The Wodenji/wood-elf Clan Oyashima of the Izu Islands

Four elven men, clad in blue yoroi shirts, blue trousers tucked into their boots, and wearing dark cloaks atop their heads and down one side of their body, obscuring their arm, dash through a forest of pine, past long armed monkeys who howl as they run by. Landing at the edge of the forest at a side gate to the bridge leading to Oyashima castle, the elves are met by several heavily armoured samurai of the clan who draw their swords, each wielding them with both hands on the hilt for the best control of the single edged blade. One of them gives a signal to another who is at a gatehouse nearby, and he rotates a crank which pulls up the bars of cages in the house, releasing several heavily feathered velociraptors. He pulls their collars by leash out to the bridge and gives several verbal commands to them, highly trained and moderately intelligent beasts, they charge to join the defense against the four intruding shinobi. swords clash, blows are deflected, slashes are dodged and staggers broke, and in a matter of seconds the men slaughter their way expertly through each of the samurai guarding the bridge. The velociraptors arriving now attempt to use the speed of their charges to bite and tear the elves to shreds, flanking and using stategy to encircle the four of them. But before their plan to attack can come to fruition, each of the four elves throws down a bomb that enshrouds the entire area in a thick impenetrable smoke, and the shock of the bangs from the explosions disorient the lizards. At the most opportune time to strike, it only took two of the shinobi to dispatch each of the confused dinosaurs. The other two men had broken off and used the distraction to gain some heading across the bridge towards the forces of samurai awaiting on the opposite side. The two that had finished off the raptors were now gone, split apart as they broke into separate directions to traverse different paths around or through castle Oyashima while the other two caused the main distraction and drew attention. The samurai across the bridge were supported by elven rangers with long black powder rifles that aimed down the narrow bridge at the shinobi running directly towards them. Firing their guns, expecting the assaulting elves to have dropped dead instead resulted in the deflection of both of their projectiles, and before they could ever reload their weapons the blue clad shinobi were upon them. The sounds of swords clashing and reptiles roaring, the sight and smell of black smoke from fires and gunpowder, these permeated the land of Oyashima, a province of the island nation of Izu, everywhere was touched by an ongoing war for power and control, nowhere was safe. Only through the total and complete victory of one side would the bloodshed end, and even then, yet another rebellion might soon come in it's place. A land cursed perpetually by war, only united truly as a people when in defense against the outside world. For now, lords rise and fall, and their samurai with them. Some shinobi work as mercenaries, some serve masters they are devoted to by the code of their lot in life. Monks in the mountains train in the ways of the serpent, the monkey, the spider, and the ways of the untamed savage beasts that roam the land of Izu. Thus, things are as they have always been in this strange and alien land. The wood elves here celebrate their freedom and distinction from the high elves of the mainland. They would prefer to face the troubles of their own people in their own land rather than trouble themselves with the rest of the world's failings or wars. Some, though, have become disillusioned with Izu, and having lost their sense of purpose, leave its island borders in search of new meaning elsewhere in the world. But if they seek to escape the politics of war, then unfortunately it seems nowhere would be a fit for them. They may end up roaming all of their lives if that were the case.