The Council of Elders is an elven council that appears in Heroes III and Heroes IV. It consists of the oldest and wisest druids among the Renegade elves. The King of AvLee never made important decisions without first seeking their advice.
On Enroth[]
Some time before the Restoration Wars, it was discovered that the AvLee Border Lord Falorel was actually a vampire called Vayarad, and that he had tricked Gelu into killing other AvLee Lords by telling him they were bandits. Gelu stood before the Council to accept their judgment, but after consulting with their oracle, they realized that he was telling the truth. They told him that he could best make amends by participating in a punitive campaign against Deyja.
On Axeoth[]
Right before Eldrich Parson led his armies against Kilgor in the event that would become the Reckoning, he gave the Bow of the Elf King, symbol of elven leadership, to Gramin. Gramin traveled through the portals to Aranorn, the new elven nation in Axeoth, and gave the bow to the Council, who would keep it until they were ready to pick a new Elf King. With the king gone, the Council were responsible for leading the elven people until a new king was chosen.
For a long time, the best choice for a king seemed to be Lord Harke, commander of the Forest Guard, but his sudden marriage to Shaera made them suspicious, particularly since several of them knew that she'd been seeing Elwin until very recently. When war broke out between Elwin and Harke, the Elven Court sided with Harke, but the Council stayed neutral, even trying to negotiate for peace.
Elwin managed to convince Mirilass, the commander of Harke's forces, to tell the truth about how Harke had ordered him to murder Elwin, and then had him lie to the Elven Court to seek aid from them. Mirilass was known as a fair, honorable man, so his testimony was enough for the Elven Court to withdraw their support to Harke and give it to Elwin instead. By constructing a powerful artifact known as the "Mirror of True Love", Elwin managed to free Shaera from the spell Harke had put on her.
The Council felt that Elwin had proven himself to be an honest, loving, and resourceful person, so they crowned him king and gave him the bow. Most of the Forest Guard still supported Harke, so Elwin had the lead the forces of Aranorn against him. During the war, the Council of Elders were hidden away on an island in Lake Sleet, as was Shaera.
Once the war was over, Elwin retrieved the Council and his beloved, and Harke faced the justice of the Elven Court.
