Lathlanian
AT A GLANCE
Lathlanian is difficult to find because it sits in a low valley of which travelers must travel within a hundreds yards to see at all. Once a visitor finds (or more likely, is led to) the valley, he must travel down precarious paths to the level of the city, where monstrous trees rise to the level of the forest above. The city forms a wedge pointed toward the west, corresponding to the shape of the valley with a rounded back along the lake.
The city’s wooden buildings grace the shores of Lake Fanateen in the center of the forest. About a quarter of the city is actually on the lake, resting on solid docks over water up to thirty feet deep.
Visitors are not usually welcome, and they almost never surprise the Lathlans because patrols alert them before bringing strangers into the valley. The elves are courteous to strangers who are friendly themselves, although Eldoran humans are always suspect.
TEMPLES
Worship of the Raconteur is popular, but not as much so as in the north. The wood elves of Lathlanian worship the Great Huntress more than any other god or goddess. Great Hunter Ellerand modestly denies that he is the most influential person in the city aside from the King and his two sons, but the elves know that it is True. The Church of the Silver Mist, the Conventicle of the Great Tree, the Face of the Free, the Church of the Night’s Beauty, the Inevitable Order of Time, and the Church of Everlasting Hope vie for the remainder of the city’s faithful. The House of Knives claims a handful of individuals who make no church and meet clandestinely.MAGES & SAGES
The elves of Lathlanian are less magically inclined than their kin in other places. They prefer works made of their own hands to those summoned by magic. Wizards are still respected, and the most respected Wizard is Anaechin Tovalathlanco, whose odd name identifies him as belonging to one of the oldest elven families. Anaechin knows spells that humans have never seen, guards secrets forgotten by others for centuries, and protects the people of Lathlanian as if they were his own children.
Instead of wizards, druids are formidable powers in the city. Although respected for their magical prowess, the elves also revere them for their role in the culture. The wood elves look to the druids as leaders and spiritual guides. Currund the Golden, one of these elders, supports the elven policy of patience; eventually the humans will tire of their war with them, and they will be free to wander again.
They will see the sea turtles of the Yordon Sound, walk the broken coastline of southern Mendarn, and hear the voices of their rustic kin in the Voldorwoods.
UNDERWORLD
The city has a dark side the elves prefer to keep as quiet as possible. Always given to pleasures of art and music, a core group of elves has found themselves worshiping the Vicelord and enjoying the pleasures of his faith. The city is determined to find the cult and eliminate it, but so far they have had no luck.
Aside from the unspeakable acts of the Vicelord’s followers, crime in the city is rare and seems to be limited to theft, robbery, and occasional assault. Murder is rare but not impossible.
Demographics
Government
King Cevranath has ruled the city for 200 years, ever since the untimely death of his father. Cevranath holds sway over the entire Lendelwood Forest, a kingdom less than a third the size of the one his father ruled. While the situation galls him, he knows his tiny kingdom could not maintain a lengthy war with Eldor on Eldor’s own territory, and he is content to kill off intruders as they enter his forest until they relent.
Cevranath’s people support him, but growing danger in the Legasas has them worried. A generation ago (that is, 300 or 400 years), the elves would have moved west for a while and then returned. Now that route is blocked by hostile humans, and they have to contend with the threats the best they can. Some elves argue that they should take the war to the humans, by stopping the vital trade that flows down the Brolador River with force, and sending a flotilla of war rafts all the way to Dalen. The Lathlans know, however, that the military of Eldor is as large as their own civilian population, and they would be annihilated entirely if they lost such a venture.
Defences
Although at odds with the people of Eldor, the elves are not aggressive. On the other hand, they ruthlessly hunt down any armed bands entering their lands. The Lathlans possess an army of close to 1,000 skirmishers in hide armor or leather armor with shortbows, spears, and shortswords. Another 200 heavier footmen (scale mail or chainmail, longsword, and light shields) guard the city and the immediate area from monsters who live in the wood and trespassers from the Legasa Peaks.
The military’s elite includes hippogriff cavalry, a tiny band of 30-40 fearless veterans. Their leader, Thelanaeorive Rawannaesian, chafes under the King’s orders to remain in the Lendelwood. Before the war, Thelanaeorive and his band ranged from Cosolen to Breven, and from Dralven to the Norga Tors. Folk in these places relied on the cavalry for protection and moral support. Rawannaesian fears that the people he used to protect will think he has abandoned them, and he resents the restrictions that place these people in possible danger.