This article relates to the history of Seren and the elves.
Origins[]
A shrine to Seren on Freneskae.
Seren was created on Freneskae by the Elder God Mah alongside her sibling Zaros. Where Zaros represented dark energy, Seren stood for light energy. This tied the two to each other in ways neither could control through a mutual "attraction" of sorts, which was created by Mah in order to bring them together by weakening Zaros's concentration and Seren's will. Zaros instilled feelings of devotion in Seren, and likewise Seren brought out feelings of adoration in Zaros. Mah, with the temperament of a child, saw them as her playthings in a sense. Zaros resented this. He longed to escape, create his own destiny and expand his understanding of the universe - desires which he could not fulfil under the servitude of Mah. This conflicted with Seren's belief that it was their duty to remain with their creator. She felt that Mah needed them and had only created them out of fear of being alone. Zaros eventually fled Freneskae whilst Mah was sleeping. Despite inviting Seren to join him she ultimately decided to stay with her creator, arguing that Mah gave them life and they were indebted to the Elder God for that reason. Zaros revealed his intentions of ascending to elder godhood to Seren before his departure, which she rejected, arguing that ascension could awake the elder gods, threatening life itself by inadvertently bringing about the Great Revision. From that moment Seren vowed to oppose Zaros in his goal to ascend which remains a cause of great upset between the two.
Zaros's departure from Freneskae caused great upset for Mah, who sometimes had lucid nightmares in which she called out for him. When Mah would wake after these nightmares Seren would try to comfort her yet this was to little avail. Mah began to sleep more often, and her dreams of Zaros and Seren began to manifest with the formation of the Mahjarrat race. Seren manipulated the Mahjarrat to sacrifice their lives to Mah by posing as her, so that they could replenish the energy she had lost upon manifesting them as a means of preventing Mah from tearing Freneskae apart and destroying their race altogether.
At some point, Mah began to have more violent nightmares which would cause grotesque and terrifying Muspah to manifest and prevent the inhabitants of Freneskae from going on pilgrimages to Mah's volcano, scaring them off. The Elder God fell into a coma-like state, to occasionally regain some consciousness and "wail and scream and hurt herself." Realising she could no longer do anything for her creator, Seren decided to depart Freneskae, but before doing so she visited the Mahjarrat race while posing as Mah again and taught them the Ritual of Enervation, allowing them to give birth to more of their kind. This was necessary to calm Mah down when she had a very violent nightmare and sustain Freneskae's anima mundi.
Tarddiad, the crystalline homeworld of the elves.
At some point prior to Gielinor's First Age Seren visited Tarddiad, a planet consisting mostly of woodlands and crystalline structures. It sat as the homeworld of the elves and Seren was mesmerised by the way they lived in perfect harmony with one another and the world. Seren would alter her form to better connect with the elves before revealing herself to them. The elves loved her upon arrival, and she became their patron goddess. She came to live with them on their homeworld.[1] She is said to have brought large amounts of crystal with her from her own homeworld, but this is unlikely - it's more probable to be a misinterpretation on the elves' part.[2] She also taught the elves how to chant crystal from her own being. Like herself, crystal is sentient and is able to align itself to its user, although Seren has always been the only crystalline being the elves could communicate with.[3] The elves fashioned many kinds of crystal equipment and their civilisation prospered: Seren provided the elves with such basic skills to ensure that their race could thrive.[4][5] Of the nine elven clans or families their society was divided into, the Ithell Clan were the most skilled crystal chanters.[6] The artificial powers granted to Seren by Mah to instil love in beings in her presence may partly explain why the elves adored Seren. According to Seren it was likely present in the elves. Seren set out trying to extend the lifespan of the elves after the death of her beloved Ceidwad, yet in doing so she inexplicably tied them to her, leaving them to grow ill in her absence and eventually leading to their death if away from her of too long. Prolonged periods without Seren forced the elves to do anything in their power to return to her. She set out trying to resolve this so that her elves could live free from her influence.
Arrival to Gielinor[]
Haluned, a shard of Seren.
After his ascension to godhood at the end of the Naragi God Wars, the Naragi god of balance Guthix travelled the multiverse in sorrow. He visited many realms and planets, including the elven plane and Gielinor, the Elder Gods' perfect creation, and shaped it using various Elder Artefacts he found. He befriended Seren and invited her and the elves to come with him to Gielinor, which he found so beautiful that it deserved to be shared by peaceful mortals.[7] Seren became wary of his ever-growing power, which she feared were exceeding her own, yet noted that his intentions remained pure. This became a source of feelings of affection by Seren for Guthix. Although some elves were reluctant to abandon their home, Seren was keen to follow him.[8] She decided to form a shard of herself into a scout, who she sent to Gielinor. The scout, Haluned, discovered the world was inhabited by the Elder Gods'. Optimistic that the Elder Gods could be subdued and that Gielinor may provide a means for Seren to break the elves of their dependency upon her presence, she agreed to join him on Gielinor. Seren used her artificial abilities to sway the elves to join her on Gielinor by abandoning them for a short period. She regretted doing so ever since, yet felt it was necessary to ensure their survival. After travelling to Gielinor through the World Gate, the elves were astounded by the planet's lush flora and fauna, which contrasted with their own crystalline plane, and all reluctance to stay there disappeared.[9] Seren became closely affiliated with the Gielinor's Anima Mundi and her elves lived in harmony in the forest of Isafdar in Tirannwn, separated from the lands to the east by the Galarpos Mountains. After bringing the elves to Gielinor,[10] Guthix used the World Gate (at that point called the Portal of Life) to bring in humans, dwarves and gnomes, among other races into Gielinor.
A former elf of Clan Cywir, now a shapeshifter.
Despite bringing the majority of the elves to Gielinor, a small number of elves including members of the elven clan of Cywir refused to depart their homeworld of Tarddiad[11] with those unable to travel also left behind.[12] Without the presence of Seren the elves who remained on Tarddiad developed insanity through their desire to be in the presence of Seren. They sought out elven crystal spread out across Tarddiad, which drew upon small sections of Seren's own essence, allowing for the native elves to quell their hunger for a time: they would embed these crystals within their own being through an alteration on the Song of Creation to remain close to Seren. But the crystals themselves were corrupt, and although it provided the elves with shapeshifting abilities, it also intensified their desire for more, driving them to the brink of insanity.[13] Despite this, a group of Cywir were able to reach Gielinor at some point prior to the end of the Fourth Age under the leadership of Helwyr.
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The World Gate of Tarddiad.
In a clearing north of Isafdar, Seren gave a shard of herself unto each elven clan and created the legendary Tower of Voices to serve as a means of communication for her elves to her whilst she accompanied Guthix in his travels. The tower connected to eight smaller towers, each of which was owned by an elven clan. At the centre of the Tower of Voices was said to sit her heart.[14] Here, the elves constructed Gielinor's first city and the oldest settlement still in existence today: Prifddinas. The necessary amount of crystal was provided from their homeworld, which remained accessible through the World Gate, however wood acted as the primary building material when the city was first constructed as crystal remained scarce: the Tower of Voices was carved from a great tree, resembling that of the Grand Tree in Tree Gnome Stronghold.[15]
Together, Guthix and Seren helped the mortal races prosper. The two grew close to each other, seeing the care they brought to the world. But while the latter always returned to her elves, whom she is said to love more than anyone, her companion began to grow uncontent with the mortals' worship of him. Guthix confided to Seren his true intentions: his belief that Gielinor should belong to mortal races. He attempted to convince Seren to leave the planet with him, and she agreed to follow him in the fullness of time.[16] As Guthix gradually began to make less appearances until he finally retreated into the earth to sleep, hoping for the world to forget him and live in peace without gods, Seren remained in Tirannwn with her followers as Guthix slept, unable to part from them in the fear that they might fall ill and perish with her departure.[17][18] At this point, Seren's only followers, aside from animals such as falcons and dire wolves, were the elves, who continued to worship Seren for millennia.[19]
The splendid main gate to the city of Prifddinas as it appears today.
Clash with other gods[]
In the Second Age, other gods began to arrive to Gielinor - the most notable being Zaros, Seren's former companion who had gathered much power and knowledge of the universe since his departure from Freneskae. Zaros established a massive and ever growing empire known as Forinthry, using vast armies of wicked creatures. Most of the newly arrived Gods had views contrary to the harmonious and pacifistic ideals of Guthix and Seren, with Saradomin claiming Gielinor as his own[20] and Bandos desiring to turn it into his personal playground of eternal warfare.
Seren began to weaken her influence over the elves during this period to rid them of their dependency upon her and prevent them from growing sick and ill in her absence - doing so by tapping into a dark energy contained within the Underground Pass to counteract her own lighter energy. Seren set about testing this on willing volunteers from Clan Iorwerth, who became much more detached from Seren than the other elven clans and appeared to grow more attracted to the dark energy contained within Seren. Fearful of the effect this may have on them and the other elven clans Seren promptly aborted the tests and isolated the dark energy from the rest of her body so to remove it's influence over them. This dark manifestation of Seren was fixated on death, and as such became known as the "Dark Lord". She informed her followers of the dangers the Dark Lord posed to them and told them that the he was to be imprisoned in the Temple of Light.
With the advancement of the Zarosian empire west, nearing the Galarpos, Seren was forced to confront Zaros. She noted that the connection which bound them had dwindled through years of separation. Whilst both Zaros and Seren were powerful enough to bare such seperation, the same was not true for her elves. Applying this to her elves, she concluded that the only means of breaking their dependency on her was by gradually isolating herself from their presence before her departure from Gielinor. Within her memories, it is suggested that Seren was unable to provide aid to Zaros, who then stole the World Gate from Seren. The loss the World Gate to this 'emptiness' had cut Seren and the elves off from their homeworld and their supply of crystal.[21]
Most elves remained safe with Seren in Tirannwn.
The state of affairs in the Second Age led to a schism in elven society. Some clans wished to remain secluded in Tirannwn while others desired to take the fight to the enemy, despite Seren's attempts to keep everybody united and safe. This split led to the deaths of many, while Seren could not do anything to stop it, having promised Guthix to stay away from battle.[22] The elves that stayed with their goddess were protected by her, mourning the deaths of their fallen kinsmen. This isolation of the elves led to knowledge of them becoming scarce, until they were nearly forgotten by the other beings of the world.[23]
Nevertheless, Zaros expressed significant interest in Seren and sent at least one scouting mission, consisting of his closest generals including Zamorak and Char to the west.[24] This particular one was ambushed and defeated by elven troops. Why Zaros showed such curiosity towards Seren could have been due to their ties through Mah or Zaros's interest in the World Gate.
Sometime during the Second Age, Seren sent four elite elven warriors to aid the Guardian of Guthix Solak in protecting The Lost Grove. Erethdor became tempted by the power of the grove and was subsequently defeated by Solak and his former companions. Solak tasked the three elves with bringing the stone that housed half of Erethdor's mind to Seren, though this was never achieved.
During the God Wars[]
The Second Age made way for the Third when Zamorak, who had rebelled against and defeated Zaros, returned from the Infernal dimension and declared war on Saradomin over the Stone of Jas. Soon enough, nearly the entire world suffered under an all-out war of the gods. The elves were initially unaware of this, but soon the hostile forces began to approach Tirannwn. However, the Cadarn Clan, the most military clan led by the legendary King Baxtorian Cadarn, was able to hold each invasion off at the Underground Pass through the Galarpos.[25] Again, however, some elves, such as the famous commander Valis, chose to leave the safety of Seren and to fight. As the God Wars broke out, Clan Ithell, lead by Lord BerwynI Ithell, fortified the city of Prifddinas by constructing a great granite wall. Prifddinas gradually evolved, with stone surpassing wood as the primary building material of the city.[26] Through the Anima Mundi Seren erected a barrier across Tirannwn to protect her elves and remain true to the promise she made to Guthix to stay out of the wars of the Younger gods. It provided her with time to plan her departure from Gielinor. Towards the end of the God Wars Seren closed the Grand Library of Prifddinas with nine seals, most likely to protect the knowledge within.
After some four thousand years of battle, Zamorak reobtained the Stone of Jas and used it to utterly destroy what was left of Forinthry in a last-ditch-effort to save himself from the other warring gods. The impact of the blast was immense; hundreds if not thousands square kilometers of once fertile land were turned into a barren wilderness; life-forms caught in the blast were killed, which caused the near-extinction of the aviantese. The devastation was so great that the Anima Mundi itself cried out in pain, waking Guthix after six thousand years of slumber.[27] Upon seeing the destruction brought upon his world, Guthix was filled with anger and sorrow. More powerful than any of the other gods, he cast them out of Gielinor and created a magical barrier inspired by the barrier erected by Seren around Tirannwn, known as the Edicts of Guthix, preventing any powerful god from entering Gielinor, after which he hid the Stone of Jas underground, under protection. Some Guthixians believe that part of the Edicts state that Guthix will destroy then reshape the world if another war breaks out.[28] After banishing the gods during a series of battles between Guthixians and other forces Guthix visited Seren last and ordered her to leave with the other gods.[29]
Guthix casting his Edicts which lead to the shattering of Seren.
Seren could not leave her elves as doing so would result in the elves becoming fatally ill, she informed Guthix of this and decided that while she would leave, it would not be with Guthix. She spilled all her dark thoughts into Haluned, her proxy, and sent her away from the elven lands: forming what would become the Dark Lord. Warning her followers of the threat which the Dark Lord posed, the elves began construction of the Temple of Light so to isolate the Dark Lord's influence over them. By this point Seren understood that her elves could reintegrate into Gielinorian society, keeping their connection to Seren via shards of her own being which would gradually wean them off their dependency of her own presence. Accepting her fate, she shattered herself, exploding in many pieces of crystal. Guthix returned to his slumber afterwards, crying at the atrocities he had seen.[30]
During The Light Within quest the player goes back in time and visits Guthix as he awakes from his slumber, to find a way to reform Seren. Guthix learns of her sacrifice from the player, deeply moved [31] and believes that Seren is unlike the younger gods as she is not interested in power gain or worship, but genuinely cares for the elves. However, he could not let her stay on Gielinor.[32]
Elven Civil War[]
The Dark Lord.
The Fourth Age saw the elves without their goddess's guidance for the first time. They mourned her, but at the same time cherished the thought that she was still in their hearts, as well as in the crystal they used. The Cadarn Clan attempted to keep elven society together more than anyone else with King Baxtorian and Queen Glarial attempting to retain order within elven society as a means of preventing its collapse with the Cadarn warriors helping to police the city of Prifddinas.[33][34] The city of Prifddinas developed: with the shattered crystal fragments of Seren surpassing stone as the city's main building material, elves from Clan Ithell shaped such fragments through the process of crystal singing to form buildings and other structures[35]. Without Seren to protect them, the Cadarn Clan also broke free of their isolation. An event known as The Break Out took place; after constructing the Arandar pass over the Galarpos, King Baxtorian led the elven settlers to the east.[36] In the east, the elves formed treaties with the humans and gnomes (but were unable to do so with the ogres due to the Feldip Hills Civil War) and established a large kingdom, with the Cadarn Clan as the primary inhabitants.[37] Soon enough, other clans followed as well and the kingdom prospered.
The reverted seed of Prifddinas, known as the Seal of Seren.
However, the absence of Seren had led to a schism in society back in Tirannwn. The Iorwerth Clan abandoned Seren and turned to the Dark Lord. With their strongest opponents, the Cadarn Clan, away, Lord Iorwerth seized the opportunity to conquer Prifddinas and the Tower of Voices, denying access to other clans under the false pretence that Clan Cadarn had become too powerful and that Baxtorian's kingdom to the east should be divided equally among the elven clans[38][39]. Thus began the Elven Civil War, which led to the deaths of many elves. The Great Divide occurred as the eastern settlers lost all contact with the west and Arandar became impassable.[40] Five scouts were sent to Tirannwn through the Underground Pass, of whom only one, Adwr, returned. She informed the Cadarn of the civil war and King Baxtorian launched a campaign to liberate Tirannwn from Iorwerth's tyranny. The Baxtorian Campaign failed, however, as the Iorwerth Clan crushed the Cadarn forces at the Battle of Prifddinas.
King Baxtorian, the former ruler of the elves.
However, Baxtorian's scouts were eventually able to find a means of entering the city of Prifddinas. On that night that Baxtorian learnt that his wife, Glarial - who was acting as regent in his absence - had disappeared and that his kingdom to the east had collapsed[41]. Knowing that he only had one opportunity to enter Prifddinas, Baxtorian was forced to abandon his concerns for his wife and focused on a plan to rescue the remaining clan elders from the city. Upon being rescued, the Elven Council of Elders met in the Grand Library beneath the city to sing the Song of Revertion: reverting the city of Prifddinas to it's former state as a crystal seed[42]. Inhabitants of the city at this time were left, preserved in crystal and time until the city was restored to it's former glory in the Sixth Age.[43] Baxtorian sent the clan elders into hiding and hastily brought his armies through the Underground Pass to find his wife taken by the enemy: his once-great kingdom fell as a result of a joint invasion by the neighbouring goblin and ogre tribes in addition to human rebellion against his rule which was manufactured by Lord Iorwerth, who were treated as serfs and second-class citizens under Baxtorian rule.[44][45][46] His sorrow was so great that he created a memorial to Glarial and sealed himself beneath a waterfall, thus eliminating Iorwerth's greatest opponent.[47] The remaining elves travelled west again and attempted to restore peace as rebels, but they were hunted down by the Iorwerth, who continued their attempts to return the Dark Lord with Seren's absence. The rebel elves hid amongst the forests of Isafdar and in the village of Lletya, with the Iorwerth controlling the chasm where Prifddinas once sat and it's surroundings, establishing a military camp to the south of the city's former site.
Sixth Age[]
The assassination of Guthix marked the start of the Sixth Age.
Over two centuries later, in 169 of the Fifth Age, Guthix was murdered by the Mahjarrat Sliske, shattering his edicts. The elves soon learnt of this; some hoped to bring Seren back by gathering the crystals of her body to reform her or by restoring the great elven city of Prifddinas in her memory. The World Gate became a source of hope for many elves who believed that they could employ the device to travel back to their crystalline homeworld and recreate Seren from the indigenous crystals of Tarddiad, whilst others wished to leave her at rest so to honour her final act.
The Sixth Age marked the end of clan Iorwerth's control over West Ardougne and northern Tirannwn. As part of the Plague's End quest the player began a revolution in West Ardougne after plans by the Iorwerth escalated to the genocide of West Ardougne's inhabitants so to appease and empower the Dark Lord. Prior to this point, the area was controlled by Iorwerth elves who posed as "Mourners" and ruled the city by administering false rumours of a "plague" with the agreement of King Lathas. The Mourners were expelled from the city via a human revolution before they could execute the plan and King Lathas was removed from the Kandarin throne to be replaced by his cousin, King Thoros.
The city of Prifddinas as it stands following the events of Plague's End.
The remaining clan elders were tracked down and united to reform the city of Prifddinas, which had been reverted to its crystal seed state since the fourth age. This involved the restoration of the eight elven clan crystals and the defeat of the Dark Lord in the Grand Library - who coincidentally murdered Lord Iorwerth. The seal of Seren - which encapsulated all life on Prifddinas - was empowered and shaped by the clan elders to reform the city of Prifddinas. All eight elven clans have now resumed residence in the city of Prifddinas, which has been fully restored to its former state.
Seren's return to Gielinor during the Sixth Age.
With the restoration of Prifddinas the shards of crystal which once formed part of Seren's being began to reform by becoming increasingly more attracted to the Shard of Seren, located within the Tower of Voices. This caused the city to suffer earthquake-like conditions. An elven conclave met in response to this as part of the Light Within quest which involved the player aiding the clans by restoring Seren to her former state.
The elven clans informed the player of four major components of Seren - four large shards, which two clans shared based on their cultures. During this time, Arianwyn revived his ancestor, King Baxtorian, to ask where the military shard would be. Baxtorian asked Arianwyn of any news with the Iorwerth clan, and was informed that the evil Iorwerth had fallen, and that Prifddinas had been restored. Baxtorian gave the player the shard, which he had turned into a statue of his wife, and part of the Song of Restoration, which was vital in rebuilding Seren. [48]
After all four main components were obtained, the elders argued if they should include the remnants of the Dark Lord into Seren. The player could then decide if they could incorporate it into her or not. Regardless, there was not enough crystal to reform Seren, so the elders tasked the player with gathering crystal from their home planet of Tarddiad to collect filler crystals. Despite this, the reforged Seren collapsed in front of the elders, as she did not have a soul to house her body in, and the player had to go to Freneskae to restore it. The player successfully restores Seren, who returns to the Tower of Voices and tells the elders that she will not lead them, so that their dependency on her would lower over time.
Seren kills Mah.
During the Children of Mah quest Seren is responsible for saving the player from falling to their immediate death at the edge of a lavafall on Freneskae. Whilst Zaros and the Mahjarrat drain Mah's life energy from a ritual site later on in the quest Seren also sends the player into Mah's subconscious and helps the player in averting Mah's nightmares from manifesting and destroying the planet of Freneskae. When the ritual is complete, Seren eventually realizes that someone close to Mah had corrupted her. She decides to end Mah's suffering by mercy killing her. Once the ritual is complete the Mahjarrat recognise Seren's energy signature to be that of Mah's, subsequently realising that it was Seren who taught them the rituals of Enervation and Rejuvenation, which resulted in the decline of their race. Seren accepts this, arguing that she did so to prevent Mah from ripping the planet of Freneskae apart. However, the Mahjarrat do not believe her claims and begin to yell at her for their near extinction. She begins screaming, and only stops when Zaros implores her to as she would have destroyed them all, before leaving.
Seren participates in Sliske's Endgame, hoping to prevent the other gods from taking the Stone of Jas as she believes it wields a corrupting influence on those who touch it. Armadyl and Seren leave open the possibility of an alliance with one another by the end of the quest and the player may convince Seren to allow for the Aviantese of Abbinah to share Tarddiad with the Cwyir elves when the time comes, at the request of Armadyl. Saradomin and Seren also meet on friendly terms during the quest. Seren expresses remorse towards Zamorak and the Mahjarrat for her role in teaching them the rituals of Enervation and Rejuvenation, which Zamorak rejects with contempt. Later on Seren, alongside her brother Zaros, supports the player in their fight against Sliske. After meeting Jas, the player may share details of the Elder Gods plans with Seren: if the player does so Seren promises to support the player in stopping the Elder Gods from enacting the Great Revision in the future.