Seren

Seren (pronounced /ˈsɛrən/ SEH-ren) is the crystalline goddess of the elves, and the divine aspect of the Anima Mundi. She had a close relationship with the god of balance, Guthix, who brought her through from the elven homeworld to Gielinor during the First Age through the World Gate, along with the elves. They settled in Tirannwn and built the great city of Prifddinas from elf crystal.

Seren, along with Tuska and Marimbo, are the only known goddesses not part of the Menaphite Pantheon, if not counting the Elder Gods as female. Her exact race remains unknown, although it is fact that she is a crystal lifeform.

Beliefs
Part of Seren's vision of peace is that she is a pacifist, shying violence as much as she can. She and Armadyl both share similar views in the fact that they both believe in pacifism, although Seren does not wish to be included in another God War and believes her followers should live as they chose, in a sanctuary away from the other gods. Her views are considered to be similar to those of Guthix: being the divine aspect of the Anima Mundi, Seren likely believes in a balanced eco-system, parallel to the beliefs of Guthix, who was the god of balance. He stated that he too was a pacifist and believed that mortals should not be interfered by the gods. Her views are expressed in the Cerddi, which includes the wish to survive "the hostile world" with the elven clans united.

Relationship with Guthix
Seren's relationship with Guthix was an extremely close one, as Guthix himself stated "we grew close, and I had no intention of abandoning her" in his memories. Guthix brought Seren and her followers, the Elves, to Gielinor, and had views like her own. After his departure Seren remembered him, which she was told not to do by Guthix. When Seren left, Guthix thought she had left for good and wept for her. As the divine aspect of the Anima Mundi, Seren is believed to have mourned for Guthix after his death, as "crying trees" formed across Gielinor, which mourned his loss.

Origins
Much of Seren's early history remains unknown. At some point prior to Gielinor's First Age, she became the patron goddess of the elves and lived with them on their homeworld, one of crystal. She brought large amounts of crystal with her from her own world and 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.

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. Although some elves were reluctant to abandon their home, she was keen to follow him. 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. 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, who sought to control the planet and to this end 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. As hostile forces, especially the Zarosians, advanced to the west, nearing the Galarpos, the elves even lost the World Gate to an 'emptiness', most likely to be Zaros, thus cutting them 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 activities remains unknown, but it seems to have troubled him at the time.

During the God Wars
The Second Age made place for the Third when Zamorak, who had rebelled against and defeated Zaros, returned from banishment as a god 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. 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; lifeforms 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, 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 and, saddened that she had broken her promise, Guthix ordered her to leave as well.

Seren could not leave her elves but did not want to go against her friend either. As such, she sorrowfully shattered herself, exploding in many bits of crystal. Guthix now heartbroken as well returned to sleep 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 charished 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 a Dark Lord, who was not on Gielinor. 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 Baxorian 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 a Zarosian Mahjarrat, 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.

Followers

 * Elves
 * Dire wolves
 * Grenwalls
 * Black bears
 * Crystalline Shapeshifter (Armies of Gielinor)
 * Falcons (Armies of Gielinor)

Trivia

 * There is one known altar to Seren found in the elven outpost of Lletya.
 * When the RuneScape-based game Armies of Gielinor was released on Jagex's Funorb website on 16 January 2009, the front page had stacked pillars depicting the followers and the symbols of the six gods whose followers players can control. Of those, only Menaphites (Followers of Tumeken) and Seren were previously unknown.
 * Seren is the Welsh word for "star." This is the accepted meaning of her name, as nearly all other elven names are also in Welsh. Her name can also be derived from the word "serenity", a synonym for peace, which is Seren's alignment.
 * The locations where crystal trees can appear form a diamond similar to the symbol of Seren when connected. However, one corner of this is missing, and its presumed location is in the centre of Prifddinas.
 * The sign of life resembles the symbol of Seren.
 * The facial structure on Seren's concept art heavily resembles the facial structure of the Elder God concept art. Additionally, her body shape, crystalline structures, and facial structure also strongly resemble the concept art of Zaros' incorporeal form.