Celenia

This article is about a kingdom. For the forest, see Celenian Forest.

Celenia
Geographic Information
Alias(es)	Celenian Province (until 1000 AE) Kingdom of Celenia
Capital	Illunii
Notable cities	Windshii Xandir
Region(s)	Central Libaterra (Third Age) Eastern Northern Continent (Fourth Age) Shares borders with: Andaria (south) Zion (west)
Societal Information
Language(s)	Common Elvish
Race(s)	Elves Faerfolc (1005–1017 AE)
Demonym(s)	Celenian
Allies	Locken Loyalists (until 1000 AE)
Enemies	Third Age: Crimson Coalition Magicracy of Alent Rebels Yamato Empire Fourth Age: Andaria
Political Information
Government	Monarchy
Historical Information
Age	Third Age Fourth Age
Established	1 AE
Annexed into Libaterra	Unknown
Independence declared	1000 AE
Faerfolc Occupation	1005–1017 AE
Preceded by Thracia Libaterra

Celenia, formally the Kingdom of Celenia, is an elven nation located within the Celenian Forest on the Northern Continent in the Fourth Age. Dating to the beginning of the Third Age, it has a long and troubled history as both an independent kingdom and an autonomous Libaterran province. Celenia's glory has been gradually fading as its power has diminished over the centuries, and it is presently struggling to remain independent and survive in a changing world since the disastrous events of the Catastrophe.

History

Third Age

Distreyd Era

Founding the Kingdom

Main article: Thracia

After the Explosion that ended the Second Age led to the death of High King Elrond Thracia and the decline of the Kingdom of Thracia, his surviving heirs--Princes Celen Thracia, Sindaros Thracia and Thylus Thracia--began bickering among themselves for the title of the High King. This bickering led to the division of the royal line as each brother took their bannermen with them and founded new, separate elven kingdoms in the Celenian Forest, Folsworth Woods (also known as Thylus Kingdom), and Mori'Taure (also known as Sindaros Kingdom), each named after the three Princes who had settled into their respective forests. Additionally, some elves chose not to follow the Princes and ended up on Falgorn, Traquine, and Tronin Desert instead.

The glory days of Thracia were over, and the fabled Silver Throne had been lost while elves were now scattered around the Land of the Living because of their inner division and Arawn Losstarot's persecution of their kind in the Arawn Losstarot War. Despite this twilight of elves, rumors persisted among them in the form of songs, notably the allegorical "Into the West" found in the Lebenslied song book, about a time when the glory of Thracia would be reborn, and a new High King, or Emperor, in golden armor would unite elves once more and found a glorious kingdom where all elvenkind could live in peace and harmony like they had done many centuries ago.

Celen continued the dynasty of the House of Thracia and retained the name for his house. His realm became known as the Kingdom of Celenia located in the heartlands of Libaterra while he ruled from the wondrous elven city of Illunii. As the eldest son of the late High King Elrond, Celen was the most strict about tradition and matters of blue blood, eventually establishing a caste system between pureblood elven nobility and commoner elves who were of a bloodline that had been tainted by elves mingling with demons in the past. Over the following centuries, this caste system would become even more strict and effectively turn the 'mudblood' commoners into servants of the pureblood nobles.

Annexed into Libaterra

Although records of early Libaterran history are lost, what can be ascertained is that at some point in the Third Age the elves felt threatened by the ruthless and expansionistic human dynasty known as the House of Locken which had gathered an army of followers and were conquering the surrounding peaceful tribes and races to establish their own kingdom.

The Celenians eventually clashed with the Lockens and lost although further details of the conflict and how humanity achieved victory over the elves are shrouded in mystery. Following the defeat in the war, the Kingdom of Celenia was annexed into the growing Kingdom of Libaterra as one of its provinces which supplied the Lockens with wood and weapons as tribute.

Over the following centuries the animosities between elves and humans appeared to lessen somewhat in Libaterra, and efforts from more benevolent and progressive monarchs of the Locken Dynasty led to the Celenian Forest becoming a more autonomous province as a reward for not rebelling against the Crown. During these times the Celenian elves became Locken Loyalists and would remain on the Crown's side even during the Libaterran Civil War when the human Rebels attacked the Loyalists and took over the Loyalist capital of Lutherin.

Declaration of Independence

After the Rebels won the civil war and were crushed mere months later by the invading Yamato Empire in what became known as the Yamatian Invasion, the Celenian elves decided to sever their ties to the Locken Dynasty whose last monarch, Queen Shyla Locken, had disappeared and was believed to have perished during the conflict. The elves declared independence and restored the banners of the Kingdom of Celenia, using ancient magic at their disposal to successfully shield their forest home from both the Yamato Empire as well as the Clergy of Mardük's Plague of Nightmares.

The Celenians remained isolationist ever since, choosing to not join the Grand Alliance's campaign against Yamato in the Great War even when they learned that their Folsworth and Mori'taure cousins had sided with the Alliance. Some reports state, however, that some Celenians may have actually sided with the Alliance after all late in the war, but these claims remain unconfirmed.

Before the war in Libaterra could be resolved, the Alliance accidentally triggered the Reactor Core Explosion underneath Lutherin, which led to the decimation of the Yamatian defenders in Libaterra as well as a sizable chunk of the Alliance's Libaterran army, forcing the Alliance to flee while a group of mages led by Jemuel seized power in Central Libaterra and founded the Magicracy of Alent.

Godslayer Era

Faerfolc Occupation

The Faerfolc Rampage occurred around the same time as the Reactor Core Explosion when the vengeful Faerfolc had returned to have their revenge on being imprisoned for millennia. The unstoppable Faerfolc suddenly ceased their hostilities one day, however, and mysteriously retreated into nearby forests with the majority of them choosing the Celenian Forest by the time the Cataclysm ended the Great War and ushered in the era of the Godslayer.

Little is known of what transpired in Celenia in those days except that the Faerfolc established themselves as rulers of the elves due to having been the fathers of elves in the distant past. Ironically Celen's strict caste system led the pureblood nobles into accepting the Faerfolc, their betters, as their rulers. It's unknown what role the House of Thracia served under their new Faerfolc overlords. Whatever the truth was, from that point on the Faerfolc ruled Celenia, turning the forest kingdom relatively prosperous again.

Conspiracies Within and Without

The demons, who had entered the Land of the Living once more during the Cataclysm, learned of the Faerfolc's domain in Celenia and desired their power for themselves. Similarly the Totenkopfs' death cult likewise wanted to dispel the power of the Faerfolc for their Master Kamen Grimgaze's grand plan to amass more magical power. Celenia became increasingly isolationist as a result, capturing and sentencing anyone trespassing on its grounds to death or imprisonment.

The desires of nefarious forces led to a far-reaching conspiracy within the ambitious House of Barca, one of the more notable elven noble families in Illunii, and the demons' attempt to use the members of the family to open a portal to the Demon Realm in the Battle of Illunii. Their plan was foiled by the band of adventurers known as the Dresdens whose actions in and outside Illunii made both the elves and the Faerfolc start to consider whether to join forces with the other races to combat the growing demon menace.

By the time the Second Great War culminated in the Battle of Alent and ended in the world-changing Catastrophe, the Faerfolc were affected by the unleashed magic from the Beacon of Alent. What happened next remained unknown as no one had managed to enter the forest and tell the tale in the years since, but rumors persisted that the Faerfolc might have vanished from the forests of Libaterra although these rumors couldn't be verified.

Fourth Age

As the world entered the Fourth Age, Celenia struggled to survive to remain independent despite being in decline. Whatever leadership it may have had proved to be weakened by the wars of the previous decades as well as the rise of new threats, most notably the demonic Andarian Empire with which the kingdom shared its southern border.

20 years after the Catastrophe, a letter was sent to Valencia, one of the new kingdoms, with an offer of marriage to the half-elven King Derek Hawthorne. It remained unknown, however, whether the letter had truly come from Celenia which by that time was seen as notoriously isolationist and stuck in an elven superiority mindset, so marrying an elven noble to a half-elf seemed contradictory to Celenia's earlier stance.

The truth about Celenia and its present state have yet to be discovered, including if the decaying elven kingdom is once again led by a king or queen from the House of Thracia, if it is now ruled by a council of nobles instead, and if the Faerfolc still exist within it and how much influence they may have over the elves living there.

Notable settlements

• Illunii - capital
• Windshii
• Xandir

See also

• Faerfolc
• Libaterra
• Thracia

Celenia
Settlements:	Illunii · Windshii · Xandir
Landmarks:	Barad Tuilinn · Runestone Glade
Regions and Geography:	Celenian Forest