Creation of the Elves and Tarquil

## Creation of the Elves of Thelos

The elven people hold to a similar creation myth across the face of Thelos, though many clans of elves have not even come into contact with one another. The similarity of their belief, despite the isolated and independent nature of it coming into popular mythology, lends credit to its truth as far as the Historians are concerned. It does not necessarily contradict the teachings of the devout of Illeander, but it adds a certain flavor that is considered uncouth by his faithful.

The elves believe that each clan was created from the spirit of some animal which is natural to the habitat in which they live. The most common of these are the Shah'vin and Da'vae of the Savage Frontier. While the Shah'vin believe their people were created from the wolf spirit, the Da'vae hold that their people came from the spirit of the bear. The elven clans of the ice wastes hold similar beliefs based on the polar bear and seal, while the clans of Silesti attribute their origins to the hawk, owl, and eagle. This is considered blaspheme by followers of The Creator, who believe all creatures on Thelos were created from nothing by Him.

## Elves and Magic

The elven people abhor arcane magic, seeing it as a corruption of the natural world. Blue-eyed children were seen as an aberration because of their magic blood. No one knows if this belief came before the time of the awakening of the elven Gods, or after they arrived, but Historians will point out that when the awakening happened there was no God of Magic among the elven pantheon.

Magic in Thelos is in the blood, you are either born with it or not, and those born with it are easily identifiable by their sapphire blue eyes. The early elves of Thelos left blue-eyed children to the forest, believing the natural world would take care of the aberration in its own way. Some clans were known to sacrifice those babies who were born with the magical 'affliction'. Over time the magical blood of the elven people became diluted, and blue-eyed children became more rare. The practice of sacrifice, or leaving the children to the wood spirits, fell out of favor. Blue-eyed elves, though extremely rare, suffer banishment when they come of age if they show any proclivity for the arcane arts.

No one knows what happened to every child abandoned in the wood. Some say they become nature spirits themselves. Others say they are foundlings, raised by other peoples to become magic users. It is not impossible for an elven wizard to exist, but they would either be a spontaneous caster and hunted by wizards, or follow the path of a trained wizard. In either case, they would be outcasts among their own people, and often strange in comparison having been raised outside of elven culture.

## The Tarquil

The tarquil are believed to have been elves at one time, descended from the panther. The clans of the Savage Frontier believe the tarquil became the evil, cat-like people they are today, because of the corruption of magic. The truth of it is far more sinister. A daemon, whose name is lost to time, found devotees among the elves who would become the tarquil. He spent many decades convincing the shamans of the tarquil to accept him as a divine being. Over time the daemon, whose name is not known to any Historian, seduced the tarquil away from the elven Gods. He convinced them that magic was not unnatural, and that their place in the world was as conquerors and that he would make them in a new image as a higher form of being than any other that walked Thelos.

Whether it was a curse of the old Gods, as the elves believe, or corruption of the daemon as he promised, the tarquil did change. Their elven features became more cat-like, in the image of the spirit ancestor of their people. They began to accept those with magical blood, as well as look outside their own clanhold for conquest. Slavery, war, and brutality became their heritage.