The Eldeen Reaches

The Eldeen Reaches cover the northwestern region of Khorvaire to the Shadowcrag Mountains. The eastern Reaches feature fertile plains and rolling hills, but dense forests cover the majority of the nation. These forests house some of the most primeval trees on the continent, ancient growths that have survived the rise and fall of empires and witnessed the arrival of humans on the shores of Khorvaire. The forces of magic permeate these woods, and strange beasts and mischievous fey roam the land. Many dangers also lurk in the deep woods, and the humanoids who make their homes in these forests don’t always take kindly to visitors.

Government

For the past forty years, the Eldeen Reaches have officially been under the protection and guidance of Oalian, the Great Druid of the Wardens of the Wood. Long dominant in the forest, the Wardens have spread out into the plains to ensure order throughout the region. Each village has a druid counselor who provides magical assistance and spiritual guidance, and who advises the leaders of the community. Councils made up of representatives from each farming family govern each of the communities. Bands of Warden rangers patrol the forest, responding to threats as they arise. The shifter tribes and druid sects have their own customs, but leaders are usually chosen based on age and spiritual wisdom. Concepts of law are guided by the ways of nature, and justice is usually swift and harsh.
Politically, the folk of the Eldeen Reaches largely ignore the events of the east and are ignored in return. The Wardens of the Wood have made clear to Breland and Aundair that they will defend the nation against any military threat and have no interest in further discussions regarding borders, treaties, or resource rights.

Industry & Trade

The Eldeen Reaches contain some of the most fertile land in all of Khorvaire. Guided by the ancient wisdom of the druids, Eldeen farmers produce abundant harvests of all manner of crops—much more than the relatively small population can use. Therefore, agriculture has become a big business for the people of the Reaches. Breland and Karrnath, in particular, utilize Eldeen produce to supplement the output of their own farms to help feed their highly industrialized societies. In addition to agriculture, animal husbandry is a major industry in the eastern reaches. House Vadalis is concentrated in the Eldeen Reaches and has spent generations working to domesticate the unusual creatures of the region and using magebreeding techniques to produce new and superior lines of existing species. Mounts, guard beasts, superior livestock, and exotic pets often originate in the Eldeen Reaches.
Darkwood groves are scattered throughout the reaches, and the forests contain many exotic plants and animals that have valuable alchemical or mystical properties. However, the druids discourage the harvesting of rare plants from the woods, and the Wardens of the Wood deal harshly with poachers caught hunting the creatures of the forest for personal gain.
Poaching aside, most of the druid sects tolerate the industries of the northeastern farmers and House Vadalis, as long as the land and livestock are treated with care and respect. Many villages have a local druid who provides spiritual guidance and agricultural advice. How ever, a few extremist sects—most notably the Ashbound— view such acts as a violation of the natural order. These extremist sects occasionally strike out against the north eastern communities.

Guilds and Factions

House Vadalis: The Mark of Handling first emerged among the earliest human settlers of the northeastern Reaches, and the house has maintained its greatest strongholds in the region ever since. Vadalis controls three small towns and a small city in the Reaches, and goods and services from the other nations can be acquired in these locations on a regular basis. The small towns are Merylsward, Delethorn, and Erlaskar; the small city is Varna, on the Aundair border, home of the Vadalis patriarch. Vadalis appreciates the security and order provided by the Wardens of the Wood and maintains a friendly relationship with most of the druid sects. However, the house has clashed many times with the Ashbound, a sect that abhors the house’s work with magebred animals.
The Gatekeepers: The oldest druid tradition in all of Khorvaire, the Gatekeepers hold true to their charge of vigilance against the horrors of the Dragon Below. Today, less than a hundred Gatekeepers work within the Reaches. These druids maintain old wards scattered around the region, seals that hold the daelkyr and other ancient powers in check. They also watch the skies for signs of deadly planar convergences. Most of the Gatekeepers in the Eldeen Reaches are orcs, though a few humans and half-orcs can be found within the sect.
The Wardens of the Wood: The largest and most influential druid sect in the Eldeen Reaches, the Wardens can be found across the nation, guarding both plain and forest. Their ranks have swelled over the last generation, as many a farmer’s son or daughter has dedicated his or her life to the druidic mysteries. The Wardens maintain order across the Reaches, and all of the sects respect the power and wisdom of the Great Druid who commands them. Oalian, a massive greatpine approximately 210 feet high and more than four thousand years old, was touched by the awaken spell of a long-dead Gatekeeper druid. Bound to the land and the great forest of the Eldeen Reaches, Oalian is the oldest and most powerful druid in Eberron. The Wardens maintain communities throughout the region, including Greenheart, Sylbaran, and Havenglen.
The Shifter Tribes: The Reaches hold the largest population of Sifters on the continent with communities of them existing in the woods for thousands of years. They are among the most accomplished survivalists in the region and often ally themselves with the Wardens of the Woods to combat the monstrous forces that exist in the woods. They've had a tense relationship with Aundair (who they were former citizens of) for centuries, since the lycanthropic purge.
The Cults of the Dragon Below: The legacy of the daelkyr can be found throughout the great wood. Aberrations and other twisted horrors still lurk in the shadows of the forest. Cultists from the Shadow Marches occasionally travel into the Reaches, and shifter tribes and eastern villagers have sometimes been corrupted by the seductive madness of the Dragon Below. These cultists generally battle the Gatekeepers, seeking to undo the ancient wards guarded by the orc druids.
The Lesser Sects: In addition to the Wardens of the Wood, a number of smaller sects—which can prove to be valuable allies or dangerous antagonists—also work within the region. These include the Ashbound, dangerous fanatics who roam the great forest, striking against the farmers of the plains and others they see as threats to the natural order; the Children of Winter, nihilists who embrace death as part of the natural cycle of life; and the Greensingers, druids and rangers with close ties to the fey, who can be found near the Twilight Demesne.

History

The deep woods of the Eldeen Reaches remain mostly as uncultivated as they were when the world was young. In the Age of Monsters the Eldeen Reaches were the domain of orcs who sought to live in harmony with the wilderness. These orcs were decimated in the war against the daelkyr. As fallout of this conflict, the forest was seeded with aberrations and horrid creatures formed by the sinister fleshshapers. Millennia passed, and humans came to Khorvaire. As the nations that would one day join together as Galifar took shape, the Eldeen Reaches were largely left alone thanks to tales of the “haunted forest” west of the Wynarn River, filled with monsters and demons. Still, over the course of centuries, humans and members of the other common races slowly drifted into the Reaches. Some came in search of land and opportunity. Hunters and warriors devoted to the Silver Flame came to battle evil magical beasts, eventually driving the more dangerous creatures into the deep woods. Others were drawn to the woods, called by a force they could not name. Deep in the ancient forest, those who heard the call met with the Great Druid Oalian, an awakened greatpine who has watched over the woods for more than four thousand years. He taught those who heard his call the ways of the wild and the duties of the ancient Gatekeepers. His teachings inspired all the druid sects that eventually grew up in the Reaches.
Centuries passed. The druid society grew and spread throughout the forest, which came to be known as the Towering Wood. The younger races brought their own customs and perspectives to the Reaches, of course, and Oalian’s teachings had already begun to diverge from those of the original Gatekeepers. In time, the druids fragmented into a dozen sects. Meanwhile, the nation of Aundair claimed the fertile plains along the eastern edge of the woods, and farmers and settlers spread across the river. Despite minor conflicts between shifter and settler, settler and druid, and even among the druids themselves, the region prospered.
The Last War proved to be the undoing of the old order. As the conflict intensified, Aundair pulled its forces back to protect its heartland and eastern borders, leaving the Eldeen Reaches to fend for themselves. Bandit lords sponsored by Karrnath and the Lhazaar Principalities harried the farms west of the Wynarn River, using the forest as a base and staging ground. In the south, Brelish troops crossed the Silver Lake to occupy Sylbaran, Greenblade, and Erlaskar. As things went from bad to worse, an army of druids and rangers emerged from the forest. In 956 YK, the Wardens of the Wood rallied the farmers and peasants, crushing the bandit army before it knew what was happening. With order restored in the north, the Wardens turned their attention to the south. In 959 YK, they finally succeeded in driving the Brelish forces back across the lake.
Angry at the Aundairian crown for abandoning them, the people swore allegiance to the Great Druid, breaking all ties with the lords of Aundair and resisting several Aundair attempts to regain control. Since 958 YK, the people of the Eldeen Reaches have considered themselves to be part of an independent nation, and they were finally recognized as such with the signing of the Treaty of Thronehold. It remains to be seen whether Aundair will try to reclaim its old territories now that the Last War has ended.

Geography

The Eldeen Reaches are bordered by Lake Galifar and the Wynarn River in the east, Silver Lake in the south, Byeshk Mountains in the southwest, Shadowcrag Mountains and Icehorn Mountains in the northwest and Eldeen Bay in the northeast. The Demon Wastes border the northwest, Aundair on the eastern border, Breland on the southeast, and Droaam and The Shadow Marches to the southwest. Though the lightning rail does not pass through the Eldeen Reaches, House Orien roadways pass through the lower southeast of the nation, around Lake Galifar.

Population

500,000 (45% humans, 16% half-elves, 16% shifters, 7% gnomes, 7% halflings, 3% orcs, 3% elves, 3% other races)