Delannwood

Easily one of the longest-lasting nations on the continent, it comes as little surprise that the Delannwood is the last of the elven kingdoms there as well. For as long as anyone can remember, the Delannwood has been home to elves. In the early history of mankind, the Delann (a word that means in-dwelling, or private in Elvish, but also means toward disgust, as in those who are repulsed by something) elves remained stand-offish and reclusive, in comparison to their cousins among the Almann (who name means not-departed, or those who have not withdrawn) elves, who welcomed their neighbors. Of course, the fact that the Delann yet exist, and the Almanni were long ago swallowed up by human bloodlines, suggests the wisdom of the Delann - at least, according to the Delann themselves.

The Delannwood is ruled by the Rînsirion, a powerful and ancient elven queen whose river-palace serves as the heart of the capital River Star. The Delannwood is home not only to the Delann wood elves, however - at the edges dwell the shifter tribes, tribes of seeming humans with a strain of lycanthropy in their lineage (much as tieflings bear as train of infernal blood in theirs). The shifters deeply respect the elves and their connection to the primal spirits of the Delannwood, and act as their first line of defense. Though the shifters maintain an overchieftain who gathers and leads them in times of war, each of their clans is led by a chieftain who has sworn fealty to the Rînsirion.

Over the years, the Delannwood has shrunk significantly. Though part of it is claimed by two provinces of the Empire of the Nine, the Adhalmagus of the Empire has long maintained a peace treaty with the Delann, and honored it for as long as the Empire has existed. Though their humans do log and hunt the forest's edges, they do so under the guidance of the river-queens wardens, and maintain peace in doing so.

On the other hand, the Empire of Tamous has long chewed away at the edges of the western Delannwood, slowly advancing into the wood. This conflict has mostly been limited to the humans of Tamous and the shifter tribes, as the territories the Tamousan war machine has often attempted to lay claim to were part of the shifters' ceded lands. Indeed, with the empire's renewed interest in absorbing more of the Delannwood in the last fifty years, the shifters have lost most of their lands. As more and more shifters die over the years, they have called out for aid from the Delann themselves, but the Rînsirion has declined to involve her own people in the wars so directly.

She has permitted the establishment of new shifter towns, however - Moonhold and Wolfhaven. But with the shifters now living so close to the Delann elves, who can see the refugees flooding into these holdings for safety, a movement has been born among the younger Delann to lend aid to the shifters and drive the humans out of their ancient lands. The river-queen still refuses, however, leading to the development of several elven rebels, who strike out at Tamous alongside the shifter defenders, even though doing so is in violation of the edicts of the Rînsirion.