High Elven Civil War
The High Elven Civil War, also called the Great High Elven Civil War, was the struggle that divided the slaver-empire founded by Atheus the Conqueror. It began after Atheus the Younger was killed at the Battle of Athlarethere in 635 LC, leaving Calidriel Atheus and Cymeva Atheus to fight over his inheritance.
A divided empire¶
The rival heirs split the High Elven realm between a more populous western kingdom and a more urbanized eastern kingdom. Both claimed the legacy of Atheus and drew on the soldiers, colonies, and citadels created by the earlier conquests of the High Elves. The conflict outlasted its original succession dispute and became a prolonged contest over which realm represented the true continuation of the Atheusian empire.
High Elven society’s small population and dependence on human slaves made such a long struggle especially costly. The two kingdoms retained formidable elite armies, colonial possessions, and portions of the old Great Slaver Navy, but continual warfare divided manpower and left the fleet split and underfunded.
The Great Collapse and the High Elven Peace¶
The Great Collapse interrupted the fighting in 670 LC. Both High Elven kingdoms entered an unofficial truce while they recovered from the wider catastrophe. This pause, later associated with the High Elven Peace, checked High Elven expansion and gave native peoples and distant colonies time to resist or establish their independence.
The war nevertheless continued after the immediate crisis. The Timeline still records active fighting in 750 LC. It ended only in 856 LC, when both High Elven kings died and manpower shortages forced the rival realms to accept the High Elven Peace.
Consequences¶
The division weakened High Elven authority across the Melodian Continents and Arteon. Colonies that could no longer rely on unified imperial support faced native resistance, independent powers, and the consequences of their own isolation. The divided navy also ceased to function as the single instrument of conquest created under Atheus.
The peace did not settle which side had won. Both successor realms retained their High Elven identity and imperial ambitions, and later leaders could still present renewed war as the only way to achieve a decisive conclusion. The civil war therefore ended the unity of the Atheusian empire without ending the rivalry created by its division.
See also: High Elves, Atheus the Conqueror, Great Collapse, and Timeline.