Elf

Elves are among the longest lived of all the races of the universe. They are noted as being tall, graceful humanoids, with elongated ears. Female elves are also renowned for their beauty. They follow the crystalline goddess Seren, who journeyed to Gielinor with them from their ancestral homeland Tarddiad. Elves have no need for human technology or magic, but instead opt for crystal-based weaponry, technology and magic power, granted by Seren. Due to their many years of isolation brought on by their beliefs and a civil war, elves are generally regarded as a mere myth by humans, most of whom have not interacted with elves in centuries and believe them to have gone. All elves are associated with a clan, each of which originated from the first eight elven families of Gielinor.

First Age
The elves originate from the world Tarddiad, which is covered mostly in woodland, along with crystalline structures. Divided in clans, the elven families lived in peace with one another. At one point, they were discovered by the goddess Seren, who had recently left her own home, Freneskae. She approached them, and the elves welcomed her into their society. From then on, Seren would be the elves' patron goddess.

Prior to the beginning of Gielinor's First Age, the recently ascended god Guthix discovered Tarddiad using a powerful portal he had created, called the World Gate. He befriended Seren and later returned to her, having shaped Gielinor, and offered to take them with him. She agreed, and the two gods led the elves through the World Gate. Although they were hesitant at first, the eight clans that travelled to Gielinor, the Amlodd, Cadarn, Crwys, Hefin, Iorwerth, Ithell, Meilyr, and Trahaearn Clans, were mesmerised by the planet's beauty. They settled in the forest of Tirannwn, safe behind the Galarpos Mountains.

In a clearing north of the Isafdar forest, Seren created the Tower of Voices for the elves to communicate with her. Around it, they cooperatively built an enormous city out of crystal which still exists today. This city, known as Prifddinas, is probably the oldest settlement in the history of Gielinor. All eight clans each had a tower in their own corner of the city, connected to the Tower of Voices. Below the city lay an enormous library, known as the Grand Library, containing enormous amounts of knowledge, although it was sealed by Seren. The elves were the first to discover the death altar, hidden deep inside the mountains. To protect the power of the altar, they built the Temple of Light around it.

Third Age
When the second age came to an end and the God Wars broke out, many elves fled from mainland Gielinor into the forests of Isafdar, where Prifddinas stood. Isafdar, being isolated from the rest of the world by the impassable mountains around the lands, guaranteed the safety of the elves during the God Wars. As they retreated beyond the mountains so many years ago, there are few scholars who know very much at all about the elves. Most traces of the elves' existence were wiped out during the wars.When Guthix awoke from his slumber, he put an end to the God Wars by creating the Edicts of Guthix, preventing the gods to walk upon Gielinor. Seren was also bound to the edicts, and was forced to leave Gielinor, she did so by shattering into many crystals. The grand library and the world gate were sealed, cutting off the source of the elves' crystal. However, the elves could still make contact with Seren through the Tower of Voices.

Fourth and Fifth Ages
Once the God wars were put to an end, elves were again able to make contact with the rest of the world. Many Cadarn clan elves traveled through the Mountain pass Arandar and soon a new kingdom was created, ruled by the elven king Baxtorian and queen Glarial. Once again, they made ties with humans and gnomes.

However, the Iorwerth clan soon made advantage of the fact that Priffdinas was lacking forces, and began to take control over the city. The elves fought back against the Iorwerth clan and in order to prevent them from winning, the elves converted the entire city into crystal-form. The crystal has been hidden inside the temple of light ever since.

Once king Baxtorian heard about the current events in Priffdinas, the elves made a mass exodus in attempt to reclaim the city. The mountain pass of Arandar had been closed off by Iorwerth clan. He sent five of his best elves through the Underground Pass, the only remaining route, but only one of them returned. The elf reported seeing "elves killing elves in the streets of Prifddinas". After years of failed campaigning, they retreated back to their kingdom, only to find it destroyed. King Baxtorian, who was in deep sorrow when he learned of his wife's death, buried himself alive inside the Baxtorian falls, which were named after him.

The Iorwerth clan took control over Prifdinnas, but some elves retreated into Lletya and continued to fight.

On the 13th of Raktuber, in the year 138, a group of elves raided the Mobilising Armies Command centre. Initially out for loot, Lord Marshal Brogan managed to negotiate with them and the rogue elves eventually agreed to work as mercenaries for ARMS. Elves are the mage class of Mobilising Armies, an indication of their extraordinary proficiency with the mystic arts.

Tirannwn
The kingdom of Tirannwn is the main centre of the elven people and as such, contains the largest proportion of the elven population. It is scarely populated with the exception of Prifddinas, the capital of the region.
 * Prifddinas - the largest elven settlement, a mighty city that dates from thousands of years ago, and is grown entirely from crystal seeds. Although no human has ever entered its walls, there are rumours of its beauty and the genius of its architecture - rumours which are repeated throughout every text on elven culture that has survived to make it to Varrock. The quest Within The Light reveals that the city has been reverted to seed, explaining its absence on the world map. After the events in Plague's End, the city started to regrow, thanks to the help of an adventurer and the 8 Elven Clans
 * Lletya - a village found on the edge of Isafdar, inhabited by rebel elves.
 * Elf Camp - an Iorwerth campsite near Prifddinas.

West Ardougne
West Ardougne was under de facto control of elves from the Iorwerth clan, who control the population by spreading false rumours of a deadly plague. They posed as mourners, and take "plague victims" from their homes, supposedly to care for them as they die, but instead using them as slaves in the tunnels under the city. This ended with a internal revolution, in which the mourners were evicted from the city in place of Knights of Ardougne.

Beliefs
The elves worship a deity called Seren, who communes with them via crystal seeds, which are also utilised by the elves to create buildings and tools. Seren first encountered the elves on Tarddiad, their homeworld, after leaving her creator, Mah, on Freneskae. Seren quickly realised that Mah had given her the ability to make mortal races follow and worship her by merely being in their presence, an ability she shares with her "brother", Zaros. Seren is a pacifist goddess who believes in isolationism so to achieve her goal of peace and growth. As a result of this, the elves have become separated from the rest of Gielinor. She is widely accepted as goddess of the elves, however, in the Fourth Age a group of elves distinguished themselves from the rest of the elves and began to worship a god known as the 'Dark Lord', whose identity is unclear. The followers of the Dark Lord were affiliated with the Elven clan of Iorwerth who were able to seize control of Prifddinas and thus begin a brutal civil war. This has followed on into the present.

Language
According to a Postbag from the Hedge, "the elvish language, on the other hand, is far more complex, for their tongues are as agile as their minds, and twice as bewildering. The nearest approximations I can make are as follows:

Lletya = LLE-to-ah (the 'LL' indicates a slight rolling of the sound at the base of the tongue, as if you were to attempt to clear your throat quietly and politely) Isafdar = ISS-aff-dar (in which the 'I' is pronounced like the 'i' in 'thin', and the 'r' is rolled quaintly)."

This is very similar to the Welsh language and shares various words with the Welsh language including Seren, meaning star and Prifddinas, meaning capital city.

Notable elves

 * Baxtorian - King of the Elven Empire in Kandarin during the Fourth Age
 * Glarial - Baxtorian's wife who was lost during the Fourth Age
 * Islwyn - Sells crystal bow or shield and also is the grandson of Glarial
 * Lord Iorwerth - Leader of the Iorwerth clan
 * Head Mourner - Chief of the Mourners in West Ardougne
 * Arianwyn Cadarn - Current leader of the rebel elves and also Lord Cadarn, one of the current Elves City Elders
 * Gwir- Elven scribe in the Lletya library who helps note down the player's accomplishments in the Plague quest series
 * Oluien - Representative of Seren at the Gielinor Games
 * Daiglolas - Safety keeper of the Flash Powder Factory
 * Endwyr - emissary of the elven deity Seren

Champions' Challenge
Elves are one of the 'races' who have champions of champions in the Champions' Challenge Distraction and Diversion. It is not currently possible to fight the elf champion. Many players expect a future update will allow this champion to be fought, like a 2009 update allowed Glophren, the gnome champion, to be fought.

Mobilising Armies
Elves are a unit in Mobilising Armies and may be recruited by speaking to the elven recruiter. Following the combat triangle, elves are weak against Goblins (range class) but strong against Dwarves (melee class). Light elves have a combat level of 175, 4800 life points and a discipline level of 110 while the Heavy elves have a combat level of 350, 9600 life points and a discipline level of 110 (as these are the normal, non-boosted stats of these elves, it seems that the Elven race is indeed far superior magically to the Human race) Light elves wear lavender robes, and wield different elemental staves. The Heavy elves also wield the basic elemental staves but wear dark blue shaded robes. The Examine info on both squads says "An uncommon sight, mercenary elves are familiar with battle". While exploring, they find logs. There are also several other elves around the ARMS command centre, such as Junior Cadet Finda.

Thieving
Some elves in Lletya can be pickpocketed at 85 Thieving, giving 353.3 experience per successful attempt, with chances double loot available at 95 Thieving and 85 Agility. Elves are one source of high-level Farming seeds. These are not recommended as a training method due to the high failure rate. If thieving from elves, it is suggested to use Goreu due to his proximity to the bank where rapid healing is possible.

Pickpocketing these 70 times is a possible Daily challenge.


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Main quests

 * Plague City
 * Biohazard
 * Underground Pass
 * Regicide
 * Roving Elves
 * Mourning's Ends Part I
 * Mourning's Ends Part II
 * Within the Light
 * Plague's End

Other quests
These quests are not related to the main plague quest series yet are necessary to progress through the series 
 * Catapult Construction
 * The Eyes of Glouphrie
 * The Path of Glouphrie
 * Sheep Herder
 * Waterfall Quest

Quests related to elves

 * Fate of the Gods, Seren's memoriam crystals - spoken of in Seren's memories
 * Meeting History - minor appearance of an elf named Haluned appearing outside the barrier and teleporting away
 * Missing, Presumed Death - the player encounters Ifleen in the Empyrean Citadel

Trivia

 * Most of the words in the elven language are derived from the Welsh language. For example, Seren is Welsh for "star", Mawrth is Welsh for "March" and "Tuesday", Prifddinas is Welsh for "capital city", and Iorwerth, Islwyn and Eluned are names in the Welsh language.
 * Elves have a far longer life span as opposed to most other races such as humans. As Mawrth mentioned, an elf in their 30s is a mere child.
 * Oluien (representative of Seren during the Gielinor Games), the travelling elf (from the pre-release of the first world event) and the courier (for the 2010 Easter event) were the only elves available for free-players - all of which are no longer in game. Currently the only free-to-play elf is Endwyr, the emissary of Seren.
 * When talking to an Elf, it may say "Stay back, human. You don't know what you're dealing with," which is an exact quote from the first Artemis Fowl book. The quote in question is said by Holly Short (who is also an elf) to Artemis Fowl when they meet for the first time.
 * Elves like to drink honeyed tea made with a few of their own secret ingredients to make it special..
 * The RuneScape-based Funorb game Armies of Gielinor shows that the elves played a large role in the God Wars.

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