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Welcome to the Eldeen Reaches The towering wood is vast and ancient. Fey dance in untouched groves and dire animals slumber in the deep woods. However, thousands of years before humans came to Khorvaire the forces of Xoriat fought the Orc Gatekeepers in the Eldeen Reaches. The scars of that war still mark the forest. For every Dryad there is a Dolgrim; for every Unicorn, there is a Runehound. As if the scars of one war were not enough the Reaches, like the rest of Khorvaire, carry scars from the last war. After Aundair pulled their troops out during the last war, some say their enemies paid bandits to raid the Reaches and pull the Aundair troops back off the front lines. Even though the Bandits grew in size until they could be called armies unto their own. One seized and looted the city of Alvirad in 954, and another razed Niern the following year. Neither the Aundairian rangers, the wizards of Arcanix, nor the court of King Aarott, could spare the troops to root out the bandits. In 956, the Wardens of the Wood decided to act. They raised troops from the human, centaur, elf, and shifter inhabitants of the western reaches, and in a single season, they found and crushed nearly all of the major bandit armies. Some of the more perceptive Aundairian nobles saw the coming danger and urged the king to dismantle or reassign the newly mobilized forces. In 958 perhaps emboldened by the success of the Valenar, they Eldeen Reaches declared itself independent. The Wardens of the Wood, under the guidance of the Great Druid Oalian, announced the new nation’s neutrality. This caused King Aarott to declare, in the year 959, that he would only fight to restore Aundairian borders as he turned his troops on what were just months before his subjects. In 961 King Aarott died fighting against Eldeen raiders. His daughter Barvette took the throne in 962 and launched a series of incursions into the Reaches as vengeance for her father’s death. In late 979 Queen Barvette succumbed to a magical illness and in 980 her daughter Aurala was crowned queen of a ruined country. Aurala’s desperation was reflected in her initial actions. She sent envoys to her enemies, seeking a ceasefire. The “early years of Aurala” are still remembered as a time of relative peace and rebuilding in Aundair. The scars of old wars are not the only wounds that need healing. There are also conflicts ongoing within the boarders. The Ashbound, Children of Winter, Gatekeepers, Greensingers and of course the Wardens of the Wood, all different Druid Sects that call the Reaches home. Very often, see things so differently that the only way to resolve them is bloodshed. Dozens of Bandit groups still operating within the wood The Bandit tribes put in place during the war are still operating within and some say their funding comes from countries that would like to see Eldeen Reach territory added to their own. In 994 Cyre was devastated in the Day of Morning and two years later the Treaty of Thronehold was signed, making The Eldeen Reaches a country unto its own right. Two more years have passed and in the year 998 the Wardens of the wood struggle to keep peace in a country torn by hidden political machinations of the region’s sects and factions. With no meaningful central government, the Eldeen Reaches certainly has more then its share of intrigue. Having only officially gained independence from Aundair with the signing of the Treaty of Thronehold two years ago, the Eldeen Reaches have yet to come together as a nation. |