Seren/History

This article relates to the history of Seren and the elves.

Origins
Seren was created on Freneskae by the Elder God Mah, alongside Zaros. Zaros represented dark energy while Seren stood for light energy. They were tied to each other in ways neither could control. It was a mutual "attraction" of sorts that weakened Zaros' concentration and Seren's will in order to bring them together. Zaros instilled feelings of devotion in Seren, and likewise Seren caused adoration in Zaros. Mah, with the temperament of a child, saw them as her playthings in a sense. However, Zaros resented this. He longed to escape and create his own destiny and learn, since Mah was unable to teach him anything. Seren, on the other hand, felt it was their duty to remain with their creator. She felt that Mah needed them and had only created them out of fear of being alone. Zaros eventually fled while Mah was sleeping, but Seren chose to stay, arguing that Mah gave them life and they were indebted to the Elder God for that reason.

Mah was upset that Zaros had left, and sometimes had lucid nightmares in which she called out for him. When Mah would awake after these nightmares, Seren would try to comfort her, to not much avail. Mah began to sleep more often, and her dreams of Zaros and Seren began to manifest, creating the Mahjarrat race. Seren manipulated the Mahjarrat into sacrificing their own people to Mah by posing as her, so that they could replenish the energy she had lost upon manifesting them.

At some point, Mah began to have more violent nightmares which would cause grotesque and terrifying Muspah to manifest and prevent the inhabitants of Freneskae from going on pilgrimages to Mah's volcano, scaring them off. The Elder God fell into a coma-like state, to occasionally regain some consciousness and "wail and scream and hurt herself." Realising she could no longer do anything for her creator, Seren decided to depart, but before doing so, she visited the Mahjarrat while posing as Mah again, and taught them the Ritual of Enervation, which would give birth to new Mahjarrat. This was necessary to calm Mah down when she had a very violent nightmare that could damage Freneskae.

At some point prior to Gielinor's First Age, she visited Tarddiad, a planet consisting mostly of woods and crystalline structures. It had also become the homeworld of the elves and Seren was mesmerised by the way they lived in perfect harmony with one another and the world. Seren would alter her form into a more elven image to better connect with them. The elves loved her, and she became their patron goddess. She came to live with them on their homeworld. She is said to have brought large amounts of crystal with her from her own homeworld, but this is unlikely - it's more probable to be a misinterpretation on the elves' part. She also taught the elves how to chant it. Like herself, crystal is sentient and is able to align itself to its user, although Seren has always been the only crystalline being the elves could communicate with. The elves fashioned many kinds of crystal equipment and their civilisation prospered. Of the eight elven clans or families their society was divided into, the Ithell Clan were the most skilled crystal chanters. The artificial powers granted to Seren by Mah to instil love in beings in her presence may have been partly why the elves adored Seren. According to Seren, it was likely present in the elves. Seren set out trying to extend the lifespan of the elves, yet in doing so she inexplicably tied them to her, leaving them to grow ill in her absence. Prolonged periods without Seren forced the elves to do anything in their power to return to her. She set out trying to resolve this so that her elves could live free from her influence.

Arrival to Gielinor
After his ascension to godhood at the end of the Naragi God Wars, the Naragi god of balance Guthix travelled the multiverse in sorrow. He visited many realms and planets, including the elven plane and Gielinor, the Elder Gods' perfect creation, and shaped it using various Elder Artefacts he found. He befriended Seren and invited her and her elves to come with him to Gielinor, which he found so beautiful that it deserved to be inhabited by peaceful mortals, without gods. Seren became wary of his ever growing powers which she feared were exceeding her own, yet came to learn that his intentions remained pure and she came to love him. Although some elves were reluctant to abandon their home, she was keen to follow him.. She decided to form a shard of herself into a scout, who she sent to Gielinor. The scout, Haluned, discovered the world was inhabited by the Elder Gods'. Optimistic that together, Guthix and Seren could overcome them, Seren agreed to join him on Gielinor. Seren used her artificial abilities to sway the elves to join her on Gielinor, by abandoning them for a short period. She regretted doing so ever since, yet felt it was a necessary ensure their survival. After travelling to Gielinor through the World Gate, the elves were astounded by the planet's lush flora and fauna, which contrasted with their own crystal plane, and all reluctancy to stay there disappeared. Seren became closely affiliated with the world's Anima Mundi and her elves lived in harmony in the forest of Isafdar, in Tirannwn, separated from the lands to the east by the Galarpos Mountains. After bringing the elves to Gielinor, Guthix used the World Gate (at that point called the Portal of Life) to bring in humans, dwarves and gnomes, among other races. In a clearing north of Isafdar, Seren gave a shard of herself unto each elven clan and created the legendary Tower of Voices from crystal to serve as a means of communication while she would be with Guthix. The tower, connected to eight smaller towers, each owned by one clan, is even said to contain her heart. Here, the elves constructed Gielinor's first city and the oldest settlement still in existence today: Prifddinas. The necessary amount of crystal was provided by their homeworld, which remained accessible through the World Gate.

Together, Guthix and Seren helped the mortal races prosper. The two grew close to each other, seeing the care they brought to the world. But while the latter always returned to her elves, whom she is said to love more than anyone, her companion began to grow uncontent with the mortals' worshipping him. Guthix then revealed his true feelings: Gielinor should belong to mortals and he attempted to convince Seren to leave the planet with him. As Guthix gradually began to make less appearances until he finally retreated into the earth to sleep, hoping for the world to forget him and live in peace without gods, however, she stayed behind and hid, remaining with her followers as Guthix slept, unable to part from them in the fear that they might fall ill and perish with her departure. At this point, Seren's only followers, aside from animals such as falcons and dire wolves, were the elves, who continued to worship Seren for millennia.

Clash with other gods
In the Second Age, other gods began to arrive to Gielinor. Most notable was Zaros, Seren's old companion who had gathered much power and knowledge of the universe since he had left, who established a massive and ever growing empire known as Forinthry using vast armies of wicked creatures. Most other gods' views were also opposite to the harmonious and pacifistic ideals of Guthix and Seren, for example Saradomin, who claimed Gielinor as his own, or Bandos, who, as god of war, desired to turn it into his personal playground of eternal warfare.

Seren began to weaken her influence over the elves during this period, to rid them of their dependency on her and prevent them from growing sick and ill in her absence - doing so by tapping into a dark energy contained within the Underground Pass to counteract her own lighter energy. Seren set about testing this on willing volunteers from Clan Iorwerth, who became much more detached from Seren than the other elven clans and appeared to have grown attached to the dark energy contained within Seren. Fearful of the effect this may have on them and the other elven clans, Seren promptly aborted the tests and isolated the dark energy from the rest of her body so to remove it's influence over them. This dark manifestation of Seren was fixated on death, and as such became known as the "Dark Lord". She informed her followers of the dangers the Dark Lord posed to them and told them that the he was to be imprisoned in the Temple of Light.

With the advancement of the Zarosian empire west, nearing the Galarpos, Seren was forced to confront Zaros. She noted that the connection which bound them had dwindled through years of separation. Whilst both Zaros and Seren were powerful enough to bare such seperation, the same was not true for her elves. Applying this to her elves, she concluded that the only means of breaking their dependency on her was by gradually isolating herself from their presence before her departure from Gielinor. Within her memories, it is suggested that Seren was unable to provide aid to Zaros, who then stole the World Gate from Seren. The loss the World Gate to this 'emptiness' had cut Seren and the elves off from their homeworld and their supply of crystal.

The state of affairs in the Second Age led to a schism in elven society. Some clans wished to remain secluded in Tirannwn while others desired to take the fight to the enemy, despite Seren's attempts to keep everybody united and safe. This split led to the deaths of many, while Seren could not do anything to stop it, having promised Guthix to stay away from battle. The elves that stayed with their goddess were protected by her, mourning the deaths of their fallen kinsmen. This isolation of the elves led to the knowledge of them being scarce until they were nearly forgotten by the other beings of the world.

Nevertheless, Zaros expressed significant interest in Seren and sent at least one scouting mission, consisting of his closest generals such as Zamorak and Char, to the west. This particular one was ambushed and defeated by elven troops. Why Zaros showed such curiosity towards' Seren's could have been due to their ties through Mah or Zaros' interest in the World Gate.

During the God Wars
The Second Age made way for the Third when Zamorak, who had rebelled against and defeated Zaros, returned from the Infernal dimension and declared war on Saradomin over the Stone of Jas. Soon enough, nearly the entire world suffered under an all-out war of the gods. The elves were initially unaware of this, but soon the hostile forces began to approach Tirannwn. However, the Cadarn Clan, the most military clan led by the legendary King Baxtorian Cadarn, was able to hold each invasion off at the Underground Pass through the Galarpos. Again, however, some elves, such as the famous commander Valis, chose to leave the safety of Seren and to fight. Through the Anima Mundi, Seren erected a barrier across Tirannwn to protect her elves and remain true to the promise she made to Guthix to say out of the wars of the Younger gods. It provided her with time to plan her departure from Gielinor. Towards the end of the God Wars, Seren closed the Grand Library of Prifddinas with nine seals, most likely to protect the knowledge within.

After some four thousand years of battle, Zamorak reobtained the Stone of Jas and used it to utterly destroy what was left of Forinthry in a last-ditch-effort to save himself from being defeated. The impact of the blast was immense; hundreds if not thousands square kilometers of once fertile land were turned into a barren wilderness; life-forms caught in the blast were killed, which caused the near-extinction of the aviantese. The devastation was so great that the Anima Mundi itself cried out in pain, waking Guthix after six thousand years of slumber. Upon seeing the destruction brought upon his world, Guthix was filled with anger and sorrow. More powerful than any of the other gods, he cast them out of Gielinor and created a magical barrier inspired by the barrier erected by Seren around Tirannwn, known as the Edicts of Guthix, preventing any powerful god from entering Gielinor, after which he hid the Stone of Jas underground, under protection. Some Guthixians believe that part of the Edicts state that Guthix will destroy then reshape the world if another war breaks out. After banishing the gods during a series of battles between Guthixians and other forces, which also saw the deaths of many elves who refused to retreat as well as other Serenists such as the dire wolf Riled Coyote and the grenwall Dinsdale, Guthix visited Seren last and ordered her to leave with the other gods.

Seren could not leave her elves as doing so would result in the elves becoming fatally ill, she informed Guthix of this and decided that while she would leave, it would not be with Guthix. She spilled all her dark thoughts into Haluned, her proxy, and sent her away from the elven lands: forming what would become the Dark Lord. Warning her followers of the threat which the Dark Lord posed, the elves began construction on the Temple of Light so to isolate the Dark Lord's influence over them. By this point Seren understood that her elves could reintegrate into Gielinorian society, keeping their connection to Seren via shards of her own being which would gradually wean them off their dependency of her own presence. Accepting her fate, she shattered herself, exploding in many pieces of crystal. Guthix returned to his slumber afterwards, crying at the atrocities he had seen.

Elven Civil War


The Fourth Age saw the elves without their goddess's guidance for the first time. They mourned her, but at the same time cherished the thought that she was still in their hearts, as well as in the crystal they used. The Cadarn Clan attempted to keep elven society together more than anyone else. Without Seren to protect them, the Cadarn Clan also broke free of their isolation. An event known as The Break Out took place; after constructing the Arandar pass over the Galarpos, King Baxtorian led the elven settlers to the east. In the east, the elves formed treaties with the humans and gnomes (but were unable to do so with the ogres due to the Feldip Hills Civil War) and established a large kingdom, with the Cadarn Clan as the primary inhabitants. Soon enough, other clans followed as well and the kingdom prospered.

However, the absence of Seren had led to a schism in society back in Tirannwn. The Iorwerth Clan abandoned Seren and turned to the Dark Lord. With their strongest opponents, the Cadarn Clan, away, Lord Iorwerth seized the opportunity to conquer Prifddinas and the Tower of Voices, denying access to other clans. Thus began the Elven Civil War, which led to the deaths of many elves. In 1930, nearly two millennia later, The Great Divide occurred as the eastern settlers lost all contact with the west and Arandar became impassable. Five scouts were sent to Tirannwn through the Underground Pass, of whom only one, Adwr, returned. She informed the Cadarn of the civil war and King Baxtorian launched a campaign to liberate Tirannwn from Iorwerth's tyranny. The Baxtorian Campaign failed, however, as the Iorwerth Clan crushed the Cadarn forces at the Battle of Prifddinas. The defeated king returned to the east five years later to find his kingdom in ruins and his wife Glarial taken by the enemy. His sorrow was so great that he sealed himself beneath a waterfall, thus eliminating Iorwerth's greatest opponent. The remaining elves travelled west again and attempted to restore peace as rebels, but these were hunted down by the Iorwerth, who continued their attempts to return the Dark Lord due to Seren's absence. Eventually, the Elven Council of Elders decided to completely revert Prifddinas to a crystal seed to protect it.

Over two centuries later, in 169 of the Fifth Age, Guthix was murdered by the Mahjarrat Sliske, shattering his edicts. The elves soon learnt of this; some hope to bring Seren back by either collecting every crystal to reform her, or by recreating the city for her. They also believe that if they can find the World Gate, they would be able to travel back to their homeworld and recreate her there. Still others wish to leave her at rest, honouring her final act.