emigration led in turn directly to the fall of several elven and dwarven states which were over-run by goblins driven out of their native lands by the human settlers.
The elves found themselves suddenly competing with the humans for the most beautiful land. First impressions that all could live in mutual enjoyment of the forest proved short lived. Elves imagined that the humans would respect the elven lands and leave them in quiet isolation. However, the humans defeated the humanoids they encountered and continued to encroach on elven lands as conquerors.
It was a different story with the dwarves. While the humans battled first humanoids then elves, they did not bother the tall peaks and high mountains where the dwarves were engaged in an ancient struggle with the orogs and kobolds. The two races were thereby able to establish a modus vivendi with each other.
The elves fiercely resisted conquest and defended their forests with brutality and cunning. For centuries they had battled the humanoids, and now they simply faced a new threat. Elven leaders formed the Gheallie Sidhe, or Hunt of the Elves. Elven knights were commissioned to patrol the forests and slay any humans they encountered. Human raiding parties disappeared. Lone farmers and woodcutters seeking subsistence were slain. All out war between the two peoples erupted.
Human records, preserved in the early temples of Anduiras and Basaïa state that the elves were able warriors and possessed powerful secrets of arcane magic, but the humans had a resource the elves had never encountered - priestly magic. The elves controlled the elements and spun them into powerful magics, but they had never worshiped deities and could not make sense of the divine magic they encountered. The human priests tipped the scales against elven expertise in magic and combat.
The fair folk eventually conceded the plains, the hills, and the coasts to the interloping humans. It was the ancient and mystical forests, where the essence of magic was strongest that the elves took sanctuary, hunting any human trespassers with vicious efficiency.
Members of the Khinasi discourse have long pondered why the early racial relations with the elves and with the dwarves were so different, while the initial conflict with the goblins was inevitable by the preference of both races for coastal regions and clear land on which to grow crops, the scholars of the discourse long struggled to explain the loathing for the beautiful elves compared to the liking, or at least tolerance for the dwarves.
Detailed research of older Masetian records show that initially the elves were seen as glorious beings that aided the Masetians against the goblins and taught the Masetians how to use magic. Within two centuries however this regard turned in many places to hatred with ancient (and even some modern) priestly writings describing the elven sorcery and refusal to worship the gods as proof of demon worship by the sidhe. In some discourse scholars have argued that the Masetian and Basarji need for land caused the friction between the races, although others point to the famed elven arrogance and refusal to accept the concept of land ownership. The dwarves by contrast not only lived in remote inaccessible places but traded vital metal-work with the Masetians thereby gaining allies who would argue their cause.

Category: History