For years before his birth, Aytheur's father was a household name among his mother's people. By no means was this a positive thing; Gheant the Firebringer was the greatest war criminal the elves could imagine. Considering their near-immortal grudges with the race of orcs and with all magic-wielding trolls, this was quite an accomplishment. Aytheur grew up among the Elrodore, a loose society of gathers that lived off the bounty of the Infinite Forest. Of course, the forest was not infinite, but it filled the elven heartland, the land of two rivers, from northern to eastern mountains and from the west to the south sea. The Elrodore accepted anyone the great elven city-states threw out. Aytheur's mother, Yenome, came to live among them for that reason. Only the respect she earned among both groups protected Gheant.
The city-states had been centers of power since the first fifteen were founded by the immortals. After the last orc war, when a collation of elves, civilization dwarves and barbaric goblins drove them from the continent, one of these city-states grew more powerful than the rest. This was Ballea. The fortress-city, the city of twin kings. Twenty years ago, Ballea became the site of the Academy, a massive effort to combine the learning of the dwarves and the elves in a single school. All his life, Aytheur intended to join the Academy. Aside from his father, the only non-elves anywhere in the Infinite Forest were at the Academy. Elves believe strongly in hierarchy. High elves over low, elves over every other sentient species, and anything sentient over those incapable of thought.
Aytheur was raised on a slightly different idea. Gheant was not an elf, dwarf or orc. By the elven classification, that made him a goblin. The word is a synonym for wretched, and for barbarian. He also had a phenomenal natural control over magic. This made him a troll. Gheant always said he was just “a man.” As though it were a species unto itself. He came to the goblins from a land beyond the northern mountains, but he never said anything more about the land of his birth. The goblins called him a wizard, and made him like a king among them. Gheant had many adventures as a wizard, over two goblin generations. They ended with his most ambitious plan: a raid on Cafaria.
Cafaria was one of the fifteen founding cities of the elves. It stood on the mouth of the river Nifu. In its prime, it was at least as powerful as Ballea was now. At its heart stood the great tree of memory, a tree more giant than even the greatest house-trees. There were only fifteen of these original trees which contained the living souls of the immortals. Gheant changed that. He laid siege to Cafaria, and when they would not pay his ransom or surrender and be plundered, the goblins assaulted it. They, and Gheant, set fire to everything. The population was decimated, but for the elves, the death of a tree of memory was worse than unthinkable. The goblin army would have return home with riches they had only dreamed of, but one among them betrayed Gheant. They shattered the wizard's amulet, and left him bleeding in the ruins of the city. Gheant lost his magic then. He would have lost his sanity, had he not stumbled upon Yenome.
Elves and orcs share a heritage. In truth, they are two races of a single species, where dwarves and goblins are related, but distinct species. Magic is a difficult thing to define, but the connection with is inherited. Elves have a gift for healing plants, and shaping them. To shape a living plant is very dangerous, even a small change may kill it. But shaping the seed of a plant, a skilled elf can grow an oak from a grain of wheat. This magic is key to everything about the elves' forest-cities, and the source of the high elves' power. Orcs have the same sort of power, but for animals.
On rare occasions, an elf will be born with the gift of an orc. Such unfortunate children usually hide their gift. If they are discovered, they are ostracized within their homes. An orc-blood rapidly becomes the scapegoat for every trouble, from a birth defect to illness. Exile and death are often to only choices available. Yenome was one such child.
Elves are well aware their magic is a recessive trait. Insuring it is passed on to the next generation is central to the culture that separates the high from the low. Families rise and fall on each generation's gift. Marriage alliances must consider this above wealth and honor and influence. Yenome's gift could touch a child in the womb and almost guarantee he or she would be born with the elven gift. She did this for Aytheur, and for more than a few noble families. Thus, despite her ostracism, she became quietly influential in Ballea. This influence allowed her son a place at the Academy.
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