Alaeduri

Alaeduril, the Harmonious Dells

Capital of Clan Meldarin (Gnarley Forest, 576–579 CY)

Alaeduril is the living heart of Clan Meldarin—a great tree-village where two shallow vales meet, the streams conjoin, and oaths are sung into wood. Founded less than eight centuries ago as a neutral council-ground for the clan’s nine tribes, it now serves as market, shrine, refuge, and watchpost against the unrest that seeps north from Nulb and the ancient menace that stirs at Ansynor (Runeoak), four miles to the north.

Description & Setting

Alaeduril spans the facing slopes of two green dells: a brook threads the western floor and a stronger stream winds the eastern; the waters join at the settlement’s southern edge and flow south past Namburil, the Wailing Halls, the plain west of Narwell, and Castle Mastryne, before sinking underground at the Welk verge. The village lies deep within the Gnarley—16 miles WSW of Shelleton, roughly 30 miles west of the Fern Groves, and 20 miles north of Namburil. Platforms, rope-ways, and shaped halls connect living trunks; light is soft, voices measured, and every stair remembers the footfall of a thousand councils.

History

Alaeduril is comparatively young for the elves, established under a covenant to gather the clan’s often-fractious tribes for votes, oaths, and common policy. Some maintain it was also founded as a watch upon Ansynor, the ruined, ley-crossed wood-elf city despoiled over a millennium ago by Ur-Flannae necromancers allied to the Whispered One—its periodic elemental flares, tainted earth manifestations, and undead risings still warrant constant Meldarin patrols and a hard line with trespassers.

Government & Law

Clan Meldarin is a representative democracy: the nine Lon’Törli (tribal chiefs) meet at Alaeduril several times each year beneath the Besh’norin (Oath Oak). The rotating office of Garad’a’Besh (Binder of Oaths)—passed every twenty-one years from tribe to tribe—keeps order, breaks ties, and may act decisively with a majority quorum. In crises the council can proclaim a Lon’Keryth (War-Leader); the standing Lon’Baelyth (Chief Guardian) maintains watches, patrols, and ruin-cordons in peacetime. No chief may hold a second office without resigning—an old safeguard against centralizing power.

Current officers & chiefs (579 CY):

• Thonás Elaenda, Garad’a’Besh, half-elf Ranger 8 — Garad’a’Besh (Binder of Oaths).
• Gilathadar Telva, Lon’Törl, wood-elf Wizard 15 — Lon’Törl of the Telva; longtime city liaison.
• Ienre Lafkel, Lon’Baelyth, wood-elf Ranger 6/Wizard 5 — Lon’Baelyth (Chief Guardian). (Council officer described in 579.)

Districts & Notable Places

• Temple of Ehlenestra (Ehlonna, elven aspect): The oldest structure in Alaeduril—an airy, grey-elf-influenced hall of shaped wood and stone near the smaller stream. It anchors sanctuary rites and markets of peace.
• Sanctuary of Rillifane Rallathil: A complex of living treehouses linked by bridges and ladders; a timeless relic of the Leaflord rests in its depths.
• Besh’norin (Oath Oak): Grand heart-tree holding guest chambers for visiting chiefs and foreign envoys; a shaped inner hollow serves as the council chamber.
• Southern Confluence: Where the dells’ streams unite; hedgerow palisades and alarm-groves mark the village edge and river picket.
• Ansynor Cordon (north, 4 miles): Rotating stealth posts, beacon caches, and ward-stones under the Lon’Baelyth’s hand. Trespassers are turned back without parley.

Demographics

Population: ~582 residents.
Ancestry: 76% wood elf, 15% half-elf, 4% human, 2% fae, 2% tallfellow halfling, 1% other (gnomes, fey-kin). Known for inclusive kinship; more half-elves dwell among the Meldarin than in the other Gnarley clans combined. Humans, gnomes, and halflings may be found as trusted residents and long-term guests.

Nine Tribes in the Clan: Quenlarue (Meadowstar), Sathlîrwyn (Sevensong), Telva (Dawnpromise), Elaenda (Greenheart), Yularith (Fernshade), Ranthír (Mossmantle), Nolbrael (Thornwatch), Vaelune (Moonsap), Durnsae (Duskwood). The Quenlarue and Sathlîrwyn are the largest; the Durnsae are the smallest, holding a single ancient tree-village.

Economy & Trade

Alaeduril’s economy is oath-bound and seasonal: shaped-wood craft, heartwood bows, herbal distillates, and ritual vintages ship by bonded caravans along marked trails. Trade policy favors bonded day-caravans and forester-escorted traffic, with active interdiction of torch-trade and any caravan tied to Nulb. The Gnarley Rangers and Old Faith druids coordinate on sustainable cut, forage, and the protection of sacred groves.

Religion

The Meldarin revere The Seldarine — The Elven Pantheon, with special devotion in Alaeduri to Ehlenestra (Ehlonna) and Rillifane Rallathil; Solonor Thelandira, Sehanine Moonbow, and Corellon Larethian are also widely honored. The two great sanctuaries and the Oath Oak reinforce a civic religion that binds market, patrol, and festival to liturgy.

Priestly Seats:

• Elcàlla Yularith, Lon’ Mara na’Ehlenestra, High Priestess of Ehlenestra, serves effectively as mayor, coordinating market days, sanctuary law, and interfaith relations with human Ehlonna clergy and the Old Faith.
• Oranaen of the Leaflord, wood-elf druid of Rillifane, partners with Elcàlla to guard groves and manage boundaries.

Society & Culture

Meldarin culture prizes woodslore, weathercraft, and hit-and-fade archery, reading moss to forecast winds and storm-fronts; hospitality is confident but firm. Festivals pair oath-witnessings with shared tables, and visiting Woodsmen and Rangers are welcomed under rules that protect canopy and stream.

Defense & Patrols

Security radiates from the Lon’Baelyth’s office: rotating pickets, misaligned patrol hours (“predictability kills”), and shared whistle-cants with Sevensong signalers. The Gnarley Rangers coordinate on bandit suppression, humanoid incursions, and cult interdiction; Old Faith druids provide restoration and ecological oversight. The Ansynor cordon is manned without pause.

External Relations & Politics

• Other Elves of the Gnarley Forest Clans: Cooperation in warding and messages; policy debates over Celene alignment vs. local autonomy are argued at Alaeduril but rarely split the patrol lines. (Quenlarue press for Celene; Telva champion ties with Verbobonc.)
• Verbobonc, Viscounty: Wary pragmatism—deconfliction of patrols, bonded trade, strict limits on logging and road-building inside the green.
• Dyvers, Free Lands of: Conditional corridors for daylight caravans; strong resistance to river-driven inner logging schemes.
• The Gnarley Rangers & Woodsmen: Trusted partners in guardianship; frictions handled through oaths and seasonal moots.
• Druids of the Gnarley Forest: Strategic allies for conservation and for opposing Elder Elemental cults and the Temple’s lingering shadow.

Travel & Approaches

Approach Alaeduril via forest spurs and oath-marked trails. The confluence palisades bar night traffic; bonded caravans must check in at dawn. From the village, trails lead south toward Namburil and the Wailing Halls, east toward the Fern Groves, and north to Shelleton and Sherendyl country.

Law & Custom (For Visitors)

• Sanctuary: Any who reach the temple unblooded may claim three nights’ peace under questioning and oath; forest crimes shorten the grace. (Priestly practice in Alaeduril.)
• Trade: No torch-trade, no inner-cut timber, no pursuit across oath-trails without elven escort. Violators are disarmed, fined in labor, and escorted to the fringe.
• Ruin-Ward: Ansynor is closed; all inquiry passes through the Oath Oak and the Lon’Baelyth’s office.

Threats

• Ansynor Surges: Elemental phenomena and undead risings burst from the ruins at rare intervals; village alarms and Ranger whistles answer fast.
• Banditry & Cult Logistics: Nulb-tied smugglers probe the southern reaches; bonded routes and joint patrols are the counter.
• Humanoid Raids: Gnoll and orc bands test the fringes seasonally; Rangers and druids coordinate counter-ambushes.