Fylath Shaeras (Fi-lath Shay-ras)
Overview
Fylath Shaeras, the ancient home of the wood elves, was at one time the greatest empire in the known world, surviving even the Calamity and the horrors brought upon by it. Still surviving even the terrors of the modern world and the settling of Chondath, the wood elves have retreated towards the Starwood, planning to eventually reclaim the Middlewood over the next few centuries. "Sit ye down and learn, youngling. It was the elves that drew out and protected many barely gibbering humans of millennia past. It was the elves who taught them wondrous things, the least of which was civilization and the greatest of which was civilization"tongues lest their waggings strangle them. Civilization in its purest form is the refinement of manner, arts, and learning, all of which elves have in abundance. Confuse not your tall cities and roads with civilization a truer test is to be civilized among nature without intruding upon it, and that is Fylath Shaeras. The Elves have ever been the pinnacle of civilization."Settlements in the Realm
In discussing buildings and cities in Fylath Shaeras and most wood elven settlements, there are many distinctions as buildings are split into two distinctions based on if they are tree dwellings or buildings built on the ground. Ground dwellings are obvious and easily found, and tree dwellings of elves range from 10 to 200 or more feet above the forest floor. Some tree dwellings are more obvious than others in terms of camouflaging in tree canopies. Of course, all tree dwellings are made of wood, while ground buildings are usually made of a variety of materials, usually stone and wood combinations. All buildings tend to follow these patterns: Minor Tree Dwellings - The tree dwellings of the elves are often platform treehouses, though a few are actually in the living parts of trees, hollow spaces created by elven magic to create small homes. Minor tree dwellings are lesser buildings like single-family homes, minor storehouses or warehouses, or cleverly concealed guard stations that hold small amounts of defenders. These rarely have more than three rooms, though the "minor" term suggests the overall size of the building, not its importance. Major Tree Dwellings - Like above, these buildings are either among the branches on platforms or inside the trunk of large trees. Major buildings such as this are multi-leveled residences with a variety of purposes, the primary one being living spaces for elves and others. Other use for major tree dwellings include guild houses, rowhouses (with the lowest level being businesses and dwellings above), higher city defenses to supplement ground forces, and other uses. Minor Ground Dwellings - Built often for non-elves who settle in elven cities or elves of very old or young ages, these smaller grounds dwellings mimic the purpose of those above in the trees: small storehouses, single family homes, taverns, or stables. With the onset of some non-elven settlers living in elven cities, many of the businesses and newest buildings were built like this. There are also few minor hollows around or beneath ground level within trees. Major Ground Dwellings - These ground based buildings are often multi-leveled places used as rowhouses, multi-family dwellings, businesses, guildhouses, inns, or feasthalls. While often only devoted to a few people, many mage towers among the spires of elven cities are counted among this type. Fortified Dwellings - This is less a type of structure than an adaption of any of the above dwellings. A place being fortified simply has greater defenses beyond those designed only to keep out inclement weather. If a place is described as a Fortification, however, it generally means the location is for military purpose, its very location being focused for defense. Grand Building - : Like the Fortified class above, this is not a separate structure style as much as a further description of a building type. Many of these buildings and locations defy any usual descriptions or typology, but they tend toward grand, opulent, and distinctive looks and natures and purposes. Many of the elven constructs summoned up by High Magic are Grand Buildings by their nature and looks. Given the fact that these are usually quite unique buildings, they often are simply described by their own names and folk know the place as a landmark, like the Six Tyryl Towers or Castle Shaeras. Tree settlements are often interconnected by suspension bridges, and pathways along tree trunks. Most buildings in the trees are connected via these platforms or transports. Ground buildings are obviously intersected by footpaths and streets, and their paths are often determined by the placement of rocks or roots, which are left undisturbed in favor of simply going around. Thus, many cities in the empire have strange and winding streets and paths, and equally strange trail leading to them. A last thing of note is that there are often magical fields and floating discs that levitate folk up into trees and down again.Leadership in the Realm
Humans have only barely begun to rule their realms with any kind of balance and goodness, even the some of the Chondathan Dales, while good and lawful, pale in comparison to the balancing act in elven leadership. The wood elves, due to their long lives and experience, maintain a strong balance among their leadership. While there's always a central authority figure, the Coronal, power is recognized and split among three major groups.The Coronal
In Fylath Shaeras, one Coronal rules over all, as the "speaker among the trees with Allir's voice and love." The Coronal position is a monarchical one, although it is not passed down by family line. An heir is only accepted by the ancient ritual of Blade-Rite, where a group of priests and high magicians see who is chosen by the Ruler's Blade. The blade decides who is righteous, and whoever is bound to the blade is sworn in as the Coronal, the Lord of all Elves. While the Coronal's word is law in the empire, the ruler most often attempts to maintain the unity of the elven people, and keep them of one mind. All in the empire may question and discuss something brought up to the Coronal, but once the Coronal makes a decision on that proposal, the discussion ends and it is law.The Noble Families and Noble Council
Below the Coronal, there are the local rulers of Semberholme, Tangled Trees, and Oak Court, and the various clan leaders of individual sites across the forest. None of the local rulers can claim the title of Coronal, but they have a verity of titles; the common among the smaller colonies is the use of the settlement name or clan name as the ruler's title (i.e., the Alusiil of Alusiil Grove, or the Vispasial of Clan Vispasial, ruler of Bhaasoraen). Each rules a specific settlement much like the Coronal rules all. Each rules the particular settlement as the Coronal rules over all. However, their powers are strictly limited to their particular settlement and its established territories. While within the borders of another settlement or among the neutral territories between the colonies, that leader or leaders cannot overrule any edicts of a ruling noble of that settlement or the Coronal.High Mages of Fylath Shaeras
While little interested in the politics and power plays of ruling Fylath Shaeras, the High Mages by their very nature hold much influence among the People. Their power and wisdom carries much weight with the Coronal, and merely the suggestion that a decision might be harmful to the Weave and the elves' lifeblood is enough to sway nobles and Coronals alike. One of the first decisions made by the First Coronal of the empire was to make the Coronal answerable to the High Mages, if he should abuse his power and authority. In all, the High Mages have always been staunch supporters of the Coronal, and he of them. The Coronal's automatic assumption of High Magic potential upon drawing the Ruler's Blade automatically made him one of their number, whether he chose to learn to wield such power or not.Defense in the Realm
When the Fylath Elfblades would forged far before the Calamity, three were forged in a trinity of leadership among elves. One blade would rule all three and the elves in Peace and Life (the Ruler's Blade), and this blade has never left the side of the Coronals. The other two blades would be wielded by defenders of elves: One would rule in the roles of War and Death (the Warblade) and one would rule in Art and Magic (the Artblade). These Defender Blades determined the defense of the realm. Each of the three blades raised a tower in Castle Shaeras and created their own position's personal homes, the Ruler Tower, the War Tower, and the Art Tower. Formerly the wielder of the Warblade, an Arms-Major (the title of the Warblade wielder) lost the blade in battle with drow about 200 years ago in the Shadow Tower in the western Chondalwood. Since that time, Arm-Majors have wielded Moonblades or one of the Six Baneblades of Demron. Aside from the loss of the blade, the position has changed very little and the current Arms-Major Aquilan Beimys is leading the Army of Might against the Imperium forces invading the woods. The title for the commander of magical defense and forces in Fylath Shaeras is "Defender of the Art", and this elf wields the Artblade. The wizard, also called the Spell-Major of the Elves, has gained many other names and honorifics over the centuries. The Major's primary concern is the upkeep of the magical defenses and mythals of the woods. They also command the Army of the Art, the military wizards that act in concert with the regular army. Almost all Spell-Majors have been women, although recently, the young Boy-Mage Zaos Durothil held the blade and was killed in battle, losing the blade to the Imperium.Magical Defenses
While many expect the forests of the Chondalwood and the ancient capital of Fylath Shaeras to be covered with riddles and magical defenses against attack, they are truthfully quiet few and far between. However, as humans are other races are often to overlook, minor illusions are often the most effective. The following effects are widespread through the entire woodland area.- Should any drow touch the surface inside the forest, their footprints, handprints, and any types of contact darkness the grass and loam beneath their touch to a deep shade. This simple, widespread magic allows very easy tracking of the ancient elven enemy. This coloration change lasts for 24 hours.
- An appeal to Rillifane (taught to all elven children) while planting a flower or bulb anywhere in the woods, will show the way home if you are lost. This occurs no matter the season, as long as it is under three inches of dirt. The flower instantly grows to full size and reveals the way home, either by pointing, whispering, or images in the planters mind.
- Before the opening of Fylath Shaeras to some outsiders through both love and invitation. The elves maintained a magical mythal that confused many forest invaders. If a creature was not a native of the woods (fey or native beastfolk) or an elf, an invisible field was teleport the creature and any creatures within 100 feet of them 500 yards in a random direction and turn them in a direction away from any gathering of elves. Most folks continue traveling, as it takes a high perception to notice the teleportation. After the opening of the woods and changing of the mythal, now only people not accompanied by wood elves are sent away, as well as goblins, orcs, ogres, giants, and other monsters.
- Whether a mythal or a wish by the wood elven gods, all ogres are at a -1 morale penalty to all rolls in the forest.
The Army of the Art
The Art Tower in the Castle Shaeras is the central headquarters for the Army of the Art. The army contains groups of wizards between 5th to 9th level as the primary troops, junior officers between 9th to 12th, and senior officers above 13th level. Among the wizards are casters of all schools, as well as bladesingers and eldritch knights. Of these, only wood wizards are singled out for scouting and quick-strike forces. Any member of the army of the art has access to certain magic items easily given from stockpiles. All troops wearing identifying cloaks that are +1 cloaks of resistance at least. Offensive wands of lightning bolt, ice spears, and fireball, or magic missiles to junior officers, and senior officers are sometimes given rods of absorption, alertness, or security while on combat missions.The Army of Might
The standing army of Fylath Shaeras is large, and nearly every able fighter among the population would join the fray if needed in times of crisis. Of all the elven races, the wood elven realms have the largest standing army, split into scouts, troops, noble knights, and cavalries. The scouts are led by Otaerhyn Hawksong, the second in command of the Army of Might. The bulk of the scouts are skilled archers, rangers, and spies, and they are invaluable for recon and quick-strikes against minor invasions in the forest. Most of the scouts wear leather or no armor, boots and cloaks of elvenkind, and all armn themselves with bows and daggers. This is the least disciplined part of the army, since their skills make them less effective in groups larger than 3 or 4. They act as perimeter sentries and are most beloved among the border colonies and the Dales. The warriors and common foot soldiers of the army comprise more than two thirds of its total strength. Non elven fighters make up a small amount of of the forces, and a varied mix of allied sylvan races. The army itself is standard with longswords, shields, and spears for weaponry; the army's common armor varies from studded leather to chain or scale mail. The officers have improved weapons, including magic weapons and all are equipped with elven chain or better. The Protectors are the elite troops and those specifically assigned to defending the nobles of the nation. Comprised almost entirely of elves, these troops tend to be bladesingers, high level rangers, or fighters. In fact, many of the Protectors opted to remain in the rank and file of the elite instead of being officers of the lower ranked armies. Almost all Protectors have elven chain, though the officers often have the more advanced Elven Plate. The standard weapons for the elite, like the longbow, polearms, or longswords are all a minimum of +1. A sign of power in the elven nobility is to have an honor guard of Protectors, rather than standard mercenary guards.The Wing and Horn
Technically part of the Army of Might, the Wing and Horn are the elite cavalry that according a certain amount of autonomy by the Arms-Major. Their commander is the gold-dragonrider Lady Ahskahala Durothil (Chaotic Good Wood Elf Cavalier 16). Among the Wing and Horn are six distinct cavalry units comprising less than 15% of the army. The most elite of the army are the Dragonriders. Numbering 5 in total, they serve the realm as a personal favor to the Coronal. Each Dragonrider commands a Wing (flying unit) or a Horn (ground unit). Hippogriff riders are the most common cavalry units of the Wings. As the slowest among the flying cavalry, they rely on group tactics and teamwork to defeat foes. These riders fight with lance charges and pull away safely to flank targets. One hundred pegasi from The Dreamlands fly at the ready with the cavalry as well. The smallest and newest of the Wing cavalry, the giant eagle squads amount to no more than 300 in total, and are mostly limited to the south. When in full attack formation, they are a savage, blood-chilling sight. On the ground, the Unicorn Riders, depending on the season and location within the forest. While the cavalry may be called all about the forest, no unicorns are found in the south. All Unicorn Riders are female, though they are a mix of all surface races, not just elves. The regular horse cavalry are often ridden by elven fighter/mages (but not bladesingers). Still, they are often set as the shock troop cavalry, their spells and speed breaking many opposing charges for easy attacks by the unicorn cavalry following them or the hidden scouts' arrows. All of the Wing and Horn riders are fighters or cavilers from 5th to 11th level; some may be fighter/mages of up to 11th level in each class. They are all capable of handling either ground of flying mounts, and their weapons match the type of fighting they do. All are armored with leather or Elven Chain. Only Horn cavalry use shields, but all are armed with bows, arrows, at least two spears or some other style of polearm, and some hand-to-hand weapon of personal choice. Lances are known weapons to all cavalry, though they are only used against major aerial targets like dragons.Art in the Realm
Unlike most human cultures, the elves of Fylath Shaeras place a great value in their arts. Beauty is an intrinsic to an elf's life, and the elves embrace beauty in all of its forms and crafts. However, the elves stratify the importance and impact of art, and regard the eminence of art in the following order of importance.Magical Arts
The Art most near and dear to all elves is magic, obviously. But while cultures such as the Daeva or Kymos seek power and dominance with their spells and constructs, the elves sought beauty and closeness to the Weave in their magics. To an elf, it is far less impressive to create another explosive spell than it is to refine a beautiful illusion. In magic item making, refined work such as magical jewlery is more sought after than suits of armor or bracers unless such were crafted with fine details or shaped in such a way as to appear beautiful in low light vision. To elvenkind, wizards are true Artists, and the style of casting is the same as changing the canvas and style of art.Music and Song
Aside from the art of magic, music and song are highly prized among the elves of Fylath Shaeras. The preferred method of historical record was in song. In fact, there are some safes who look to older elven dialects and theorize that ancient elven languages were meant to be sung, not spoken. Elven ballads are lengthy and filled with endless stories crossing centuries of history; most non-elves do not have the patience to listen to elven songs, but those who do pay attention are gifted with experience of melodies matching all the moods of the performer, subject, and listeners. Elves reveal their secrets only to the patient and to the appreciative, and more can be learned of the Realms in a 36- hour-long song than might be learned in 36 months of book-study; all it takes is a keen ear, a knowledge of elvish song-language (which has some mild but important differences to both their written and spoken tongues), and a great attention span.Poetry and Writing
Poetry and writing are crafts close in form and style to music, though the loss of melody is slightly jarring to an elf. Poetry is merely the last refuge of song for those whose voices either are too old to be raised easily in song (for the appropriate length of time for elves, that is) or for those injured elves without the voice to properly sing. Like an elven song, an elvish poem seems long and convoluted, but those with the diligence discover much of the mental processes of elves from the varied word choices; unlike Common, there are often ten or more words in Elvish to express roughly the same word in Common, but each carries a particular meaning by context and a definite connotation singular to each word. In this way, studying elvish poetry can reveal the poet's personal internal feelings about what he wrote, and also what his family/clan/colony feels by how it is written.Sculpture and Shaping
While dwarves and humans forcefully carve shapes and forms from stone and wood and other materials, the elves used slightly different methods. Granted, they do deign to a small amount of forceful carving to force their medium to the vaguest approximation of what they need, but then their methods differ vastly. This artisans' craft truly tests the patience of an elf, for few other artforms in practice among the elves take centuries to form. An elven sculptor, or shaper (their literal and more common elven name), approaches each piece separately, choosing the medium by their own mood or need. Then, the medium itself often chooses what it will become, as the elf studies the rock or wood. Elves sculpt and shape either by magic (only if needed in a hurry, less than a year) or an eroding method useful against their material.Culinary Arts
In this area, elves are improperly slandered by many races who say their cooking skills and dishes are bland at best and tasteless at worst. While halfling chefs are far more common and more easily understood, elven chefs are appreciated only by other elves, since they cater only to their own priorities. Elves disdain heavy spices, overpowering flavors, or excessive amounts, all factors non-elves seem to rely on. To elves, cooking is the most delicate of arts, requiring one to gauge variables of time, heat, the miscibility of certain flavors, and a food's texture. Elven culinary delights generally involve four senses of sight, smell, taste, and touch/texture; bear in mind that elven senses are far more acute than those of most, so what is pleasurable by minor shifts in color, texture, or smell is most likely to be missed by most who partake.Religion in the Realm
The lifespan of the elves lends itself to long periods of contemplation, reflection, and soul-searching. The role of religion in elven life is great, though it surprises many humans to find that gender assignments are quite blurred among the elven Seldarine. To the elves, the androgynous nature of the gods is not confusing, and most of their statuary and temple mosaic art presents images of the gods either in both ideal male or female forms or one androgynous form, all of breathtaking beauty. In fact, elven gods are often given three or more forms, either embodying their symbols in massive terms or taking on a nonhumanoid form of a creature or thing within their purview (such as Rillifane as a great oak). Gods cannot be quantified in mortal terms, a basic tenet of elven faith. When they see humanity's gods narrowly defined in patterned sex roles, elves are both confused and irritated. They cannot believe the humans' hubris to presume the gods only look just like them.Demography and Population
Population - Around 350,000 citizens by 1200 AC
Founding Date
Pre-Calamity
Type
Geopolitical, Empire
Capital
Demonym
Fylathi
Leader Title
Head of State
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Power Structure
Unitary state
Economic System
Traditional
Location
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Related Species
Related Ethnicities
