Karritan

Leader
 Capital
 Largest City
 Militia
 Notable Citizens
 Population
 Language

Karritan is the largest remaining forest on Karandia. It is also one of the two great refuges of the elves. Whilst those elves who loved the sea, retreated into the Moon Reach Peninsula and formed Rimic, the woodland loving elves or Karritkol retreated into the shrinking forest of Karritan. Karritan once was connected to the forest of Quintox and covered the majority of the continent of Karandia. Now however all that is left is the country of forest on the northern coast of Karandia between Errantlund in the east and Danaspree on the west. Below Karritan stretches the almost endless seeming plains of Alkan. So in every direction the elves are surrounded. They do venture out, but never in large numbers. Intruders and trespassers are summarily killed. It is a beautiful, but deadly place.

## Geography

Karritan is still a huge and extremely dense forest.

* Ashguard
* Deadwood
* Heartwood
* The Hidden Port
* The Karritan Plain
* The Linden Grove

#### Natural Geography

All of Karritan is covered in woodland. The tree types are very varied and most kinds can be found here with the exception of trees that need very high temperatures,

## Demographics

Within Karritan elves dominate as the sentient race. However dreeku have lived in these parts of the World Wood since the Golden Age of the Elves before the Wars of Betrayal. The dreeku are savage, but still sentient and live in wild but somewhat organised tribes or packs.

Also within Karritan live hundreds and thousands of animals and some of which are no longer anywhere else. The fey also live in areas of Karritan, but their actual locations are hidden.

* Ancient Animals
* Dreeku
* Elves
* Faye

#### **Key Organisations**

There are various important organisations within Karritan.

* The Druidlore,
* The Shadeborn,
* The Shrouded,
* The Vaseal,

#### **Important Characters**

* The Guardian
* The Great Druid
* Shadar Dan’r
* Alanda Silversong

## Culture

The woodelves of Karritan or the Karritkol are seen throughout the world but not often in their home. Outside they can be defensive and aloof or welcoming and gracious. However though most do not desire bloodshed, they have been pushed as close to extinction as they will allow. Therefore they have become increasingly militarised as a nation. Not in their entirety but enough so as to make any attempt to destroy them so costly as to render it unactionable.

The Shadeborn are a visual and unavoidable reminder that outsiders are not welcome in Karritan. These elves carry with them a palpable feeling of distrust and violence ready to be unleashed.

Most elves however unless directly threatened are kind, graceful, gracious and extremely intelligent. They are an elegant race from a more civilised time. Their levels of art, dance, music, literature, poetry, magic and other cultural arts are without peer among other races.

#### Language

Language wise they speak Kol'tal or elven and vae'tal or the life language spoken by the faye. Almost all of them also speak Common.

#### Religion

The elves of Karritan are an ancient race and like other elves retain some knowledge of the ancient discontinued worship of the Avatars. However like all races the elves now have their own gods chosen from the avatars successors. Many of these gods have different names to the humans.

In Karritan then: Karritan god of Animals and Quintox god of the Forrest are the two most senior deities and are represented by the Druidlore. They are of course aspects of the Avatar of Nature.

 The other gods (aspects of the Avatars of Light and Death) include Necara (Death) Senara (life) Zena (Peace) and Voric (battle) are all worshiped to some extent or another. But all religious festivals and major observances as a country and people are focused on the first two.

Religion is very powerful as there are few elves who take no interest. It is a political, social and cultural need for the elves and is deeply ingrained in all their traditions and most of their actions.

#### Disposition

The woodelves of Karritan or the Karritkol are seen throughout the world but not often in their home. Outside they can be defensive and aloof or welcoming and gracious. However though most do not desire bloodshed, they have been pushed as close to extinction as they will allow. Therefore they have become increasingly militarised as a nation. Not in their entirety but enough so as to make any attempt to destroy them so costly as to render it unactionable.

The Shadeborn are a visual and unavoidable reminder that outsiders are not welcome in Karritan. These elves carry with them a palpable feeling of distrust and violence ready to be unleashed.

Most elves however unless directly threatened are kind, graceful, gracious and extremely intelligent. They are an elegant race from a more civilised time.

## Politics and Government

The elves are ruled by the Druidlore headed by the Great Druid. This council are accepted as the absolute authority. This isn’t because the Druidlore take a lot of direct action in ruling Karritan, but because their power and moral standing is considered unimpeachable.

Under the Druidlore those who bear the title Guardian of Karritan are the next line of authority. The Druidlore are druids who carry this title of Guardian of Karritan in addition to that of Druid Lord. The Guardian is a specific elf, who is their representative in most temporal matters including that of military action.

The Shadeborn and their masters the Shrouded are cut off from the Druidore and theoretically are not bound by their decisions since their division from the rest of elvendom. However the Vaseal are a link between them and the Druidlore and they do operate under the Druidlore’s control.

#### Economics

The Karritan economy is almost completely self-contained. Very few people are welcome into Karritan to trade. Nothing is done on a large scale. Some elf-friends and elven traders are the only ones who do so. Typically these are not regular trade goods but specific items of high value such as elven crafted items, especially armour.

## Military

The military in Karritan Shrouded are war druids and the Shadeborn their elite, uncompromising hands. These are openly all out war organisations, that believe that the elves as a race are in a perminant state of a War of Survival. However most elves are not of this frame of mind or disposition. So there is no military career in Karritan. Rather everyone has two careers, you are one thing and then you are also a warrior to be called on as needed. Ashguard is the training of the living army.
Since their inception the Vaseal have taken a highly active role in the training of the populous and usually carry officer ranks ready to be used when the military is officially formed up.

The Druidlore with the Great Druid at its head is technically leader of Karritan. But they also have an Elder who is Warmaster, and carries the title of Guardian and Keeper or Karritan. In Quintox there is an Elder and in Quinkorin the War Council.

The elves are vastly depleted now (2000 PE) there is in Karritan the largest concentration of wood elves left. About 200,000. This is their total population: man, woman and child. They are a dying race and are very careful to only fight defensively to preserve every last one of their lives if they can. The elves wear thaif for armour. It is special leather like material that is incredibly supple and is made up of thousands of miniscule layers making it incredibly protective as well.

Army, Over 1000 elves at least, Led by a general who may be a king or a guardian or some such position, possibly a druid or a great mage; never a commoner, no matter how good. No proper elven army has fought in 1500 years, until 2nd Dragon army invasion.

Strike Force, – A sub army, 500 elves, used to be smaller than a bowforce but has changed places with it now. It is led by a Force Commander

Bowforce, -Formation of 150 elves, Used to be ten times that number. It is led by a Bowlord

Strike Team/Group, -Formation of 20-30 elves led by a Strike Commander

The Ash ents are the most warlike and, with the exception of the Linden Grove only, Ashguard is the location of the most awake ents anywhere on Karandia.

## **History**

Time on Karandia and for simplicity on Tal is determined by the existence of the dominant human Empire or Auria. So years from before the Empire are annotated BE those after it or Post Empire are annotated PE. (eg Jomark came to power in 10BE - means Jomark gained his power 10 years before the founding of the Empire).

Before 15,000BE – Possibly the time when all elves the Aquatikol, Karritkol, Quinkol and High Elves and Ca'venkol (possibly) were all the Varikol or ancient elves.

15,000BE – The earliest reliable records of the elves. In these records they still had contact with beings sent from the Plane of Light. The Linden Grove already existed.

15,000-11,000BE – The elves are taught magic and it becomes a part of them. The first of the great elven cities are created.

10,000 BE – Elves have a great affinity for nature and tune their magic to it. Druids are the result and the elves though ruled by the Druidlore.
Dwarves appear on Tal and Karrandia and mix with the elves and begin to form alliances.

10,000-7,000 – Elves and dwarves develop and create great societies. They unite and fight in the serveral century long Ratteroge Wars.

7,000BE – Elves gain the Armlet of Strength and become the dominant race of Karrandia. Ratteroges retreat into Wargak

7,000-3,300BE – Golden Age of the elves. When elves speak of times of greatness they are usually refering to this period.

4000BE – Heartwood established in Karritan. One of the last turly great elven cities. It used to hold a million but now holds about 10,000 in 1900PE.

3500BE – Current Great Druid was born. He is the oldest surviving elf in Karrandia.

3300BE – Armlet of Strength falls into the hands of orcs and they become the dominant race forging out a mighty empire in the north west of Karrandia. It is about this time when the High Elves cut off contact with their brethren believing them beneath them.

3300-2000BE – Like their allies the dwarves, the elves are fought off their own land by the expanding empire of the orcs. They retreat toward the woods and the coast. During this time Woodguard becomes isolated from the whole of Karritan Forest and the sea elves retreat first into Seaguard in modern Danaspree.

2000BE – Ashguard becomes the new military centre for the elves. Ash ents are plentiful here and warlike. More ents than anywhere but the Evertree grove itself.

1800-100BE – Change over, In 1800BE the Orc empire begins to fail. In 100BE humans begin to really rise. Elves cannot recover their population is going down.

1400BE – Elves share the secrets of magic with the humans.

1000-100BE – Humans out populated elves and dwarves and turn on their former tutors driving them out of their lands and to the forests, underground and to the sea. Elves leave Auria, Alkan, Danaspree and Torash at this time. These events become known as the Wars of Betrayal by the elves and dwarves.

100BE – By this date elves have separated into Karritan and Rimic. Seaguard has been abandoned but some outposts hold strong like Quintox and Woodguard.

100-0BE – The Shrouded Ones (or just ‘Shrouded’) the warrior druids of Karritan come up with the dark solution. The druidlore part from them but do not stop them.

0-100PE – The Shadeborn, dark elite elven warriors who answer only to the Shrouded appear in Karritan. Their central command is at Deadwood their missions unknown.

500PE – Great Druid prophesied to the Druidlore that the elves would see the rise of an ‘Avenger’ who would reclaim their past, he has since been sleeping.

100PE – Due to the continued sleep of the Great Druid, the possition of Elder, which is also King, Warmaster, Pureblood and Guardian returned to Karritan. He is also Keeper of Karritan.

500-1000PE – The wood elves have become insular not venturing as a body to leave their woods. They defend only and that with vicious and deadly force.

1000-1700PE – Elves live quietly, no major talks or wars for the most part. The exceptions are border skirmishes and tresspassing incidents mostly isolated with only the War of the Lady as an exception.
Danites soon learn to leave the woods alone. Errantlunders are more persistent and a healthy dislike, hostility, racism is built up between the two sides. Especially with the Dukedom of Felmire.

1269PE – War of the Lady. The Lady Duchess of Felmire trespasses into the Karritan forest and bathes in a Nymph Pool sacred to the druids. She is arrested/kidnapped by the Shadeborn. Some elves unknown to Errantlund attempt to get the Shadeborn to release her but these pleas only incense the feelings of wounded justice held by the elite and fanatical group.
Errantlund demands the Lady’s return and this arrogance breaks their support within Heartwood. The reply is sent ‘She broke the law and there are consequences. Be content and know Justice is done in Karritan like Errantlund.’ This inflamed the errantlunders who correctly interpreted it as a jibe for their killings and arrests of elves on ‘their’ lands. They attempt to invade Karritan in force. It is a huge mistake and the elves mercilessly kill them. Though the loss in life on the elven side was nothing like that suffered by the humans it was the greatest loss suffered in a single year since the Wars of Betrayal. Some elves claimed it was due to their own arrogance others that the war had been worth it for now they would not need to fight another hundred like it. The Lady Felmire is never returned.

1860PE – The Betrayal of the Fallen Elves: A Ca’venkol effort to use Errantlund as a catspaw against the Karritkol in an attempt to destroy Karritan fromwithin and without using insider traitors and the Errantlunders. The attempt fails when the traitors are discovered. Some of them escape justice and are known as the Fallen Elves.

1898-1900PE – Second Dragon Army Invasion turned back by Stars of Destiny. The elves of Karritan are assulted and Shadron Dan’r a half-elf causes them to rise up and fight with their old allies.

1924PE – Rise of the prophesied Dolf Dan’r, to be known as the ‘Avenger’. He rises up and takes war to the humans such as has never been seen. He has special magical abilities.

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