The Elf/Dwarf War

Key Facts

 * War between the elven nation and the dwarven nation, both of which were part of the larger Empire at the time
 * Lasted for 18 months
 * Mostly took place in the central/eastern part of the Empire – primarily Geltan, Voronia and Cemryn
 * Sparked by the ‘First Act of Aggression’ over expansion of the Imperial Highway into Cemryn to link Kingspire to Pazak-Zetan
 * Ended with the assassination of Emperor Emmanuel VI and the exile and disenfranchisement of the elves
 * Number of casualties higher for dwarves, but in terms of population percentages dwarves lost 5-10% and elves lost 25%

Causes
In the short term, the war was triggered by the dwarven nation, commanded by Emperor Emmanuel, building a road through an elven sacred forest. The dwarven version is that the elves brutally attacked their builders in cold blood, and that if they had a problem with the road a peaceful solution could have been found. The elven version is that the dwarves were about to build a road through a very dangerous rune formation, and that all attempts at peaceful negotiation had been ignored.

Longer term, elf/dwarf tensions had been stewing for a long time. The dwarven family Tethras had been in power on the throne for multiple generations, during which time they had generally been competent and thoughtful rulers. They worked a great deal on human and Halfling rights, but were neglectful of similar protections for elves. By their estimation, elves were already ahead by default due to their long lifespans and lack of need for sleep – any favouritism towards other races was just levelling the playing field. Plus, even before the long line of Tethras emperors, there hadn’t been an elf on the throne for a very long time. The shorter-lived races were reluctant to elect an elf who might still be on the throne 500 years after being elected. Dwarves were seen as a good middle ground – long-lived enough to have a patient and farsighted view of policy, but not so long lived that they can’t adapt to changes. From an elven perspective, they felt they were being unfairly discriminated against despite putting a large amount of their resources into building and supporting the Empire – particularly the army, which had a large percentage of elven soldiers. They also felt that their culture was being marginalised in favour of human and dwarven cultures, which were naturally more similar.

In addition, dwarves and elves have never been close allies. Before the Wars of Identity, elves and dwarves were bitter enemies for a number of reasons, including different attitudes towards rune husbandry, different and opposing ideas on marriage and sexuality and a fundamental disagreement about the purpose of society in the life of the individual. As they worked together to build the Empire, these differences were constantly starting arguments and as a result, even before the war, there were very few settlements where elves and dwarves lived together in peace.

Finally, both elven and dwarven cultures were (and still are) proud, believing that their longer lifespans gave them authority that humans and halflings lack. With dwarves having been so clearly in the ascendant for so long, it was possibly only a matter of time until a spark lit the fuse. Wounded elven pride was also not helped by the humans so obviously throwing in their lot with the dwarves.

Overview
After the ‘First Act of Aggression’, the war spiralled out from Cemryn quickly. The dwarves were the quickest to mobilise, due to their smaller territory and the concentrated nature of their settlements. Initial battles strongly favoured the dwarves, and their army moved south quickly. The spread-out nature of the elves meant that a unified fight against the dwarven army wasn’t really possible – instead, they utilised guerrilla tactics to whittle down their numbers, to great effect.

The war was a nasty one from the beginning, with both sides quick to demonise the other. The first stories of dwarves razing elven crèches were probably false, just like the stories of elven soldiers ‘playing’ with captured dwarves. But atrocities being expected led to atrocities being ignored, and there were war crimes on both sides. The concept of a ‘civilian’ was forgotten, and both sides rounded up and in some case killed any elves or dwarves that they encountered. As news of the war spread, distorted through hundreds of different mouths, separate but no less vicious conflicts erupted between individual towns and cities. Predictably, the Emperor sided with the dwarves, and elves were expelled from the court in Kingspire. All communication between the races ceased.

Despite heavy initial losses, the elven knowledge of the land, cunning tactics and natural magical ability began to tell and the dwarves began to be pushed back. The army had retreated almost as far as Pazak-Zetan when the dwarves unleashed their secret weapon – blackpowder. Though research into this new technology had been ongoing for decades, nobody was prepared for the level of sophistication the dwarves had been able to achieve, or the numbers they were able to bring to bear. The effect of these new weapons was immediate and devastating to the elves. The tide of the war began to turn, with thousands of elves being slain in the first ‘Blackpowder Battle’ as it became known. The elves continued to fight tooth and nail, recruiting even their men and children into the fight, but it soon became clear they had not accounted for this new weapon and they weren’t prepared to fight it. Once they were sure who was winning, the human nobles threw in their lot with the dwarves, keen to be on the right side of history.

The elven council realised that the combination of blackpowder weapons and human assistance would be almost impossible to defeat, and began moving to sue for peace. Elven diplomats and bureaucrats met with the Emperor in Kingspire, to try and come to a solution. It seemed they were close to an agreement that gave reparations to humans and dwarves and imposed political sanctions on the elves when Emperor Emmanuel was suddenly and unexpectedly assassinated.

Dwarves immediately blamed the elves, claiming that the peace negotiations had just been a ruse to take out the dwarven leadership. The elves denied any knowledge of the attack, saying that they didn’t know who had killed Emmanuel (although some strongly implied the human aristocracy had a hand in it). Both dwarves and humans argued that the elves would never stop fighting for as long as they were in the Empire – they would lurk in their forests and wild places and prove nearly impossible to truly ‘defeat’. Indeed, many of the elves were of this opinion – saying that if no-one was going to listen to them then they would keep fighting to the last woman.

A new Empress, Eleni, was elected in a hurry to fill the power vacuum – for the first time since the formation of the Empire, an elven representative was not present for the election. Empress Eleni, the dwarven High King and the Viceroy of the Human Realms were unanimous in agreeing to disenfranchise the elves – taking away their right to hold land or title. A group of elves who the Imperial guard said were responsible for Emmanuel’s assassination were executed. The elven nation were split – but in the end, a third of the remaining population chose to stay, despite disenfranchisement, and the other two thirds chose exile in the unknown lands to the South.