Svartalfheim

Svartalfheim — also called Nidavellir by the Aesir — is the homeworld of the Dark Elves, the empire's master engineers. Once home to the Ljósálfar, the world was once verdant and beautiful. However, the pride and arrogance of the Light Elves led to terrible infighting, and their world was devastated by their own wars. The Dark Elves, who had been driven into a harsh existence underground by the Light Elves, weathered the storm, and after thousands of years, they emerged from the underground to confront their oppressors, and found a tomb world, with ancient ruins and hardly any life.

To their credit, they took this in stride, resolving to cleanse their world and reclaim the surface. While the lands were divided up by the matriarchal clans that had survived the wars, the sky was ceded to the lowborn general who had led the crusade to the surface: Il'sha Valyss, matron of what was then a minor clan of warriors. Having never seen the sky, let alone conceived of space, the matrons didn't realize their "minor concession" granted Il'sha control of all the galaxy but the surface of the planet.

Four centuries later, Svartalfheim, or the Sovereign Soleni Imperium as they call themselves, is a vast, galactic civilization, with a massive fleet and thousands of systems under their control. Said fleet is entirely under the control of House Valyss, with Il'sha herself still alive and serving as Supreme Commander. The resources of Solen--their recovering homeworld--are mostly irrelevant given the thousands of star systems she controls, but the planet itself is a sacred site, and the Soleni are fiercely protective of it.

Some time ago, the Soleni finally made contact with Alfheim, or the Empire of a Thousand Suns as they know themselves. The new Light Elf homeworld, Tyrol, is a verdant paradise reminiscent of their original homeworld. The aforementioned Thousand Suns are actually over four thousand, with countless worlds under their control, all of which are virtually untouched by civilization, instead kept as nature preserves. The Elves build hovering aerial platforms and space stations above their worlds, leaving the surface pristine. Diplomatic tension remains, as though they may have preserved thousands of worlds, the Dark Elves are all too aware of the fate of the one that birthed them, and are happy to call out their hypocrisy.