The Elven city of Elmspire is on the border between The Elven Kingdom and Gaultonnia. It has changed hands multiple times through the centuries since the founding of the Elven Kingdom. Gaultonnia is a series of city states, which are ruled by various nobles who are lead by a Grand Duke, who the lesser nobles swear fealty to. However, there are times when instead of warring between each other to become the Grand Duke, they will go into a conquest contest where the one who conquers the most territory becomes the new Grand Duke.
During one such instance, Lord Vulbert managed to conquer Elmspire. He did this through a combination of a long siege with trebuchets decimating the defensive architecture, and the unexpected use of Pegasus calvary. Elmspire is used to being unchallenged in the skies was caught off guard by the heavily armored knights.
This was the beginning of a forty year occupation. While the Elven Kingdom would send troops, they had a hard time re-taking the city from the entrenched heavily armored knights of Gaultonnia. Gaultonnia was using dragoons to get behind the Elven lines, and crushing the elven light infantry. This continued fairly unabated until the Elven Kingdom came out with the first Spelljammers.
After the introduction of Spelljammers, the skies became battlefields. While the Spelljammers themselves were expensive and time consuming to produce, they were able to inflict more causalities on the Pegasus and gryphon riding troops of Gaultonnia. Each Gaultonnian trooper was highly trained, and specialized. As the old saying goes, 'Quantity has a quality of it's own', and while suffering huge losses, the Elven Kingdom ultimately turned the tide and re-secured Elmspire.
Once the tide had turned, the Elven Kingdom went on the offensive, taking several Gaultonnian cities as protectorates. This lasted until Grand Duke Pauget rode out without retinue to challenge Queen Fern Valley to ritual combat over the contested cities. The countries agreed to this, and while it seemed unfair that a powerful wizard to take on an armored knight, Grand Duke Pauget had heavily enchanted armor, and it was more than a fair fight.
Grand Duke Pauget battled through the summoned fiends, mighty evocations, but fell for the oldest of all enchantments. Knocking the Staff of Wizardry from Queen Fern Valley, he placed his sword up to her neck. Both of them breathing heavy from exertion looked into each other's eyes, and their hearts softened. As the flat of Grand Duke's blade ran down the Queen's collarbone, slowly breaking the layers of enchantments on the Queen's wizard robes. He dropped his shield, lowering his defenses as much as he had cut through hers.
He reached his mailed glove up to run his hands through the Queen's hair, to hold the back of her head, but only caught her breath. As they looked into each other's eyes truly seeing each other for the first time, they fell in love at first sight. The assembled nobility of the Elven and Gaultonnian courts were swayed and brought to tears, allowing the emotions of togetherness to flow through them in the moment. All except for one.
A single dark heart was not swayed by true love's first kiss. A cold reptilian heart.
"Enough." said Celadon, snapping his jaws around the pair of monarchs in one fell swoop, breaking the spell that had come over the audience. "The Elves have Elmspire, Gaultonnia has whatever they used to have. Stop bothering me with these tawdry shows of force and hot blooded mammalian mating. This has happened seven times, but there shall not be an eighth. The next time either of you moves against the other, I shall devour everyone. I tire now, and shall sleep. Disturb me at your own risk."
Parting, knowing that the Queen's powerful magic had effected them all without intending to, the nobles returned home. Some to plot ways to ruin Celadon, and some to find ways to expand their influence on the large Half-Elf population that now lived in Elmspire. None made plans to conquer the other.