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{!{place|place=Elantris |region=Opelon |country=Arelon |world=Sel |books=Elantris }} The City of Elantris was a city in Arelon on the continent of Opelon on Sel. Prior to the Reod and following the Invasion of Arelon it served as the Capital of Arelon. It was surrounded by four Gate Cities in each of the cardinal directions, of which Kae was one.

History

Construction

The actual origins of the City are unknown. It was constructed "hundreds if not over a thousand years before the Reod". The people who built it possessed a keen understanding of AonDor as the Elantrian Metropolitan Area, which consists of Elantris and its four Gate Cities, forms a massive Aon Rao acts as a power amplifier for the Elantrians.

{!{theory}}

It has been theorized that the Shard Devotion played a role in Elantris' construction.

Discovery

When the Aonic peoples migrated to Arelon they found Elantris empty and abandoned. Initially it was viewed with superstition, people believed it was haunted. King Rhashm, who renamed himself Raoshem, strove to overcome the fears of his people and settled Elantris as the center of his kingdom.

Capital of Arelon

It was during the Middle Era on Sel that Elantris' sphere of influence greatly expanded, coinciding with the development of Arelon as a nation-state.

The Reod

Ten years prior to the events of the novel Elantris a large earthquake occurred in the south of Arelon causing a significant crack in the ground, later refered to as the Chasm. This caused an event that came to be called the Reod from Aon Reo which means punishment and retribution. The Chasm signified a large enough change in the geography of Arelon that the Aons used across Elantris, including the massive Aon Rao the Elantrian Metropolitan Area formed, became incomplete. Elantris, and the Elantrians that called it home, "fell" because of this. The city, which had glowed with an inner light, grew dark and a greasy slime started to cover every surface. The Elantrians themselves were likewise diminished. Their silvery skin turned grey and was covered in dark splotches and their brilliant white hair began to fall out among other, less readily apparent, changes such as their hearts ceasing to beat and their wounds refusing to heal. The strongest and most powerful Elantrians were also placed under extreme pressure from the Dor which ached for release, leaving them effectively immobilized.

The fall of Elantris had a profound effect on the rest of Arelon as well. The Elantrains and their use of AonDor had served as the lynchpin of the Arelish economy for centuries. Their ability to create large amounts of food, cheaply, had supported massive urban populations. It's sudden absence caused a destabilization of Arelish society prompting an uprising against their former leaders. Iadon came to power and eventually became King. He moved most of the population to plantations leaving Kae, the new capital, as the only occupied Gate City. Elantris itself was placed under quarantine; those taken by the Shaod were forced to relocate to the city and no one was permitted to leave. The only food that entered the city was a small pouch given to each Elantrian as they entered, which was part of the funereal practices of Shu-Korath.

Inside Elantris conditions continued to deteriorate. Elantris had been constructed using AonDor, and without the Dor sustaining it the city began to decay; the stones themselves started to rot. Since the Elantrians could no longer heal and could not die from their wounds or starvation, the pain they felt from each injury eventually grew to the point where it drove them mad, forcing them to retreat deep inside themselves. Afterwards their only interaction with the outside was a phrase, unique to each person, that they would repeat over and over again as if in a daze. Some Elantrians who had not yet succumbed and become Hoed formed gangs which would steal the funeral offerings of food from new entrants to the city in an effort to satiate their ravenous hunger. At a point ten years following the Reod there were three gangs, led by Karata, Aanden, and Shaor.

Trivia

In the original draft of the novel that eventually became Elantris the city was known as "Adonis." Brandon changed the name of the city after preliminary readers pointed out Adonis was the name of a figure from Greek Mythology.({ref|annotation|e|chapter=title page}}