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Alfheim
Populated by the regal and stoic Galiadre,
Alfheim is one of the most ancient elven civilizations upon the continent of Irendi. Their slender stone spires and towers
gracefully rise from the forest floor and mountain slopes with impossibly delicate bridges spanning breathtaking distances.
Though they are as famed as the dwarves for their craft of stone, they lack the dwarven passion for gems and riches,
prefering a stately and reserved attire. Alfheim conducts little trade with the human nations that they are surrounded by
and conduct their relationships with such outsiders in a isolationist and protectionist fashion. The
Confederacy of Zhakar are their favored trading partners for exportation of their
crafts. Elves of Alfheim consider themselves to be protectors of the fae that have retreated into the sanctuary of
Alfheim's forests and away from the progression of human domination that surrounds the Gulf of Biengyar. They are on fair
terms with many of the giant clans that still populate the Cruth Mountains. Many of the oldest Galiadre of Alfheim are
bitter of the human occupation of the lands to their south and how they have spread like locusts throughout the Gulf of
Biengyar. They refuse to admit that their race is in decline, employing their powerful sorceries to deny unwelcome humans
into their lands.
Population: Galiadre (98%), others (2%)
Government: Feudal Patriarchy
Leader: His Glorious Magisty, Emperor Aramrel the Eternal of the House Mithielaen, the Sacred Wisdom of Dardiron and Great Protector of Glórothrel
Religions: El (68%), Galaena (15%) Erúnaen (5%), Others (11%)
Climate: Alfheim's woodlands are sheltered, temperate woods. Ancient pines, spruce,
redwoods, and other conifers fill its mountainous valleys. River runoff from the surrounding Cruth mountains waters the
valleys and misty clouds from the Gulf of Biengyar become trapped in its sylvan hills. Winters are cool and mild in the
lower lands, breezy and warm in the summer. In the mountains the seasons are swift to change from winter to summer, cold
and snowy to hot and dry days.
Major Cities:Corunglain (4,000); Laurananu (2,700); Ethaennae (1,100)
History: The Galiadre
elves believe that their kind are descended from the reclusive and primitive
Earinai of forest Heartstrong. Their heredity is
obscured by unknown millenia, leaving it uncertain as to why the Galiadre seperated from the Earinai. Historically slow
to act, Alfheim recently was victorious over the United Kingdoms in their battle to reclaim the lands of their ancestors of
many hundreds of years past. The time of the Black Scourge happened so quickly in the eyes of the elves that they offered
little resistance or assistance as the Dark God plundered through the southern edges of their forests, bent on conquering
their southern neighbors. Once, several millenia past, the Galiadre of Alfheim were part of a vast nation that spanned the
southern half of the continent from the Crescent Mountains to the Plains of Sheynar. Their disorganized clans gathered under
the banner of Coraon and retreated to their present mountainous forests when the humans of the Eastern Empire began their
exodus westward in 4250AC. Scattered Galiadre tribes remained behind and still populate those lands.
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