The Elder Exodus is a period in the history of Argentum and the Silver Vale that people in the Vale rarely speak of except in hushed tones.1 It is close to Luma’s own history.1 It is common knowledge in the Vale that about 150 years ago a great many elves and dwarves left.2 The Exodus was in 1564.3 Luma’s great-grandfather, Eliath Drace, disappeared in the Exodus.4
Sources
A Chronicle of the Silver Vale, a history in Wellby Emberthumb’s collection in Crick's Bend, which he put at about forty years old, describes the political climate leading up to the Exodus as its author, Rurik Hulduro, reconstructed it. It is one of the few books that reaches back two hundred years.1 Luma spent the evening of 28 Coldrise, 1714 PSF reading it.1 It suggests that those who left did so because they were stubborn and self-centered, which Luma does not believe.2
History
Session 12
Hazel said on the Vigil of Remembrance, 1714 PSF, that the only people old enough to remember the Exodus who did not leave are all in the church.5
Session 13
In the forgemasters' tomb on the Vigil of Remembrance, 1714 PSF, the latest death on the sarcophagi was 1489.3 Hazel reasoned that the long-lived peoples had left in the Exodus, and that it is easier to lie to people who live sixty to eighty years than to people who live for centuries.3 At the Fardrimm Gate she wondered whether the Exodus had gone through the gate and closed it behind them. Firsthand accounts contradict it: Mathas Drace watched his father simply walk out.3
Session 14
A letter from Eliath Drace to his son, dated 1654, reached Luma on the night of the Vigil of Remembrance, 1714 PSF. It is the only word she has ever had from him, and shows he was alive after the Exodus.4
Session 16
Amber Deepdraft told the party on 3 Nightdeep, 1714 PSF, that a little over 150 years ago the last dwarves living in the undercity were strongly encouraged to move to the surface. They resisted, and the tension grew into the Exodus.6 The Synod clashed with many communities of elves and dwarves who would not follow its directives.6 Rurik Hulduro called the Exodus an entirely voluntary act of arrogance. Amber believes those who left were driven off, and suspects the Exodus was meant to remove the people who could remember the history being lied about.6 Her mother, Riswynn Deepdraft, was nine at its final thrust, and her uncle Tordek left in it.6