Elven Civil War

The name given to the extensive conflict that raged across Teiklon shortly following first contact with the Concordat of Sentient Life. Upon discovering that extra-terrestrial life existed, the 18 Elven ilkrayans gathered together to discuss what to be done about the matter. It was universally agreed that, for the sake of all Elves, they had to pretend to have a unified front to the aliens in order to ensure they were not divided and consumed by the Concordat, or any other intergalactic organizations out there. Thus three Elves were chosen from different ilkrayans, chosen completely at random in order to ensure no internal bias in politics.

These three, Forhill Weaver, Elise Shadewhisper, and Karia Leafsong, all met with the Concordat associates and diplomats on board the CMS *Stood*, where they quickly grew enamored with the peace and prosperity the Concordat seemed to have. Though by this point only a small number of races were within the Concordat, each was treated equally and fairly, and thanks to the massive leaps in advancement made in the wake of the War of Annihilation, the quality of living had sharply rose for all member states. Elise, in particular, wanted very much to be a part of the Concordat and discussed the matter with her comrades. While Karia disagreed, for obvious reasons, Forhill was convinced to go ahead and sign the Elven people into the Concordat as a member race.

There was one catch; Emperor insisted on having ratified information from each of the ilkrayans stating they all wished to join. This meant the three delegates, hesitantly, had to return to the planet and inform the convened council of what was happening and what they had done on the night of April 9th, 58.

No exact records exist of what happened after. It is known that threats of violence erupted almost immediately; some ilkrayans accusing others of favoring capitulating to the alien invaders, others insisting on secret military alliances already being in place, and of course angry arguments over whether the Elves really should join the Concordat or not. Whatever the specifics, not many Elves survived the night, and when curious attendees and guards slowly and tentatively approached the meeting sight and found the massacre, war was inevitable.

The Elven Civil War was particularly tricky to navigate for the Concordat. Technically they could approach any ilkrayan and offer them support and aid, but doing so would significantly alter the balance of power on the planet-bound Elves. Ethical and moral questions raged through the Concordat at every level, debating what the advanced organization *should* do regarding the more primitive Elves. The alternative was to simply sit back and let the Elves hash things out themselves, but that could easily prolong the conflict and many of the Concordat found the idea of standing by and watching to be more than they could stomach.

The ethical debate was never 100% decided, but led to one of the more long-standing policies of the Concordian people; the Writ of Aid. The concept behind the Writ of Aid was that, while the Concordat did not have the right (ethically) nor should they (practically) completely control and alter the way other societies existed, they should also not go to the *other* extreme of refusing to help at all. Thus, choosing the Hard Path is something that would eventually become Imperial doctrine; aiding without controlling, and avoiding without ignoring.

For the next 14 years the Elven Civil War raged across Teiklon. Concordat individuals were present in many aspects of Elven society during these long years, mostly for observation but also providing relief and aid equally wherever needed. Perhaps ironically this prolonged the conflict, but also considerably reduced the damage in both terrain and lives. Some future historians would argue that this was the first functional application of the Bastion, though of course such an organization did not formally exist at the time.

By the end of the conflict, only 4 ilkrayans remained functional governmental powers, with the others disbanded or absorbed by the others. Three of these (Weaver, Feathermoon, and Nightsong) had formed an uneasy alliance for the purpose of forcing terms of negotation upon the fourth (Sunreaver). Thanks in no small part to the Concordian efforts throughout the years in slowly encouraging cooperation and mitigating the worst of the violence, this uneasy truce slowly stabilized into a practical alliance. The Elven Confederacy was ratified and formed on October 24th, 72, formally ending the Elven Civil War. Within a week the Confederacy was accepted as a member state of the Concordat.