Introduction

The Caenor are a noble people. They are charged with the sacred duty of rulership, to protect the weak and vulnerable from exploitation and self-destruction. In this task they have failed once, they will not do so again.

Seven Hundred Years ago the Caenor fled civil war in the elven homeland across the Eastern Sea. Though they were the rightful rulers of the realm, they abandoned it when it most needed their guidance and fled to build a new society in Mernalt. After a long and arduous crossing the Caenor landed on the isle of Caeros, from which they took their new name. Here they encountered a tribe of men called Caerosi, a short lived and wretched race abused by frightful elemental spirits and ruled by the barbaric cults that worshiped the spirits. Elven Steel struck down the barbaric cultists, and elven magic sealed away the elementals, the Caerosi swore unending loyalty to the Caenor as a token of their gratitude.

Family & Society

Caenor society is not organized around the atomic or extended family like most others, instead the most important social unit in Caenor society are gender segregated houses called Otornasse for men and Gwaethel for women. Important property (land, ships, trade goods) is almost always owned by the Otornasse or Gwaethel as a whole rather than individuals. Houses vary wildly in stature and power, some hold great swathes of land and command vast political power, others function as craft guilds or merchant houses. Political representation is given not to the individuals who make up the house, but to the house as a whole.

Caenor society is highly gender segregated with significant differences between the structure of male houses ( Otornasse ) and female houses ( Gwaethel ). Young Men reach a mutual agreement with an Otornasse and are adopted into it, becoming the son of an established member. Once in an Otornasse young men are expected to give their absolute loyalty and devotion to it. They are to obey and learn from their new “father” with the expectation that as they grow older and advance within the organization they will gain wealth, status and autonomy. Though members of the Otornasse never cease to owe loyalty and obedience to their adopted father, it is considered unseemly for a father to directly order a son around once the son has reached his second century.

Members of an Otornasse have few formal or legal protections from their superiors within the house and no guarantee of advancement or wealth, but Otornasse which do not treat their new members well develop a poor reputation and are avoided by those with talent. For this reason Otornasse with great wealth and power are often some of the cruelest and most demanding of their new members, as they know they will be able to attract talented young elves who see the suffering as a necessary step to power and influence.

Female houses or Gwaethel function very differently. Daughters are always members of the mothers Gwaethel and are shunned and punished if they ever decide to leave it. However Gwaethel are considerably less hierarchical organizations than Otornasse. While members are expected to serve the general interest of the Gwaethel they do not owe absolute loyalty and obedience to a single superior figure, as is common in an Otornasse. Decisions about the Gwaethel and conflicts between its members are resolved in large council discussions rather than handed down by single leaders, and young elven women have a substantial voice in the process.

Otornasse and Gwaethel have unequal roles in Caenor society. Otornasse are the dominant political and economic forces in the empire, they own land, charter vast trade fleets, and raise armies for battle. Gwaethel have a significantly reduced role, they are not legally permitted to own land and are barred from engaging in the speculative trading ventures on which many Otornasse have built (or lost) their fortune. Gwaethel usually derive some of their income from manufacturing and selling textile goods and fine arts, but their primary role in Caenor society is the instruction of youth.

Caenor boys and girls grow up in their mothers Gwaethel and are raised and educated by its members. An Otornasse that adopts a boy raised by a Gwaethel is expected to offer the Otornasse a substantial gift in return. Caenor men bear no loyalty to their birth fathers Otornasse, but they are expected to help support their mother’s Gwaethel for as long as she lives. A successful Gwaethel is able to place its son’s in prestigious Otornasse by educating and training them well. The best Gwaethel are excellent schools who produce elven youth learned in the arts and sciences, and possessing the discipline and personal virtue required to succeed

Caenor society is organized around single gender houses and not the atomic family, and bases inheritance around adoption rather than birth status. For these reasons Caenor are far less concerned with monogamy than they are in societies where infidelity can have much larger economic and political consequences. Marriage and commitments to monogamy are rare and exceptional arrangements made around intense personal affection or unusual political circumstance.

Caenor who form a long lasting relationship do not live together or own property jointly and each remains a member of their respective Otornasse or Gawehel. However, the male may for a time take up temporary residence in his lovers Gwaehel. The Caenor model of courtship is based around the male using the Gawehel as a temporary escape from the discipline and work of the Otornasse. The Gwaehel is a place where male Caenor can experience sensuality and rest not typically permitted in the male sphere. Through contact with the male the female Caenor gains limited access to and influence over the male public sphere which is typically off limits to her.

As a minority elite, ruling over a much larger human population, the Caenor are deeply concerned with keeping the number of pure blood elves as high as possible. Caenor women are under social and economic pressure to have many children, as sons provide their mothers with one of the few steady sources of income available to them. The Gwaenor also fear that their blood will be diluted by interbreeding with humans, and many measures and customs that restrict the movement of Caenor women are justified as necessary to protect them from the ravages of human men.

Occupation and Social Class

In the old days almost all Caenor were members of noble houses who directly controlled their own fiefdom on Caeros. Most men were expected to be trained warriors and administrators, taxing and governing the holdings given to them by the king. However the Caenor population has grown tremendously and those who are unable to obtain land have turned increasingly to craft and trade to build their fortune. Over the years the Caenor have developed two main classes, the warrior class which owns and rules the land, and a class of merchants and craftsmen who sells its surplus overseas.

Caenor serve a variety of roles but the biggest divide is between those who are adopted into land owning Otornasse and those who are adopted into houses based around trade or study. Caenor who are members of the great noble houses who control vast territory and wield political power within the empire are called Doirion, those who are members of smaller houses based around trade, craft, or other enterprise are members of the _ Curwe_ class.

In their homeland of Caeros the Caenor are only a small fraction of the total population, with most of the lands inhabitants being human peasant-farmers

Three hundred years after the Caenor arrived in Mernalt and built their stable and prosperous kingdom, more elves sailed from their homeland across the Eastern Sea and arrived in Mernalt. Without the guidance of its rightful rulers the elven homeland had fallen into ruin, becoming an uninhabitable eldritch wasteland. Those who fled its destruction were called the Gwaenor, and though they had once forced the Caenor into exile they now begged for a place in the glorious kingdom the Caenor had built. In penance, the Gwaenor were not permitted to settle on the isle of Caenor, but were given supplies and protection and settled in numerous colonies around the Ailin Bay.

the first group of Elves to reach Mernalt and settle on the Isle of Caeros. The Caenor are descended from a faction of elven nobles forced into exile after losing a disastrous civil war in their homeland. These nobles and their supporters set up a new society on Caeros and quickly came to rule over the island and its inhabitants (see The Conquest of Caeros). In time the new kingdom they established Seran Caelthas, would expand into a full fledged empire ruling over most of the Ailin Bay and surrounding territories.

The Caenor are heavily involved in the administration and rule of the empire they built.