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89-534: The First Sundering occurred in ancient times (around -17,600 DR) before humans came into Toril, at a time when elven high mages united to create the Evermeet lands. As a consequence of their powerful magic, the supercontinent of Merrouroboros was torn apart, creating what is now known as the Trackless Sea and the continents of Faerûn, Maztica and Katashaka, among other physical changes. The Second Sundering

178-477: A "a sixty-four page Campaign Guide which gives an incredibly in-depth look at Baldur’s Gate, the people who live there and nearby locations" and "a sturdy and glossy four piece DM screen". Lucard wrote "definitely consider Murder in Baldur’s Gate a must buy for any D&D fan, regardless of edition wars". Shannon Appelcline, author of Designers & Dragons , highlighted that it was the first time Baldur's Gate

267-528: A balancing attribute created for earlier editions". Tresca opined that the introduction of eladrin "restored elves in Dungeons & Dragons to the mysterious, sometimes dangerous, and altogether powerful status they enjoyed in Middle-earth ". The elf was included as a player race in the 5th edition Player's Handbook (2014). Three subraces were introduced with it: the high elf, the wood elf, and

356-571: A cataclysm and adapted to live in caves in Mystara. The shadow elves are even paler than normal elves, with white hair and very clear eyes, usually a sparkling blue or gray color. The shadow elves are somewhat smaller and thinner than their surface cousins, standing about five feet tall and weighing about 100 pounds. Their ears are larger than those of wood elves, giving the shadow elves a sort of "walking radar" underground. Shadow elves have high-pitched voices—almost squeaky to human ears. High elves are

445-867: A distinction is not made for the elves. However, the elven realms have different attitudes towards their neighbours and other Cerilian inhabitants. Those ruled by Rhuobhe Manslayer, also called the Elf, are encouraged to hate humans, sometimes participating in the Gheallie Sidhe, the Hunt of the Elves, which set out to slaughter humans. Other realms set up magical barriers on their borders to prevent unwanted visitors. The 2nd edition setting allows player characters to be elves or half-elves as adventurers but also as regents , giving them control of provinces, law holdings, guilds and magical sources. While humans have to be infused with

534-523: A divine bloodline in order to cast true magic, the elves already have a connection to the land and can utilise the magical power of the land's mebhaighl without being blooded. However, the elven societies do not trust any deities, especially not those followed by humans, so there are no elven priests or temples. The world of Aebyrnis (of which Cerilia is a continent) was once joined with the Shadow World. On this plane of shadows and illusions, now exists

623-531: A family of elven races — the sylvans, the drows, and the eladrins — in the fourth edition Player's Handbook (2008). This version of the elf returns in the Essentials rulebook Heroes of the Fallen Lands (2010). The elf appears in the fourth edition Monster Manual (2008). Tresca explained that this edition allowed elves and humans to be equal in height and "deemphasized their low constitution,

712-598: A review of Lost Empires of Faerûn in Black Gate , John ONeill said " Lost Empires is a sourcebook exploring the ruins and secrets of the fallen empires of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. Admit it — any time 'sourcebook' and 'ruins' go together, you know you're going to get good some use of it." In a review for RPGnet , Matt Drake says that Lost Empires of Faerûn gives a complete history of Faerûn , as well as enough information to run adventures in

801-817: A soul and a spirit is that souls live one life on the Material Plane and then spend eternity in whatever plane their chosen deity resides, while spirits are eventually reincarnated back into the Material Plane". In several campaign settings , elves have their own pantheon often known as the Seldarine; this pantheon usually consists of the leader Corellon Larethian , as well as Aerdrie Faenya, Deep Sashelas, Erevan Ilesere, Fenmarel Mestarine, Hanali Celanil, Labelas Enoreth, Rillifane Rallathil, Sehanine Moonbow, and Solonor Thelandira. Other elven gods may be present in different campaign settings. Half-elves are

890-595: Is both the third novel of the Sundering series and the third novel of the Brimstone Angels series. In 1479 DR, as a result of a deal the tiefling warlock Farideh made with the cambion Sairché, Farideh and her twin sister Havilar were placed into a magical stasis on Malbolge (the sixth layer of the Nine Hells) for seven and a half years. In 1486 DR, Farideh and Havilar are sent back to Toril — to uphold

979-486: Is composed of the following: Evermeet The elf is a humanoid race in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game , one of the primary races available for player characters , and play a central role in the narratives of many setting worlds of the game. Elves are described as renowned for their grace and mastery of magic and weapons such as the bow and sword . Becoming physically mature by

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1068-453: Is extraordinarily fine, always worn long, with the appearance and texture of exquisitely fine silk. The hair is silver, and eye color is a pale, almost ice-blue. They are androgynous in appearance, making it difficult for outsiders to tell males and females apart. "Rockseers have been separated from the rest of elvenkind since mythic times. Their own history tells that they were cowards at the great battle of Corellon Larethian and Lolth, fleeing

1157-546: Is the last of a series of ground-shaking events. It really affects the whole world of the Forgotten Realms in a major way. You may remember when the Spell Plagues began, the two worlds of the Forgotten Realms, Abeir and Toril, crashed together. That created both geographic changes (the map of the Forgotten Realms and Faerun actually changed due to that collision), and also changed the way magic works. It changed

1246-736: Is what allows Farideh to identity the Chosen of other gods. What they did not realize is that these powers were actually meant for their ancestor Bryseis Kakistos, as payment for Kakistos's assistance in Asmodeus's ascension to godhood. While the Sundering story continues in The Reaver , the next book that follows these characters is Fire in the Blood . The First Sundering was mentioned in Lost Empires of Faerün (2005) and The Grand History of

1335-515: The Night Below boxed set campaign published in 1995. In a subplot of Night Below , the player characters can reintroduce the exiled Rockseers to the rest of elvenkind and reconcile them with their god, Corellon Larethian. The elves of Greyhawk include the standard aquatic, dark (Drow), grey, high, and wood (sylvan) elves described in the core rule books of various editions of the game. Additional elven types created for this setting include

1424-478: The 3.5 edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game . This 192-page hardcover book begins with a two-page introduction explaining that this book covers the various ruined kingdoms of the ancient world of Faerûn , in other words the Lost Empires of Faerûn . Chapter 1: Ancient Secrets , on pages 6–35, details prestige classes, feats, and spells common for characters that keep alive

1513-556: The Sword Coast , the sun elves established Aryvandaar and Shantel Othreier, and the green elves established Illefarn, Miyeritar (along with the dark elves), and Keltormir. To the south, in present-day Vilhon Reach , the green elves also created the nations of Thearnytaar, Eiellûr, and Syòpiir. In the forests that once covered the Shaar , the moon elves established Orishaar, and the dark elves established Ilythiir and Miyeritar (along with

1602-609: The crawling claw , the deepspawn, the flameskull , the helmed horror , the phaerimm , and the tressym . The book was published in 2005, and was written by Richard Baker , Ed Bonny , and Travis Stout , with cover art by Mark Sasso . Interior art is by Thomas M. Baxa , Matt Cavotta , Brian Despain , Marko Djordjevic , Jason Engle , Earl Frank , Randy Gallegos , Rafa Garres , Chris Hawkes , Ralph Horsley , Jeremy Jarvis , Dana Knutson , Vince Locke , Raven Mimura , William O'Connor , Jim Pavelec , Steve Prescott , Wayne Reynolds , Richard Sardinha , and Francis Tsai . In

1691-663: The drow (dark elf). The Player's Handbook connects the high elves to the gray elves and valley elves of the Greyhawk setting, the Silvanesti and Qualinesti of the Dragonlance setting, and the sun elves and moon elves of the Forgotten Realms setting. They also connect the wood elves to the wild elves ( grugach ) of Greyhawk and the Kagonesti of Dragonlance. The 5th edition Dungeon Master's Guide (2014) also presented

1780-604: The eladrin (which appeared in 4th edition as a separate but related race) as an elf subrace, using them as an example for creating a new character subrace. The eladrin later appeared as playtest content in " Unearthed Arcana : Eladrin and Gith" (2017); this version was revised and eventually published the following year in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (2018). In early editions of Dungeons & Dragons , elves had spirits instead of souls which impacted some game mechanics such as various resurrection spells. This distinction

1869-569: The elf . However, academic Philip J. Clements sees certain aspects as directly traceable to Tolkien's portrayal. Similarly, academic Philippe Bornet in "Religions in play: games, rituals, and virtual worlds" said that elves in the game are based on Tolkien's version of the elf. Michael J. Tresca, in the book The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games (2014), stated the elven sub-types in Dungeons & Dragons can be traced to divided lines of Tolkien's elves – Noldor become high elves, Tawarwaith become wood elves and Sindar become grey elves in

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1958-549: The free-to-play mobile game Arena of War developed by DeNA , a comic book series titled Thieves of Calimport , and a line of miniatures depicting characters from the event. The first novel, The Companions (2013) by R.A. Salvatore , was released the week before Gen Con 2013. Subsequent novels about the Second Sundering (just referred to as the Sundering) were published between 2013 and 2014, and became known as

2047-484: The Coast described it as a "cataclysm", and campaign setting creator Ed Greenwood further elaborated on the event as "war, gods, and plain folks trying to get by". At Gen Con 2013, Wizards of the Coast announced additional details of the Sundering event: six Forgotten Realms novels, an official adventure series for the 4th Edition D&D Encounters program with a tracking app called "The Sundering Adventurer's Chronicle",

2136-617: The Crystal Shard to its end". On the third adventure, Scourge of the Sword Cost , Lucard wrote: "while it’s not as good as Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle , Murder in Baldur’s Gate or Legacy of the Crystal Shard , the campaign is better than any of the D&;D Encounters pieces I’ve gone through in the past few years and it’s definitely a better experience than most published fourth edition adventures". Lucard commented that, unlike

2225-463: The Crystal Shard , is set in 1485 DR and ran concurrently with The Adversary (2013), the third novel of the Sundering. While Murder in Baldur’s Gate continued the style of weekly content in the Encounter program, Legacy of the Crystal Shard "totally broke away from Encounters' traditional style of play. There are no encounters; instead GMs are told to break up the adventure as they see fit over

2314-587: The D&;D Encounters program". Both of these adventures were exclusively released in PDF form rather than as a physical product. While these adventures referenced the events of Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle as setup for their adventure story, the connection to specific events of the Sundering storyline were not explicit. Dead in Thay also included two specific changes for the D&D Encounter program. First, it reintroduced

2403-552: The Drow, who are of standard D&D elven height. In Faerûn, surface elves call themselves Tel-Quessir which means "The People" in the elven language. In 4th edition, most of the elven subraces were classified into three broad families: drow, eladrin, or elves. In the 5th edition, these families were re-classified into four, with three being detailed in the primary campaign books: drow, high elves, and wood elves, with eladrin as their own lineage of elves whose ancestors never emigrated from

2492-740: The East , on pages 60–82, details the Old Empires of Mulhorand and Unther , and rival empires Narfell and Raumathar. Chapter 5: Realms of the High Forest , on pages 83–94, describes the kingdoms of Eaerlann , Siluvanede, Sharrven, and the surrounding states. Chapter 6: Fallen Netheril , on pages 95–112, describes Netheril , the most famous of Faerûn's fallen states, which now lies buried under Anauroch . Chapter 7: The Imperial South , on pages 113–124, examines Coramshan and Jhaamdath. Chapter 8: The Dream of Cormanthyr , on pages 125–135, described

2581-512: The Elves , Elves of Evermeet and Elves of Athas . The elf appeared as a character race in the third edition Player's Handbook (2000), and in the 3.5 revised Player's Handbook . Elves were detailed for the Forgotten Realms setting in Races of Faerûn (2003). Elves were one of the races detailed in Races of the Wild (2005). The elf appeared as a character race and as one of three in

2670-682: The Encounters programs was played in". Dead in Thay was designed for 6th to 8th level characters and was one of the few high level D&D Encounters adventures. An updated version of the adventure was published in the 5th Edition adventure anthology Tales from the Yawning Portal (2017). The result of The Second Sundering, in game terms, was the transition from 4th Edition rules to 5th Edition rules of Dungeons & Dragons , published in 2014. Liz Schuh, Head of Publishing and Licensing for Dungeons & Dragons , said: The Sundering

2759-508: The Faerie world to the Material world of Toril. The history of the elven race as portrayed in this setting is marked by great empires and a gradual decline and retreat from the mainland Faerûn. The elves first came to Abeir-Toril from the plane of Faerie more than twenty-five millennia ago. The first wave of elves to arrive were the green elves, lythari, and avariel. The second wave included

The Sundering - Misplaced Pages Continue

2848-445: The Forgotten Realms. He wrote: "A new sundering was needed to return FR to its pre-Spellplague state. Such complexities are often beyond the interest of many players, but those who choose to unravel them face a historiography and an archive-building challenge of great magnitude. The latest articulation of FR, though, provides a workable solution because it has adjusted itself through the editions, enough so that even 4e can be situated into

2937-633: The Kagonesti or Wild Elves; and two races of sea elves: the Dimernesti or Shoal Elves, which inhabit the coastal areas and the Dargonesti or Deep Elves. The various elven subraces are more prominent in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, and Faerûn boasts several major subraces. They differ physically from typical Dungeons & Dragons elves in that they are as tall as humans (5′9″ on average), or even taller. The exception are

3026-591: The Legend of Drizzt could hope for and more". The Adversary , the third book in The Sundering series, was included in the December 2013 Bookseller's Picks for Tor by Barnes & Noble buyer Jim Killen. The Kobold Press review highlighted Evans’ ability to convey interpersonal relationships. Since the book is the third book of the Brimstone Angels series, the review states "Evans does a good job of filling

3115-538: The Realms (2007), and again in Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide (2008). The first two books are supplements written for D&D v3.5 and the later book is the official Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide for D&D 4th Edition. The Second Sundering was first announced at Gen Con 2012 in anticipation of the upcoming version of the game, known at the time as D&D Next . Wizards of

3204-575: The Seelie who are more faerie-like than the sidhelien. The Cerilian lore hints that since the two worlds split, for every Cerilian sidhe, there is a corresponding member of the Seelie or Unseelie Courts. The elves are the largest political and military presence in space; at the time of the original Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space boxed set, the elves had just completed a remarkably successful extermination of interstellar orcs and goblins throughout

3293-626: The Spell Plague. Markings that marked spell-plagued people and animals will fade and go away. It’s really about moving the Forgotten Realms forward, but also about bringing it around to the most beloved and most fondly remembered Forgotten Realms. The 5th Edition campaign guide Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (2015) describes the events of the First Sundering, the Spellplague, and the Second Sundering (the 2013 Sundering event) and

3382-405: The Sundering series. The novels and adventures were released in a staggered, overlapping fashion and the adventures included the rules for the public D&D Next playtest. However, the announced comic book series was never released. During Gen Con 2013, the public 5th Edition playtest was in full swing and saw the release of three Sundering themed adventures. Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle (2013)

3471-555: The Sundering story continues in The Godborn , the next series that follows these characters is the Companions Codex . The Godborn acts as a sequel to The Twilight War trilogy by Paul S. Kemp . The books follows Vasen, son of Erevis Cale, who was born 70 years in the future after his mother was sent forward in time by Mask, the god of shadows and thieves. Erevis was a Chosen of Mask who had previously carried part of

3560-492: The action, I recommend paying attention to these. [...] This book is a must for Evans fans as well as fans of the Realms, but the cost of admission is reading the Brimstone Angels series if you really want to get the most out of this book". In contrast, Kelly Jensen, for SF Crowsnest , wrote "Evans does a fantastic job of catching up the casual reader. Being familiar with her characters would make ‘ The Adversary’ more compelling…maybe. Having being [ sic ] introduced at

3649-951: The age of 25 and emotionally mature at around 125, they are also famously long-lived, capable of living more than half a millennium and remaining physically youthful. Possessed of innate beauty and easy gracefulness, they are viewed as both wondrous and haughty by other races in-universe; however, their natural detachment is seen by some as introversion or xenophobia . They were usually portrayed as antagonistic towards dwarves . There are numerous different subraces and subcultures of elves, including aquatic elves, dark elves ( drow ), deep elves (rockseer), grey elves, high elves, moon elves, snow elves, sun elves, valley elves, wild elves ( grugach ), wood elves and winged elves ( avariel ). The offspring of humans and elves are known as " half-elves " among humans and in sourcebooks, and as "half-humans" among elves. Gary Gygax claimed Dungeons & Dragons elves draw very little from Tolkien 's version of

The Sundering - Misplaced Pages Continue

3738-516: The ancient secrets and traditions of the past. Chapter 2: Dreams of the Past , on pages 36–50, examines how the ancient past plays a role in the modern Realms. Chapter 3: The Crown Wars , on pages 51–59, described the elven realms of the Crown Wars, which were waged upon each other and resulted in the descent of the drow and the establishment of Evereska and Evermeet . Chapter 4: God-Kings of

3827-444: The beginning of this book, I found the journey of all the characters very satisfying. [...] What impresses me the most is the author’s confidence in shifting events on Toril, messing with the grand order, while advancing her own story arc". Alex Lucard, for Diehard GameFAN , wrote negatively on Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle release as a convention exclusive . He commented that the adventure "is pretty well done. It’s not great, and as

3916-438: The best offering from Wizards in the past two editions and they are by far the most comprehensive pieces in the history of Dungeons & Dragons for the locations they cover. [...] I know the package says adventure on the cover and in the description, but it’s actually a full campaign, similar to how Murder in Baldur’s Gate was actually comprised of ten adventures. It will take you roughly a dozen sessions to play out Legacy of

4005-401: The book "is utterly absorbing, surprising and wonderful. I have never read anything like it and I’ve been reading R.A. Salvatore’s books for years. There are stories within the story, threads of past and future. The book can be taken as both a beginning and an ending. It’s an ode to Drizzt and the bond of friendship, honour and loyalty. [...] ‘ The Companions’ is everything a fan of Salvatore and

4094-412: The capability to run almost 5,000 players through the D&D 5e adventure — enough to generate a great seed of interest when those players brought word of the new edition home to their own gaming groups". Confrontation at Candlekeep was then available at Pax Prime 2013 in a similar format and at a limited number of game stores as an event after the two conventions. The adventure only became available to

4183-485: The city of Sylvandretta. To maintain a pure bloodline, they have inbred for millennia, resulting in their lighter appearance and halving their lifespan compared to other Athasian elves. The elves of Cerilia are known as the sidhelien and control various realms on the continent. While the Birthright Campaign Setting makes a clear difference in the rules between five Cerilian human cultures, such

4272-506: The combat and taking refuge far below ground. They have no knowledge of surface elves. They know of the Drow and hate them, avoiding them whenever possible. They are extremely seclusive and shun the company of all other races, including the Svirfneblin . The only exception to this are pech , with whom Rockseers sometimes form friendships." The deep elves are found in 1996's Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Three , but originated in

4361-497: The consequences of these events in game terms and lore. The term "Sundering" is now used indiscriminately to refer to either the original First Sundering or Second Sundering, when used in official game materials. Curtis D. Carbonell, in the book Dread Trident: Tabletop Role-Playing Games and the Modern Fantastic , highlighted that the Sundering event used the transition to 5th edition to undo changes 4th edition brought to

4450-660: The dark elves, who arrived in the jungles of southern Faerûn, and the sun and moon elves, who arrived in the north. Not long after, the aquatic elves arrived in the Great Sea. After the second wave of elven immigrants arrived, the Time of Dragons ended and the period known as the First Flowering of the Fair Folk began. The elves settled into five major civilizations along the west and south of Faerûn during this period. Along

4539-458: The deal she made, Farideh infiltrates a Netheril internment camp on the Lost Peaks. Once inside the camp, Farideh is forced to use her unique powers to identify which people, who are trapped in the village that surrounds the camp, are Chosen of the gods. The Netherese plan is to gather the divine sparks of the Chosen and transfer them to Shar, however, Asmodeus wants to interfere and capture

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4628-866: The elf) were presented as distinct classes. The elf class is often seen as a blend of the fighter and magic-user classes. The Shadow elf appears as a character race in GAZ13 The Shadow Elves published by TSR in 1990 as a 64-page booklet and a 32-page booklet. The high elf appeared as a character race in the second edition Player's Handbook (1989). The high elf also appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989). Several elven races were detailed as player character races in The Complete Book of Elves (1992). Supplements focused on elves in specific campaign settings include Comanthor: Empire of

4717-531: The elves. The elven subraces of Faerûn include the following: Once the slaves of the giants of Xen'drik , the elves of Eberron are said to have immigrated over time to the continents of Aerenal and Khorvaire , establishing nations and distinct cultures on both. Most notable are the elves of Aerenal, whose culture revolves around the veneration of the Undying Court . In the post-apocalyptic setting of Athas, elves are nomadic desert runners rather than

4806-540: The fabled realm of Myth Drannor . Chapter 9: The Old North , on pages 136–150, details the history of the Sword Coast North. Chapter 10: Artifacts of the Past , on pages 151–159, introduces magic items created and used by people of the various lost empires. Chapter 11: Monsters of the Ancient Lands , on pages 160–192, presents twenty-nine monsters that originated in these long-lost lands, including

4895-483: The first physical beta test of D&D Next I’m pretty happy with it and would happily recommend it to everyone at the MSRP on the cover. [...] Wizards could have made so much more money by making this publicly available while also making D&D fans everywhere happy by letting them have unfettered access to this release and keeping the secondary market gougers from making a mint off the people who really love and care about

4984-423: The first two adventures, Scourge of the Sword Cost was a pdf only product and was not system neutral. Lucard highlighted that the adventure "comes with a whopping 220 pages of various PDFs provided all the rules you will need to play D&D Next ". On the fourth adventure, Dead In Thay , Lucard wrote: "Unfortunately for the adventure side of the Sundering event, each adventure has been a step down (or more) from

5073-464: The game but couldn’t go to a four day convention for whatever reason. At least the contents of Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle will keep you and your gaming troupe busy for months as you play through the adventures, read through the weighty tome and get a real sense of where Wizards of the Coast is heading with D&D Next ". Lucard, for Diehard GameFAN , highlighted the physical pieces of the first official adventure, Murder in Baldur’s Gate , including

5162-495: The game. The elf first appeared as a player character race in the original 1974 edition of Dungeons & Dragons . The aquatic elf was introduced in the 1975 Blackmoor supplement. Elves in Dungeons & Dragons are immune to paralysis as a holdover from a game balance adjustment in Chainmail . Players with elf characters could chose either the "fighting-man" or "magic-user" class to start with; multiclassing

5251-472: The general public in October 2015. The first adventure labeled as part of the Sundering adventure series, Murder in Baldur’s Gate , was also the first big change to the 4th Edition D&D Encounters program. Previously, Encounters seasons had distributed a limited amount of books for free. This new season allowed anyone to purchase the product which included 12 weeks of planned content. "The adventure itself

5340-609: The god's divine essence. However, Vasen is raised under the faith of Amaunator, god of sun and law, and serves as a paladin . In 1484 DR, Vasen is discovered by companions of his father's and pulled into their conflict with Mephistopheles, an archdevil of the Nine Hells . Vasen and his companions rescue Erevis from Cania, the eighth layer of the Nine Hells, where Mephistopheles had imprisoned him. Vasen and Erevis then work together to stop Shar, goddess of darkness, from destroying

5429-403: The green elves). All of these realms were gradually destroyed as a result of the Crown Wars, which made way for other elven realms. Their once expansive realms have shrunk back in territory and prestige due to the influence and expansion of the younger races, particularly humans. They remain influential, however; much of the shape of Faerûn is influenced by conflict between the various subraces of

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5518-402: The interactions of multiple groups of players, all playing the same adventure. In Dead in Thay they might directly interact during the first and last weeks of play, but as they adventured through the dungeon, they could also change its state for subsequent parties. [...] It allowed multiple groups in a game store to all interact in a meaningful way, really taking advantage of the environment that

5607-480: The known universe. 5th Edition introduced Astral Elves who are now native to the Astral Sea. Classics scholar C. W. Marshall positively remarked on the "wide diversity of genetically unique groups" of elves found in the game, "which can energize fans". Lost Empires of Faer%C3%BBn (accessory) Lost Empires of Faerûn is a campaign supplement for the fictional Forgotten Realms campaign setting for

5696-408: The more common image of forest-dwellers. Athasian elves are portrayed as hostile nomads, marked by savage dispositions and a deep distrust of outsiders. An Athasian elf stands 6½–7½ feet tall. They are slender, lean, and generally in terrific physical condition. Their features are deeply etched into their weather-toughened faces, and their skin is made rough by the windblown sands and baking sun of

5785-552: The multiverse". Jules-Pierre Malartre, for Den of Geek , wrote "I don’t think I’ve enjoyed reading a collaborative writers series as much since Thieves World , decades ago". The Companions , the first book in The Sundering series, by R.A. Salvatore was nominated for the 2013 Goodreads Choice Awards Best Fantasy. The book was on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list for 1 week, with #68 as its best week. Kelly Jensen, for SF Crowsnest , wrote that

5874-421: The offspring of humans and elves. They look like elves to humans and like humans to elves. Half-Elves have curiosity and ambitions like humans but they have sense for magic and love for nature like their elven parents. Their skin is paler than human skin and they are taller and bigger than elves. Half-Elves have long ears like elves. They live about 180 years. The half-elf appeared as a player character race in

5963-625: The original Player's Handbook (1978). Subraces of elves include Dark Elves and Deep elves. These elves are the most noble of elves, yet also the most arrogant. They are of higher intellectual capabilities than other elves, but, despite the fact that they are taller than high elves, they are physically weaker. They live in isolated mountain strongholds, and rarely allow access to outsiders. They have silver hair and amber eyes, or gold hair and violet eyes, and wear clothes of white, silver, yellow and gold, and usually wear regally colored cloaks. These elves are an isolated race of elves that survived

6052-633: The original eladrin and the original elves that came Abeir-Toril from the Feywild (dark, sun, moon, green, lythari and star elves), and most commonly encountered by other races, and the most open and friendly of their kind. They travel to other lands more than other elves. They are generally dark-haired and green-eyed, with very pale complexions the color of new cream. They simply do not tan, no matter how much time they spend under Oerth's sun. High elves prefer to wear light pastels, blues and greens and violets, and often dwell in homes built into living wood, high in

6141-404: The pantheon of the gods. The Sundering is all about those two worlds separating—coming apart—and the process of that separation is really the story that we’re telling over the next year. At the end of this story arc, Abeir and Toril will be separate again, and many of the things that happened when they crashed together will go back to the way they were before. So magic will be much like it was before

6230-645: The planet, but The Second Sundering reversed most of them. At the end of The Last Threshold , Drizzt Do'Urden is left mortally wounded and The Companions continues that story. The Companions of the Hall are reincarnated by the power of Mielikki in order to save Drizzt. However, Catti-brie, Regis, Bruenor Battlehammer, and Wulfgar must first live through 21 years of their new lives before they can attempt to save Drizzt. The book follows these characters through their new lives, their rediscovery of each other and their eventual coming together to save Drizzt in 1484 DR. While

6319-452: The previous one. [...] Unfortunately, Dead in Thay not only continues this downward spiral. But the end result is a chaotic mess that is little more than a pure hack and slash experience [...] and because the adventure is designed for multiple parties and DMs, Dead In Thay becomes a very hard piece to even be able to play in the first place much less pull it off in a way that it will be enjoyable to all who participate". The Second Sundering

6408-408: The reader in as the story progresses, but without that prior knowledge, the reader will be lost and possibly feel a bit overwhelmed. To top that off, the book jumps around quite a bit between the past and present, inside the keep and internment camp, and even within the Nine Hells. In Evans’ defense, she handles this well and includes dates and locations at the beginnings of each chapter—to really follow

6497-464: The second adventure, Legacy of the Crystal Shard , highlighted again the physical pieces included in the adventure such as the DM screen, the 31 page adventure and the 63 page campaign guide to Icewind Dale and called it "an amazing collection". Lucard wrote "like the first Sundering adventure, the best part of Legacy of the Crystal Shard is by far the campaign guide. These campaign guides have been some of

6586-562: The snow elves, valley elves, and wild ( grugach ) elves. The depiction of the elves in Dragonlance fiction is strongly influenced by Tolkien 's elves . One of the major character types in the setting, they are presented as aloof and isolationist as a group, but also as caretakers of the natural world. Like in other settings, they are split into several peoples, again echoing the splits among Tolkien's elves: Silvanesti and Qualinesti, two races of high elves estranged from each other;

6675-458: The sparks for himself. Meanwhile, Havilar ends up allied with a group of Harpers and works with them to liberate the camp. As Farideh and her new companion Dahl (also of the Harpers) try to escape, Havilar arrives with her companions to help liberate the prisoners before the camp is destroyed by Thayan forces. Throughout the Sundering, Farideh and Havilar develop powers as Chosen of Asmodeus — this

6764-560: The ten weeks of play. The style of adventure is also quite different. [...] Part of this is done through its inclusion of three different power brokers who are advancing evil agendas. Depending on which villains the players oppose, they might have to fight, politic, or roleplay". The third and fourth Sundering adventures, Dreams of the Red Wizards: Scourge of the Sword Coast and Dead in Thay , continued "the revamping of

6853-674: The third edition of Dungeons & Dragons ". The elf appeared as a player character race in the original Player's Handbook (1978). The elf also appeared in the original Monster Manual (1977), with subraces including High Elf, Gray Elf (some of whom are also called Faerie), Dark Elf (also called Drow), Wood Elf (also called Sylvan), and Aquatic Elf. The grugach , valley elf , and cooshee (an elven dog) first appeared in Dragon issue #67 (November 1982) in "Featured Creatures", an ongoing series of articles where Gary Gygax released information on official creatures before their release in

6942-577: The trees. In 4th edition the Eladrin are the High elves. This subrace resides in painted deserts and petrified forests, preferring a druidic lifestyle. "Rockseer elves are the rarest of all elvenkind. They are far taller than most of their kin, with a few reaching almost to eight feet in height. An average weight for a Rockseer is between 120 and 140 pounds, with little gender difference. Rockseers are very pale skinned, and they have no body hair. Head hair

7031-414: The upcoming Monster Manual II . The grugach, valley elf, and cooshee then appeared in the original Monster Manual II (1983). A number of elven subraces were presented as character races in the original Unearthed Arcana (1985). The elf appeared as a character race in the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (1977). In subsequent revisions, in order to streamline the game, the non-humans (including

7120-584: The weekly encounter style that was removed in Legacy of the Crystal Shard by adding "specific encounters for the first and last week and confined plays to individual zones of a dungeon during each other week of play". Second, Dead in Thay added the Event Coordinator role which had previously been limited to convention adventures such as Vault of the Dracolich (2013). "The Event Coordinator managed

7209-583: The wilderness. The dunes and steppes of Athas are home to thousands of tribes of nomadic elves. While each tribe is very different culturally, the elves within them remain a race of long-limbed sprinters given to theft, raiding, and warfare. The 2nd edition product Mind Lords of the Last Sea introduced a new offshoot of Dark Sun elf. The people of Saragar call them "ghost elves" for their fair complexions, light blonde hair and pale blue eyes. Ghost elves are elitist and xenophobic, and live almost exclusively in

7298-471: The world by preventing the Cycle of Night. They succeed when Vasen uses the power of Amaunator to strip several characters (Rivalen, Riven and Mephistopheles) of Mask's divine essence with the expectation that Erevis would take on this power of godhood. Afterwards, Riven convinces Erevis that it would be better for him to take on the power instead so Riven is then reborn as Mask. The Adversary by Erin M. Evans

7387-455: Was "the main setting of a tabletop adventure". Appelcline commented that by selling the adventure instead of releasing a limited number of books for free "it gave D&D some much needed attention on gaming store shelves during a year where Wizards' schedule was otherwise filled with reprints of classic rule books and adventures. Second, it allowed Wizards to produce a much more comprehensive supplement". Lucard's review, for Diehard GameFAN , of

7476-501: Was allowed, however, elf characters could only take a max of four levels in fighter and eight levels in magic-user. Tresca described the Tolkien style of elf as "a burden for game designers" as they were seemingly "more capable than humans". Tresca commented that "Gygax worked hard to curb their power, by giving the race a weak constitution and putting limitations on how high they could level. These limitations would not be removed until

7565-525: Was dropped in the 3rd Edition. Christian Hoffer of ComicBook.com commented that "while there are lots of theories about the technical reasons (many believe that D&D co-creator Gary Gygax was not a fan of non-human characters, and thus placed the restriction on them when writing up Advanced Dungeons & Dragons,) the only 'official' explanation appears in Deities & Demigods , a D&D supplement released in 1980. [...] The major difference between

7654-439: Was equally cataclysmic, but occurred in recent times. Beginning in 1484 DR, about one hundred years after the onset of the Spellplague, natural disasters and calamities flashed across the planet Toril. Earthquakes, vast floodings, wars, droughts and volcanic eruptions tore the world apart, and by 1489 DR this Second Sundering had changed the world dramatically, both physically and culturally. The Spellplague had caused huge changes to

7743-680: Was originally only released to Dungeon Masters participating in the RPGA convention playthrough. Wizards of the Coast "reserved much of Hall D at the Indiana Convention Center so that the RPGA could run Confrontation at Candlekeep . [...] The two-hour adventure was scheduled for 28 separate sessions, the first running from 8am to 10am on Thursday, August 15th and the last running from 2pm to 4pm on Sunday, August 18th. Each session could seat up to 176 players, which meant that Wizards had

7832-400: Was system-neutral, but Wizards included stats for D&D 3.5e, 4e, and 5e in the 'Monster Statistics' book. [...] This move toward 5e saw one other big change in the Encounters program: it was the first Encounters program that was largely gridless, moving away from the extensive tactical maps that had defined the earlier seasons of Encounters play". The second Sundering adventure, Legacy of

7921-505: Was the big public release adventure since it included the 5th Edition playtest rules followed by the Murder in Baldur’s Gate (2013), the adventure for the 15th season of the 4th Edition D&D Encounters program, which became available for purchase shortly after the convention. While the third tie-in adventure, Confrontation at Candlekeep (2013), acted as a prequel to the sixth novel The Herald (2014), it did not become well known because it

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