Lore · Ages & Empires
The Elddar and Takish-Hiz
The sand you crossed in the Oasis of Marr was once a forest that covered a quarter of a continent. This is how it died.
Tunare’s first children
Tunare saw a lush forest on a great continent, made a race of elves and settled them there. They called themselves the Elddar, and they prospered quickly. Their descendants are today’s high elves and wood elves, and the official lore says you can still see Elddar influence in high elf and wood elf cities.
The Elddar Forest spread across the whole southeastern quarter of Tunaria. Wood elves lived in villages high in the trees; the high elves built marble cities in the clearings, with white towers taller than the tallest trees. At its heart stood Takish-Hiz.
Sources: Library of Erudin: Elddar Forest · Library of Erudin: “The History of Norrath” (original EverQuest manual text) · Allakhazam: Tunare
The first theft
Not every god was pleased. Innoruuk, who had been left out of the gods’ pact, reached into the halls of Takish-Hiz and stole the first elven king and queen. According to the RPG they were of the ruling house of Thex. He tore them apart in body and mind for three hundred years, then rebuilt what was left into the first Teir’Dal, the dark elves, and cast them into the underworld of Norrath.
Sources: Library of Erudin: “The History of Norrath” (original EverQuest manual text) · Library of Erudin: EverQuest RPG Player’s Handbook: History of Norrath (2002) · Allakhazam: Innoruuk
Solusek Ro’s sun
The last of the old empires to fall was the elves’. Solusek Ro, Lord of Flame, arched the spine of the Serpent Mountains and brought the heat of the burning sun down on the forest. Rivers ran dry and the rain came less every year. The elven druids fought it with all their magic, but they could only slow it.
The forest became desert, Takish-Hiz crumbled, and the elves fled Tunaria. That was the beginning of the Lost Age. Much later, in Secrets of Faydwer, Tunare enlisted Karana and Druzzil Ro to send adventurers back in time to the living city, to recover knowledge for the fight against Mayong Mistmoore.
Sources: Library of Erudin: “The History of Norrath” (original EverQuest manual text) · Library of Erudin: Elddar Forest · Library of Erudin: EverQuest RPG Player’s Handbook: History of Norrath (2002) · Allakhazam: Solusek Ro
Where the sources disagree
- A later official text says the elves’ prosperity drew Solusek Ro’s jealousy; the original manual simply calls it “the last curse of the gods.”
Keep reading
Retold in our own words from the sources linked under each chapter; short quotes are marked and sourced. The illustration is an original AI-generated painting made for this page alone, not from the game.