Court of Winter

The Elven Court of Winter (known to elves as the *hrive gwaith*) was once a council within the Elven structure of leadership that would replace the Court of Summer as ruling council over the Elven nation during The Renewal Terragard, and would relinquish power back to the Summer Court once the renewal ended and spring returned.

They have since been separated from the Elven nation due to irreconcilable differences in opinion regarding the ideals and practices of the Elves' political relations with the other races in Terragard. They were exiled and now hold their own Elven nation in the northeast, housed in their capital city, Snowspire. While not aggressive, they are more often hostile than not to outsiders, and it is cautioned by many to not trespass in their forests.

## History

During the first few ages of Terragard's recorded history, the Elves were peaceful and friendly to all of the Humans and surface Dwarves who encountered them, prosperous trade was established and there was an age of great cultural and social benefit.

#### The First Renewal

The Elves warned the settlers of the Winter everseason that would be coming, bu by the time it hit, most of the settlers had never even seen a winter in their lives, the elves warning of snow and frost and all the plants dying form the cold was outlandish and seemed pure lunacy. When it hit almost overnight, and the Winter Court was seated as the ruling power, it was clear the settlers were unprepared and began dying off from starvation and cold within weeks. They turned to the Elves for help, who offered what little food and aid they could spare, but it was not nearly enough.

Months later, the humans were dying off and seeking refuge within the Elven capital of Everbranch, but the elves could not supply so many newcomers for the entire winter, and had to close their doors to refugees, but offered to help them settle nearby and control their own populations and hunt responsibly. The elves rules seemed unforgivingly strict and called for tough decisions to be made about irresponsible pregnancies and the of the sick and elderly. The humans who did not seek refuge resented the elves for their harsh criticisms of their hunting practices and their unwillingness to offer direct aid, and many perished.

The winter court did not take this lightly, and was divided on their attitude toward letting the humans settle the lands again after the renewal was over. Some of them publicly expressed their remorse at the human's losses, and some found the human's hunting of the wildlife to the brink of extinction unforgivable. Regardless, the winter Court relinquished power once the winter everseason ended, and they resolved to restore the native populations the humans decimated in the northern and western forests.

#### The Second Renewal

The elves used the events of the first renewal to better caution the humans before the second everseason, and were able to stockpile more resources to help them in case they ignored the elves' warnings again. When the second renewal arrived and the winter court resumed power, they ruled that no aid should be provided to the humans unless they could prove themselves responsible in sustaining themselves and their habitats. This was a fair decision, but many knew the humans were too young and too desperate to adopt this lifestyle overnight, even the winter council themselves.

This caused a great divide among the elven leadership and though the winter council had the immediate power, the elves were spiteful that the winter council had so quickly strained the relations they had so carefully cultivated with the humans over the past age. At first the humans conformed, and the winter wardens taught the humans restraint and responsible hunting and resource gathering, but their ill-preparedness meant they would still suffer casualties.

A resistance rose up among the humans, destroying their chances of peace with the winter elves from within, as they bypassed the wardens in order to hunt beyond their agreed limits, and stole supplies from the wardens in secret. When this was discovered, even though this was just a scared splinter faction of the humans, the winter council railed against them, and began executing humans found to be poaching outside their allowed borders and taking any action against the wardens, even if it was just to save their own lives. This, coupled with the scarcity of food in the everseason, led to an overwhelming amount of losses for the humans, who were almost wiped out completely save for a couple major cities.

#### The Exile of the Winter Council

As soon as the second winter everseason ended, it was obvious that the Winter Council's decisions were extreme and reviled by many elves. The Winter council made a play to remain in power over the Elven people permanently, but were deposed by the rightful Court of Summer after some intense politicking and power plays, they were exiled by law, along with all of their sympathizers. They traveled to the opposite side of Lake Garrison and settled their capital Snowspire, in the north eastern winter forests.

## Structure

The leaders of the Winter Elves are the former members of the Winter Council, and they still are known as the Winter Council among their people.

Underneath them are the Winter Wardens,a militant group of peacekeepers and enforcers for the will of the council.

Following the Winter Wardens are the soldier in the Winter Army, the elven military that patrols and north eastern winter woods.

The common elven folk that live within Winterspire are at the bottom of the structure, but they all contribute to the military in some way, crafting or cooking and serving in the lowest ranks of the winter militia.

## Goals

To preserve the winter forest, and stockpile resources and train for the next Renewal, when they plan to take over large sections of the land and form their own Winter Nation. Also to search for ways to instigate and prolong the winter everseason in strategic regions they have selected.

## Limits

The elves are not evil, and even are known to respect and deal with the human-centric Winter Watchers, being that their regions border and the threat of Icerot is a shared enemy. The elves are not openly hostile unless their laws are broken, including poaching or trespassing on their land, and they will not kill unless absolutely necessary.