Tal En’Tel Orod’edhel

“History is a living thing to the mountain elves, alive in the fevered minds of mystics and on the lips and ballads of storytellers. Mountain elves believe that fallen ancestors live on as spirits that watch over, guide, and empower them, the heroes of the past helpling to give rise to those of the present. Bardic Storytellers and stone carvings in the large strongholds keep the histories of the mountain elves alive. Storytelling is equal parts art and religion to these elves, clustered around the night’s campfire, sheltering themselves against the realities of their harsh, barren lands with tales of ancient chieftains, heroes, monsters, and triumphs.”

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwF09f1afXWlTnVjNWFmclN5UFU

Holidays are different for the Southern Half of Vagreon - Koddra stole their system a ~2700 years ago when he was traveling the realm to establish trade for Tal En’Estela during their age of wandering. For the South, it is year 3,999 TS (Thaur Sairos, Age of Curses).

Yama Kijo the Moon Weaver is the Mountain Queen, Lady of Copper and Crystal, the Queen of Witches. Thousands and thousands of years ago, an Arcane Elf pissed her off by being misogynistic, so she cursed the Arcana Elves so that all males experience pregnancy. She then left, and eventually found the ancient nomadic Mountain Elves.

Yama Kijo is an extremely powerful hag, who eats children to maintain immortality. The Mountain Elves have a pact with Yama Kijo - every 4 years on the Quadrennial Holiday Kurasar, they send a child into the wild to be their sacrifice. The Mountain Elves used to be nomads cuz the mountains are harsh and they didn’t have the tools, resources, etc, to farm. Yama Kijo blessed them with the knowledge of farming and domestication of animals. She taught them the powers of witchcraft. As long as she is fed a child every 4 years, they continue to have bountiful harvests and magic witchy powers. On Tenkelasar they do a ritual to determine which child has the honor of being the sacrifice.

Witchery is seen as good to the Mountain Elves. They have a matriarchal society, with witches/mystic women elders leading their civilization.

Yama Kijo once told them of Rezenna. Koddra convinced Yama Kijo ~2700 years ago that Rezenna was also a witch, since she was spewing prophecies. In an attempt to maintain dominance and control Yama Kijo burned everything she could find written by Rezenna, throughout the Magic Forest. In a large stone stronghold that the party stays in or visits, they’ll see a bunch of historical carvings, and some scorched sections.

Rezenna prophesied that the end of year 3,999 would lead to a new era - the age of revolution. An age where everything they know and are familiar with would die, to give birth to something utterly new. The Coven (leaders of The Mountain Elves)’s divinations can’t see beyond 3,999. They also wonder if its going to be the end of the world.