Notable Relatives Admiral Aldyn Leafbower Admiral Villus Leafbower Captain Dulosse Leafbower Battlepoet Fanyar Leafbower Alcyonne Leafbower Aladan Leafbower Malnar Leafbower Eodan Leafbower (5,158 OC) Feats Leafbower Legacy

General Arlond Forgeson paced uneasily across the fine Zakharan carpet. With one hand on his battle axe, the battle-worn dwarf never took his eyes off of Bloodgnarl the Thanechief, his mortal enemy. For the past decade, their two peoples, dwarf and gnoll, have fought for the moon Gimduum, a war that has brought death and suffering to all.

The massive gnoll, almost eight feet tall and covered with countless battle scars, returned General Forgeson’s hard glare. He growled, desiring to sink his spear into the dwarf king’s flesh. His subchiefs were likewise on edge, ready to do battle with the dozen or so subordinates that Forgeson brought with him.

A blast of trumpets broke the tension. The double doors swung open, heralding the meeting’s newest arrival. A single elf, tall and proud, strode forth. He wore a simple, yet elegant military uniform, that of an admiral of the Elven Fleet.

A gnoll tensed, dropping his spear as if to charge the new arrival, only to have it grabbed by Bloodgnarl. “No,” he harshly rebuked his warrior, “he is a Leafbower. He we can trust.”

Few names command immediate respect in wildspace. Leafbower is one of them. The Leafbowers is an extended clan of high elves with branches in Greyspace, Bralspace, Realmspace, and Darnannon. Many past and current members have served in the Elven Fleet, but just as many are private citizens, owning and running their own ships.

Members of the Leafbower clan are high elves. In spheres without native high elf populations, they are considered the local related elven subtype. Leafbowers from Realmspace are considered sun elves, for example. Regardless, almost every member of the clan has ashen white hair, sharp facial features, and is pale in complexion. They make better listeners than talkers.

The Leafbowers have a loose structure, with a household head in each sphere they reside. He looks out after clan interests in the sphere, from maintaining the Leafbower estate to running the trade routes to training new generations of Leafbowers. A Leafbower residence will be a large structure, usually a small keep, with luxurious accommodations. Clan members are welcomed in any of these estates and can stay as long as need be.

The Leafbowers are renowned for their skills in navigation, diplomacy, spellcraft, and leadership. Indeed, each estate has an extensive library with whole shelves dedicated to said topics, but more importantly are the resident teachers and clan members, who are more than willing to pass their knowledge and experiences on to the next generation. A Leafbower estate can serve as a training hall with expert instructors.

History
Foundation
The roots of the Leafbowers are ancient and deep. The almost mythical founder of the Leafbowers was Ilernil, a famed explorer of his day. His skill in navigation was legendary, and is credited with the first complete charts of Greyspace. Ilernil was granted a noble title after he returned to Darnannon with charts to the legendary Vedia Sphere, an exotic sphere of wealth and prestige. It was on this trip that he was given the name Leafbower, for he became an honored guest in the halls of the Treant Kingdom. The trees themselves bowed to Ilernil after he managed to end a century-long war between local kingdoms.

Ilernil’s Vedia expeditions, of which there were twelve, brought great wealth to the captain. He finally retired in Greyspace, leaving his trade company to his seven sons. Having accompanied their father on many of his expeditions, they had mastered the art of trade, navigation, and sailing the stars.

For the next five hundred years, the sons and grandsons of Ilernil Leafbower made countless trips to Vedia and other spheres, accumulating vast wealth and prestige. Each son of Ilernil founded his own branch of the clan, building estates in different spheres. Despite the great distances, they maintained close and friendly relations with one another.

Another of the Leafbower daughters, Captain Mariona, was the first to make contact with the elven nations of Toril. Her Man-O-War was destroyed by rampaging Q’nidar, but was saved by Vhoori Durothil. For centuries afterward, Vhoori held Mariona as a “guest” as he used her knowledge to construct a small fleet of spelljammers for the defense of Evermeet. Mariona was eventually allowed to leave once the fleet was complete, taking one of the starwings as her own. She returned to wildspace, and completed her survey of the sphere before returning to the Elven Fleet.

An Age of Conflict
A group of Leafbowers set up an estate in Realmspace, in the Kingdom of Cormanthyr, during the reign of Coronal Miirphys Irithyl. They helped cement an alliance to oppose Netheril’s ambitions in wildspace. For their part in the alliance, the Coronal rewarded them with some land between the Elven Court and the River Lis. For centuries they operated a spelljamming port, quietly handling much of Cormanthyr’s trade with other worlds.

The Leafbowers proved themselves again during the Weeping Wars. They turned all of their small spelljammers to the task of evacuating Myth Drannor when it became obvious the city was lost, as well as slaying any goblin-kin they could from their ships. Fully half of their fleet fell in battle, but their efforts saved more than three thousand lives.

The clan would be called once more, this time in a much wider and far more destructive conflict. During the height of what would one day be known as the Unhuman Wars, no less than nine Leafbowers served in the Elven Fleet. Three rose has high as captain, whilst Aldyn was an admiral long before the start of the wars. Many more helped the war effort indirectly, operating supply ships or raising money via their trade activities. Every member of the clan served with honor and distinction, in their own way.

As the conflict came to a close, goblins and orcs united under the command of the half-orc warlord Gralnakh Longtooth. This Unified Goblin Fleet caused far more damage than their small numbers should have been capable of, due in part to their command of a Witchlight Marauder. Despite their victories, Gralnakh was pragmatic enough to realize that such victories were hollow. Much of the Elven Fleet was at the edges of the Known Spheres, pursuing the shattered remnants of the goblin hordes. They would soon return, and his followers would be slaughtered to a man. When admiral Aldyn sent a message offering a peace deal, the warlord accepted. The two met in secret, hammering out a deal that would allow the orcs leave the war peacefully, granting them a world of their own to rule as they saw fit. In exchange, they would surrender their spelljammers to the Elven Fleet. Confident that he had averted a bloody battle, admiral Aldyn returned to Lionheart to announce the deal to his fellow admirals. As expected, they were shocked that he would negotiate with such “beasts”, some demanding his resignation. The admiral was not dissuaded, and pushed the deal through.

The elves honored the deal with the orc warlord, to the letter. Unfortunately, it was never specified what type of world the elves would give to the orcs, and they chose the most inhospitable world possible. The orc tribes were outraged when they discovered that the world that was now their home was an ice-ridden, volcanic world with few resources and a brutal climate that would kill most races in days. Yet the tribes had no choice, as the elves had confiscated their ships and left them stranded. The ice world, named Armistice after the peace treaty, was the only home they had left.

Admiral Leafbower was infuriated when he learned that his trust had been betrayed. He resigned his commission and departed the Elven Fleet. For centuries afterward, he served as a negotiator, settling conflicts and trade disputes. He never forgave the elven admirals that betrayed him.

Recent Activities
The Leafbowers remain an active player in politics in the Known Spheres. Some are members of the Elven Fleet, such as Admiral Vallus Leafbower. Others run private ships that make expeditions to exotic spheres such as Vedia and the Vodoni Empire. The recent resumption of war between elves and the goblin-kin have prompted many Leafbowers to join the Elven Fleet. As in the first Unhuman Wars before, those Leafbowers not part of the Elven Fleet help by providing money and supply ships for the besieged elven ships and worlds.

Source: The Leafbower Legacy by Adam “Night Druid” Miller on Spelljammer.org