Wanderer's Guide to Dendralis

Greetings friend! We wish to extend our gratitude to your for pucking up this copy of the Wanderer's guide to Dendralis. Built upon the great works of Talamus Wynned, this volume is meant to provide you with a glimpse into everything you might wish to know about the Land of Trees. Of course, details will not be overexpressed as this is meant to be a suitable guide for wnderers and adventurers, not a repository tome for scholars. We make attempts to release a new addition with updates to current events when possible, so that your guide is as accurate as possible. Nevertheless, we hope this guide can be a useful tool for you regardless of which edition you carry. Safe travels through Dendralis, friend.   -Association of historians or whatever - 840, 3E   Dendralis - the Land of Trees - is a land of natural beauty and mystery. As the historic home of the Wood Elves, Dendralis has long been wood covered, which has shaped the history of the land and it's peoples. Once covered in over 80% forest, Dendralis is today still covered by over 50% woodlands, though these woodlands are today disjointed and far less homogeneous than they once were.   The Elderwood: A History of Dendralis In Time Immemorial, the contient of Dendralis was covered almost entirely by a single forest - the Elderwood. This forest had existed since the beginning of time according to the native wood elves of the region, the Aéldelinians. The forest was incredibly dense and lush, and held an incredible power which manifested in ways that made the entire forest seem as a single organism. The Aéldelinians and the Elderwood lived in perfect harmony with the land, both parties helping the other to sustainably flourish.   This harmony, however, seemed destined to one day fall. And elf from the Eastern shores named Maedhros began to preach the old teachings in a different way, lifting up power over unity. With the help of seven other usurpurs - and drawing power from tens of thousands along the east coast - Maedhros attempted to seize power over the Elderwood during a Convention of Elders. The forest, with its mysterious power, repelled this binding attempt, though the shockwaves caused resulted in a catastrophic tectonic event know as the Separation. The entire continent stretched east and west, resulting in its modern shape, and sending natural disasters around much of the northern hemisphere for the better part of a year.   Today, the original glory of the Elderwood can only be found in the Greenwood, located in central and south central Dendralis. The Greenwood, and it's inhabitants, the Olosse - direct descendents of the Aéldelinians- carry on much of the Elderwood and its ways, both biologically and culturally.   Though the truest peoples of the land, the Olosse are not alone in Dendralis. The fractured continent features nearly 20 geographic regions, and almost as many peoples call Dendralis home today.   Geography/Climate Dendralis features an almost entirely temperate and subtropical climate, with minor exceptions from stretches of land the just break into the tropical and arctic climate regions. Aside from the arid Western Highlands, the continent is mostly semi-arid, with the west coast and south central regions being a more humid.   Dendralis is home to nearly 20 geographic regions, though this can be simplified when combining some similar regions. In this simplified sense, one will find the lush Greenwood in the central and southern region of the continent. To the forest east like the Fertile Valley, providing a gap before the Darkwood, a region which takes up much of the eastern seaboard. Stretching westward from the Darkwood's northern tip is a collection of small regions known as the Northlands. This region has not seen a successful dispatch by elf or man the Separation, leaving the truth of its ecology and inhabitants up for debate.   The Northlands includes a long stretch of ancient mountions near the shorthern shore. Between these mounts and the Greenwood, lie the central steppes, an elevated tall grassland in the continents center.   The Northlands, central steppes, and Greenwood are bordered on the west by the Great Western Corridor. The Corridor is comprised of the Fissures in the south, the mysterious Meadows of Luna at the continents northeast corner, and lowlying grasslands in between.   The Western Highlands streatch down from the Meadows into the southwestern tip of Dendralis. This leaves just a coastal strip of marine forest along the west coast, while the southwestern tip of the continent sits in humid Jungle.   Peoples Dendralis is the generational home to the Wood Elves and their adjacent subraces. The Greenwood is home today to the Olosse, the direct descendents of the Aéldelinians - the original Wood Elf ethnicity. The Olosse today carry on many of the old ways of the Elderwood, and enjoy the same unique relationship with the forest that their ancestors had, allowing them to live in harmony with a lush yet dangerous forest.   There are a handful of elven subraces on Dendralis today that also trace their roots back to the Aéldelinians. The stoic Pine Elves and energetic Jungle Elves trace their roots back to earliest Olosse. The dark elves of the Darkwood are of Aéldelinian descent, their souls corrupted in service to Maedhros, while the orcs of the highlands corrupted their flesh on behalf of their deity. The curious inhabitants of the Meadows of Luna are believed to have been descended from the ancient Aéldelinians, though this is unconfirmed.   Mankind has made it's way to the Land of Trees, having firmly established hinself along the northern shores of the Emerald Sea over the last five centuries. The Fertile Valley and southern shoreline of Dendralis is home to a large human and half-human population, cementing a society centered around open trade. The lineagess of mankind that have lived in dendralis for at least 3 generations have melted into a singular Dendralin culture, while recent arrivals tend to maintain connection to their ethnicity from the Old World.   The communities of the Emerald Shores are also home to a number of other races and subraces, but none of which make up more than 8% of any given locale.   Politics The