For the sake of understanding, I must give some attention to the rise of the Eladrin—which involves me pretty much from the beginning of their ascension. Even before the hard split between the groups now known as the Elves and the Eladrin, there was a splinter faction within the rule of the Regai family. My father and uncle uncovered only a small part of our ancient history. They always suspected that our family and very close friends were somehow set apart from the rest of the Elves. We didn't look much different from the rest, which would have given away the secret a lot sooner, but even in simple things like work and education “we” (sorry, I have to use that anachronistic term for ease) seemed to accomplish more with ease than the others. We, over the generations, began to suspect that we were somehow different, and when the fraction of the five ruling families occurred, that was all we needed cut ties with the Ragai family. In our minds, we had cut ties with the others years before, but we didn't want to make them suspicious.
So, what was it that my father and uncle uncovered that confirmed our suspicion? They found records, through much clandestine searching in the “royal” records of the elves that we had come to this plane a lot later than they. Our ancestors thought it best, at the time, to just blend in with the elves. Over time they just wanted subsequent generations to forget that we had close ties to another plane. The history may not have passed down like it should have, but the blood did not deceive us like our ancestors wanted. As I said before, we didn't want to let on that we knew the truth of being new to the material plane, but that did not prevent us from wanting to find more of the truth behind our ancestry.
My father and uncle, if the reader hasn't figured out by now, were the undeclared leaders of the yet to be named Eladrin; we wouldn't get the name until the splitting of the Five Families. My uncle handled the diplomatic side of things while my father had more of a knack for tactics. One of the first things my dad wanted done was for a trip to be conducted to the closer planes to see if there were any remnants of our ancestors. All we could figure out from the few remaining records was that we were not originally from this plane, but we didn't know where we were from specifically. The ancient records just didn't go back far enough. I demanded that I go on the adventure. I am not one to brag, but I was the strongest among my peers. OK, so maybe I do brag. Anyways, my heart is in the right place since I have a great devotion to my people.
I set off almost immediately on my journey to I didn't really know where; I took only enough time to grab basic supplies. When I left, the city of Altair was still standing; I only mention this because I had a strong feeling that when or if I return, the city won't be the same. Being that I didn't really know my heritage, I didn't what I'd be drawn or attracted to, but I did pick up on two strong, but different, magical auras leaving the city. One felt at peace, while the other was in great turmoil. I followed them out of Altair, never letting on that I was tailing them. Luckily for me they were planning on going to another plane.
When I arrived on the new plane, I noticed that they were already far ahead of me and heading towards some distant tower. I somehow knew that I was not meant to travel any more in their footsteps. As I sat down to contemplate my new surroundings, something began to awaken in me. I discovered that I could produce a cold ray and a sonic shock at will. I spent many days mastering these new found abilities; of course, days is only the way I can express time since the Cusp—as I later found out the name of the place—plays odd tricks on time. I can only assume that since I have a heritage that is not of the material plane, then that must be why I did not go completely insane in the time I spent on the Cusp.
Some time after this, some really odd things began to happen. The Cusp began to show some odd signs of fluctuation—like things were shifting and moving out of place. The magic essence was completely out of control. I began to see portals appear and disappear quite rapidly. I began to get both excited and nervous. I was excited that I might stumble upon the right plane where my ancestors came from, but at the same time, I knew that I might get dumped in a plane where I wouldn't survive for more than a second. I tried my best to sense the best portal around me, but I didn't really have much of a choice since a portal picked me by appearing right below me.
When I came to, I noticed that many other Eladrin were standing around me. I must have stumbled upon the realm of the Fey, I thought, and I then passed out again. I awoke again, this time in a rather well-done room. The bed had a canopy that seemed to float above the mattress. The windows appeared as there were no panes in them, but when I put my hand up to where I expected not to find glass, my hand was repulsed. This realm must not have been so aversely affected by the magic-god's death. I barely had enough time to take in this wonderful room before I was whisked away to some sort of training facility. Here, the first and only Eladrin greeted me. She introduced herself as Zephyria, and she somehow already knew my name. She told me that she had a gift for me when our time was finished, but before that time came, she was to train me, at least rudimentary so, in the skills of a wizard worthy of the Eladrin race. I did nothing but eat, sleep, study and practice for days—again I use the term “day” loosely. When our time came to a conclusion, she gave me my spellbook that she told me would only work for me and that I could never use another wizard's book either. As she conjured a portal and sent me back to the prime material, she told me that I would play an important role in the success of Eladrin, but that was all I heard before arriving near the village of Haven.
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