Editing High Elves (Warhammer Fantasy) (section)

==History==
The High Elves are a proud civilization with a long history, which they happen to measure in an arbitrarily convoluted way. Rather than adopt some standarised metric like 'years', they divide ages by the reign of the Phoenix Kings. And it's not like they have term limits, some eras are shorter than others as a result and rarely do they end peacefully.

=== {{anchor|The Golden Time}} The Golden Time (a.k.a. The 80s) ===
'''Imperial Calendar ≤ -4498'''

The Golden Time was before the Phoenix Kings. There isn't much [[fluff]] on it, as it is supposed to be the lost age of myth. Only that [[Ulthuan]]'s kingdoms were run by the [[Everqueen]] alone who lead out a positive if hippy-driven jive. Then the warp gates at the world poles collapsed and chaos attacked, immediately going after the Elves and fucking their shit up. The Everqueen's magic was mostly for peaceful shit and her soldiers had never faced anything worth mentioning before. The High Elves prayed to their head god, Asuryan, to help them. It should also be noted that Imperial Calendar -4498 is when the Dwarfs and the Elves started recorded history.

=== {{anchor|Aenarion}} Aenarion, the Defender ===
'''Imperial Calendar -4498 to -4419'''
 
Aenarion was a world traveler, back in the days when that meant something. He heard some crazy shit was happening at home so he went back, and shit was way more crazy than he heard. Everyone figured the world was ending, and everything that had ever been was pretty much being turned to Swiss cheese by Slaaneshi Daemon cocks while the Bloodletters stood back and called them horsefuckers.

So Aenarion went to the Shrine of Asuryan to pray. But they didn't do a god damned thing (primarily since every god who wants to do good also has an antethesis, so there's a permaban on screwing with mortals which gives Asuryan more time to sit on his ass and contemplate his navel). Aenarion said the High Elf equivalent of YOLO and jumped into Asuryan's sacrificing fire, which is a bit like running up to the pope, snatching his staff of office from his hand and beating yourself over the head with it. However, according to Fantasy that is a valid form of religious protest because god-daddy-bossman actually got off his ass for once as Aenarion was imbued with the power of Asuryan. He went outside the shrine, saw some [[Daemon|Daemons]], got on his pet-fucking-dragon and slew the entire war-host before Slaanesh could even jizz in her pants.

Elves all over suddenly saw someone with balls and promptly started cosplaying him, and because all elves look alike Daemons started taking psychology checks every time they saw pointy ears. Caledor the Dragontamer, who was like the first Teclis (but not anemic) swore fealty to Aenarion and gave him the death star plans to fucking over Chaos by making a black hole of magic somewhere so Daemons couldn't manifest in the world. He saved Astarielle, the Everqueen at the time, and they fell in love and wed. Soon everyone else asked to be on team Aenarion and gave him whatever shit they had that wasn't full of cockholes until the elves decided there'd be two rulers of their race from that point on, the elected king and the hereditary queen (one of the perks to being king is he bangs the Everqueen for a year until she gets a daughter to inherit the throne after her, but after that point they go back to their spouses and pretend it wasn't the best year of their life).

However, Chaos attacked Avelorn where the Astarielle lived, and killed her in a way that is apparently beyond description, and the children of Aenarion and the Everqueen were lost. Aenarion was ''[[RAGE|pissed]]''. So he went to a far off island and drew the sword from the stone. Except this sword was Widowmaker, a [[sword]] (or a [[spear]], or an [[axe]]) of Khaine. Khaine is kind of like Rule 63 Khorne but with a penis, and unlike in 40k where he's a giant robot the Eldar use to fuck shit up, he's pure douchebag unleaded and likes fucking with elves more than Daemons do. So Widowmaker, <strike>which apparently shapeshifts to whatever kind of weapon you'd like to use the most (Aenarion gets points for the damn thing not turning into a katana or something else stupid, and then promptly loses them for not turning it into a dragon-mounted demolisher cannon)</strike> curses you to a really bad end which follows your entire line. Fun, huh? 

So Aenarion sets off to get it, and along the way everyone (except his dragon), INCLUDING the Chaos Gods and the ghost of the Everqueen let's him know this ain't it, chief. But Aenarion has other ideas and claims the weird evil sword that enourages him to kill everyone, [[Fulgrim|a plot point which has definiftely never turned out poorly for anyone in any Warhammer IP]].

The most fucking crazy of the elves follow him to the Westernmost part of Ulthuan where he forms a new kingdom built and fed on bloodletters and severed Slaaneshi cocks. Along the way he rescues a witch named Morathi from some Slaaneshi fighters and promptly marries the chick (whether or not she was pregnant beforehand isn't known, but she gives birth to a son he names Malekith). The Nagarythe court becomes all kinds of fucked up, to a degree nobody knows about fully. Caledor, sick of waiting for the torture orgies to end, packed up and went to actually finish beating Chaos. Ever level-headed, Aenarion started a civil war in revenge for not participating in said orgies, but then the biggest Chaos invasion ever seen set up on the other side of the map and everyone knew everything was fucked 40k style.

Caledor and his bros turned an island in the middle of Ulthuan into a magic drain, but it put them outside time forever in an ''I Have No Mouth and Must Scream'' kind of way (although Caledor exists outside it immortally making sure nobody buttfucks the mages while they're standing there in magical amber). However, Aenerion got a mortal wound during a faceroll against the four Avatars of the Chaos Gods themselves. So he ran back to where he got The Sword of Khaine and puts it back in the rock. From there, his body is never found. He's presumed dead, unlike everyone else that kind of thing happens to. For three days Ulthuan gets the New Orleans treatment from the weather, and most of the elf race dies. But then it turns out the children of Aenarion and the Everqueen lived! Her last act was to make some unknown deal with nature, which resulted in Dryads being bros with elves and carrying the kids away where they'd be safe. Yvraine succeeded her mother as the Everqueen, and Aenarion's firstborn son Morelion declined the right to be the Phoenix King, which (incest aside) probably would have avoided ''so much trouble'' in the setting. Instead, he chilled in his sister's court where he married one of her maids. Thanks to Aenarion's dick move with the sword, all his descendants have an innate burning desire to seize Widowmaker, which is a less useful inheritance than you'd expect from being the great-great grandkid of the first Phoenix King.

=== {{anchor|Bel Shanaar}} Bel Shanaar, the Explorer ===
[[Image:butthurt2.jpg|thumb|right|A picture of Malekith after Bel Shanaar was named Phoenix King]]'''Imperial Calendar -4419 to -2749'''

So a year after Aenarion died, the Princes of Ulthuan started deliberating over who to elect to be the new king. Malekith, who had become a badass Fighter/Wizard and knew how to cheat at chess, was the top candidate from an outside perspective; but since Nagarythe torture orgies weren't exactly socially acceptable, nobody was too keen on the idea. Also Yvraine, one of the kids that the Dryads saved was the new Everqueen and was Malekith's half-sister. The Council thought it would be a bit fucked up since by law they had to produce a daughter (despite the fact that law was passed like five minutes ago in elf-years) who would be the next Everqueen and they didn't want the line of Everqueens to become the Habsburgs. So Malekith pinkie swore that he just wanted to be king because it'd make his pappy proud, but said he'd be alright with not being picked.

So naturally they elected a war hero who was known for not wanting to slap his dick on everything for his own glory, an elf named Bel Shanaar who was from Tiranoc. Morathi went ballistic about her son (who she may or may not have been fucking at this point) not becoming King, but Malekith managed not to cry and went as far away from Ulthuan as he could by becoming an explorer like his father. He took all his whining over to the New World and set up a bunch of colonies, went Orc hunting on safari, and discovered Dwarfs. Bel Shanaar visited the Dwarfs too, and signed a peace treaty that was supposed to last for the entirety of the history of the two races. Yeah, we know how well that went, especially since Malekith was appointed ambassador (though he was actually quite bro-tier and became good friends the Dwarf King, which went to shit after said Dwarf died).

The elves reconstruct Ulthuan and repopulate it (in other words, an enormous amount of time passes). It's about this time that the Cult of Pleasure begins to appear. It was a Slaaneshi cult that was into crazy Slaaneshi things like sacrifice, torture, and wearing fursuits. Malekith came home to stamp that shit out since it was supposedly based in his home kingdom of Nagarythe. He found out his mother, Morathi, was a member and when he confronted her about it she revealed she was the founder and high priestess. Which overall wasn't much of a surprise to anyone. He turned them all in to everyone's surprise but then had the message spread that a meeting was needed at the shrine of Asuryan immediately to discuss how awesome he was for turning them in, so the survival of the smartest went into effect as the Princes who didn't have much going on upstairs went, as well as Bel Shanaar since he had no choice. Malekith had the doors sealed, then told everyone Bel Shanaar was actually three very slender dwarfs in a robe and poisoned him before he could say "wut?" then turned around expecting to be made Phoenix King on the spot. The Princes immediately moved to hold a vote on whether or not Malekith should investigate himself for being a cultist, so Malekith assured them everything was cool and walked into the sacrifice pyre like his father did. Asuryan was disappointed. So after coming back as a piece of elf-shaped bacon his followers killed everyone, and took off running back to Nagarythe where they sealed him in full plate armor to keep his dumbass alive, complete with removable codpiece at his mother's request. That's when Malekith became the Witch King. What a douche.

=== {{anchor|Caledor I}} Caledor I, the Conqueror ===
[[File:HighElfvsDarkElf.png|thumb|right|450px|All this over who gets to wear the bloody crown.]]'''Imperial Calendar -2749 to -2198'''

Prince Imrik (not the one from the current day, this is the first one) never liked Malekith. As a result he was one of the only Princes not at the Shrine when Malekith killed everybody, and since he was Caledor's grandson he took on that name in honor of his ancestor. However, despite how much he and a bunch of other High Elves didn't like Malekith lots of elves loved him. So a super fantastical fun Civil War started. It went back and forth, but lots of important folks turn to Malekith's side. Hotek, a priest to the elf god Vaul, stole the super awesome Hammer of Vaul and runs off to join Malekith. This is probably around the time the Ring of Hotek is made, which took a lot of douchebaggery to form. The elves of Nagarythe went so evil, they started worshipping Daemons and renamed themselves Druchii (or as the Mon'keigh call them, the Dark Elves) to distinguish themselves from the Asur (High elves).

Caledor fought really hard, and chased a lot of Dark Elves back to Nagarythe itself. That's when Malekith pulled a 'Just as Planned' and started to mess with the Vortex in the middle of Ulthuan, which caused a lot of the Nagarythe to panic and rejoin the High Elves. What Malekith's wizards planned to do is tear a hole directly to the realm of Chaos, where the Daemons would for some reason not rape them and eat their souls and instead help them and salute Malekith as God Emperor of Elfkind (kids, don't do meth. You make decisions like this). What it really did is sink most of Nagarythe, and lots of the kingdom to the south Tiranoc. The world was rocked so hard, the Dwarfs felt it and decided to make a bone and cat leather mural of it.

Laughing, the majority of the Dark Elves load up in their ships made out of mountains (how does that work? A wizard did it; more like several wizards) and head West. Some Dark Elves remain, and continue to mess up the High Elves like the Viet Cong. Due to this, the High Elves stopped talking with their colonies in the new world due to having more important shit to do. Malekith suddenly got a boner for the Widowmaker (and he's had one ever since) and the High Elves skirmish with the Dark Elves on the high seas and on the island itself. Caledor has a series of unbreachable fortress gates erected in Ulthuan to ensure that it's a fucking BITCH to try to invade, each named after one of the possible mounts High Elves can be seen on (Griffon, Eagle, Phoenix, Dragon, Your Mom, and Unicorn).

Caledor does some mopping up, pushing the last of the Dark Elves off Ulthuan, finally coming to the Blighted Island himself to give Malekith the middle finger. He stood in the Altar of Khaine for awhile staring at the Widowmaker, then went "Naaaaah". Apparently the sword's charms aren't so powerful, and Aenarion is just the kinda guy who goes for one pringle and eats the whole can. On the way back though, a freak storm hits and some punkass Dark Elf pirates ambush him and light his ship on fire. But instead of being captured, the magnificent bastard decides to jump into the ocean fully dressed in his armor. He dies, of course. But the Emo Elves didn't get him. The kingdom he came from, the name of which was forgotten, was renamed in his honor for such badassery.

=== {{anchor|Caledor II}} Caledor II, the Warrior ===
'''Imperial Calendar -2198 to -1599'''

Caledor II was the kid of Caledor I and totally forgetting what the last son of a Phoenix King turned out like, the Princes elected him. However, as all kids are, he was a jackass. The Dark Elves shut themselves up in Naggaroth while Malekith plotted a scheme for epic lols. About this time, contact with the Old World and the Dwarfs was reestablished. They heard there was some crazy civil war going on, but they didn't really understand why something like that would happen since Dwarf logic is "all Dwarfs do everything their fathers and the guy with the whitest beard say without question, and all fathers and white beards follow the king without question" ([[Chaos Dwarfs|while pretending that Dwarfs who do deviate from this don't exist]]), so as far as they're concerned, the king is the voice of the hivemind.

What Malekith decided to do was fuck with the Dwarfs. But not only did they attack the dwarfs, they dressed up like High Elves and stole everything that the Dwarfs would miss (so the anvils (also known as female Dwarfs), and booze). This left the Dwarf King, Gotrek Starbreaker, sending envoys back to the High Elves asking, "What the fuck, dude?" Caledor II, though, ignored them. Completely. Finally the Dwarfs began to demand stuff, which got their diplomats shaved. Gotrek swore if the Dwarfs didn't get the money equal to what had been stolen or its price in Elfblood, he'd shave himself which caused the entirety of the Dwarf race to more or less make the same oath. The largest force of Dwarfs ever seen before or since gathered and began their assaults on the Elven colonies in the Old World. This starts what is called "[[The War of the Beard (The War of Vengeance)]]". Its during this war that the item "Cloak of Beards" is created.

Caledor II sends the entirety of the High Elf armies to kill Dwarfs. Both sides underestimated each other, and it was a complete loss on both sides. Dwarfs decide that all trees are evil and start clear cutting to piss of the elves, which gives some a sad but not to the extent the Dwarfs thought it would. When the Princes of Ulthuan vote to tell Caledor II he's a gigantic fuckhead, Caledor II screams like a 3 year old and tells everyone to fuck off. High Elves start using Dark Elf tactics like poisoning Dwarf water sources and desecrating shrines. After awhile Caledor II crosses the sea and tries to push the Dwarfs away from the colonies. He kills Gotrek's son and thinks he's a badass all of a sudden. At this point it's all downhill for the High Elves. Caledor II's bro gets killed by a Dwarf whose last name is changed to "Elfbane" after the feat, and the colony of Athel Maraya is wiped off the map. The Elves try and attack a few 'Dorf Fortresses, but are obliterated and sent scurrying back to their colonies, pursued by a single souped-up Dwarven miner.

A few hundred years later Caledor II comes back and launches an attack that's supposed to kill off the dwarfs. That didn't really go according to plan. In a battle with King Gotrek himself, Caledor II is decapitated. They take the Phoenix Crown forged by all the Princes and Nobles of Ulthuan for Aenarion himself for his coronation, and heads back to their mountains. The Elves try to draw them out of the mountains but the Dwarfs refuse. Just as they're lining up to kamikaze Karaz-a-Karak, the 'Dorf capital, they hear Malekith is trying to rape Ulthuan. The High Elves in the Old World are ordered to get their ass back to their island, but some refuse, becoming Wood Elves (who continue to get consistently slaughtered by Beastmen and Dwarfs while fucking with Bretonnians). With the death of Caledor II, the bloodline of King Caledor I was broken, and as a result the people of Caledor began to consider every one of their naturalized citizens to be his descendants. Yep, that's how Caledorians roll.

=== {{anchor|Caradryel}} Caradryel, The Peacemaker ===
[[Image:droopy.gif|thumb|right|Caradryel, wondering why the fuck everyone around him is such a fucking Double Mon'keigh.]]'''Imperial Calendar -1599 to -996''' 

See, while the High Elves were fighting the Dwarfs, Malekith took a bunch of his ships and invaded Nagarythe, and built a fortress there called Anlec made out of those mountain-ships. After the traditional one year mourning period ended, the High Elves decided to name Caradryel (a nobody Prince from Yvresse who's qualifications were more or less "nobody hates him") their leader since he was so unlike Caledor II. He was a shit soldier, but had a high WIS score so they figured he'd be good.

Ulthuan fell under attack from Dark Elves, as well as beasties the Dark Elves brought and unleashed in the mountains that have never been wiped out (rumors that they are the inbred children of Malekith and Morathi are unfounded, but probably true). After his first proclamations came out from the Everqueen's bed, that the colonies were to be abandoned and the War of the Beard (as well as the Phoenix Crown) conceded to the Dwarfs, the Princes and Nobles started to complain. Caradryel promptly told them to STFU, said he'd rather lose the crown than the Kingdom, and went back to making a new Everqueen. Since he was smart enough to know he didn't know shit about war and was busy being knee-deep in the best elf democracy can buy, he called on the greatest elves among the Princes to lead the armies of Ulthuan against the Dark Elves (among them the line of Morelion).

Tethlis, Prince of Caledor (the Kingdom, not the wizard or the two Kings), became the greatest of these military-minded men and put the hurt on the Dark Elves (but wasn't able to beat them fully). During this time, most of the modern High Elf military tactics were developed. Caradryel even contributed when he got the idea that maybe giving his troops shore leave instead of leaving them in place until they died at their posts was a good idea! High Elves built a giant navy and became the dominant naval power in the world, and Caradryel eventually died in his sleep, becoming the first Phoenix King to get a happy ending (y'know, not counting that first year they all get).

=== {{anchor|Tethlis}} Tethlis, The Slayer ===
'''Imperial Calendar -996 to -691'''

Remember Tethlis? As a wee babby, Tethlis's entire family was slaughtered in the worst ways by Dark Elves doing a victory lap amongst the citizenry of Caledor after one of their raids overcame the local guards. This ensured he'd be ready to enact a non-expiring WAAAGH against them. Tethlis was a bro of Caradryel and learned how not to be a fuckhead when it came to the civilian side of things. After dragons began hibernating longer and longer, Tethlis wrote essays on military structure and ways to utilize strategies other than "we're better, we will win". After becoming King, he enacted most of those policies into practice and set out a mandate requiring every settlement to provide for the common defense with a citizen levy made up of civilians trained like soldiers, then let back into civilian life like a god tier militia. Each city was required to have the facilities necessary to train said levies from that point onwards. He sent the armies of Ulthuan out with CREEEEEED tier planning and strategy. High Elf armies only fought battles they could win with minimal casualties, towns and cities left entirely undefended were ones that were not in any threat of danger at all.

Several centuries later, even the Shadowlands were reclaimed. At the eve of the assault on Anlec, Tethlis gave the orders that nothing was to be left of the city. No walls, plants, or prisoners. He reclaimed the Blighted Island minutes before the ritual to unlock the Widowmaker to work in Dark Elf hands was completed with the most violently bloody battle the High Elves had ever known prior (picture D-Day but with dragons, giant eagles, wizards, and Lothern Seaguard, but times a thousand). With every Dark Elf they could find dead, Tethlis gave the word the army was going to push straight onto Naggaroth and wipe out the Dark Elf race; but as he went back to his ship, he found himself drawn to the dreaded Altar of Khaine with its Widowmaker. He found Aenarion's armor which was apparently either ignored or unseen by Morathi's witches, but without the body of the hero to go with it. He gave it to one of his companions named Auaralion, who was the descendant of Morelion (the firstborn son of Aenarion and the Everqueen of his time). Auaralion went back to the ship with his awesome new swag, and it was passed down the family to Tyrion in the present day.

So now comes the point of the story that's left in doubt. One account says that Tethlis looked at the Widowmaker and thought he'd read enough TV Tropes to judge it a baaaaad idea (or perhaps he just wanted to look more like Caledor the 1st), and dismissed the White Lions so he could feel the sheer horror of the thing to steel himself for the assault on Naggaroth when a Druchii assassin killed him. The second version is that he decided to /fail and grabbed it. The White Lion bodyguards realized what would happen and teamkilled him with their giant fucking axes right before it was fully free from the base. The third version combines the two, claiming that Druchii assassins were lying in wait but were killed by the White Lion bodyguards who then teamkilled Tethlis when he started to pull the Widowmaker out of the shrine. In support of the latter, Malekith '''did''' send assassins to hide at the shrine and make sure that Tethlis didn't draw the Widowmaker, but the assassins never reported back to him.

Either way, Tethlis died the most heroic and fucking badass motherfucker who ever lived in Warhammer Fantasy. Can you dig it?

=== {{anchor|Bel-Korhadris}} Bel-Korhadris, The Scholar King ===
'''Imperial Calendar -691 to 499''' 

After so many years of nonstop war, the High Elves despite for the first time in their history being on the offensive against the Dark Elves, couldn't bear any more war. They elected the most famous mage of that age, who was also a Prince. The Dark Elves had been reduced to just town guards and non-combatants with Malekith and Morathi being the only beings of any power they could call on, and Warriors of Chaos took advantage of their weakness to begin launching raids in revenge for the years that they had suffered as sport game for Druchii nobility, and while the High Elves still had a military force capable of sweeping the entire world clean they had little else as Ulthuan was so devastated by the years of war that 1945's Europe looked like a pristine diamond. Bel-Korhandris called back the invasion force halfway across the ocean, preferring to focus on ensuring the High Elf race would survive rather than ensuring the Dark Elf race didn't (so assuming Tethlis WAS going for the Widowmaker, the result would have been the good of DE no longer being in the game, and the curse of the HE not being supported by GW either). Bel figured the High Elves could defeat the Dark Elves once and for all, but they'd never recover from the effort and the extinction of all elves would be guaranteed as a result. A real "which is worse - punish the innocent, or spare the guilty?" scenario.
 
Monsters roamed Ulthuan with such freedom that it looked little different from the Chaos Wastes in summer. First order of business; slaughter them all. Bel-Korhadris declared an official age of rebirth, he literally declared a second golden age was about to happen. The White Tower of Hoeth (GW can't into creativity, it's a giant wizard tower) was built using every resource not being devoted to rebuilding everything else. He founded the Loremasters of Hoeth to guard Ulthuan, and to teach everything from swordplay to military strategy to every branch of magic (INCLUDING ways to use CHIM to make coffee!). All forms of knowledge are available in the libraries of Hoeth in books made as much out of magic as they are of paper (read; magic computers). Bel-Korhadris also realized that it takes all kinds to be badass, and manipulated pop culture within the High Elf race to encourage dick-measuring contests amongst the nobility and those on shore leave from the levies and guard posts. As a result anyone who could hold a sword started becoming murder-hobos and killing monsters the Druchii had left.

Finally, he reinforced the Waystones and put thousands upon thousands of small protections made using magic throughout Ulthuan, from making parts of the coastlines unable to be navigated to making non-High Elves unable to find the Tower of Hoeth to weakening the gate between the world of living elves and dead elves to allow ancestors to participate in unseen ways to protect their heirs.

Every place in Ulthuan got an enchantment to protect it, and many places got many more. Shortly before the Tower was complete, he died and unlike most Phoenix King's whose burials are overseen by the Phoenix Guard the body of Bel-Korhadris was overseen by his children and former students, being entombed at the base of the White Tower where his spirit sometimes helps kids with their term papers. Overall, a real bro tier king.

=== {{anchor|Aethis}} Aethis, The Poet ===
'''Imperial Calendar 499 to 1121'''

Now THIS king was a pussy. See, by this point the High Elf Princes and Princesses had some history to look back on, and saw that the best kings came in two flavors. Ones who were badasses known for beating the shit out of Dark Elves and Chaos, or guys with absolutely no military experience that were quietly spoken and unambitious. Since the previous king was the latter and had done a good job they chose another person of that type, a poet from Saphery who's only major accomplishments were being born to a very prominent High Elven family and entertaining the Everqueen's court with his artistic retellings of past glories of the elves (avoiding that awkward pre-coital moment where the Everqueen has to pretend to know his name). As a result of such a life, he knew jack shit about actually being in the military, most of his knowledge coming from the ballads of Tethlis, the two King Caledors, and Aenarion that he had told in the past. He was also a very bad judge of character to boot.

Things went pretty well at first, Dark Elves stopped raiding and had no contact with High Elves for a long period, Dwarfs stopped being pissed at the High Elves and just resigned themselves to having a long grudge that would be resolved by insults spoken whenever possible instead of through bloodshed (this is the first time the High Elves start trying to get a price in gold for the return of the crown), and although the Empire was founded by Sigmar during the reign of Bel-Korhadris the High Elves living in Ulthuan only heard of it in the early years of Aethis.

High Elves started looking back at their own past now that they had a chance to catch their breath, and realized they had lost almost their entire history prior to Aenarion and that there was more unoccupied cities and ruins than populated cities and intact structures. They began to rebuild their culture by stepping up the baby-making efforts, turning the Anulii of Chrace into a giant Mount Rushmore, creating magic items that WEREN'T made for war, composing some of the most beautiful music ever written, painting portraits that moved Harry Potter style of everyone whose face could be seen or still remembered, and generally making themselves the greatest race in the world without question again. Lothern went from some being Innsmouth to being New York. Military outposts were remade to be as majestic and enchanting as anything an invading army had ever seen before. Old weapons of war were decorated with silver and gold inlays, dead trees anywhere in Ulthuan were cut down and disposed of and new ones planted in their place. Now all this sounds really good right? Had that been the only thing Aethis was known for, it'd have been the perfect age.

But that's not how things worked out. As time went on, the Elves became complacent. They began to believe that peace would last forever.

The navy was sent to drydock and taken apart for building materials, soldiers were dismissed and expected to take up non-military jobs, weapons and armor from every Kingdom were sold overseas to humans and Dwarfs, and any veteran or soldier who tried to maintain their vigilance and keep Ulthuan ready to defend itself was mocked and manipulated out of power. The last great military commander of this age, Prince Valedor of Ellyrion, wound up stripped of his wealth and reputation by the dandies at the Phoenix Court after he delivered a SHORYUKEN to the face of some poncey noble who tried to take the contents of the Griffon Gate armory to use as props in a theatrical production of Aethis's newest work.

So after 622 years of rule by a guy looking to shore up the pride and pleasure of his race, the Cult of Pleasure unsurprisingly once again surfaced. Fortunately, Bel-Korhadris once again proved his ability to get shit done even after his death. One of his last acts in life was to create The Loremasters of Hoeth order, which included the Swordmasters; all up they're the equivalent of High Elf CIA. The order had been keeping a watchlist for Ulthuan's most wanted and terrorist suspects. During their shadow war against the Cult of Pleasure they came to believe that someone at Aethis's court was a Dark Elf traitor, so the Loremaster of Hoeth at the time (Morvael) sent him a message to be on the lookout. Somehow this letter was mixed up with Aethis's fan mail (because let's face it, who the fuck would write him about ANYTHING else? It's likely Morvael did it on purpose otherwise the letter would never have reached Aethis), and after it was read to the entire court Aethis was assassinated in front of everyone by his Chancellor, <s>Palpatine</s> Girathon, who was a traitor (later retconned to be a Dark Elf double agent. [[Skub|As for Aethis' death, High Elves say it was with a poisoned dagger, Dark Elves say he was strangled with one of his silk scarves]]). So altogether, this was the best of times and it was the worst of times. The most easily preventable fuckups happened in this age, but so did the things that make the current High Elves so glorious to behold. They know it too, the duality of things is big to the High Elves if you hadn't realized that looking at their language. At any rate, if there's a Phoenix King referred to most by High Elves it's probably this one.

=== {{anchor|Morvael}} Morvael, The Impetuous ===
'''Imperial Calendar 1121 to 1503''' 

Morvael was from Yvresse, and was the first High Loremaster of Hoeth after the founding of the order. Despite being a fucking genius, he had absolutely no clue how to lead a nation or run a military. In addition, he was VERY emotional and had to stop games of Warhammer 40k to properly mourn each Space Marine mini who was slain each turn. He also had extreme insomnia, constantly having nightmares about Matt Ward fucking up the High Elf 8th edition update. When Malekith found out, he used his magic to troll Morvael throughout his reign with even worse nightmares, such as ones about [[the End Times]].

His first act was to order an attack on the Dark Elves with what was left of the navy. It went along the lines of "We should, um, like... we should... attack... someone. Yeah. Attack someone. Can I fuck the Everqueen now?" The Dark Elves, still rebuilding their offensive forces but having become quite adept at repelling attacks from sea, wiped out the High Elf fleet. The High Elves were not expecting this, having thought the Druchii more or less destroyed. To the contrary, the shoe had been put on the other foot after Aethis's reign. The Dark Elves immediately retook the Blighted Isle, rebuilt Anlec, and push as far south as the Griffon Gate. Morvael shat himself, then called on the citizen levies and increased their quota for troops to almost 100% of the able population. In addition, arms and armor was to be provided for as much by the individual as the nation. Taking a page out of Caradryel's book he then appointed a military-minded man, named Mentheus who was Caledorian, to be supreme commander of the Asur armies. The nation, formerly the single center of wealth in the world against which Dwarfs and Tomb Kings amounted to pennies, was rendered as broke as a Bretonnian meth addict building a new fleet.

Meanwhile, he continued his counterintelligence against the Cult of Pleasure which was recruiting nobility used to lives of excess under Aethis who were easy to recruit into spywork and summoning Daemonettes to wreak havoc in cities. So many execution orders for heretics came to his desk he began to lose his shit on a regular basis, crying whenever he wasn't crawling on hands and knees trying his best not to an hero. He stayed good at his job though, and unlike his predecessor was an excellent judge of character, promoting individuals who knew their shit and finding ways to relieve those unfit or too old to continue to work excellently without pissing them off and turning them to the enemy. Fortresses outside Ulthuan were established, and High Elves began policing the world for Chaos and Dark Elves (High Elves confirmed for Americans in the best way, ironic since Dark Elves live in the geographical equivalent of North America). Mentheus, top general and most trusted adviser also became the only one keeping Morvael going.

Finally it came time for pushing the Dark Elves back off Ulthuan again. Mentheus laid siege to Anlec and personally lead each charge from the back of his dragon companion Nightfang. Meanwhile, Morvael stayed at the Shrine of Asuryan in the protection of the Phoenix Guard. In the final day of the assault, Mentheus was killed and Nightfang flipped the fuck out, slaughtering the residents of the city and turning it to gravel again. As soon as word reached Morvael that his only remaining friend was dead, he walked into the sacrificing fire (still called that even though they don't use it that way anymore) a second time and for two days burned silently until on the third day at noon his ashes were blown by a magic wind into the inner sea of Ulthuan. So even though he may have been a bigger wuss than even Aethis, Morvael managed to get shit done and as long as shit gets done, you're golden.

=== {{anchor|Bel-Hathor}} Bel-Hathor, The Sage ===
'''Imperial Calendar 1503 to 2163'''

So now the High Elf Princes and Princesses were divided on what to look for in a king. Some pointed to the need for a warrior, since the last two peaceful civilian kings were pansies. Some said they needed a peacemaker because warrior kings also have the tendency to fuck up royally, and this was the worst time to gamble on fate. Eventually they compromised and elected Bel-Hathor, from Saphery.

They did this because he was an eccentric dude who tended to, rather than argue, point out all valid points then quickly leave. Everyone figured they could manipulate him to their side. They thought wrong. Turns out he had a 30+ CHA rating, and could convince you after coming to him to demand the 3 month overdue rent for his apartment to instead drop your pants for him to fuck you roughly and you'd walk away thinking you got your way. All the douchebaggery from the powdered-wig elves that was encouraged in the time of Aethis was put to a stop right off the bat. The hawk nobles who wanted to go back to the era of Tethlis and pushed for an invasion of Naggaroth with the High Elf forces didn't get their way. The dove High Elves who wanted to go back to the era of Aethis and use the High Elf navy to get silk sheets from Cathay didn't get their way either. Instead, Bel-Hathor focused on getting shit done the same way the other Bel king, Bel-Korhadris, had.

Suddenly mankind wasn't just some new insect in the jungles somewhere, they were patrolling the seas and dealing with Elves on a regular basis in some colonies. The Warriors of Chaos population had boomed, and were now raiding all the nations of the world. Bel-Hathor had the mages of Hoeth set up a series of magical defenses for the east coast of Ulthuan that move around rocks and islands capable of sinking ships like nothing as well as mists that make you unable to see anything outside your boat and few things within it.

Eventually, humans from the Empire and Bretonnia managed to reach the coasts of Eataine during the beginning of the Age of Exploration (which apparently happens in the middle of the middle ages in the Warhammer Fantasy universe). Bel-Hathor banned all non-Elves (along with the Druchii obviously) from setting foot on Ulthuan under threat of death, but some elves became fascinated about the new civilizations of the humans. In particular, an Eataineian named Finubar set sail with the humans when they departed (see Finubar's entry for details of his journey). Upon returning, Finubar told the court of Bel-Hathor about the wonders he'd seen and the changes in the world and they listened like an audience seeing Star Wars for the first time (the original and prequel trilogy + good Legends that is, not the stupefied shock and rage expressed when the Disney content was shown). Finubar suggested allowing humans into Ulthuan, but with limits to keep them in check. Bel-Hathor agreed and Finubar's hometown of Lothern was shaped to a state that made it impossible to travel inland except by boat, which is one of the hardest things one could attempt if the High Elves don't want you to thanks to multiple giant gates manned by the most disciplined elves and best made Bolt Throwers imaginable.

At the completion of the renovations, Elf mariners were sent to guide humans to Lothern and EVERYONE wanted to go, even a small number of Dwarfs. Lothern went from a large fishing city to perhaps the greatest city in the world within a century. Bel-Hathor died of old age without any major shit going down in his time, and was hailed as one of the greatest Phoenix Kings.

=== {{anchor|Finubar}} Finubar, The Seafarer ===
'''Imperial Calendar 2163 to Present'''

Finubar is the present Phoenix King in the Warhammer Fantasy universe. He was featured in the (damnably non-canon) Warhammer Online MMO game, and as a result we finally have pics of what he looks like. Not that he's going to be getting a mini anytime soon however. During Bel-Hathor's reign humans first landed on Ulthuan, and after being held in lockup at the border security office they were told to GTFO and never return at Bolt Throwerpoint. Some Elves of the nobility were interested in the stretched Dwarfs with the blobby ears and wanted to come with, Finubar among them.

Finubar began his journey in L'Anguille of Bretonnia and observed how the Mon'keigh there had based their entire culture on the ruins of abandoned High Elf colonies (Bretonnian Knights are confirmed as Silver Helm fanboys) which they had hid from Orcs and Daemons in when they were still learning the art of the club. While Elves had all "known" that Humans were incapable of anything other than mud and dung buildings and worshiping Daemons (of course, Nehekhara excluded. but then again, thanks to[[Nagash| a certain bonehead]] it was basically reduced to a backyard of grumpy skeletons and mummies yelling "FUCK OFF FROM MY LAWN" 24/7 for millenia now. So basically like Ulthuan under Bel-Hathor. Except Human version. And More Skeletal. With Pyramids. And lots of Sand.), the reality was that the Humans were now at the same point more or less that the High Elves had been at during their Golden Age before the first Daemon ordeal. Finubar began making friends with any Human who would speak to him and giving them gifts to ensure that Humans and High Elves would be allies in the future. He ventured into Athel Loren and saw what became of the colonists who refused to return in the years of Caradryel, and how they'd become a race so vastly different from the High Elves, and although Finubar tried to befriend them the wood elves treated the High Elves the same as they did humans; that being "non-Wood Elf, and thus not as smart as us". Finubar was the first Elf since the days of Caledor to set foot in Dwarf Fortresses, where he did his absolute best to try and befriend them again (even going as far as trying Bugman's Light, a feat few Dwarfs have even ever achieved).

Finubar returned to Ulthuan many years later a celebrity and brought thing such as Bretonnian tapestries, Empire bibles, Wood Elf charms, and Dwarf ale back for the populace to be amazed at. After Bel-Hathor died, the Princes and Princesses of Ulthuan were left knowing that this was the beginning of a whole new age for their race, and they picked the one elf responsible for setting it all in motion (so it's either his legacy or all his fault). It didn't hurt Bel-Hathor had expressed desire for Finubar to be his heir though.

Finubar seems to have learned from all his predecessors, getting shit done while not making stupid choices. While Finubar isn't some untrained poet (to the contrary, he's a badass in the battles he's been in) he's still more than willing to let other, more badass individuals get shit done. Finubar stays away from the powdered wig elves who play politics over minor things, and instead leaves his seat to young Princes and Princesses he sees promise in (of course while watching them and minimizing any fuckups they might cause), all to train the next generation as a whole to rule with authority and wisdom. He travels the world still, setting up diplomatic meetings with the humans (and Dwarfs) of the world. These two things together caused the Princes of Ulthuan to begin to revolt to depose him early in his reign while he was away having drinks with Thorgrim, and it took the Everqueen to walk into the headquarters of the soon to be rebellion, glare at the assembled nobles, slowly shake her head and crack her knuckles, then walk out to end it.

While most Phoenix Kings deal with one major war in their reign, some none at all, Finubar has to deal with a giant world ending battle every month it seems. Initially there was small skirmishes in which Finubar sent individual High Elf Princes and Commanders to save the good aligned races of the world and to erect more Waystones. But soon came the Great Chaos incursion (which marks the beginning of the modern era for every civilization in the game) where the races of man, Wood Elf, and Dwarf were about to be wiped out by Chaos as well as Orcs; and the High Elves were under attack by the Dark Elves in the single biggest war between the two since the first one that marked the split between their races. Every kingdom suffered greatly, especially Avelorn, and the Everqueen was thought dead. Two of the greatest elves to ever live, the twins Tyrion and Teclis, saved her and won the Battle of Finuval Plain. Rather than become complacent, Finubar announced the High Elves must stay on the alert and the worst was yet to come. The heroes of Ulthuan all became personal friends of Finubar if they weren't before, each left to their own devices to see to the world as they saw fit while still being able to contact one another and send for aid if needed. Teclis, with the great approval of Finubar, went to save the Old World and teach humans disciplined magic where before that was only druidic mysticism gleaned from the Wood Elves. The kingdom of Caledor, which had become complacent and too prideful to participate in any battle that wasn't against the end of the world, suddenly sent word to Finubar that everything from Dragons to Dragon Princes was at his disposal against whatever foe he could find for them.

Skaven began to assault Ulthuan for the first time (each time being beaten to the last rat). Yvresse was assaulted and razed to the city itself by Orcs, with the High Elves barely beating them back and causing the elves of Yvresse to become distant and unwilling to help the rest of their race unless it benefited their kingdom. Morathi once again tried to unmake the rift in the center of Ulthuan with a scheme that involved a mind-controlled Ellyrian Reaver who was abandoned after a raid against Naggaroth, and resulted in the Everqueen almost being killed, Lothern almost falling, the Phoenix Gate being destroyed for the hundredth or so time, and finally the deaths of the best friends of Tyrion and Finubar respectively as the named redshirts (mauve shirt, as TVTropes defines that character archetype) needed to give the battles drama (on the plus side, Morathi was driven a bit less focused and a lot more insane, another of Slaanesh's champions was killed in a fuckawesome way by Alarielle, and Malekith's dragon was crippled by Imrik of Caledor for life as well as him losing his magic shield in the shallows of Ulthuan's coastline).

The current development in the Warhammer Fantasy plot involves the kidnapping of Finubar and Alarielle's daughter Aliathra by vampires, upon whom the future of the Everqueen line as well as the High Elves friendship with Dwarfs hinges. Finubar has gone and locked himself in his room for some reason and it's revealed that Tyrion fathered Aliathra with the Everqueen during their first year, making Finubar a cuckold as well.

As of End Times: Khaine, Finubar is dead. Teclis betrayed him by allowing Malekith or a projection of Malekith into Finubar's tower, where one of 3 things happen: 1. Malekith kills Finubar himself; 2. Malekith releases a Bloodthirster into the room that kills Finubar; 3. Finubar commits suicide out of shame having realised that the current line of Phoenix Kings had cheated and stolen the throne from the rightful heir, Malekith. In any case, he dies horribly.

Now that you know the history of the High Elves, you need to get your army and start playing! GLORY TO THE ASUR!