Located in northwest Khorvaire between Lake Galifar and the Crag Mountains, the Eldeen Reaches is a strange mix of untouched wilderness and pastoral farmland, inhabited primarily by humans. The region is also home to shifters, half-elves, gnomes, and halflings. The forests of the Eldeen Reaches are among the oldest on Khorvaire and are home to strange beasts and mischievous fey.
Two distinct cultures occupy the Eldeen Reaches. The Towering Wood that covers most of the region is home to a dozen distinct druid sects. The largest of these sects are the Wardens of the Wood have communities scattered throughout the wood. The other sects, including the Gatekeepers, are largely nomadic. Each sect had its own customs and practices, which sometime conflict with the beliefs of other sects.
The second major culture in the Eldeen Reaches is that of the farmers who populate the northeast part of the Reaches. The typical Reacher has little interest in events outside his or her village, and instead focuses on caring for the land, producing a good harvest, and expanding the farm for his or her children. While strangers are sometimes treated with suspsion, most communities are open and friendly to travelers. House Vadalis maintains a number of communities along the eastern border that are larger than the farming villages and offer a wider range of services to travellers.
The Eldeen reaches is home to the majority of Khorvaire's shifters. While many of the Reaches' shifters have integrated into the various druidic sects, some still live separately in tribes. The various shifter tribes have their own distinct customs. Some celebrate their bond with nature and avoid other races, while others embrace their human heritage and seek to establish trade with travellers and the people of the northeastern plains.
For the past 40 years, the Eldeen Reaches has officially been under the protection and guidance of Oalian, the Great Druid of the Wardens of the Woods, from the capital of Greenheart. The Wardens have long dominated the woods and have recently spread to the plains in order to maintain order throughout the nation. While the nation appears stable and peaceful to outsiders, the western woods are full of intrigue and subtle conflict. Here the shifter tribes, druidic sects, and mischievous fey maintain a precarious balance of power.
The nation's primary industries are agriculture and animal husbandry.
(Note these are not the cheerful thieves from the Robin Hood stories, but narcissistic thieves like those in Pirate movies who's only goal is to make money and have their own codes of conduct)
Within the Eldeen Reaches there are also creatures twisted into nightmares of their former selves, after having traveled through the Demon Wastes. Not to mention the Fiends and their pets that are traveling abroad.
"lord of the rings elf city in the trees"
While it's pretty, I was rather bored with the whole buildings-in-the-boughs concept, so my campaign's version of Greenheart was based on... crop circles. Oalian's grove and other centers of activity in the town are basically concentric or overlapping groves connected by lanes and lit by faerie fire. Viewed from above, it looks like glowing Nazca lines shining up through the forest canopy. The nice thing about having Oalian and an entire flock of druids on hand is that I have enough power on hand to explain radical changes in the layout of the city every time the players stop by.
