Woods of Lost Home and Wide Isthmus of Dennigari

Woods of Lost Home and the Wide Isthmus of Denngari

These coniferous woods, dominated by Grey Spruce and Dusky Fir, hold more than anything else a sense of mystery and legend. It is known that the Arctic Elves make their home among the trees, ancient rocks, and wicked winter storms and snow. All that is known among the general populace of Brahainne (a Nation north of the woods) is what the few Arctic Elven travellers have shared, and the "Frost Elves," as they are known there, come seldom and never give up too many secrets.
The comings and going of the Frost Elves mean a good deal of interesting trade to collectors and mages that live in Brahainne. The elves are adept at creating these items, although how they do it is a matter of speculation. Merchants and the Wealthy don't ask too many questions; they just purchase these intriguing gems and silver jewelry, or wondrous magical items, for gold and/or goods, and wave the Elves goodbye.
In the woods, the Elves are masters of survival, their hunting and gathering skills honed thousdands of years. There are sources of prime silver among the rocks of the forest, and the ore of saphires, yellow and green and blue, is readily available among the rocky lands of the Isthmus. There must also be sources of iron, and the ability to make steel. Braihanni Jewelers will also tell you that the Elves' skill at metal-work rivals any of the continent's crafters.
Rarely, these Elves of Lost Home take to the waters of the continent's oceans and adventure far away to what is to them an almost mythical land: The city of Tellarus in Western Aligoria. Here they have plenty of valuable wares to trade, amd the Tellaran merchants are eager to purchase such things. For their part, the elves take their haul, enjoy life in the city for some months or years, and then sail away back to the Woods and the stony Isthmus waiting for them.
The isthmus itself is a stony land, but croppings of spruce and aspen forest dot the land, and the space between is filled with a wide tundra that turns a brilliant rust color in the early fall.
Nothing in the Isthmus changes over time, even over decades or centuries. The Arctic Elves have kept their home as it is. The Braihanni call it the "Lost Home," but the reason for that is obscure. In their Elven dialect, the Elves themselves call it ta'Plesh, "the Comfort."

Geography

The land here is very stony, and rich with silver and Sapphire ore.  Stone here is almost exclusively basalt, mixed in with more mineral rich rock.  There are stone jumbles all through the Wood and across the Isthmus, with higher mounds and hills, rougher territory, in the hills to the east.
The isthmus has patches of coniferous forest here and there across its great expanse, but in the depth of winter it is the height of desolation. In the lighter months, there are places to explore and ore to mine. The latter activity is incredibly easy; the ore is at the surface. At some point this land and its stones were under the ground, metamorphosing in the heat of the earth.  Forces have pushed up and exposed these precious metals and gems.
While the isthmus is a seemingly endless expanse of relative waste and stone, the Woods of Lost Home are contained in a very small area. Lore hints at a time when the forest stretched in a vast swath in the northern part of the isthmus, but these times are long gone. The forest is thick with Grey Spruce and Dusky Fir, the former a source of fuel and food in its sap and needles for the Elves, and the latter a source of wood, for sturdy staves and timber for construction.
In the forest, there are numerous rocky outcrops with veins of pure silver, easily accessed and worth nothing among the Elves themselves.
The winters are harsh here, with numerous blizzards and icy winds. The Elves are expert hunters and survivalists, and they thrive in this weather, while all other visitors would perish without their help. In the months of summer, when the days are so long, the Elves take advantage by exploring, north to Brahainne for social contact and alliance-building, and south across the isthmus through the Stoneblock and the Crystal Forest. Something is there for them. What is it? Some kind of Arctic Holy Grail...

Some of the Isthmus bares a tundra landscape, featured in between shallow mountain ranges and rocky land.

Creatures and Living Things of the Woods and the Isthmus
Woods of Lost Home: Creatures, Animals, Plants

Arctic Elves, Exclusive Information:
Arctic Elves

Arctic Elves, information and attributes for Player Characters
Arctic Elf Player Character Attributes
Rock Gnomes (very rare) in the Barren Rocky Land of the Isthmus.  Same attributes as Common Gnomems, see
 (Gnomes of Summer's Tale

Alternative Name(s)

ta'Plesh, "the Home"