The War of Beauty (350-1700 BGC)

Beauty has always been the most important concept in the elves’ worldview. It became the standard for everything – actions, clothing, philosophy. According to Nayan, even in those distant times, there was no unified opinion on where elves came from or why Beauty was so vital to their race. The elves simply lived in a beautiful, wondrous world; beauty surrounded them, and they themselves were beautiful. There was no one and nothing to break that harmony. The world was perfect. From somewhere (Nayan is especially biting about his ancestors here), elves knew that the world was only 350 years old – and that knowledge was enough for them.

The elves explored the world around them and increasingly encountered phenomena that marred its perfection (Nayan’s characteristic irony vividly describes their shock upon first encountering a wild troll). The more elves explored Sarnout, the more signs of Ugliness they found. Not all creatures they met were terrible – elves treated aviacs with great reverence, and some found a peculiar charm in the cold beauty of lamias. Even then, elves began trying to change nature, to restore their naive and mesmerizing sense of the world’s ideal. Thus began the War of Beauty.

Nayan believed his ancestors were doomed to lose this struggle. The deeper they ventured in their studies, the more enemies they made. Compromises became inevitable. The main compromise was an alliance with the Džuns.

The Džuns were the first human tribe the elves met. The elves saw the Džuns as a distorted reflection of themselves: humans outwardly resembled them but, in the elves’ view, lacked their beauty. Still, the Džuns were potential allies against the Ugliness. The elves were able to instill their ideals in the Džuns, becoming their mentors and teaching them the magic they mastered.

Everything changed when the elves and Džuns first encountered the Dragons.