Deepwood Vale
Before the The Dark Times came, the Asrai and Human lived side by side in peace. The Asrai, a secluded race consoled within the deep forests in peaceful isolation, were not as hostile as their cousins, the High Elves of the West, or those from the Isles of Eathalos. Their kind hearts, kind, and the ideas to share strange customs and wonderment, did not stop trade of valuable oaks, wine, fabrics, yarns to be traded among the Asrai and Kingdoms of Men. A peace that would be long undisturbed.
The Asrai of the Deepwood connect with the wood and nature far beyond what other species feel. Wood, earth, and the time of seasons perhaps instilled in them by Isha, Goddess of the Hunt or Votune, Goddess of Seasons after The Great Affix. Asrai believe in wood, not iron; and that the world can be shaped naturally, not reformed in the eyes of mortals, and therefore guard their Vales with fierce vigilance. Fire and anything that smokes is strickly prohibited in the Deepwood as the natural progression of life and death must not be disturbed. Those who disobey the Will of Isha, are banished, and outsiders who encroach, or try to steal the Great Oaks' barks are hunted to the edge of the Vale.
The myth of the Gaia tree stems from the first Asrai from mouth to ear: Isha and Kae made love in the Vale in the first age, and the tree sprung was given birth in its place. The Asrai always pondered when the cycle of death would wither the roots, or the branches would become to large and snap, but it never did, and the wood elves lived for centuries of unchanging peace.....
Orion met with other elves of the West and spoke of a way to bring all elves of the forest together using the Deeproots that crawled into through the Feywild. All wood elves could be connected.
Then came the sound of drums... steel clanking, earth moving and shacking. The Hordes of Bool came and burnt and took. The Asrai did the best they could do, but the years of peace had made their numbers grow thin and complaisant. The roots of the Gaia Tree could be used by the Darkness to travel all of Zin to slaughter, and pillage all for Bool's conquests. Orion ordered the Archdruid's to destroy the roots to prevent Bool from spreading her armies, perhaps to all of Zin and the Elves of the West.
A great battle, a last stand at the Gaia tree. Many perished, and Orion was killed by Bool. Isha had abandoned the Elves, and the Gaia Tree and its roots withered, dried out, and rotted.
The trees tower stories tall, and in their boughs, you spy a village. Semicircular structures hug the trunks, and between them, ropes bridges span the trees. Walkways spiral up and down the trees, providing access to the village from the forest floor, and yet it’s difficult to discern exactly how you scale the maddening lattice of catwalks and bridges–surely an effective defense against bandits and predators. The villagers move here and there, attending to their daily duties, and several patrol the bridges with longbows close at hand, poised to defend the treetop settlement if necessary.Orion , a powerful shapeshifter and Avatar of Isha, Goddess of the Hunt lived with the Asrai protecting them instilling these values into the culture since the beginning. It became a dogmatic way of life for over four centuries from those elves blessed the Light of Agallos (Immortality from Natural Aging). An untapped garden of supernatural beauty and untold wonder and mystery. The Feywild and the where the Tree stood, blurred, and glimpses of an everlasting peace were visible to the Immortal Asrai.
The wind rattles through the trees, the sound a death knell that spans the reaches of this haunting wood. Mists weave around the trees and your legs, obscuring the ground and making it difficult to navigate through the brambly, stinging foliage. Suddenly, the earth feels harder and you don’t sense underbrush any longer. You find yourself standing before a tree, charred and broken, as if once struck by a bolt of lightning. Fungal growths seep out of its roots and bark, and a sour smell radiates from it. As you move closer, you see the mushrooms on the tree start to wiggle and tremble, their heads turning—reaching toward you.After the battle of the woods, much of it was burnt, any the enemy stole many oaks, and the Hordes pushed on, and swelled over the lands. Today, in 431, the Asrai are a scattered people displaced by war. Some remember the time of great peace, and long for it to return. Others too tired, or lost too much to fight against the Darkness. Hope remains, Votune, Goddess of Seasons is to rumored have given Ambers to great creatures of the Fey who watch over with care over the land. In Barovia the Ambers of Barovia were used by Strahd to corrupt and twist the lands where he was imprisoned. It is said that the Fey and the Ambers were lost, or the Fey who hold them will never part with a gift of the God's. Only something of great power could restore the deep roots of the tree, but the Asrai remember the last commands of Orion, and are worried that the forces of the enemy will use the roots to reign destruction to all of Zin. If the tree is restored all Asrai will feel it, the calling of the wood once again.
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