Illendor

Overview
The continent of Illendor once stood as the the premier cultural center of the world. A sprawling, verdant land, Illendor was dominated by a mountain chain that marched down the spine of the continent and by the forests that covered it from it's tropical southern tip to the alpine north. The forests of Illendor had been alive since trees existed, and boasted the largest oak and redwoods in the world. The grandest of these trees had been Awakened by elf druids in the first age, and watched over the great elf clans that lived, loved, and died in their branches.

In the age of Redian, Illendor exported woods, furs, spices, and many other things known for being the hallmark of refined peoples across the world. A wealthy sultan might wear a necklace set with wood from the Stone Forest, and a dwarf-lord from Dolgrind would lavish himself in a bath of Illendor soaps. Illendor was the most wealthy nation in the world. Deep under Cyendallis, the capital city, a network of vaults running miles, and protected by mighty golems and arcane traps contained enough gold to buy Falthein, the legendary mead-hall of Gruumsh.

Illendor stood the most to lose from The Falling. A gateway to the Elemental plain of fire spawned a network of volcanoes across the face of the continent. Magma bombs and pyroclastic flows obliterated the forests, and the death-cries of the great trees still linger in obscure grottoes and caves. Nothing but ash remained of the ingenious cities of the elves, so built that the interwove with the branches of the trees.

Only five of the great clans still survive, the Elinnil, the Toiron, the Quendafriy, the Eleney, and the Malascon. When the flows of magma subsided, the once-rival houses banded together to attempt to rebuild their civilization.

They have failed.

Elven city-states hug the blasted ground, supported by farmlands made from the fertile volcanic soil that forms most of the continent. The self-sustained symbiosis that once existed between the Elves and the land of Illendor is gone.

Elven art and culture has been replaced by ruthless backstabbing and espionage. A rift has formed betwixt the great houses, and though none dare open war in the lava-blasted wilderness, all are ready to spy, assassinate, and imprecate the other house.

Geography
Illendor consists of two major sections, the magma plains and the mountains. The magma plains are broad, flat expanses of dull black igneous stone that stretch over most of the continent. Most of the magma plains are incredibly hostile to life. The Eight Seals that protect Illendor from volcanic eruption suppress the growth of plants that otherwise would flourish in the mineral-rich plains, with the end result being that, although no new magma has appeared since The Falling, the majority of the magma plains are yet to degrade into soil. Rain quicky seeps into cracks or simply evaporates in Illendor's baking heat, leaving the area parched and desolate. The second major section is the mountains. Other continents have long, sweeping mountain ranges, piled with snow in winter and vegitation in summer. In other places, the mountains were mainly unaffected by The Falling, and are looked to a a sign of solid, unyeilding order and peace. Needless to say, this does not hod true for the mountains of Illendor. In Illendor, the mountains radiate hot menace, the barely contained rage of millions and millions of tons of lava that press night and day against the Eight Seals that both keep Illendor alive and slowly, bit by bit, kill every living thing on the continent. Elves to not look at mountains as a rule. The volcanoes are a testiment to the death of Illendor, as well as a reminder that such a catastophe may happen again, at any time, for any reason.

The Great Houses
The elves of Illendor are divided into one of the five Great Houses. The Great Houses, (the Elennil, the Toiron, the Quendafray, the Eleney, and the Malascon) were formed in the aftermath of The Falling out of the only cities of the the Elves that remained. Each house is ruled by a council of elected officials. Each official has office for five years, at which point they are expected to revert to their previous post.

The Houses rule areas of land on the least damaged part of the continent, usually the coast, with the exeption of the Eleney, who reside near the ruins of Cyendallis. Each plot of land contains a city, often surrounded by farmland (when protected from the Eight Seals, volcanic soil is very good farmland) and a few villages. Most activity, however, happens inside the acropolis.

The Eight Seals
The Eight Seals are the only thing standing between the Great Houses and a fiery extinction. Each Seal is a slab of petrified wood painted with runes for winter, death, permanence, and protection.

No-one knows from whence the Seals originate, although a careful historian might note the disappearance of the high lords of now deceased houses.

A careful and paranoid (i.e, elvish) historian would note that many of the vanished high lords were the political enemies of the currently existing Houses. He might also note that rituals of extreme power often require the sacrifice of sentient beings, but if he valued his reproductive organs, he would stop this train of thought right there.

The Seals radiate necrotic or negative energy on a metaphysical level, as well as intense cold on a physical one.