When a super volcano erupted, throwing a thick cloud of ash and toxins into the air, the inhabitants were faced with only two options: adapt or die. The sun elves and moon elves disagreed among each other on the best way to escape the toxic air and divided into groups. Among one of these groups, was one that opted to go underground and avoid the events that would take place on the surface all together. Over hundreds of years, the moon elves would absorb the world's excess dark magic and adapt to the cruel underground world. Their skin became darker and their hair whiter. Their eyes adapted to see better in the dark and they became sensitive to vibrations and sound. They would become the dominant species of the underground world and built entire cities under the soil. These were the dark elves.
For thousands of years, they lived underground. Each generation slowly forgetting the knowledge of the surface world and their reason for even being underground in the first place. But after these many years of living peacefully underground, the elves would be divided once again over one elf's discovery. For the first time in countless generations, one among them walked on the land above. And now it had to be decided rather they would resurface again or if they would remain underground.
Finally, the elf would bring those that decided on leaving to the surface and would come to be known as the first Sylvermoon. Those that ascended would adapt to living on the surface once more. The daylight hours were harsh on their eyes. While they would over time get used to the sun's glaring light, it would still take them several minutes for their eyes to adjust against it. Finally, the dark elves decided to throw up a large dome, held in place by powerful enchantments that cast an artificial night where it covered. The land the dome covered would be known as Shadowhold.
Over the years, the fauna and flora would adapt to the eternal night, bringing forth new species completely unique to Shadowhold. One of their main resources is known as the shadowood oak, a tree with dark black, blue or purple wood. For this reason, a lot of dark elf furniture made with wood is typically black. This wood, among some of other Shadowhold's exclusive renewable resources would become some of their main trade exports when the desert folk of Nirvic first began creating trade routes.
One forest would remain mostly untouched throughout Shadowhold's history and is rumored to have supernatural properties, the Whispering Forest. While those that hunt and gather are free to collect the forest's fruit, any attempts to level the forest itself have often ended in death. Skeptics believe it was all just a coincidence, but even to this day, no one dares to test it out for themselves.