The Elvenwood
The forest-spanning homeland of the Elven People
Map of The Elvenwood
Structure
Caesín, or The Elvenwood in the Common parlance, is a massive, sprawling forest ruled entirely by the Elves who dwell within it, though several "Vassal territories" exist within it they all nonetheless pay homage and obedience to the Elven Crown. Sitting at the top of the entire country is the Elven King and/or Queen, who rule the entire forest absolutely with unmatched dignity, wisdom, foresight, and grace. There is no-one above them, and first below are their children, the Princes and Princesses that hold massive power and influence within the Country itself...the Eldest of these siblings is often given the title "Voice of the Crown", and allowed to speak and act as a representative of the crown wherever they go, though exceptions have been made for incompetence and tragedy.
Below these royal children are the Cloven Concord, a small gathering of Caesín's eldest and wisest Elves who gather together to discuss and solidify the opinions of Caesín's many citizens into one collected statement and present it to the Voice of the Crown or the King/Queen themselves, ensuring their precious time is not wasted and they are given a clear, succinct overview of the feelings and opinions of Caesín's citizens, whether they be military, mages, mere citizens, or otherwise.
However, ultimate power rests with the Elven King or Queen alone. In the event of their untimely death, the eldest child will fill the vacant position unless they are deemed incompetent or unsuitable for rule by Caesín's citizens, in which case a new Monarch will be found.
Culture
Elven Society is largely traditional and patriarchal, with clearly defined roles for each Gender in society and clear cultural "norms" genders are expected to adhere to...men traditionally hold the positions of power within the Elvenwood, while women are relegated to managing the home and hearth while the men are away. Women are not denied access to the military or the right to serve their country, but the bias they face while doing so and the impossibility of getting a woman into a ruling position has led to no small amount of unspoken frustration in the Elvenwood.
This problem was only exacerbated in recent centuries with the death of the Elven Queen - without a Queen to give a voice to the country's women, the men who ruled the Cloven Council used it as an avenue to force "traditional ways" back into Elvenwood society and make things "How they used to be"...to the unfortunate detriment of the women that lived there. It is only through Princess Sylwynn Shai'ahni Yggdrasa, firstborn of the Erlking and the most powerful woman in the Elvenwood, that women in the country have a voice, much to the frustration of the patriarchal society she oversees for her father.
As such, there is almost constant tension between Princess Sylwynn and the ruling elite - they would love nothing more for another royal put on the seat of firstborn, obviously a male, while Sylwynn works to continue the wishes of her mother, and give women a voice in society...though it is an incredibly uphill battle in the timeless Elvenwood, where tradition has ruled for milennia and dug its roots deep into society as a whole.
Public Agenda
Caesín is unique in that they have no well-known public agenda...as they have not left or spoken outside the bounds of their forest home in centuries, much of the outside world has moved on without them and they have passed into myth in the outside world. Many assume them to exist, but attribute them to be little more than boogeymen or fairy tales best left alone, lest them come abduct them in the night or some other horrible act. The last known public agenda of The Elvenwood was that it had secluded itself away from the outside world at the end of the Age of Warring States, when the Caesín Queen was assassinated during talks to bring an end to the decades-long wars that wracked the lands all across the west...overwhelmed with Grief, Nerdu'shae Yggdrasa declared himself and his people "In Mourning", and vowed that they would not return to the world for 1000 years in mourning for the tragedy that had wracked them with the death of their queen.
Assets
The assets of The Elvenwood are largely a mystery, and what lies in the history books outside of it is likely several centuries out of date. In the past, they were known to have many cities, towns, and fortresses along the rivers that crisscrossed through the forest and in the deepest foliage of the forest, where their armies trained and staged the majority of their forces. Most of their cities were either built near or on the water or built across the treetops of the massive Dire Oak trees that rise for hundreds of feet into the air all across the forest, building gorgeous cities, villages, and fortresses that meld perfectly with the surrounding nature.
History
The Elvenwood's history is a truly ancient thing, one that stretches back even before the Age of High Humanity into the Lost Ages, and the Age of Myth...said to have been founded near the beginning of time by Gail-Idhren the legendary High Elven king after leading his people to the Material Plane to escape the fall of their home city of El-Adri. The forest and the plains for hundreds of miles outside of it was said to have once been his mighty empire, one that he ruled with wisdom and that was truly Fair and Free...yet, in time, as he passed and ascended back to the skies from which he came, the lands he once held fractured and divided themselves, and only the Caesín, or The Elvenwood, remained in the hands of his children. Ever since, the Elves have been said to inhabit the great forest...in honor of their great ancestor and king who brought them salvation so long ago. It has mostly remained an isolationist power throughout the Ages, but it has at several points been overcome, threatened, and even one time outright conquered at the hands of the High Lamia during the Age of High Humanity, where the previous High Elven Monarch and his line were greedily devoured and digested by the legendary Demigoddess Queen of the High Lamia during The Scalewars.
Only recently(Relative to the Elves) has the legendary Plantfort been established; a truly titanic and epic-scale magical formation that encircles the entire Caesín, or Elvenwood, maintained by the various Druidic Circles and powered by rare ancestral High Elf magic said to be gifted to them by Gail-Idhren himself. With its power, the Elves of Caesín have been able to truly live in complete isolation from the outside world as the Plantfort works tirelessly, magically blockading the entire Forest and preventing any outsiders they do not wish from entering...this formation has proven invincible and unbreakable on multiple occasions, as its eternally adapting and changing magical layout proves too foolproof to crack through magic or force. Even the likes of Barkhan the Eternal, greatest mage of the modern era, have been unable to penetrate its primordial runic protections.
Lastly, the Elves of Caesín have entered into a self-imposed exile and isolation for the past 500 years, ever since the Beginning of the Age in response to their beloved Queen being assassinated in a cruel betrayal at the peace council that would bring about an end to the Age of Warring States, where rebel elements within the council's attendees, who had been given exclusive right to enter The Elvenwood, betrayed the Elves' trust and killed their queen. Outraged, the Elven King Nerdu'shae Yggdrasa finished the peace treaty in honor of his wife's legacy, then made the famous declaration that his people would not return to the world for 1000 years out of mourning.
Disbandment
Though the Elvenwood had always been a loose collection of Elven stronghold united beneath the banner of the Elven High King, it simply could not survive the chaos of the Age of Troubles - having lost their beloved ruler of a thousand years Nerdu'shae Yggdrasa, the Elvenwood was thus ruled by Sylwynn Shai'ahni Yggdrasa in the wake of her father's death; a rule that, while hated by many, was stable enough.
However, the Elvenwood's peace was not to last - rocked by countless rebellions during the early years of the Age of Troubles, some driven by none other than Princess Sylwynn's own siblings(Albeit backed and pressured by the Elven Nobility), the Elvenwood experienced a time of upheaval and strife that only worsened when, after sending their armies north into the ailing Empire of Draconia to aid them in their struggles which ultimately culminated in the country's collapse(See The Empire of Draconia's 'Disbandment' section for more info), the Elvenwood was invaded from the south by Nour, The Weeping God, recently freed from his prison when the World Tree was released, and his Desert Elven armies; who did so at the behest of the disgraced Elvenwood Nobility and Sylwynn's own siblings who had fled south to flee their own execution during the rebellions, having convinced the Weeping God to aid them in place Sylwynn's siblings upon the throne for the sake of a more stable alliance between the two elven powers.
Yet, even then, Sylwynn Shai'ahni Yggdrasa's genius nearly proved insurmountable - luring the armies of the Desert Elves into a trap and capturing the disgraced nobles and her own exiled siblings, Sylwynn is believed to have executed most of them and then turned her armies towards defeating Nour, The Weeping God when The Divine Gate completely broke down - with the gods of The Elven Pantheon appearing all across the Elvenwood, Sylwynn was very nearly kidnapped by Allana and Nifora, The Wild Sisters(Who took a shine to her in a flight of fancy) and elected to retreat from rulership with The Wild Sisters to the Elvenwood's capital of Shae-lenn, abandoning the rest of the Elvenwood to chaos as countless Gods claimed fiefs of their own and rule of law broke down completely.
Now, the Elvenwood is totally and wholly defunct - having completely returned to a wild, lawless expanse punctuated by isolated enclaves and cities that are now often ruled over by a deity during this Age of Godsfall.
Demography and Population
The population within Caesín is not entirely Elven, though they certainly are the majority of it, and count such races as the Wulven, Humans, Lizardfolk, Kobolds, and more among the races that dwell there...all simply do so beneath the banner of Elven rule and beneath the banner of many smaller sub-kingdoms that exist as subsidiaries of Elven rule, each paying homage to the Elven crown if they wish to continue living within the safety and isolation of Caesín. There were notably a large population of Fey creatures within Caesín as of the last contact with the Elves there centuries ago, as the forest was known to have several natural gateways to and from The Feywilds...some of these Fey were content to live in Caesín and freely came and went in relative peace, but the more tricksy and dangerous Fey were known to be hunted by specialized Elven hunters to prevent these mischievous pranksters from ruining the lives of Caesín's citizens.
Due to the magical isolation the Elves have forced upon the entire forest, the races and peoples that dwell within the Elvenwood have been cut off from the outside world, unable to leave the forest, for hundreds of years...this has changed them greatly both culturally and otherwise but has most notably greatly reduced the rate of wanton death within the forest, as outsiders have been completely barred from entering it...and as a result, poachers and other hunters have been unable to enter to disrupt the ecosystem, which has greatly lowered the death rate and allowed the races within to flourish and grow, though they stir war and fight against each other sometimes.
Territories
The lands within Caesín, or The Elvenwood, are the ancestral lands of the Elven people that were claimed by Gail-Idhren during The Great Elven Diaspora which saw the Elves of yore settle down on Ea after their long exodus from El-Adri, "The Black City". They belong to the Elves by right, deed, and lineage, and have remained in Elven hands since time immemorial.
Military
The military of Caesín is mostly an unknown thing, as due to its seclusion little is truly known about it or whatever military forces they might have...the magical seclusion does most of the work for the Elves, and the few instances where their armies have been deployed to defend the forest from outsiders despite the magical wards surrounding it have invariably ended in brutal massacres, and have given altogether little insight into the military forces the Elves might maintain.
It is assumed that the Elves of Caesín do actively maintain one or more military forces or units, but beside from the knowledge that these forces seem to have nigh-total omniscience of attempts to penetrate the forest, emerging from the nearby trees in total silence to pepper the intruders with arrows aimed with deadly efficiency...invisible, hidden, and deadly hunters in their home territory, the "Boogeymen" of Caesín are a feared bunch, one of whom little is known, and a group which most believe should be left far, far alone.
Religion
The Elves of Caesín pay homage to the massively large Elven Pantheon, worshiping its myriad Gods and Goddesses and paying homage to each and every one, whom they believe each protect the forest in their own unique way. Religion is, according to the last knowledge known of Caesín(Which is several centuries old as of current day), an integral part of Elven society...one which goes hand in hand and is almost synonymous with the Crown and with daily life. Their gods are diverse, do not always get along, but all are dedicated to the protection and progress of the people who pay homage to them...each generally representing some part of nature or some aspect of the Elves themselves.
At last contact, the Elves and other races of Caesín were said to be fairly tolerant of other religions, but refused to allow the open worship of quite a few Gods and Goddesses...mostly those unconcerned with nature or concerned with its destruction, or those Gods concerned with the mindless obliteration of all things such as Hyldrin, The Unraveler or Vvaal, The Bound Obliterator. Those religions which tended to refuse a harmonious existence with them were generally frowned upon or outright banned.
Foreign Relations
The Elvenwood maintains avid isolationist policies in regards to all foreign powers...it has not communicated or opened its borders to any outsiders in centuries, and as such it is regarded as an enigma and myth best left alone as it's notoriously deadly warriors are sure to drive away any foolish or stubborn enough to attempt to penetrate the forest despite its magical defenses.
Agriculture & Industry
True to Elven fashion, Agriculture and Industry were nearly the same thing at last contact the rest of the world had with them. Their industries were nature, and they not only lived within and among it, but also worked alongside it to mutually benefit each other in various ways. They grew crops but almost never grew more than they needed for themselves and for a small degree of trade, cut down trees only when they grew old and required being cut down to harvest the legendary Ironbark and other materials taken from the iconic Dire Oak trees of Caesín, and their greatest industry was nature itself.
They carved beautiful things, making gorgeous weapons, armor, items, and other things out of natural materials, and generally refused to wantonly kill or sell animals for the mere purpose of trade...and even went to great lengths to prevent others from poaching and stealing animals from the forest. They mainly exported their gorgeous works of art, hand-carved weapons and armor made from Ironbark and other natural materials, and a large array of fruits, vegetables, and other natural ingredients grown alongside their tree-cities. They were known for having incredibly powerful, robust, and intelligent animals, but avidly refused to sell or market them unless they passed away naturally or it was 'natural' to do so.
Trade & Transport
The primary method of transportation within Caesín was known to be over water, passing down the myriad and numerous rivers and streams that cut through the forest. Large trade convoys sail down the rivers that link most of the major Elven cities, and smaller boats travel the streams that link nearly all outlying settlements. These waters were well-protected by the Elven military, and kept clean and pure, free from outside interference.
When river travel was not possible, overland travel was done on footpaths that weaved through the towering Dire Oak trees of Caesín, where those traveling were required to travel on foot due to the rough terrain of the forest which prohibited most convoys and caravans from using them. This business of foot-travel was done by trained couriers who made it their business and livelihood to deliver things and people to outlying settlements in a timely manner, and to help them stay in contact with the Elven Crown.
Education
Little is known of the current state of Caesín's education, though in ages past the Elves were known to freely distribute their races' accumulated knowledge amongst others Elves native to the forest like they, but were legendarily stingy and tight-lipped about their knowledge or giving teachings to other non-natives or non-elves.
DISBANDED/DISSOLVED
Mourning through Isolation.
??? - 2115 AF
Type
Geopolitical, Country
Alternative Names
Caesín(In Elvish), The Elven Homeland
Demonym
Caesí
Leader
Head of State
Head of Government
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Power Structure
Unitary state
Economic System
Mixed economy
Currency
The Elvenwood once utilized the three-coin system, but it is currently unknown if they still do or have moved onto a system all their own.
Major Exports
In years past, the Elves of Caesín were legendary for their excellent spices, salt, and robust grains and vegetables and fruits and other plants which could grow in even the bleakest of circumstances.
Now, the Elvenwood's borders are closed, and they have long since cut off all trade with the outside world.
Major Imports
In years past, the Elves of Caesín imported little aside from people in the form of skilled craftsmen who could migrate and live among them. They were also known for importing animals and exotic creatures to let them free within the forest, as well as magical items and techniques designed to help them combat outsiders and fey. Otherwise, they needed and asked for little from others, as they frowned upon the over-usage of metallic or manufactured weapons and other non-natural things.
Now, the Elvenwood's borders are closed, and they have long since cut off all trade with the outside world.
Legislative Body
The Elven King or Queen was the sole legislative power in the country. This is not assumed to have changed in the intervening centuries.
Judicial Body
The Elven King or Queen was the sole judicial power in the country. This is not assumed to have changed in the intervening centuries.
Official State Religion
Neighboring Nations
Notable Members
Comments