Eirelothren

Eirelothren is the political heart of the Dannon Lands. The country was formed some 1,100 years ago under the aegis of a contract signed between the Lothren elves, the Dannon nobility, and the Treeherders. The compact is the fundamental legal document governing Eirelothren and it's rules are as follows.

1. All humans, elves, men, ents, and spirits are considered full citizens of the country with all of the protections, responsibilities, and duties to be treated equally under the law.
2. The land is to be considered a protected conservation with no cutting of the trees without verification of a Treeherder. The Treeherders agree to make small clearings for agriculture, but any agriculture past that clearing must be in the forms of bushes and trees and cannot purposefully be done except through the planting of food trees.
3. The treeherders are to be left alone with all political matters or trade matters. They are only obligated to do anything with elves and humans if the country is threatened. At which points the Treeherders will act under their own leadership and neither accept, nor require anything from the elven or human military commanders.
4. Animals are to be treated with kindness. No practiced that begets their suffering or prevents a full life will be practiced.
5. Magic may be practiced, but must be done so through careful training under the aegis of a guild.
6. All manners of state are determined by the elves and humans in whatever they see fit as long as they do not violate the above statutes.
7. Should the law become corrupt, the corrupting agent may be removed through violent force if necessary. Tyranny will not be tolerated.
8. At not point will Eirelothren forbid the peaceful travel of people across the land, nor prevent individuals from moving from one city to another. Treeherders are allowed to remove individuals from their lands, but not to do so in a way to cause injury or death.
9. No citizen will be forced to quarter soldiers in their home, be jailed for private debts, be prevented from testifying in courts, disarmed of their personal weapons without processing through the courts, or otherwise denied the natural freedoms of a free man on his lands.
10. The signers of the compact consider this document inviolate to stand for all time. All else will be decided by individual communities, and cultural groups.

A number of things were born out of this compact. Firstly, it established the four human families, and one elven family as "Founding Families" with hereditary title to be passed to the eldest child, male or female, in their lines. Each family would govern their city how they saw fit as long as they do not violate the compact. If they do so the other families are obligated to depose the family to prevent tyranny of the common people of Eirelothren. The five founding families were

The O'Sammons of Samhaig

The O'Hennesey's of Lothleer

The O'Malley's of the capital city of Daeldun

The Lothrellen family, hereby called O"Lothren family of New Hellia

the O'Bannon family of Karney.

The compact held true for almost a thousand years, until the Rhovesian occupation of Karney. This had huge effects on the governance of Eirelothren. The O'Bannons were almost killed to a man, with a few of their members fleeing the city. When the Emerlad Host was assembled, drawn from miltiamen, Ents, the Greensworn, Elves, wizards, and even some of the spirits of the land washed Karney away, the resulting government that picked up the pieces inspired a mass democratic movement that was especially strong in the north but eventually flowed south. This beget a radical change in government, with popular referendum asking politely that the nobility stop being the major political actors, and replace by a democratic council of popularly elected individuals. This movement has been peaceful for the last 150 years but was not without consequence. Many royalists fled the cities to "Wilder" communities in the trees. The elven people of Eirelothren were very confused by this movement and by in large ignored it electing the nobility to many of the council seats of New Hellia. It also beget The Emerald Sons a fraternal organization akin to the militia that are deeply opposed to royalism.

Today Eirelothren is a peaceful nation surrounded by hostile neighbors. In the South just past the Dannon forest lie Viringions, a warlike people who worship a powerful Black Dragon called Verdengetorix. Across the oceans to the north are Rhovesia and the PIrate Islands both countries hostile to the people of the land. To the east is an intimidatingly large mountain chains, Called the "Earth's Teeth". and across the Western Inner Ocean is a massive gulf of with not ports at it's far side to resupply.