Hello,
I am working on a little project on the elves of Blackmoor. This is one field where the ZG material is proving to be very useful.

Two mysteries of great importance have caught my attention:

1) When did the Cumasti/Westryn split occur and what was the reason for it?

2) What happened at the Blood Woods? The Woods and the elven inhabitants were cursed, but why?

My theories:

1)The Cumasti/Westryn split is said to have occurred one year after Menander Ithamis was born. Elves can grow more than 800 years old, but I don't see Menander as being an ancient elf yet.

DoCBM also mentions the Fall of the Elves, which I have previously speculated to be linked to the destruction of the Temple of Id around 500. This would make Menander about 530 years which seems appropriate.

A problem here is that the Cumasti/Westryn seems to have its origins in something that happened in the Westwoods (Duchy of Ten region) so the question arises to whether that was linked to the works of the Temple of Id cultists or not.

Interestingly, the DA modules also mentions the Elves of the Duchy of Ten suffering from some sort of "blight" so this whole thing is apparently not entirely a creation from the ZGG era.

Rafe's timeline has the split occur earlier, but that is possibly out of campaign specific reasons.

2) My current idea for the Blood Woods is connecting it to Raddan Goss and the Magewars as well as the Ordo Elementarum. The assumption is that the Blood Woods were the stronghold of the Ordo Elementarum at the onset of the Mage Wars. When Raddan tried to recruit the order, they fled to other planes. Enraged by this, Raddan cursed the remaining elves and the woods they were living in.

Thoughts on these two elements?

I also like the idea of the Westryn riding deer, like the Go-Backs from ElfQuest.



-Havard