Elven Civil War

Elven Civil War
Beginning				Year 1930, Fourth Age
End				Year 169, Fifth Age
Place				Tirannwn and Kandarin
Outcome				Rebel elf victory Eastern elven kingdom fell "Dark Lord" defeated Prifddinas restored
Battles				Baxtorian campaign Isafdar conflict Invasion of Lletya Battle at the Dwarf Camp
Combatants
Elven clan leaders Rebel elves Adventurer King Tyras's men A few dwarves					Iorwerth clan
Commanders
Lord Baxtorian Cadarn Arianwyn General Hining					Lord Iorwerth
Casualties
Ysgawyn Unknown number of rebel elves, Lletya citizens, and Tyras forces					Lord Iorwerth Essyllt Unknown number of Iorwerth elves

The Elven Civil War was a centuries-long conflict between the Iorwerth clan and the seven other elven clans. It began with the siege of Prifddinas and the subsequent Baxtorian campaign. Because Lord Iorwerth and his forces had the advantage of the city walls, they were ultimately able to defeat King Baxtorian's army, many of which further perished in the forest of Isafdar and in the Underground Pass following an ambush. With no way to retake Prifddinas, Baxtorian and the other clan elders reverted it to a crystal seed, where it remained until the day it would be restored.

History

The toll on Baxtorian

Years passed before King Baxtorian and his soldiers returned to the east, where they found that, due to their absence, the once prosperous elven kingdom had fallen to human invaders. Most of its inhabitants were slain, and Queen Glarial was captured; therefore, Baxtorian no longer considered Iorwerth a priority. After years of searching for his wife, his desire to find her blinded him to the point where he sent the last of his soldiers into an obvious trap, which cost them their lives. Too weak to carry on, he sealed himself away inside his and Glarial's home beneath Baxtorian Falls. He was the last clan elder to go missing, as the others had previously gone into hiding, and so the elves in the west were left on their own.

Isafdar conflict

Main article: Isafdar conflict

Conflict between the elves in Isafdar continued long after Prifddinas was lost. Early in those decades, the Iorwerth clan set up camp just outside of where the city once stood, and a group of rebel elves formed a resistance. Following that, the village of Lletya was created as a refuge and base of operations, and a young elf named Arianwyn (whose parents fought and died in the campaign when he was a child) was chosen to lead the resistance. To them, Iorwerth's intentions were still unclear; they came to believe, however, that he had pledged himself to the Dark Lord, Zamorak.

The journey to end the war

The adventurer's involvement in the war spans across multiple quests in the elven quest series, from Plague City to Song of the Elves.

While assisting Elena, a biologist from Ardougne, they learn that King Lathas fabricated the West Ardougne plague as part of his and Iorwerth's alliance. According to Essyllt, the plague allowed the Death Guard (a group of Iorwerth elves posing as mourners) to work in secret with the aim of finding the Temple of Light within the caves beneath the city. In return, Lathas expected the Iorwerth clan to help dispose of King Arthur and his knights so that he could reclaim Camelot along with the whole of Kandarin, which was his birthright. Iorwerth falsely promised him this just to get him to go along, and he also used Lathas's hidden devotion to Zamorak to manipulate him. Even so, Lathas came closer to attaining his goal when he convinced the adventurer to eliminate his brother, King Tyras. At the conclusion of the Ardougne Revolution, Lathas is sentenced to death for his crimes.

The adventurer helped the resistance immensely during the latter stages of the war, such as by freeing Baxtorian, locating the missing clan elders, and entering the crystal seed containing Prifddinas to seek the knowledge of Seren. Prior to the invasion of Lletya, they recovered an orb from the Iorwerth Camp capable of bypassing the Temple of Light's second set of defences. Then, due to a traitor amongst the rebels, the village is set ablaze, and Iorwerth arrives to take back the orb. He threatens to take the life of an elven child to make Baxtorian hand over the orb. When the adventurer goes after him, their close friend Arianwyn, who sided with Iorwerth after hearing his true motives, stands in their way. They are forced to fight him, but not to the death. Before Iorwerth gets to the secret tunnel in the Underground Pass, which the traitor (Arianwyn) also told him about, the rebels prepare for the final battle at the Dwarf Camp. Klank and his friends set up cannons; Tyras's men, under General Hining, built catapults; and the adventurer buried explosive potions around the camp. As soon as Iorwerth's forces approach, a bloody battle ensues. A short time later, the barricade in front of the camp is blown up. Essyllt closes in on Elena and attacks her. The adventurer confronts him, leading to a duel in which they win. Together with Baxtorian, they follow Iorwerth and Arianwyn into the tunnel. Iorwerth frees the fragment of Seren (aka the Dark Lord) at last, but Arianwyn, realising it is not the true Seren, shoots him. The adventurer is taken into the fragment's realm and must defeat her, as she is consumed with hostility. She is released from her torment, and Iorwerth succumbs to his injury. Arianwyn stays long enough to help rebuild Lletya and see Prifddinas restored, deciding that it would be best for him to leave. Baxtorian welcomes the adventurer and Elena into the city for the first time—one that any race can now enter and the clan elders will jointly rule.

Gallery

• 
  Prifddinas as it appears today, fully regrown.