Although the destruction of Xen’drik was monumental, some of the continent’s denizens did survive. While the dragons brooded, elf refugees established the nation of Aerenal. Thousands of years of research into necromancy and the energies of Argonnessen produced the Undying Court, an alliance of deathless elves with a gestalt power that rivaled the Overlords of the first age.
Since that time—nearly twenty-five thousand years before the founding of Galifar—dragons and elves have been at war. The tides of strife ebb and flow, and centuries might pass between battles … but sooner or later the dragons return to fight once more. The basis of this age-old conf ict, and its conduct, is another of the mysteries of Argonnessen.
Many find it impossible to imagine that the Aereni could stand against the force that utterly destroyed Xen’drik. In truth, the elves have never faced the full power of Argonnessen. The strike on Xen’drik was carried out by the full, unified force of Argonnessen; the elf–dragon wars have involved only a few flights from the Light of Siberys. The fact that the Undying Court has been able to hold off the dragons remains an impressive feat, but it has not faced the power that ravaged a continent.
Those who study this puzzling behavior ask: Why not? What motivates this seemingly endless struggle? If the dragons truly wish to eliminate the elves, why don’t they commit their full forces to the task? If they don’t care enough to do so, why do they continue to fight in such piecemeal fashion?
One theory is that the dragons despise the extensive practice of necromancy, even when it draws on the positive energy of Irian, but do not view it with the same abhorrence as the giants’ planar studies. Thus, they cannot agree en masse that Aerenal should be laid low.
Another possibility is that the struggle is a form of exercise for the dragons, a proving ground for the younger warriors of the Light of Siberys. Conversely, it might be that the wars are fought to test the elves and harden them for some future conflict, just as a soldier will sharpen his blade in preparation for battles to come. The dragons might be unwilling to share the secrets of their power with lesser races, but they can still push the lower creatures to reach their full potential. The long struggle with the dragons has certainly forced the Aereni wizards and Tairnadal warriors to master the arts of war and magic.
The lords of Argonnessen offer no explanations for their actions, nor do they negotiate. Only two instances of elves and dragons working side by side are known, and both involve the noble line of the House of Vol. Following the appearance of the Mark of Death, a number of green dragons began working with the line of Vol.
This alliance produced the half-green dragon Erandis. Allies of Vol claim that this was intended to forge a bond between the two races and bring an end to the wars. Others believe that the emerald dragons sought to gain control of the Mark of Death through their half-dragon offspring. In the end, Erandis d’Vol did unite Aerenal and Argonnessen … in a quest to eradicate the line of Vol. But this alliance was short-lived and involved minimal communication between the allies. Once the house of Vol fell into shadow, the dragons returned to Argonnessen, and in a few centuries the cycle of war began anew.
Source: Dragons of Eberron
