Tenashi Kingdom
The Tenashi Kingdom is the formerly hidden homeland of the forest elves. The Tenashi Kingdom is located in what was considered the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Alsona, between the Sypi and Efcharistos Rivers. The Tenashi treasure their respect and protection of the forests they reside in, and believe heavily in protecting the trees from the depredations of the Alsonans and the dwarves of Valtkos Wingo. They are the only independent fully elven nation in Emicara, and proud of their adherence to the old ways.
Structure
The elves of the Tenashi Kingdom pay direct homage to their monarch, in this case their queen. They follow her commands expressly, and she is treated with a nearly divine like status among her folk. She has a handful of close friends and family members who follow her directives and thus act on her authority to undertake the means of governance. The queen is the direct ruler of the city of Tenashi, and the other communities have their own familial heads. Each village and town headsman receives their directions from the queen herself for the management of the community, assuming that her direct intervention is required. Most of the time, however, every forest elf community is given ample leeway and freedom of action.
History
Millennia in the past, the elves ruled over the whole of the world, residing in the Feywild Plane where they were immune to any retaliation from humans or others. From here they would raid and hunt other races, enjoying their inherent superiority in tactics and weapons. Times changed, and with them the humans learned better tactics, wielded steel weapons, and the raids were stopped and halted. The elves fell into seclusion in the Feywild, and began often fighting among themselves, with no more mortals to terrorize. From their hidden home they watched in stasis as the world changed and left them behind as human magic and technology far outpaced their own. Their wait was justified.
The humans destroyed themselves in a massive conflict, and the leaders of the elves thought that it would be safe to begin raiding once more. The first few forays met with absolute disaster, as the humans had not lost their will to survive nor their grip on technology and magic. The elves were slaughtered. They retreated once more, but this time they could not remain. The Feywild Plane began to collapse and shudder, and the elves faced massive losses among their own people. Those who survived fled through an ancient portal, bringing them into the Material Plane, this time for good. The elves split in opinion as some chose to live among the humans, leaving the ones in the forest behind. The others chose to rebuild their civilization in the vast woods in which they had arrived.
The elves used magic to accelerate the growth of the trees and build new homes similar to the ones they had lost. They called themselves "Tenashi" or "lost" elves, and began building their kingdom, looking to continue their seclusion. They watched as local humans began rebuilding and thriving in the wastelands they had created, and even beginning to build settlements on the edge of their woods. The ruler at the time chose to ignore these efforts, as it was plain that their homes were well hidden in the heights of the trees they had created. Those humans that entered the woods were killed, keeping the Tenashi Kingdom safe and secret.
In 910 the king's daughter took power upon his death from old age. She was considered an ambitious and young ruler, having been born in Emicara, rather than in the Feywild. She and the new generation had argued for the forest elves to begin to take an active role in the world, meeting the humans with blade and bow. It was readily apparent that the moments when the Tenashi could have done this on even terms had long passed, so she decided to do what all elves do, and wait for an ideal opportunity. That came in 1021 when the Wingo Rebellion began to the south, and with keen interest the queen watched as the dwarves rose in revolt against their human masters.
The Rebellion was the opportunity the queen was waiting for and she lured the dwarves into asking for an alliance. She agreed fully, although pretending to be reluctant with the dwarven emissaries. The elves and dwarves fought the Kingdom of Alsona, and despite losses, achieved victory. The dwarves, however, have longer memories than humans, and brought up long past atrocities, and even as the war continued, the alliance began to break down. After the Second Battle of Zachari Crossing, the elves returned to their forests and the war stopped without treaty. The elves have begun assessing their plans and decisions, and it seems likely that the last war bought them a bit of breathing space, but at the loss of some their best warriors. The future of the elves remains uncertain, although as long as the delicate balance of power continues between Valtkos Wingo and its neighbors, further war will be avoided.
Demography and Population
Nearly the entire population of the Tenashi Kingdom consists of forest elves. Only a handful of exceptions exist, and none are allowed in the sanctity of Tenashi itself. The main exception consists of a surprisingly large number of forest gnome burrows that exist deep in the woods. The forest gnomes have been found to be loyal members of the forest, and the elves have come to reasonable terms to protect the gnomish burrows from harm. The gnomes offer trade and support for the elves, in the limited amounts that they can provide.
Military
The Tenashi maintain easily the best trained and organized army in Emicara. Their warriors have been honing their craft and training for hundreds of years with each individual. They are organized into what the Tenashi refer to as war parties, consisting of four hundred warriors each. The Tenashi possess ten of these war parties, each of with their own specialty and abilities. During the Wingo War, these bands were somewhat diminished, but they have since been brought back up to full strength through magical restoration and new recruitment. They are likely the best army in the world, but during conflicts they have shown that they have a hard time replenishing their ranks with capable recruits, unlike humans and dwarves who can simply conscript and train a new force quickly.
Technological Level
The Tenashi elves have been in a state of technological stasis for thousands of years. They have viewed themselves as masters of every craft they know, and innovation is the enemy of their culture and ideals. In fairness, their crafted weapons and items are some of the most powerful in the world, but they are the same as the previous generations have been. Very little new items have been created in the past thousand years, and the elves see very little need for anything new. At the same time, humans and dwarves continue to advance their abilities in magic and technology, even as the world burned around them. The elves are confident that anything new will simply result in catastrophe, and believe that the Last War was a justification of their belief.
Religion
The belief of Naturalism is the main religion of the forest elves, and you would be hard pressed to find an elf in the Tenashi Kingdom who had even the slightest bit of doubt in their beliefs. The forest gnomes follow their lead, and there are no dissenters towards the faith. On average, those who lose their confidence in their religion often find themselves forced out by their peers, and either go into exile among humans or strike out on their own to the distant north or west.
Foreign Relations
The Tenashi Kingdom is still vaguely mythological to the majority of nations in Emicara. Although the rulers of other kingdoms have heard of the Wingo War and the armies of elves that participated, very few have any knowledge of the full extent of the Kingdom and its power. This is an intentional decision by the Tenashi and for the most part they maintain no official diplomatic relationships with any other power. The only two nations they have occasional communication with are Valtkos Wingo and the Kingdom of Alsona. Since the end of the Wingo War, the Tenashi have played a delicate balancing act between those two states, keeping the hostility fanned, but without breaking into a new war. They know that as long as the Wingo dwarves and Alsonans view each other as the primary threat, the security of the Tenashi will be safe. They are wary of any event that could end up breaking this balance.
Agriculture & Industry
The forest elves have very little current industry or development, focusing most of their lives upon war or leisure. The foundations for their kingdom were built long ago, and they already possess all of the weapons or goods they could possibly need to survive. What they lack they are able to grow from the trees themselves using magic. Food is plentiful and provided by the trees, allowing every elf to live a comfortable life and focus on what is most important to them. When new metal items are required, they will occasionally trade wooden furniture shaped by magic to the dwarves, in exchange for whatever amounts of ore they require. Occasionally the kingdom's forest gnomes can provide some minerals too, but usually just in small quantities.
Education
The Tenashi Kingdom has no formal system of education. Instead, elves typically just focus on spending their leisure time reading books from the Feywild, or training underneath a master of craft. A master will never take on more than one student at a time, and they can spend decades training. Although the time is lengthy, the elves believe themselves to understand the inherent philosophies and nature of any craft or school far more than any other race due to the time spent. The elves believe that the quantity of one's education assists greatly in understanding, and that it is important to have a firm grasp of the philosophy of even the most basic of trades.
Infrastructure
The Tenashi elves are masters of concealment and manipulation of plants. Using their druidic magic, they have enhanced the growth of the woods around them, making the trees truly massive beyond comparison to any mundane ones. In these trees they have built their society, high above the forest, granting protection from the world around them. Magic is used to conceal the entrances to these cities and towns, making them incredibly difficult to find. Even elf roads are hard to determine, appearing at best like game trails or small paths, until they are needed. They have also manipulated the edges of their forest into what is essentially mazes of thorns and trees, preventing a person from finding their way in, accidentally or easily, protecting the entire nation from invasion or infiltration.
Founding Date
Newdawn 6, 104
Type
Geopolitical, Kingdom
Capital
Demonym
Tenashi
Head of State
Head of Government
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Power Structure
Unitary state
Economic System
Post-scarcity economy
Currency
Copper/silver/gold
Major Exports
Furniture
Major Imports
Minerals, iron ore
Legislative Body
Elder Council
Judicial Body
Court of Ancestors
Official State Religion
Subsidiary Organizations
Official Languages
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Notable Members
Related Ethnicities
Comments