View source for Chapter II - The Aelin

-1-
 
The aelin are a race of avian bipeds, gifted with the power of 
flight. One of Avendar's oldest sapient races, it is known the
aelin were the first race to come into its own following the
Sundering and the fall of the alatharya.
 
From the beginning, the aelin were a civilized people, seeking
order and creation to oppose the madness of the years
following the Sundering. Their civilization reflected both this
desire for order, along with the predilictions of their avian
nature. They built great cities, wrought out of the sides of the
great mountains they called home. Freed from thechaos of the
magical storms that marked the Sundering's aftermath, they 
were able to lead a propserous existence, finding pause for
contemplationand thought.
 
The aelin were also a rather insular people, shunning the
lowlands and vallies, whose primitive inhabitants they felt
would taint the purity of the aelin people. This policy would
prove in the end detrimental, however, when the aelin became
embroiled with what is now known as the War of Fire, the first
great conflict of Avendar following the Sundering.

-2-
 
Virtually ignored by the aelin, other races had sprung up in 
Avendar's lowlands. Among them, the reptilian srryn and the
wingless humans allied together to take the riches of the aelin
culture. With these two opposed races, the aelin faced their
greatest threat - foes armed with the magics of fire. Easily
mastered and bringing instant returns, the humans rapidly
trained scholars and military leaders in the ways of the magic.
 
The aelin marshalled the resources of their people -- the
accumulated wisdom of their own civilization, coupled with
what artifacts and relics they had recovered from the ruins of
the ancient alatharya. The war that ensued was long and
devestating to the surface of Avendar, resulting in a conflict
second only to the Sundering in its catastrophic effects. 
 
It was not until a renegade group of humans, along with allies
among the aelin, brought about the return of the god Jolinn
and the magics of the seas, that the war turned in favor of the
aelin. With all these things, and the aid of the mighty Titans,
the aelin and what humans allied with them were able to drive
back the srryn to their swamps, ending the war in a series of
swift and final battles.

-3-
 
After the war, some predicted a period of aelin ascendancy. 
And, for a time it was so, as the aelin  cities were still the only
true centers for thought and civilization in Avendar. The
humans, though, with their prolific reproduction and more
open culture, began to dominate the political landscape of
Avendar.
 
The aelin were content to withdraw into their high cities, and
become a distant ally to the humans, shaping their ideas, but
seldom intervening in any large scale in human affairs. 
 
Exceptions exist, of course -- the chief one being the aelin's
interventionin driving back the shuddeni menace in the War of
Night. Today, while some aelin do consent to dwell away
from their homes in the mountains and the clouds, most live
far from the center of human civilization, across the Sea of
Lidraeu, content to dwell near their capitol, Ilodaiya.
 
Aelin are generally lean, with a height generally ranging
within the human norm. Their features and bodies  are both
delicate, and aelin will typically take great stock in what
bloodlines or houses they are affiliated with. Their most
striking feature, of course, are their wings, which are feathered
in the manner of avian kind. What aelins do dwell among
humans typically occupy positions of authority, or at least
influence and wealth.