What is know about the Elf exodus and Sovyrian?

[vorpaljesus]

What the title says. What has been published regarding the Elven refuge? Where is it located, etc? Or is that up to our imagination?

[blackbloodtroll]

What is known?

[Irnk, Dead-Eye's Prodigal]

Sovyrian is a continent on the world of Castrovel, a planet that roughly corresponds to Venus in Golarian's Solar System, if Golarion was equivalent to Earth. The Campaign Setting book Distant Worlds details the planets in Golarion's system & the two page spread on Castrolvel likely has the most information on Sovyrian, other than what can be found in the background material in Second Darkness, which probably isn't much.

[blackbloodtroll]

Yes. Golarion Elves are aliens.

The have stargates(known as elfgates) for interplanetary travel.

[blackbloodtroll]

pathfinderwiki.com is your friend.

[Blackvial]

Irnk, Dead-Eye's Prodigal wrote:

Sovyrian is a continent on the world of Castrovel, a planet that roughly corresponds to Venus in Golarian's Solar System, if Golarion was equivalent to Earth. The Campaign Setting book Distant Worlds details the planets in Golarion's system & the two page spread on Castrolvel likely has the most information on Sovyrian, other than what can be found in the background material in Second Darkness, which probably isn't much.

so if elves are from venus, who's from mars?

[blackbloodtroll]

Blackvial wrote:

Irnk, Dead-Eye's Prodigal wrote:

Sovyrian is a continent on the world of Castrovel, a planet that roughly corresponds to Venus in Golarian's Solar System, if Golarion was equivalent to Earth. The Campaign Setting book Distant Worlds details the planets in Golarion's system & the two page spread on Castrolvel likely has the most information on Sovyrian, other than what can be found in the background material in Second Darkness, which probably isn't much.

so if elves are from venus, who's from mars?

Shobhads.

[LazarX]

The elves have ONE planetary gate, the one in Kyonin that connects to a gate in Castrovel. The other gates are for intra Golarion travel only.

Knowing that Earthfall was coming the bulk of the elven population fled to Castrovel, some of them returning after tthe dust settled a few centuries later. Treerazor seeks to capture the portal and retune it to the Abyss..

That's why in Wrath of the Righteous,

Spoiler:

if the heroes fail to contain the Worldwound, the elves leave through the portal again, this time setting it to self destruct behind them... They leave Golarion forever.

Most of this is not generally known. The elves aren't really big on sharing details with others... especially the bit about what happened to the elves who stayed behind and went underground.

[James Sutter]

Sovyrian (and its capital city of El) gets about a page worth of information in Distant Worlds.

[Echo Vining]

To clarify Lazar's statements, elves are actually from Castrovel. They originated there (however that happens in Pathfinder) and came to Golarion. When Earthfall happened, the elves were going home.

[Deighton Thrane]

Also, to expand on what LazarX mentioned, or maybe correct it, the gate linking Golarion and Castrovel isn`t technically Elven. The Aidura (elf gates) that work for cross-planetary travel are Elven, but the gate linking Golarion and Castrovel pre-date the elves, and possibly all life in the solar system. They also have more than one gate, or can possibly go to more than one location with the gate as they`ve also managed to travel to Akiton (the Mars of the system) through these gates. Technically the gates link all the planets except for Aucturn, though not many understand them, or know how they function, so most of the gates are closed for the time being.

But there`s a lot more in Distant Worlds if you want to find out about either Castrovel, or the entire solar system. (It`s a pretty interesting book, btw.)

[James Sutter]

On the subject of whether elves are from Golarion or Castrovel: I find it's really fun to have it be ambiguous. There's some pretty strong circumstantial evidence that they're from Castrovel, but on page 10 of Distant Worlds, we deliberately say that nobody *really* knows which planet they evolved on, and that there's a certain amount of planetary pride at play. I love the idea of Golarion's elves—who many races see as snooty—rankling at being viewed as "provincials" by the elves of Sovyrian. :)

[Bellona]

(Yes, I know that the following is not at all helpful, but I thought that I'd throw in my own 2 coppers too.)

... And in my home-brew variation on Golarion, etc., elves are actually native to yet another planet in a completely different star system. The elves on both Castrovel and Golarion are both considered to be "rusticated provincials" by the space-faring elves. :D

[Yakman]

James Sutter wrote:

On the subject of whether elves are from Golarion or Castrovel: I find it's really fun to have it be ambiguous. There's some pretty strong circumstantial evidence that they're from Castrovel, but on page 10 of Distant Worlds, we deliberately say that nobody *really* knows which planet they evolved on, and that there's a certain amount of planetary pride at play. I love the idea of Golarion's elves—who many races see as snooty—rankling at being viewed as "provincials" by the elves of Sovyrian. :)

I guess I never caught that.

I always assumed that they were from Golarion and found the portals to Castrovel.

[LazarX]

Yakman wrote:

James Sutter wrote:

On the subject of whether elves are from Golarion or Castrovel: I find it's really fun to have it be ambiguous. There's some pretty strong circumstantial evidence that they're from Castrovel, but on page 10 of Distant Worlds, we deliberately say that nobody *really* knows which planet they evolved on, and that there's a certain amount of planetary pride at play. I love the idea of Golarion's elves—who many races see as snooty—rankling at being viewed as "provincials" by the elves of Sovyrian. :)

I guess I never caught that.

I always assumed that they were from Golarion and found the portals to Castrovel.

I had read both pieces of material which why I did not put anything on my posts about the elves being FROM Castrovel. As it's stated, the actual origin details are in dispute. It's something long ago even by elven reckoning.

[LazarX]

Deighton Thrane wrote:

Also, to expand on what LazarX mentioned, or maybe correct it, the gate linking Golarion and Castrovel isn`t technically Elven.

They do have monopoly control over the gates... and they intend to keep it that way.

[LazarX]

blackbloodtroll wrote:

What is known?

Qualify your question. If the rest of the question is ... by the average Yokel Joe, the answer is little to nothing, and most of what he "knows' is most likely wrong. Not even the Pathfinder Society knows that much of the details.

[Echo Vining]

LazarX wrote:

Yakman wrote:

James Sutter wrote:

On the subject of whether elves are from Golarion or Castrovel: I find it's really fun to have it be ambiguous. There's some pretty strong circumstantial evidence that they're from Castrovel, but on page 10 of Distant Worlds, we deliberately say that nobody *really* knows which planet they evolved on, and that there's a certain amount of planetary pride at play. I love the idea of Golarion's elves—who many races see as snooty—rankling at being viewed as "provincials" by the elves of Sovyrian. :)

I guess I never caught that.

I always assumed that they were from Golarion and found the portals to Castrovel.

I had read both pieces of material which why I did not put anything on my posts about the elves being FROM Castrovel. As it's stated, the actual origin details are in dispute. It's something long ago even by elven reckoning.

Despite loving Distant Worlds, I missed that. I think I just decided alien elves were cooler and assumed my preference was presented as canon.