Elfrealm of Ibevar

Ibenion II ta'Lunateín (Grand Prince during the Ibevar Reformation)

Although Moon Elves can be found all across Cannor, it is rare to find them as an organized state, as similar Elfrealms such as the Marquisate of Arbaran, eventually fell under the rule of their founders' half-elven descendants, an affliction most common amongst the realms of the Silver Families. While some others existed, they in time either fell to the region's great powers, as the Elfrealm of Venáil did or were only nominally independent, such as the Elfrealm of Moonhaven or the Elfrealm of the Redglades. The **Elfrealm of Ibevar** stands as the definitively independent elven power of Cannor, and commands great respect from all elves as a result, additionally being the only elven monarchy in Cannor.

## History

### Founding

Shortly after The Landing the elven hero Munas Moonsinger called for all his kin to aid the League of Free Realms, which many did. Some disagreed with this notion, like Maldorian the Navigator who rejected war entirely and left with his followers to the north, but for Ibenion ta'Lunateín and fellow elder Ianren the Rider they agreed for help but in exchange of establishing their own true realms for elves in the new land.

When the war stretched to central Cannor and skirmishes began in the Forlorn Vale, many humans refused to fight due to the land's dark history. In this Ibenion and his elven followers volunteered to fight in the dark woods, but it was only after the rediscovery of the long lost Cardesti capital of Vardoced that Ibenion began settling the region.

By the end of the War of the Sorcerer-King the Forlorn Vale was divided between members of the League of Free Realms: his own realm, Ibevar, the human kingdom of Martin Farran and the Elfrealm of the Cursewood, who had formerly been part of Ibenion's dominion and split due to Ibenion's bias towards the elves of the Lunateín.

As part of the Treaty of Anbenncóst, the southern Disputed Lands, another name for the Forlorn Vale, was granted to Ibenion to act as its protector against any further Castanorian threats, much to the chagrin of Martin, who had settled years before Ibenion's discovery and resettlement of Vardoced.

### The White Pestilence

Soon after its founding, Ibevar was menaced with the threat of the White Pestillence, during which the Cursewood and Farraneán officially united through marriage of prince Edward Farran and Vehari Tederfremh, forming the long-standing rival to Ibevar's ambitions of ruling over the Forlorn Vale. Defensive lines at Larthán and the Blaíddscal largely protected Ibevar's populace from the shambling dead. Elves, due to some quirk of the pestillence were less receptive to its ill effects, allowing for Ibevar to stand firm against the disease.

### Changing of the Princes

Ibenion I would retire from the throne and abdicate in 1084, already growing distant from the affairs of state since his daughter Lanahari had gone missing while participating in her husband’s campaign against the Xiaken. In his retirement, Ibenion was said to have become more a ghost than elf as he retreated from public life, with the only insight into this time that we can glean being the birth of Ibenion II. Ibenion I would pass away in 1127 after holding a funeral vigil over Lanahari’s returned bones, when they finally came home. He retired after this watch and was later found perfectly still by those who attended to him.

Adraehl I, Ibenion I’s first son and middle child after the eventual birth of Ibenion II, would take the throne on his fifty-sixth nameday. He would have no children and so it was expected that on his passing the throne would go to his younger brother Ibenion II leaving the line of succession clear. Adrahel’s reign would see the policy of isolation continue though he was not afraid to muster for confrontation when tensions began to boil, taking care to remind the rulers of Cannor of Ibevar’s continually held claims and eeking out favourable border adjustments as reward for mediating peace treaties.

### "Chivalric" Skirmishes

While Ibevar has largely maintained a quiet history the Farrani border was long an ill-defined source of conflict, with bloody skirmishes and centuries-long feuds between families on either side of it. At times, Ibevar would send the greatest champions of the Blaíddscal to settle disputes in a contest of Diranbe bladework against the finest of the síl na Eán line in the tradition of Escanni Chivalry. However, it was just as often that the common folk would fight proxy wars, haughtily condemned by both sides as border villages burned or flipped allegiance between the realms.

### The Greentide

The longstanding rivalry between the Farrani and Ibevari would come to an end around the year 1442, where Dookanson's thralls first reached the borders of Farraneán, eventually forcing the abandonment of Farran's kingdom, save for holdouts in Freetower and Valefort. Beginning without the sanction of the state, Ibevari soldiers and adventurers, such as Pelodir I Casna, later the founder of Pelodaire cast aside the bad blood of generations and aided in the evacuation of the Farrani Caseán towns. While he cannot be given credit for the effort in and of itself, Ibenion II ta'Luneteín did relent and facilitate the transport of the human and half-elven Farrani to Esmaria or Aldresia, and offered in goodwill the chance for any willing Farrani elves to settle in Ibevar with any past wrongs forgiven.

### The Lilac Wilts

Having long feared the power and influence of the Empire forcing Ibevar's submission, Ibenion II jumped on the opportunity to join the Rose Party in breaking the unified bloc of Anbennar, sending a number of troops and financial support to those who turned on their Damerian masters. In exchange for Ibevar's aid in the war, the Duchy of Asheniande was forced to cede Téinmas to Ibevar, creating a southern march that would keep the squabbles of the empire further from its forest heartland.

### A Syncretic Reformation

Following the great disruptions of the Lilac Wars and the The Greentide, a period known as the Ibevar Reformation began. Seeking to carve a new place in a changing world that was quickly leaving Ibevar behind, the strongheaded leadership of Ibenion II ta'Luneteín pushed for the conversion of the country's population, who had clung to the Elven Forebears far longer than all but the Elfrealm of Venáil or Silent Repose (which was soon integrated into Ibevar). These efforts emphasized a syncretism of Ibevar's traditional Elven Forebears worship with that of Munas Moonsinger and The Dame. The theology pushed in this reformation, in a framework largely constructed by theologian and priest of Munas, Erelas Starwatcher, who asserted that as Nerat rules over the human dead, so too does Munas rule over the souls of deceased elves, elevating Him to the most prominent position in the nation's traditional worship of the Regent Court.

### The Humans' War

The Syncretic forms of Worship popularized in Ibevar put enough emphasis on the Elves' distinct role under Munas to create something of an apathy toward the conflict between the Corinites and Adean's followers, which were seen as the "humans' war", over who held their souls. This apathy was a major contribution to the nation's reputed neutrality. Close ties to Bennon established during the refugee crisis of the Greentide allowed for the Council of the Ancients to pass a bill to Ibenion II ta'Luneteín which was essentially a copy of the Declaration of Religious Compromise, stating that Ibevar, like Bennon, had no business in resolving the squabbles of Corin and Adean.

## Society

### Martial Traditions

While physically frailer than most humans, Ibevar elves are known for their keen senses, especially sight. Due to this, Ibevar produces some of the best marksmen in Cannor, each capable of pinning down foes with deadly efficiency. Though originally bowmen, these laid the foundation for later sharpshooters, who even surpassed the range of their forebears after the adoption of rifled firearms. The Blaíddscal is noted for producing an aggressive style of martial command atypical of most elven armies.

### Notable Goods

* Varilleni, a dry red wine produced in the Varillen region of Ibevar is of special note due to the finer varieties possessing magical properties that adapt the wine to the drinker's palette, and produce a distinct glow when infused with magic. Though originally created as a mark to prove the legitimacy and quality of the finer varieties, it quickly usurped other features of the wine to become its most notable aspect.
* Núraelic Linen is one of the more notable cloths in Ibevar. While some silk is produced in the area, the flaxen fields of Thanas have long supplied Ibevar with its most sought-after cloth. While Esmari fashion was often considered the great producer of scandals, the sheer cloth of the thinner summer styles produced by Núrael's tailors have been flustering courts across Cannor for centuries.
* Antirionnic Incense, which to the modern day produces the most prestigious brands of Cannor arose from the monastic traditions of the Silent Repose, in growing traditional Aelantiri herbs that had been cultivated on the Remnant Fleet for a millennia. Following the Repose's transition into one of Cannor's most serene cities, a product that had largely been limited to the elfrealms and
* Ainéthíl Coursers and the Cursewood Draft are hardy and stubborn breeds with distinct silver or bluish coats adapted to the dense forests and unforgiving terrain of the Forlorn Vale, with the former having notably grown in popularity as warfare became more loud and brutal, with the advent of firearms thanks to its unflinching nature.

### Festivals

* Lansday is celebrated on the 8th of Nerament, as in the rest of Cannor. A particular regional tradition exists along the Hehainé wherein little replicas of the Luneteín, the ship captained by the line of Ibevar's rulers, as well as the other members of the remant fleet are set adrift on the river. These are created to varying degrees of quality by any from the nation's children to the finest woodcarvers are set upon the river, creating a little remnant fleet that, thanks to a little magic, keeps its course all the way to Oldpassage.
* The Cogaulúis Ball was imported by Farrani refugees, but adapted to Ibevari society. While the barges along the Hehainé remain consistent with a toned-down recreation of the Esmari river parties, those off the banks of the nation's rivers often decorate the banks of local lakes, ponds, or creeks with festive adornments, creating floating platforms, or simply taking a dip in the waters and enjoying the warm spring weather of Silversight.
* The Thanas Circuit is a yearly series of races centered in the rural lands around Thanas and other locations across Cannor. Originating as a way for Cartmakers to test the durability of their creations, the races have grown to be one of the largest draws of tourism to the region, and created a prominent center of development for horseless carts, as artificers from around the world gather to test their creations at the sport's birthplace.

## Geography

Ibevar is largely filled with heavy, dense forests reminscent of the Greatwoods or Inner Castanor, which, along with the Havoral Divide and regions like Larthán and Carodir's Pass have made invading the region quite an undesirable prospect. The few wars that have made it onto Ibevari soil have demonstrated the elves' extensive knowledge of their home terrain, with guerilla warfare using finely honed ambush tactics developed in border skirmishes with the Farrani helping to maintain the realm's sovereignty into modernity.

The heartland of the Elfrealm lies along the Hehainé river, with its most populous and prosperous cities in a straight run from Núrael to Ár Éinnas, the whole of it densely forested even to the modern day. Appealing to the eye of the romantic, from city to country, the whole of Ibevar is shaped with an aesthetic that maintains the natural landscape, and holds some of the last old-growth forest outside the Deepwoods and those recesses of the Greatwoods that have not been marred by the development of the Northern League's industry in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The area was uninhabited at the time of the War of the Sorcerer-King following the destruction of Great Cardest in 871, wherein the sorcery of Dunicha the Augur Queen blighted the land, and forced the Cardesti and Castanorians from it, riling the already hostile magics of the disconnected remnant of the Deepwoods and rendering it too hostile for human settlement.

## Notable Locations

### Blaíddscal

Ibevar's prestigious military academy, located in the namesake city that sprung up in its surroundings. Its training brings the Ibevari out of line with many other elven realms, as its officer cadets are intensely trained in fencing and military command in such as fashion as to create an especially aggressive martial style.

### Núrael

A city centered around tailoring and the production of cloth, which often sets the fashion trends for the rest of the Elfrealm, often seen as the cultural center of the nation. It was historically noted as the main refuge of Farrani elves, who helped to shape the city's identity as a counter-cultural center in opposition to elven traditionalism, and made it one of the first areas of the elfrealm to convert during the Ibevar Reformation.

### Varillen

A wine-producing region named for the city of Varillen, located south of Ibevar along the Hehainé river. It is notable for producing the Varilleni, a dry red which, in its finest variants, glows when exposed to magic, and adapts itself to the palette of the drinker.

### Ibevar City

Standing upon the ruins of Vardoced, the capital city of Ibevar was the first elven settlement to be properly established in the region. It would come to house wonders such as the Great Temple of Ibevar and Casna Aesa.

### Antirionn

Following the Annexation of Silent Repose, a grand city to house Ibevar's elders was constructed around the old monastery, becoming a center for traditional elven culture and crafts. While never as trendy as Núrael, it remains to traditional culture what the fast city on the Hehainé is to the novel and modern.