Village of Belsharrah
The people of Belsharrah are a menagerie of forest dwellers who, for one reason or another, chose to live in a town. Treants, fairies, intelligent animals, and wood elves can be found, as can many forest gnomes and Tanatran exiles.
The town of Belsharrah is deep in the Carentan Forest, close to the Tanatran border in the foothills of the Tanatran Mountains. Belsharrah has a downtown of several square blocks, surrounded by a periphery of houses built to the edge of the forest itself.
One of only two settlements of any size in the Carentan Forest, Belsharrah has been used as a meeting place of Carentan leaders for millennia. Largely isolated from the rest of the world, the town is closer to the gnome cities of Tanatra than anywhere else. Belsharrans rely on Tanatran traders for news of the outside world. They are largely concerned with, and much more connected to, the goings-on within the Forest.
Because of the long-lived' treants memories, and the Forest's isolation, Old Yesrenic is still spoken here. Most of the forest's residents speak a form of the more modern Yesrenic (the historic language of giants, dwarves, and gnomes), or Caishenic. Because of Belsharrah's close ties to Tanatra, however, most people there also speak a heavily accented form of Tanatran.
Demographics
The people of Belsharrah are a mixture of forest dwellers who, for one reason or another, chose to live in a town. Treants, fairies, intelligent animals, and wood elves can be found, as can many forest gnomes and Tanatran exiles.
Government
The Carentan Forest has been ruled by ancient treants for millions of years. There are no political divisions and they seem to govern the forest lightly and as a whole.
The town of Belsharrah has been ruled by the Baron of the Rose, a middle-aged half-elven paladin of Ahntu. The Baron (no one knows his real name) has ruled for over thirty years, since not after he arrived in Belsharrah from Rhean around 1167 A.C.
Defences
The largest threat to Belsharrah are the large, unpredictable predators that roam the forest, including raids from tribal creatures as well as monsters. The Baron of the Rose is usually first to lead the village's defense, aided by the magic or weapons of whatever people happen to be nearby. Serious threats bring out the archmage Fealas and the otherworldly warrior-smith Dvor. As a last resort, Mother Night will come to the defense of the community.
Industry & Trade
Druids and gardens provide all the food the townspeople need, and leisure is highly prized. That said, one of the reasons people move to (or stay in) Belsharrah is to practice a skill or craft. Two residents are particularly notable. Archmage Fealas is an elderly elven wizard. She still take apprentices, and potential students travel for hundreds of miles through the Forest to study with her. She will generally have half a dozen apprentices, and several of her former students have set up shop crafting magic items in the village. Dvor is an azer smith exiled exiled from his home plane and famous among other master smiths. He has two apprentices - a teenage dwarven girl, and an intelligent gorilla. Dvor's fame among smiths brings a small but not infrequent number of visiting smiths eager to meet the Master. Being one of only two large settlements in the wilderness, large numbers of artisans of all kinds has been concentrated here, and the quality of their work is enough to draw Tanatran merchants happy to re-sell Belsharran wares for a hefty markup in the cities.
Architecture
The town itself is small, just a few meandering side streets radiating off of the central crossroads at the river's edge. The houses are mostly two stories, some of them built of stone and wood, some grown from living trees, and some even made of smoothly sculpted stone rising directly from the earth. There are burrows and treehouses, and floating platforms built out on to the Druin River, which flows through town, as well as tiny buildings clustered on the edges and under the bridge over the river.
Geography
Deep in the oldest-growth forest in the world, Belsharrah sits in a clearing on the banks of the Druin River. There is one road, heading north to Tanatra. Otherwise Belsharrah is approached by paths from many directions. Ancient trees dot the village, some serving as homes for the residents, some which just grow there. built in a natural clearing, the village has expanded over the millennia, naturally crowding the trees out.
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