Balannor

The land of the High Elves is one of the oldest populated areas in Aera. Balannor, roughly translating to “the First Lands” in their native tongue, is a place of ancient cities and natural beauty. While not officially a true sovereign nation-state like Viggron or Highfell, the high elves nevertheless maintain a cohesive and harmonious society, overseen by a series of Councils of the wisest and most trusted elves. Access to Balannor is traditionally only allowed for high elves born there; all other races, including the “common” humanoid elves, are considered "Outlanders" by the society. Those who share closely-guarded secrets without permission are excommunicated from Balannor, and shunned for the rest of their life, a harsh punishment for the unaging high elves who often find it difficult to relate to the other shorter-lived races. While High Elves rarely leave the first lands, they do maintain a small presence within the world, mostly to monitor and deter outside threats from becoming a larger problem. With the rise of Viggron and the militarization of much of Aera, this presence has since increased, although it has been done quietly, and there are rumors abound that the High Elven society is moving toward an unprecedented level of involvement with the other states and civilizations of Aera...

## Culture

High Elven culture is heavily centered around nature and the natural world. Their cities seemingly defy the laws of physics and integrate seamlessly into the environment. They are strictly vegetarian, viewing the killing of animals as a terrible crime. Marriage is a foreign idea to the elves, who live so long that the idea of tying oneself to a partner for life is absurd. Instead, they form romantic attachments as they please, ending them as they wish. Occasionally, such partnership will produce a child. These children are celebrated by the community, and also raised by everyone in the community, not just their parents. As a result, High Elven culture is typically quite homogenous and slow to change. Given their extremely long lives, elves have several lifetimes to master skills and abilities. Their innate magical gifts allow them to accomplish most things with ease, and thus many elves spend much of their time mastering specific skills that they find particularly intriguing or interesting, leading to elves in nearly every profession. A rare few, however, prefer to bounce from niche to niche, following their whims and rarely spending much time focusing on one thing. Given the high elves immense lifespans and long memories, courtesy and decorum are paramount in their society. Their romantic relationships usually end amicably, crime is rare, and they have elaborate customs and traditions centered around respect and deference, as any sort of slight can lead to centuries of grudges and feuds. Troublemakers within Balannor are often shunned, and the worst of them may be excommunicated; a fate many consider to be worse than death. This further increases the homogenous nature of High Elven culture, which may take a millenia to see noticeable change.

## Military

While primarily isolationist and preferring to not engage in external conflicts unless absolutely necessary to defend Balannor, the high elves maintain a trained force of warriors and mages for protection against outside threats. All members of the full time High Elven military are known as guardians, but all high elves, regardless of guardian status or not, undergo a rigorous training program that gives nearly all of high elven society a high level of combat competence, about on par with a highly trained soldier. Thanks to their innate magical gifts, elvish forces are almost always magical to some degree. They are naturally drawn to vocations like wizard, incanter, magus, armorist, mageknight, and even certain variations of fighter. While the primary firepower for their forces comes from the high casters, elves do maintain a variety of forces for different situations, like shock troops and engineers. Their generals are tactically genius, even by high elven standards, but also have an unwillingness to deal collateral damage, especially to things they hold sacred, such as certain natural sites and places of wild magic. When caught in a melee, elves rely on agility and intelligence to avoid attacks, and even their most “brutish” warriors would be considered scholarly and agile by most outlanders. Elven tactical organization relies on an echelon-based setup. Frontline battlemages use defensive magic and steel to guard the second line, which consist of the ranged combatants, amongst which are the elven arcane archers. Behind them are the mages, ranging from evocation wizards blasting fireballs at the enemy to the illusion and enchantment mages defeating the enemy in a more subtle way. The fourth line usually consists of the commanders, archmages, and their elite guards, sending instructions and powerful long range spells from safety.

### **Sentinels**

The Sentinels form the elite of the high elven military. Their primary purpose is being the first and last line of defense against the outside world. The specific Guardians tasked with manning the 4 Towers and the Citadel that guard the pass into Balannor, Sentinels rotate every fortnight between guarding the pass, and then ceremonial roles including temple and council security and dispute arbitration. In the final contingency against an outside attack, the current Sentinels act as the last-resort garrison for the capital.

### **Eternal Guardians**

Of particular note are the Eternal Guardians, high elves enchanted with the power of high magic rituals turned into eternal warriors who live only to defend the kingdom from invaders. Smarter, faster, stronger, and tougher, these High Elves at their best are nigh unkillable and capable of inflicting immense damage to enemies of the elven kingdom. While oath-bound to protect Balannor should the need arise, many of them roam the world with blessing from the Elder Council, unsatisfied with waiting for danger to strike first, preferring to preemptively deal with dangers as, or before, they arise. Those that do wander from Balannor act as the eyes and ears of the Council in the world, and also often subtly attempt to steer major events in ways that ensure the safety and stability of the continent. These elite troops often work independently or in small groups, not unlike adventurer’s, and answer directly to the Elder Council, often being sent out on long missions around the world. To be an Eternal Guardian is an immense sacrifice, and one that is not to be taken lightly; High Elves hoping to be Guardians must be chosen by the Elder Council, and still must undergo a long and arduous set of trials and challenges, both physical and mental, before they are even considered for the final ritual.

## Relations

While high elves prize life, particularly intelligent life, they often come across as ruthless to the other races. High elves zealously defend their lands against any intrusion, and strongly frown upon most other civilizations, which they see as attempting to “control nature” and thus ultimately destroying it. They have no official diplomatic appointees, embassies, or any other form of official state diplomacy, although they will parley with most outlanders. Exceptions to this are the hated drow, duergar, and any other predominantly evil races; members of such groups are killed on sight by the Sentinels upon entry without another sponsoring of high renown to Balannorian society. The high elves’ lack of large numbers has led them to adopt an extremely defensive posture. Over the millenia, high elven mages have layered magical protections around Balannor, collectively called the Warding, which protects the land from unauthorized intrusions via magical spells and attacks. All other nations refrain from attacking Balannor out of fear and reputation; the high elves that defend the borders tend to kill first and ask questions later. This has led to an uneasy peace between Balannor and the other nations, although the air of mystery and secrecy surrounding Balannor has created a level of fear over the high elves’ true capabilities.

## Government

The High Elven Kingdom operates under the direction of a collection of Councils. Most new councillors are selected by the councils themselves, and all council positions are for life or until they willingly step down. The exception to this rule is the Council of Justice, which is formed of elected officials. There are 4 councils responsible for the governance of the First Lands: the Elder Council, the Council of Magic, the Council of Life, and the Council of Justice

### **The Elder Council**

The Elder Council is the top council in the First Lands, and is composed of the wisest and smartest elves. While named “Elder,” an elf of any age can be appointed to the council, and the council is traditionally composed of elves both young and old for a variety of perspectives. The Elder Council appoints its members via a unanimous vote from the others, and is also responsible for the appointment of the two lower Councils, Magic and Life, although the Council of Justice has its own process for appointing members. Elves on the elder council are respected and honored by the high elves, and the be appointed one must have shown both great dedication to the high elven kingdom, as well as at least one feat of great intelligence or wisdom. The Chair of the Elder Council, a rotating position chosen every 50 years via unanimous decision from the Elder Council, runs and organizes the council’s activities, but typically has few other powers. The exception to this is in times of war or emergency, when the Chair often has increased powers to unilaterally make important decisions, although once the conflict is over, such decisions are immediately evaluated post-war by the whole council. The council traditionally decides things by unanimous vote, although the Chair does have the ability to change the threshold to a super majority for any vote except the selection of the Chair itself. This power has thus far never been exercised, and the use of it would constitute a major mark in High Elven history.

### **The Council of Magic**

The Council of Magic serves as the governing and organizing body for the elven magicians, as well as the primary command structure for the military. All high magic rituals are organized via this council, which oversees the creation of the mythal which protects the First Lands, and the Ascension of Eternal Guardians. Given the highly magical nature of both the First Lands protective wards as well as the elven armies, the Council of Magic is a natural fit as a security council.

### **The Council of Life**

The elves view life as something to be treasured and preserved, and as such their Council of Life handles all matters non-combat related. Trade, foreign policy, food distribution, and domestic matters all fall under its domain. This council is primarily responsible for regulating food and other goods and necessities; while magic has made the High Elven economy into a post-scarcity, the products themselves must still be distributed from their place of creation. This council is considered the least prestigious, but still maintains a place of honor amongst high elven society.