Night elves (AoC Universe)

Night elves refers to a race of humanoid elves native to the western continent of Vigrith, specifically the area around the legendary Midnight Glade, which serves as a theatre of operations for their society. Descendants of ancient dark trolls from the Blackspear tribe, they have an epic history, intensely studied by historians.

Beginnings
After the end of the Sin War, the trolls emerged as the foremost race on Middle-Earth, and the distinct species within the race spread out across Old Vigrith to form two empires and a conglomerate of kingdoms. The Sulebi tribe of jungle trolls migrated south and formed the Sulebian Empire, the Arverni tribe of forest trolls moved east and founded the Arverni Empire, and the other troll races - ice and sand - split up in different directions to create smaller kingdoms ruled by individual tribes (the ice troll tribes of Frostmane, Icefang and Winteraxe settled in the northmost part of the continent, closest to Niflheim). The Blackspear tribe of dark trolls decided to seclude themselves from their brethren, and settled upon the area around the Midnight Glade, not knowing that it was a forest blessed by the holy Aesir and their Designates themselves (the dark trolls shared with their brethren the mistaken belief that Everwood was the real enchanted forest - it wasn't enchanted at all.) Rather than taking its effect rapidly, however, it slowly - yet surely - evolved the nocturnal dark trolls into much more intelligent beings, now known as night elves. Due to the gradual nature of their transformation, some dark elves mid-evolution abandoned the Glade, frightened by the effects of its magic. These 'dark grunts' (as they were known) moved underground, near the Vigrith Caverns. They would keep a watchful eye on their brethren for a long time.

Evolution
As the Blackspear trolls had evolved, they developed an affinity for the environment and its associated wildlife. They thus committed themselves to the preservation of the wild, becoming a druidic society in which the Wild Gods: Dain, Fenrir, Munin, Heidrun, Ratatosk, Asbjorn and Artorius - were revered. The first druids were trained by these Ancients in the art of nature conservation, and among them emerged Vesperion Evenshade, their finest student and thus first Archdruid. Evenshade would eventually become co-leader of the night elves, a caretaker of pehaps the most important site in their entire history - the Midnight Glade. He and his druids looked after the realm internally, while Arfin Treeshot and her Wardens acted as the night elf police force, patrolling the area around the Glade to protect it from meddling outsiders.

However, druidism was only one part of their society. Religion also played a major role. From the day the first night elves were conceived, religion was also a major faculty. The nocturnal creatures worshipped the Moon as the ultimate giver of Light and life, and dedicated themselves to her worship. The Sisterhood of the Moon became the organisation responsible for this, and eventually it absorbed the governmental/political functions of other organisations. The office of High Priestess was the equivalent of the office of Archdruid. For the longest time, this position has been maintained by Noxande Skyweaver, who was confirmed in a single-round vote by the Sisters of the Moon. There was also a section of night elf society that practised arcane magic, recovered from purified, hardened pieces of Lucithel, but they were marginalised by their brethren, who saw arcane as a liability. The Order of the Arcane, under Mytnas Dawndancer, developed as an underground network of magi during this time.

Night elf-Dark grunt war
The gruntish leader, Seeker Lak'jin Lockjaw, had been watching the night elves with growing envy for a long time. He resented them first and foremost for abandoning troll culture (which was more than a bit hypocritical given that he and his people had gone running after the same kind of magic, but pulled at at the last minute), and also for becoming civilised, building petty little 'political organisations' for themselves. The dark grunts were also simply envious of the night elves for what they had accomplished, and wished them nothing but suffering. Rallying his forces, he planned for an attack at dawn, when the night elves were least active - and he would destroy what they held dearest: the Midnight Glade.

Equipping his men with torches and firesticks, the dark grunts emerged from Vigrith Caverns and put the Midnight Glade to the flame. Laughing profusely, Lak'jin thought he had had his way. Unfortunately for him, the grunts were chased away by the Wild Gods led by Fenrir and Shadowmane, having heard the pained cries of the trees themselves. The druids, themselves deeply connected to the ebbs and flows of nature, were stirred by the internal screeching, and were horrifed when they discovered the blaze. The Wild Gods were able to scare off the gruntish vandals, but the damage had been done. One of Treeshot's ranking wardens had managed to capture and interrogate a fallen grunt, and out of him came everything.

Archdruid Evenshade and High Priestess Skyweaver jointly agreed that this was a declaration of war from the Grunt High Command. While Evenshade and the Emerald Circle of druids began repairing the damage done by the first, Skyweaver chaired a meeting between the Moon priestesses and wardens, where a formal night elf army - the Sentinel Army - was formed, captained by General Faena "Fane" Shadowsong, the warden who had captured a dark grunt and interrogated him. On Shadowsong's orders, the night elves made war against the dark grunts. The grunts had brute force and numbers, but Shadowsong's superior planning and intelligence saw the night elves secure a number of crushing victories.

Finally, at the assault against the Grunt Caverns, Lak'jin Lockjaw reared his ugly head. Addressing Fane directly, he warned her that if she sent a single elf towards the caverns, it would be the end for the entire army, because he would roll a boulder out of the cave and flatten them. Cackling like a witch, he ordered her to back off. Outwardly, she accepted his terms (much to the surprise of the other night elves), and gave the signal to retreat. Before she did so, she made sure to mention the captive grunt, and what they planned to do to him now that they were leaving. Angered and hurt by her taunt, Lak'jin sent his entire force to destroy the night elves, and out of the cave they charged - right into Fane's trap.

The grunts were slaughtered, and their cavern taken over by night elf sentinels. Fane then had the Grunt High Command rounded up and delivered them into the hands of Evenshade, who decided to imprison them under Moonhowl Mount, the sanctum of Fenrir, as punishment for the atrocities they had committed. Some of these grunts later, via hard labour, earned their place in night elf society, due to the merciful nature of its leadership.

War of the Ancients
The Smurf Empire had grown quietly opposite the night elves and their ancient settlement of Nythsandr. King Smurf (Dan'Ariz) and his high caste were recklessly plumbing the magic of the Cerulean Plateau, and now attracted demons into the land. With the outbreak of the Blue Uprising and eventual War of the Ancients, the night elves faced a renewed threat to their beloved land - not just from jealous dark grunts, but from the demonic armies of the Marching Horde and their leader, Sargamon. Lord Shen'Gan, leader of the smurf Resistance, was camping out in Y'se Serin outpost, and General Shadowsong sallied forth to meet him, offering kaldorei support on behalf of High Priestess Skyweaver. The two had excellent chemistry, and were able to drive the demons and High Caste loyalists further into Ariza, the capital city of the empire.

When Tiberian surmised that the destruction of the Well of Wonders atop the Plateau was the only way forward, the night elves agreed with him, and the entire Resistance reached Ariza for the final battle. Following the Plateau's timely destruction, all of the demons were thrown back into Tartarus, including Sargamon himself (who was actually trapped inside), though the entirety of the planet was indeed sundered, resulting in 70% of Vigrith's landmass being destroyed and the remaining 30% spinning off into various different continents. New Vigrith became the new home of the night elves following this traumatic incident, though part of the Midnight Glade was lost.

Schism
Due to the horror associated with losing part of the glade, a complete ban - rather than malignment - on arcane magic ensued. The Twilight Order was exposed and immediately folded by Evenshade, who refused to allow magical experiments of any kind to take place. Some night elves disagreed with this conservative approach to magic, so following Mytnas Dawndancer's lead, they sailed east in specially-crafted boats and settled north of Laudrin in the Eastern Kingdoms, establishing their own kingdom independent of the night elves. The remnants of the Twilight Order coalesced around Gladis Nightwalker, who was eager to show that arcane was not to be feared. The result, however, was the Nocturnian Disaster where a terrible magical storm swept through the Glade.

The co-leaders of the Wardens, Leria Mosswing and Naisha Duskbringer, were not impressed. They hunted Gladis down, arrested her and brought her before the night elves. Skyweaver resolved that she be imprisoned, but Evenshade wanted exile. They came up with a compromise: she was to be blinded, then exiled. Blinded, she'd be unable to see the light of dawn, just as Skyweaver intended with her imprisonment. After the punishment was carried out, Nightwalker was left to fend entirely for herself. Evenshade left this as a warning to anyone who would dare risk the wrath of the elves.

The other members of the order did not want to risk similar punishment, but knew nowhere on Middle-Earth would welcome them and their magic. Thus, they pooled their power and, carrying the blinded Gladis with them, left the planet altogether, creating a portal out of Yggdrassil. Settling on the planet of Alfheim, they there became the twilight elves, biding time until their revenge on the kaldorei would come to pass.