Online:History of Clan Corelanya, Pt. 3

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Book Information History of Clan Corelanya, Pt. 3
ID	8228
Up	History of Clan Corelanya
Prev.	Part 2	Next	Part 4
Collection	Solstice Summations

History of Clan Corelanya, Pt. 3

by Lady Karinwe Corelanya

An account of Clan Corelanya after their defeat by the Ra Gada

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This comprises the third volume of my history of Clan Corelanya. This is the story of my people, or as much of it as I know.

Part 3: From Salas En to Solstice

In the space of a single century, Clan Corelanya fell from the height of its power to the very nadir of its fortunes. Few Elves escaped from the destruction of Salas En in 1E 853. The Ra Gada were already fierce adversaries, but when Corelanya necromancers raised their own fallen warriors against them, a bitter feud turned into a holy war. In the months that followed Kinlady Iniel's defeat, Ra Gada warbands scoured Hammerfell for Corelanya havens and slaughtered all they found within. Quarter was neither asked nor given.

Yet some Corelanyas survived this catastrophe. As I have written before, the strength of the house was in its trade routes and mercantile outposts, a golden necklace of hidden harbors and small settlements dotting the shores of the Abecean Sea and Topal Bay. At the time King Xakhwan resolved to march on Salas En, nearly a third of all Corelanyas lived in these overseas posts—beyond the reach of the vengeful Ra Gada.

Kinlady Iniel left behind no close heirs, but a cousin by the name of Earlenque Corelanya stepped up to assume the mantle of leadership. Lady Earlenque governed those Corelanya estates that remained in Summerset. Throughout the three centuries of Corelanya rule in Hammerfell, the house maintained a few old holdings in their original homeland as part of their mercantile empire. So it was that the survivors of Salas En returned to Summerset in 1E 855. Corelanyas from other overseas outposts rendered untenable by the collapse of the Corelanya realm likewise retreated homeward.

The Corelanya refugees found a cold welcome in Summerset. Lady Earlenque beseeched High King Naurnindon of Summerset for aid, hoping to win back Corelanya lands with Summerset's armies. The high king was sympathetic to High Elves who suffered from the Ra Gada invasion, but he hesitated to launch a war against such a strong and fierce people. It was also politically impossible. Stories of Kinlady Iniel's Daedric alliances and her flagrant use of necromancy had followed the Corelanyas back to Summerset, and High King Naurnindon feared jeopardizing his own position by taking up their cause.

The awkward situation endured for some time. When High Elves find themselves unwilling to make a decision, we can spend decades finding new ways to say, "not yet," or "It would be unwise to act in haste." After years of frustration, Lady Earlenque quietly turned her efforts to one of the high king's rivals, Kinlady Arlinwe of Firsthold. She hoped to bring a new ruler to the throne, one who would promise to help the Corelanyas retake their lands.

Alas, Lady Earlenque's machinations went awry. Her ally Arlinwe moved too boldly against the high king and lost her chance to supplant him. Several noble houses linked to Kinlady Arlinwe fell with her, including the Corelanyas. In 1E 909, High King Naurnindon revoked his welcome and gave Earlenque a choice: loss of titles and properties, or exile. Bitterly humiliated, Lady Earlenque chose exile. Quite a few of Kinlady Arlinwe's former supporters found it advisable to join the Corelanyas, and they left Summerset at that time.

While the Clan Corelanya holdings in and around Hammerfell were long gone by that point, the house still controlled a handful of far-scattered harbors. Lady Earlenque resolved to bring her people to one of these and establish a realm-in-exile beyond the reach of their old Ra Gada enemies or an angry high king in Summerset. Of the old mercantile harbors, one offered both remote location and room to grow—Solstice, the island discovered by Iniel Corelanya two hundred years before.

And so we came to our new home.

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Next: Part 4