Kouto

Kouto is a member of The Timathian League and is ruled by the Black Dragon Cassandra. The country has a good relationship with its eastern neighbor Ordeg, whose technological prowess has contributed to Kuoto's technological advancement. Much of Kuoto's industry is based around the export of a special tree that only grows in The Everwood and only after a forest fire. Tracts of this land are given to nobles to oversee, called Cindergroves, and they are tasked with controlling access to this land so as to prevent indiscriminate burning of the forest by tree poachers.

Geography

The capital city of Kuoto is Vrandernbeg, and is the center of the early industrial revolution levels of industry found throughout the few major cities of Kuoto.
Outside these cities, much of the country is covered by The Everwood, which contains smaller towns and villages throughout its dense brush. These smaller locales are noticeably culturally and developmentally distinct from the cities outside the woods, and gnomes, elves, halflings, and goblinoids primarily populate these areas.
One such area is The Ironthorn Crush, an area controlled by the Coven of the Iron Thorn in which no one lives. The Crush is protected by the Orochi, a cursed tribe.

Politics & Society

Nobles
Cassandra encourages competition among her nobles in order to gain her favor, and encourages subterfuge and cunning just short of actual killing among the families. Noble families are given Cindergroves to oversee, though they do not often visit or utilize it. Much of the energy invested by the nobles in this land is dedicated to stopping tree poachers. Preventing this crime is a major aspect of gaining Cassandra's favor and a source of competition between the families.

The Covens
Though noble families technically own large swaths of the land in The Everwood, space outside established locales within the wood is often guided or ruled, on a varying scale, by the three covens of The Everwood. The Covens of the Brass Mirror and Obsidian Moon are often caretakers and community leaders, while the Coven of the Iron Thorn often takes a stronger approach to ruling its lands.

• The Coven of the Iron Thorn
• The Coven of the Brass Mirror 
• The Coven of the Obsidian Moon