The Plight of the Shattered Greens was a period of the Elvish Wars during which the populace of three wood elven houses suffered greatly, first from Black Spider attacks, then from Mystraleth occupation.

Events

The southern Shattered Continent was home to three large wood elven houses, with a total population of 560'000. Together, they were allied to House Tammanamay, whose matron presided in the Elvish ruling council. Though large in population, they did not have a very advanced society, with only medium-sized cities. Most of their people lived in small villages in the vast expanses of forest, and lived off hunting, fishing, and gathering. They also did not have a strongly centralized house structure, or army for that matter.

Black Spider Raids

When the Elvish Wars broke out, the nobility of all three houses pledged their support of House Tammanamay, and sent the few troops they had to fight overseas. They were an easy target for Black Spider raiders, who began regularly pillaging villages, killing hundreds and plundering whatever had any monetary value. Even the three houses' seat in Mossy-Growth Grove came under the threat of raids.

Village militias and rangers gave their best to fight back, but were hopelessly outmached. Mossy-Growth Grove also attempted to parlay with the local Black Spider officers, but their bloodthirsty leaders did not seek to compromise. In an ultimate act of defiance, 30 captured wood elves were sacrificed and then crucified on the opposite side of the gentle river that bordered the Grove.

Mystraleth Occupation

By Tammanay's request, a light elven legion - consisting to a large part of and led by Mystraleth soldiers - arrived to protect the wood elves, only two months after the civil war had started. The Black Spider was quickly defeated, and Mystraleth established martial law to keep the region in order and weed out the last traces of enemy resistance.

The wood elves complained, but Mystraleth ignored them. The house leaders were virtually placed under house arrest in the Mossy-Growth Grove, while Mystraleth troops ruthlessly tracked down and executed "traitors". In order to sustain their efforts, the high elves enlisted thousands of defenseless wood elves into their service as slaves, forcing them to either oppress their own kin or provide basic services, like construction work or farming, to their masters. As a "test of loyalty", new slaves were sometimes ordered to kill their loved ones or children.

Tens of thousands fled. But for all those that remained, life was a plight, either toiling as slaves or living penned in new prison-villages, in the constant threat of being executed for treason. Mystraleth soldiers were also known for wanton acts of abuse, including extreme violence and, in rare cases, rape.

The Golden Antler Regime

Lord Urbarch Tymahe

Mystraleth pulled out most of its armies in 4'154, because they were needed to fight on other fronts. They did however leave a contingent to enforce their rule in the Grove, and also made sure they would retain control over the area in the future. The leaders of the three wood elven houses were executed, exiled, or sent to distant places as prisoners. In their stead, a loyal wood elven officer of the auxiliaries, a young noble son who had had no hope of attaining important leadership positions in the Grove before the war, was anointed Lord Urbarch of the Grove and commander of the local forces.

Lord Urbarch Tymahe decided to create a new family, the House Golden Antler, and ruled even more ruthlessly and violently than Mystraleth had before him. His heavily armored, purple-clad soldiers repeatedly spread terror among his subjects, and he indulged in the wildest eccentricities in his Grove palace. Among other things, he was known to demand a tithe of the most beautiful woman in a given village, and employed thanor drow women as his bodyguard. The "white devils" were famous for their deadly violence and fighting ability.

Driven to madness by his power, Tymahe began killing ever more subjects for futile reasons, and finally decided to use his disorganized and unprofessional bully army to invade a neighboring elven house in 4'140 b. OW. After some fighting, the local Mystraleth troops decided he was a lost cause and abandoned him. He was killed by his own thanor guards when the Mossy-Growth Grove came under siege, in exchange for their mercy.

The Plight of the Shattered Greens finally ended as there were no soldiers left to keep the wood elves imprisoned in villages. Instead, the thousands of homeless individuals had to find their way in a devastated landscape, with no protection of any kind from roaming bandits and the like.