Teredahar Locales: Tefalas, the Western Woods

Location

Tefalas is a broad strip of land comprising much of Teredahar's west coast. It's an almost perfect natural fortress, bordered by mountains to the North, East, and South and with steep cliffs guarding much of its coastline. Its only true border is with Kurudar on the Southern side of the Walls of Tefalas mountains. Across the Northern Torran Spine is the vast, lawless Shifting Desert and further north the frozen, cursed former Kingdom of Tannock. The ocean to Teredahar's west is called the Soran Ocean by those who dare to cross it. Across it lie the Human's kingdoms of Nahydra, Drakuga, and Whitereach.

Landscape

The terrain of Tefalas is generally very rough: craggy foot-hills give way to boulder-strewn forests which in turn give way to the steep Iron Cliffs of the coastline. The coastal forests are rainy year-round and dominated by massive redwood trees that grow hundreds of feet tall. In the highlands it only rains in the wintertime, and snow is not unheard of. Here the thin soil makes the trees smaller but no less dense. Two large rivers course from the highlands to the ocean: the Lore River in the North, and Trell River in the middle.

People & Commerce

Tefalas is claimed in its entirety by a small population of Elves who call themselves Reddin. The Reddin broke off from Tan'Rar during the Age of Settlers and were drawn by the region's natural beauty to choose Tefalas as their homeland. They believe that living amongst nature brings them closer to their fey ancestry and live in small villages often high amongst the most massive of redwoods. Their 'cities' may house fewer than a thousand individuals and are built from living branches shaped over decades. The forests of the region are dotted with small villages so well-hidden they have eluded even the best cartographers.

The reddin are hostile to all outsiders and, while they normally don't gather in large numbers, are capable of amassing an army to defend their domain if necessary. When settlers from Nahydra landed on their shores, they were subject to repeated vicious attacks by Reddin raiding parties. Eventually the settlers were driven off or massacred by a combined force of Reddin and their allies from Kurudar. The remains of their settlements still stand on the coast as a reminder of Reddin ferocity.

Given their hostility to outsiders, trade with the Reddin is unheard of. They merely tolerate the presence of Sandrock Clan dwarven traders out of North Point permitted to pass through their lands in exchange for artifacts that would be otherwise unavailable.

Government

The Reddin villages all pay duty to local lords, who in turn support the capitol and high priestess seated at Greatwood. The small population and large area of Tefalas makes conflict between lords extremely rare. The pacifistic teachings of the Reddin faith further ensures that conflicts between Reddin are solved without arms most of the time.

Next Time

The next Races of Teredahar article will talk about the origin and subraces of Dwarves.