Aurgwyn Vale

Since time immemorial this wide and fertile valley has been the home of the elves of Casway, the most widespread of their kind. It's namesake was a dexterous warrior who rode out from the vale with her tribe and made first contact with dwarves of the western mountains. The dwarves drew theoretical maps of what the surface world looked like, calling the area she described "Aurgiin's Vale." Today the region is known not only as the cultural home of the Sun Elvs but as a holy site to followers of the goddess Nesidth who the elven theocracy is devout to since the end of the Dark Ice Age. The capital city, Sarimer, is a dense metropolis and religious center that seats the matriarch called the Pinnacle, as well as housing the sacred forges where Golemites are born. The city plays host to the supernatural monsters favored by the goddess, specifically vampires and succubi, though they are kept away from the general public for safety and to avoid panic. The vampires are believed to visit the city and blend in with the crowds while the succubi are housed in a special citadel called The House of Epiphanies where they can be carefully monitored and only those with special tokens may enter.
The cliffs run about 100 miles north to south stretching 18 miles wide at the valley's central point, they hold many caves that serve as homes to the elvs today as they did in ancient times and have also been mined for their valuable crystal deposits. These crystals regrow slowly over decades just like trees and they can be nearly as tough as iron, but immune to rust and far more beautiful. It should be no surprise they have been used to craft weapons and armor since before metalworking became commonplace yet they are still used today as crystal shapers make magnificent weapons of great significance to their owners. The valley's fertile lands are fine for farming, though space is somewhat limited the endeavor is essential for winter stockpiling, doubly so since the plains north of the valley are no longer viable after the Aspect War. The valley grows many mundane foods like carrots, cabbage, and livestock and the caves are useful to farm mushrooms on a profitable scale. The cliffs limit the daily hours of sun and leave the valley cooler than the surrounding area, a feature that provides comfort and makes days in heavy armor easier to endure.
Aurgwyn Vale has had no sparsity of troubles, from holy wars to gender-based rebellions, but one of the most historic tribulations was the Tree Terror beginning 68 years ago when Zoulouthan's dark magic awakened oak trees around the vale with murderous sentience. These tree ents are spiteful of all humanoid life but were particularly awful for the elves as they would trample their scouting parties and destroy caravans, cutting off supply lines to the outside world as merchants feared for their lives. The ents assaulted the vale day and night with boulders and logs thrown off the cliffs above and whenever they were felled or set aflame they would hurl their own corpses onto what lay below. Only by taking the hearts of dead ents and infusing homunculi with them did the elven artificers create the golemites to bolster their numbers with sturdier fighters and slay the monsters on the cliff edges. The victory was followed by the long councils recognizing the golemites' sentience as well as forming hunting parties to take down more ents which still lie in wait in the large forests of the west.

Scale

Nation

Location

Western Casway

Government

Theocracy

Capital

Sarimer

Species Density

Sun Elvs, Half-elvs, Golemites, humans

Type

Vale