Elven Territory (Country)

The **Elven Territory**, or natively **Kirino**, is the region east of the Glasslands controlled and protected by the Elven people. The wide and seemingly bottomless **Hikoboshi** and **Orihime Rivers** form the Territory's western border, which can only be traversed by bridge or through the wilderness where the two meet. Most of the Elven Territory is overwhelmingly covered with dense temperate broadleaf and mixed forest, with subtropical and coniferous forests lining its northern and southern borders.

## Background

Very little is known about the Elven Nation, as explorers and traders of all races have been traditionally been forbidden from entering the Territory. Their borders and coasts are heavily guarded by what explorers have described as "**shadows of the forest**", which have been known to use lethal force when denying interlopers. From the few that have ventured into the Territory and lived to tell the tale, Elven society is highly organized and regal. Their homes and buildings have mesmerizing verticality, with homes and buildings built into trees, rock faces, and even the edges of waterfalls. To outsiders, their society is exceedingly alien, with unknown magics and technologies interwoven through all facets of their life. Despite their advancement, they are known to have particular reverence for nature. Through the grandeur of their constructs, the forest and its features seem to be the centerpieces to their architecture. Embedded into their culture and society is their ethnic religion, the Dreamthread, which emphasize the the law of the natural order and the cyclic nature of life.

The Elven Territory is governed by two bodies, each with their own function. The first is the **Diet**, a group of elders well past a millennia in age, which is the primary legislative body. There is speculation by scholars that their government may be closer to a loose magocracy than a simple gerontocracy, since the arcane arts are of particular import in Elven society. At the lowest level, elven families are organized into distinguished houses which are thought to have existed for eons.

The second is the **Emperor** or **Empress**, who serves as the formal head of the Elven state and sits on the **Paulownian Throne**. The Emperor is the only individual who may summon the Diet, and any officers within the Diet must be formally nominated by him. Although these powers are largely ceremonial, some Emperors have used them to have some influence on the government. **Empress Musubi** is the current monarch for the Elven Territory. During the Due Diadem Incident, Teams 1 and 11 of the Adventurer's Guild became the first non-elves to meet the Empress after she negotiated the temporary alliance between the Vespia and the Territory.

The Elven capital is **Tanabata** built at the foot of a waterfall in the **River of the Paulownias**, past the **Sanmon Belt**, a long mountain range east of the two rivers. Some small villages and towns are seen spread out through the rest of the Territory; however, it would seem that almost 85% of elves reside in Tanabata. Nonetheless, even "unoccupied" land is fiercely protected.

## Game Master's Notes

The Elven Territory is highly influenced by both traditional Elven depictions (Tolkien, etc.) and the culture of Japan. Their ethnic belief system borrows heavily from the ideas of Shinto and Zen Buddhism, especially in their reverence towards nature and the idea of *samsara*, or the cyclic nature of life. Elves are imagined to appear like traditional elves of all typical physical features, with clothing and architecture as a combination of traditional elven and Japanese designs.