Mirdain

The mirdain are a sophisticated and cultured people, who tend to prefer diplomacy to warfare, and subtlety to brute force. Theirs is an empire of influence and trade, and of intelligence networks which extend like sinuous branches from their forest-clad homeland.

In combat, mirdain warriors move with innate grace and fluidity, seeking the perfect opening before striking with surgical precision. The mirdain are renowned tacticians, who may overcome near-insurmountable odds through brilliantly deployed maneuvers, ruses and stratagems.

See race page for info on attributes.

Mirendil and the Republic
The borders of the mirdain realm continues to move with the tides of war, but its core will always remain Mirendil, a vast and ancient forest which dominates the southwestern part of Agon's main continent.

To its north, the Mirendil is bordered by the plains and gently rolling hills of the Mahirim Tribelands. To the south and east, beyond a no-man's-land shattered by war, lies Nagast, the poisoned and spell-blasted homeland of the Alfar. Across the Ruby Sea to the south lies Rubaiyat, a desert continent which was recently overrun by the seemingly unstoppable undead hordes of the Red Pharaoh. To the east of the Forest Republic lies the fiercely contested heartlands of Agon, which are slowly being devoured by the Pall of Synochus, a Deathless Mage who wields strange and powerful forms of shadow magic.

The Mirendil Forest itself is intersected by several broad, winding rivers, the most famous of which is the Irthan, which rises in the darkest depths of the forest and empties into the Eirandar wetlands of western Mirendil. Several mountain chains and lakes further perforate the forest, making it a less geographically uniform place than a cursory glance would suggest.

A unique feature of the Mirendil is a number of elemental regions, which are connected to strange elemental zones by permanent vortex-portals, Through these portals issue elemental matter, as well as weather effects and monsters native to the target elemental planes. The most famous elemental zones are Northern Erinthel, in which the climate is arctic, and Northwestern Alyani, which is constantly ravaged by firestorms. All elemental zones were created as a side-effect of a failed magical experiment performed during the Usurper Wars, and all attempts at closing them have failed.

Wildsprings are sacred sylvan sites that are found throughout Mirendil. Though their appearance varies somewhat, most wildsprings feature circular lakes with small islets in their center. Each such islet is home to a single Tree of All Seeds, while the lake itself tends to be encircled by tall standing stones. Fairies and pixies live in and around the Tree of All Seeds, and the dense woods surrounding wildsprings are home to many other sylvan creatures.

Enemies: The beastmen of the Mirendil
Since before the dawn of history, the great forest has served as the battleground for wars between mirdain and beastmen. The very oldest elven songs tell of victories against the beastmen, and fighting this ancient enemy remains a true test of valor for mirdain warriors.

Like the mirdain, beastmen are children of the Mirendil, who prefer the forest to any other habitat. But while the mirdain venerate the trees they live among, the beastmen see them as valuable resources waiting to be harvested. They cut down the forest surrounding their villages, then move on when nothing is left but a scarred wasteland. Predictably, local mirdain will try to eradicate new beastmen settlements before too much damage is done.

Beastmen stand close to three meters tall and their powerfully built bodies are covered in thick black fur. Trunk-like arms and legs indicate their awesome strength, and their feet are clawed paws, resembling those of a bear. Their hands, however, have five flexible, hair-covered fingers, and beastmen are capable of using wide variety of tools.

Enemies: The Forest Prophets
According to these fundamentalist druids, the Mirendil belongs to the animals and to the creatures which have co-existed with them since the days of the first trees, such as centaurs, dryads and the faerie. In essence, the Forest Prophets want to rid the Mirendil of all civilized, house-building cultures, such as the beastmen and the mirdain, and they will not rest until the forest has been cleansed of every last farmer, woodcutter and city-dweller.

The Forest Prophets build their sylvan armies using a curse which shatters the sanity of normal animals and fills them with an implacable, suicidal rage. Animals bestowed with the Forest Prophets' curse will attack any humanoid creature they encounter. Slowly but surely, afflicted animals are consumed by this curse, until they are little more than undead husks kept moving by the hatred which courses through their decayed bodies.

Unbeknownst to the majority of Prophets, their real leader is a huge and ancient dragon, who dwells in an earthen cave deep under the Mirendil. The dragon's ultimate goal is to establish himself as a prophet-emperor of Mirendil when the Republic has been sufficiently weakened.

Charybdis
The mirdain capital straddles the Irthan river near its source, with approximately half of the city's hometrees rising from on each bank of the river. As it flows out of Charybdis, the Irthan plunges over an enormous waterfall which sends wave after wave of mist into the tall, glistening trees above. Looking down from one of the house-platforms of Charybdis, one might easily form the impression that the mirdain capital floats among clouds.

Like all mirdain settlements, Charybdis is built on a large number of levels which are interconnected by stairs, elevators and wooden bridges. The mirdain prefer to live among the leaves and branches of gargantuan, sky-blue hometrees, but many businesses and defensive structures stand on the ground. An ancient, deeply sacred Tree of All Seeds, which stands on a small island in the Irthan, is said to be the parent of all other trees of its kind.

Mirdain adventurers start their careers in one of three villages which all lie in the vicinity of Charybdis. King's Holdfast is dominated by three small subsidiaries of the Irthan, which run through it and form its boundaries, respectively. Near this village lies one of the largest and most revered wildsprings in all of Mirendil. Leafhelm covers several spacious plateaus on a large, craggy mountain which rises dramatically from the forest floor. Beladin's Rest is built under and among the gargantuan branches of Eryasil, a truly enormous greenroot which is the largest tree in all of Agon.

Culture and religion
Mirdain society is dominated by a class of nobles called elflords, who are the only citizens eligible for election to the Grand Parliament, which is where all important decisions of law and policy are made. From among their number, the elflords elect a single Aran who serves as a largely symbolic head of state.

The roots of the Forest Republic go back almost to the Usurper Wars, which ended 80 000 years ago. In the almost incomprehensibly long ages which have passed since, mirdain society has accumulated such a large number of rituals, customs and laws that most foreign observers find its affairs to be unnecessarily, almost impenetrably complicated. To a mirdain, however, this only indicates that most foreign observers lack the intelligence necessary for advanced politics and administration.

Though not a very religious people, the mirdain do see the Mirendil Forest as a living entity who must be respected and protected - even worshipped, according to some strains of thought. Veneration for the forest is a central aspect of mirdain culture, and the most important rituals in the (crowded) ceremonial calendar are tied to the changing of the Mirendil's seasons.

In a sense, the mirdain may also be said to worship a gallery of epic heroes, who are the subjects of countless songs, tales and poems. Foremost among these paragons are Myrthai (male) and Lorathai (female) who are worshipped both as tragic heroes and as doomed, perfect lovers.

Movers and shakers
On the surface, the Forest Republic may appear to be a serene and unchanging place, but those who choose to immerse themselves in mirdain affairs - through quests handed out by competing factions - discover a world of intrigue, treachery and deadly power struggles.

Though Arans physically occupy the Emerald Throne, theyare controlled by the elflords who elect them to serve as figureheads of their rule. As a class, the elflords are primarily interested in maintaining a status quo which has remained in place through millennia. Arrogant, hugely conservative, and sometimes self-serving, they are capable of dealing quite harshly with those who oppose them.

Named for the magically illuminated spire which rises from their citadel in Iriendir, the Serene Spire is an ancient circle of mages They have always been a power to be reckoned with in Mirendil, and are endlessly vying for power with the Emerald Throne. The Serene Spire are just as arrogant their old rival, but somewhat less conservative, and less afraid of trying new things.

The members of the Arrowhead faction would prefer less diplomacy and espionage, more head-on warfare against the enemies of the mirdain. In addition to believing that the Republic has been far too forgiving of its enemies, the Arrowhead feel that the time has come for a regime change: They want to replace the parliament of the elflords with a leaner, meaner state in which the military controls the Emerald Throne.

The Circle of Druids are the protectors of the forest, and the transmitters of the forest's magic into mirdain society. Predictably, the druids are vehemently opposed to any exploitation of the forest, and they are sworn enemies of the beastmen. The Circle of Druids are also deeply concerned by the growing number of animals which are driven mad by the cruel and deluded Forest Prophets.

What makes the mirdain special?
Mirdain are born with an aptitude for magic, and though there are exceptions, most of them obtain at least a smattering of magical skills. Most mirdain children learn to hunt as they grow up, and as a result, they tend to excel with the bow later in life.

The mirdain ride enormous cats which have been bred for size, obedience and ferocity. They resemble the Snow Leopards of the northern continent of Niflheim, with their black-spotted white fur, long, bushy tails, and pale blue eyes. Unlike Snow Leopards, however, Aerdin cats have huge tusks which protrude from their upper jaws, and which they use quite effectively in combat. The mirdain tend to equip Aerdin with soft and simple saddles which do not inhibit movement too much.

The mirdain are staunch and ancient allies of the humans and the dwarves, though their tendency to see themselves as natural leaders causes a fair amount of friction. Mirdain prefer clans which contain mirdain, elves and humans, and alliances with any of the other races are unlikely, though not impossible.

How the mirdain see the world:
"The empires and kingdoms of other races may rise and fall, but the Forest Republic remains, eternal and unchanged. We must be true to our ancient laws and customs, which - like the trees themselves - have grown and flourished in Mirendil's soil."

- Naessa Rivermist, elflord member of the Grand Parliament.

"We seek to know all, understand all and be prepared for all. Wherever you travel on Agon, the subtle hand of the Republic may be felt but never seen."

- Selewyn Shadesong, mirdain diplomat

"For too long, the mirdain have been content to subtly manipulate, and the current war-torn state of the world bears witness to that policy's failure. Since the lesser races evidently lack the intellect and temperament to properly govern themselves, we should unite them under the aegis of firm but enlightened mirdain rule."

- Sirthas Dragonshield, Arrowhead commander

"At little more than two centuries of age, the human kingdom of Mercia should be forgiven some of its naiveté and brashness. If the humans would but accept our leadership a little more readily, the mirdain might guide them past some of the traps and pitfalls of youth."

- Caradhan Silverhold, Serene Spire mage

"Guided by the teachings of Ymir, the dwarves have turned their race and nation into the vessels of a strange and idiosyncratic destiny. If those stout little worker drones would but listen to reason, their energies might be put to better use."

- Nailys Snowleaf, mirdain merchant

How others see the mirdain
"Nothing in this world gives me greater pleasure than a long chase followed by the felling of full-grown mirdain prey."

- Muldôn the Tireless, mahirim hunter

"Words, words, words… sometimes a friendly punch in the face is needed to make my mirdain clanmates discuss less and do more."

- Hardvald Darkthrone, dwarven clan leader

"Soon Melek will create a black hole to suck the sun out of the sky and end daylight forever. On that night, the rivers of Agon will become blood courses for the liquid proof of our hatred of the depraved and effeminate Mirdain."

- Daelil Arkinshard, alfar priestess

"Uzkar say: kill first, discuss peaceful alternathieves later. What I like to do is crush big mirdain heads and make them go quiet."

- Uzkar Finefist, orkish raider

"The mirdain are lost in a labyrinth of their own making, full of outdated laws, customs and beliefs. This means that they tend to dither and discuss endlessly when swift, decisive action is called for. If the mirdain would but shake off some of their cultural ballast, they would make even better allies for Mercia and the human race."

- Simeon Bailmarsh, human admiral

History
The roots of the mirdain people are lost in time. It is believed that they share some kind of common origin with the now-scattered ithwen, and that an ancestor of these two elven breeds evolved in the forests of central Agon, most probably in present-day Mirendil.

Throughout the many millennia of their early history, the mirdain lived as hunter-gatherers in boundary-free forests. The generosity of Agon, and their own formidable skill as hunters, meant that the mirdain could live relatively carefree lives, rarely planning beyond their next few meals. They wore primitive hide clothes, hunted using simple weapons, and their only dwellings were sheltering bushes when it rained. In winter, all mirdain clans migrated to the southern parts of the Mirendil, where the climate is warm and snow never falls.

Melek’s rebellion brought about the death of this original mirdain life, which is still remembered as a harmonious golden age. As Melek’s cave-spawned alfar grew in power, the mirdain were forced to adapt to survive. For many years, alfar raiders kidnapped, killed and plundered throughout Mirendil, eventually threatening to enslave the entire mirdain people, who were too disorganized and scattered to resist effectively.

Guided by Myrthai and Lorathai, the clans began settling in fortified villages that could withstand the raiding parties. It eventually became apparent, however, that this would not be enough: directed by Melek and his court at Shoal, the alfar were highly organized and determined to enslave or eradicate their hated relatives.

Nearly 7200 years ago, the leaders of the most powerful settlements met to discuss the construction of a mirdain capital, from which the defense of the nation could be administrated. They agreed to build it on a large island called Charybdis in the Lake of Dreams, which is both easily defensible and a symbolic location: Charybdis Island is said to be the place where Myrthai and Lorathai, the mirdain gods, first met.

In the following years, Charybdis grew from nothing into a splendid city. It soon filled the modestly sized island on which it stands, and the mirdain architects were required to turn their gaze upwards: tall towers and soaring spires now reflect in the waters of the Lake of Dreams.

The Forest Republic Grows
The village leaders and warrior-heroes who founded Charybdis established themselves as a patrician class within the city. The town became an oligarchy ruled by a parliament elected by and from this class, which became known collectively as the Elflords.

From among their own ranks, the elflord parliament elects an aran, who – in theory, at least – is the sovereign ruler of all Mirendil. In practice, however, a system of checks and balances severely limits the power of the aran, whose role is sometimes said to be primarily symbolic.

Under the stewardship of Charybdis, the mirdain raised an effective standing army, and built solid defenses against the raids of the alfar. Trade routes with other nations were also established, and the wealth and sophistication of the mirdain grew. The human empire of Chaldea became an important ally and trading partner, and would remain so until its fall more than two thousand years later. Together, the two nations forged a long period of peace which is unrivalled in the history of Agon.

Two hundred years after the founding of Charybdis, the river Sirith was made navigable all the way from the Lake of Dreams to the Moldar plain. The river quickly became the primary transport route for all goods transported into our out of the Forest Republic.

The Bureaucracy Grows
The Forest Republic has lasted for more than seven thousand years, and many of its institutions have remained (more or less) unchanged for millennia. The Mirendil political system has shown unrivalled endurance, and it still functions quite well, even if chinks have begun appearing in the armour.

Most notably, the Charybdis bureaucracy has grown increasingly power-hungry. These days, the agents and tax collectors of Charybdis are feared and loathed rather than respected. Venality was practically unheard of in the early centuries of the Republic, but in recent centuries, an increasing number of underworked, underpaid bureaucrats have become corrupt.

Another problem is that, through millennia of power struggles among Elflords, the parliament has become bloated and inefficient. In times of peace, this is hardly a disaster for the average mirdain citizen, but in times of crisis, the lack of decisive decision-making could prove fatal.

The Ciel-Fey
Spurred by the increasing power and ineptitude of the bureaucracy, a movement for decentralization rose among the mirdain. Ultimately, the anti-Charybdis clans launched a full-scale rebellion, seeking to replace the king with one sympathetic to their views. The uprising failed, but the schism was final: many extremists distanced themselves from mainstream mirdain society, moving to new settlements in the Denwode forest and in sparsely populated parts of the Mirendil.

In the three centuries that have passed since, these elves have grown extremely xenophobic and culturally conservative, and they are known as the Ciel Fey. Many Ciel Fey regard the mirdain as outright enemies, and fight vigorously against the rule of Charybdis, which they regard as self-serving and decadent.

The birth of the Council
In the wake of the rebellion, the Grand Parliament named the first Council of Eight (See Society). While some support the goals and methods of the Council, many now say that it has grown too powerful and too ruthless. It is whispered that those who oppose the Council tend to be found dead, floating in the foggy Lake of Dreams.

A Recent Tragedy
Just over 50 years ago, the Forest Republic was struck by a tragedy that still haunts it. The brave and beautiful Ilynna, a scion of a prominent elflord family, was killed during a bold – some say foolhardy – attempt to steal the Silver Circlet from Melek. Her intention was to return the Circlet to Myrthai, the elven god to whom it originally belonged.

In life, Ilynna was the foremost adventurer of her day. Fifty years later, she is remembered in countless songs and stories, and she is one of the mirdain’s foremost culture heroes.

Society
The majority of mirdain live in small villages scattered throughout the vast Mirendil forest. The only large population centre in Mirendil is the ancient capital of Charybdis, which lies on an island within a large lake in the northern part of the forest.

The mirdain worship beauty above all else, and are great lovers of art and nature. Their homes tend to be generously yet tastefully decorated, with flowers and pieces of art subtly intermingled. The mirdain also value personal appearance, and those who can afford it wear elegant clothes and simple yet beautiful jewelry.

Though considered vain by some, the mirdain are a resourceful and hard-working race. They are talented merchants, gifted hunters, and their artistic skills put all other races to shame. Mirdain goldsmiths, jewelers and woodcarvers are considered the finest in the world, and while the most beautiful pieces remain in Mirendil, much is exported.

Another of the Forest Republic’s most valuable exports are herbs gathered in the forest, as well as potions and poison extracted from various plants. The mirdain also sell large quantities of luxury goods, such as their legendary sunwine, expensive meats, and foodstuffs (such as nuts and berries) that are rare elsewhere.

Charybdis
Deep inside northern Mirendil stands the Mirdain capital of Charybdis - truly one of the marvels of Agon. Built on an island in the Lake of Dreams, its tall spires and marvelous glass-and-wood mansions reflect magnificently in the ever-still water around them. When its small but beautiful parks and squares are included, the capital covers the island it stands on completely.

Narrow streets and alleyways criss-cross the island, in the shadow of tall buildings, many of which are spire-clad. Walkways overhang the streets in many places, connecting the gallery floors of neighbouring buildings. These overhanging walkways tend to be beautifully decorated, with stained glass windows and colourful banners and flags. Despite the scarcity of space, trees and plants are plentiful in Charybdis – in yards and along streets - nursed by attentive mirdain as well as by the exceptional climate.

The Forest Republic
Nominally, a republic, Mirendil is far from being a fully-fledged democracy. Most political power in the Republic rests with an oligarchy of powerful families, who are collectively referred to as the elflords. Only members of this noble class are eligible for election to the Grand Parliament, which – among other things – passes laws, elects arans, and appoints the members of the Royal Council.

During the long centuries of its history, the Grand Council has accumulated members, rules and customs, and as a result, it has lost some of its flexibility and decisiveness. This trend gave birth to the Council of Eight, which enjoys considerable power and freedom of maneuver (some say too much), but which is appointed by the Grand Council.

The Arans of Charybdis
Arans are the closest thing to kings or queens in Mirendil. The aran is elected for life, but his or her power is limited by an intricate system of checks and balances, as well as by the strength of the Circle of Eight, which has grown recently. Additionally, the Grand Council tends to prefer venerable old men and women when selecting new arans, rewarding them for their long and faithful service to the Mirendil republic. The aran is primarily a ceremonial figure, who is very important as a unifying symbol to the scattered clans of Mirendil.

The aran fulfils several important ceremonial roles, as Judge of the Hunt, for instance, and as leader of the many processions and celebrations that dominate life in the star-clad city.

The current aran is Delian III, a scion of one of the oldest and most powerful elflord families. At 62, he is relatively young for an aran, and he takes an active role in the day-to-day business of the Grand Parliament. Delian is a tall and handsome mirdain who is popular among the people and who wields considerable political power. He is less of a show figure than most arans, and he works actively and openly to limit the growing power of the Council of Eight. In his youth, Delian was a famous hunter and warrior. Until he was chosen as aran two years ago, Delian’s adult years had been spent in politics and the military.

The Council of Eight
The oligarchy of elflords has ruled for seven thousand years, and for most of that time, it has done so through the Grand Parliament. Through the Forest Republic’s almost incomprehensibly long life, the constant jockeying for power among the noble families have resulted in a bloated parliament. The checks and balances that protect Mirendil against despotism (and elflords against other elflords’ machinations), also slow the parliament down, making it ill-suited to decisive decision-making in crisis situations.

During the wars against the Ciel Fey rebels, it became obvious that the Grand Parliament had become too unwieldy: The combination of a dithering aran and an impotent parliament combined to endanger the elven republic. Shortly after that crisis was overcome, the Council of Eight was founded, and given the power to execute the will of the parliament, as well as to function as secret police and intelligence agency. In the time that has passed since, the Eight have continued to expand its influence, and many now fear that it has become too powerful.

The primary function of the Eight is to safeguard Mirendil against all threats, internal as well as external. They control a large network of spies, and have the power to deal decisively with the threats they uncover. Rumours abound of kidnapping, torture and liquidations in the name of the republic, making the Eight both unpopular and feared in some quarters. It should be remembered, however, that the Eight are appointed by and answerable to the Grand Parliament. In a way, the Eight should be seen as the extended, occasionally quite ruthless arm of the elflords and their Parliament.

When it needs to deal with enemies of the Republic, the Council of Eight sends its Inquisitors of State, who are known as merciless, unstoppable enforcers

The Inquisitors of State
These days, the silver and green worn by the Inquisitors of State have become a common sight in the cities and villages of Mirendil. They are the tools of the Council of Eight, and as their mother institution has grown more and more powerful, the Inquisitors have become ubiquitous. They are formidable warriors, clad in silver and green, and they are the assassins and enforcers of the Republic. Their faces remain hidden at all times, and their identity is kept secret, as is the location of their headquarters.

The Inquisitors function as the city guard of Charybdis, patrolling the capital in groups of four or five. While most numerous and visible in the capital, they may – with increasing frequency - be encountered on forest roads and in towns and villages throughout the republic. Their headquarters are widely guessed to lie within or underneath the Serene Spire at Charybdis, and they move freely through the capital. Most people suppose that the Council controls a system of underground tunnels which is used extensively by the Inquisitors.

All Inquisitors of State are fighter-mages, equally as skilled in spellcasting as in sword fighting. Trained to be self-sufficient in the field, inquisitors are sometimes sent to deal with dangerous situations single-handedly, but they are most often encountered in teams of two or three.

Inquisitors of State wear green clothing and light silver armour, which is suited to long journeys through the forest. They wear silver-and-green embroidered masks that cover their faces from the nose down, and wield silver-hued melee weapons. All Inquisitors are expert longbowmen, and due to their finely honed hunting skills, few quarries ever shake them off.

The Elflords
By long-established tradition, only members of the noble class, called the elflords, can be elected to the Grand Parliament. New families are occasionally admitted into the noble class, usually as a reward for long and faithful service to the Republic, or in recognition of the spectacular achievements of a single family member. All elflords are expected to maintain a certain level of wealth, and families that fall into poverty risk permanent exclusion from the class

As a result, elflords that can tend to dress in a way that leaves no doubt about their wealth. They wear exquisitely tailored clothes of the finest materials, and extremely expensive (if often understated) jewelry. On important occasions, elflords wear suits of jewel-clad ceremonial armour, and elaborately decorated weapons that would be of little use in actual combat.

Though their roots are in clans and communities throughout the Forest Republic, all elflords either live in Charybdis, or maintain a sizable villa in or near the capital.

Feasts and Festivals
During its long history, the Forest Republic has accumulated a great number of festivals and celebrations. Most days of the year are dedicated to the memory of some great hero or achievement, and the great celebrations are quite frequent, with most months seeing at least three or four processions through the streets of Charybdis, followed by all-night parties along the shores of the Lake of Dreams. During such celebrations, all citizens dress in their very finest, and spend lavishly on elaborate meals and beautiful parties.

The most important festival among the mirdain is the Great Hunt, which is arranged every May in all but the smallest of communities. The Great Hunt lasts for a full weekend, and involves all Mirdain of adult age. All participants try to hunt down and kill a single animal or monster, as large as possible, and the winner receives the honorary title of Master Huntsman. Some communities release dangerous monsters before the hunt starts, and it is quite common for several participants to get injured, or even killed, during the Great Hunt.

Allies and enemies
The Ciel Fey live in dark, remote corners of the Mirendil Forest, where the Inquisitors of State can’t reach them. Some Ciel Fey seek only to live in peace, away from the bureaucracy of the Forest Republic, others seek to bring down the rule of Charybdis, and to end all logging and stone-building in the forest.

All Ciel Fey are elven fundamentalists who preach a return to the ancient ways. They see the present-day society of Mirendil as an evil aberration, and the most extreme clans want to tear every wall and spire of the Forest Republic down. The Ciel Fey themselves have returned to a way of life similar to that lived by mirdain before the alfar threat forced them to build a more centralized and organized society.

Members of the most extreme Ciel Fey clans will attack mirdain on sight, unless they are heavily outnumbered. Ciel Fey belonging to clans whose only desire is a return to the ancient ways will attack only if they see no possibility of disappearing unnoticed. The Ciel Fey never let mirdain who have noticed them escape: they know only too well that they will be mercilessly hunted down if their whereabouts are divulged to the Inquisitors of State.

Ciel Fey are most commonly encountered in small, wandering clans of between ten and thirty individuals. In the darkest and most remote corners of the forest, however, some have formed larger tribe-like communities that defend their territories fiercely.

Such territories tend to be focused on a Tree of All Seeds, which is a swift-growing and fecund tree that is sacred to the Ciel Fey. The tree is heavily defended at all times, and the members of the tribe will defend it to the death. Ciel Fey that retreat from battles elsewhere in the tribe’s territory tend to regroup by the Tree of All Seeds.

Ciel Fey tribes are led by shamans, who are highly skilled in nature-oriented magic, and who gain exceptional powers when fighting near a Tree of All Seeds. Shamans dress in a wild fashion, and their hair tends be a free-growing, tangled mass while their faces are covered in scar-symbols. Most tribes worship Myrthai and Lorathai, but a few have turned to the worship of even more ancient mirdain gods.

The Ciel Fey wear functional but rather drab and primitive-looking clothes made from animal hide. They change their outfits to match the colours of the forest’s seasons, and wield beautifully made longbows and longswords.

The Goblin Hordes
The Mirendil is an enormous forest, home to many wildernesses that are beyond the reach of the army and the Inquisitors. In these regions, countless goblin tribes multiply with the awesome fecundity of their race. While an individual goblin hardly constitutes a threat to an adult mirdain, the diminutive green-skinned humanoids tend to attack in their hundreds.

A goblin tribe tends to breed frenetically while stripping the natural resources of some – usually remote and inaccessible - tribal area. When their numbers have grown large enough, the goblins launch a series of ferocious raids on neighbouring areas, attacking anything that stands in the way of their lemming-like expansion. Sometimes this leads to an expansion of the goblin tribe’s territories, but more often it simply wastes its excess population on their neighbours’ defenses. The cycle then begins again, with frenetic breeding in the caves, dells and swamps of the dark parts of the forest.

Occasionally, a chieftain will arise and gather all nearby goblin tribes and clans under his or her influence. When this happens, the tribe’s raids become more determined and more intelligently planned. Goblins increase in bulk as they increase in power, and while Goblin Leaders are large and Chieftains huge, Goblin Kings are enormous, especially when compared to their small-statured subjects.

The Centaurs of Mirendil
The centaurs roam through the forest in small-to-medium-sized clans, hunting and foraging freely, and neither claiming nor respecting any territorial boundaries. The centaurs of Mirendil are traditional allies of the Mirdain, and they rarely bother travelers of other races. Trespassers with an evil alignment, however, are attacked immediately and relentlessly.

The Centaur is part Mirdain and part horse. Its body and legs are those of a horse, while an elven torso, with arms and head, extends vertically from its forequarters. The Centaur’s equine body resembles that of an average-sized pony, and is covered by short but dense, slightly curled, brown fur. The elven part of the Centaur is of corresponding size, and thus its hairless torso, arms and head are much smaller than those of any elf. Like the Mirdain, the Centaurs have pointed ears and finely chiseled facial features. Centaur hair is always dark, and is usually kept long and unkempt.

All Centaurs are expert archers, who use their hunting bows to great effect against enemies as well as prey. Their preferred tactic is to fire volleys of arrows at an opponent, while using their superior mobility to evade melee combat.

Oberon’s Court
Both faerie and pixies are common in Mirendil, as are other typically sylvan creatures, such as dryads and oaklords. Most of these creatures are relatively friendly to the mirdain, as well as other creatures of good alignment. That said, dryads and pixies defend their sacred territories fiercely, even against mirdain who for some reason choose to trespass.

The nexus of faerie power in Mirendil is Oberon’s Court, which lies in the forest’s heartland. Here, a large circle of standing stones is surrounded by semi-impenetrable forest, and defended by oaklords and other powerful sylvan creatures. The centre of the circle acts as a gate to Oberon’s Court, which lies in a separate sub-dimension. Those few who have traveled into Oberon’s realm, tell of a mist-covered land of flower-fields, gardens and fruit-fields. At its heart stands a grass-covered mound, and inside it lie earthen halls containing the Court itself.

The area near the entrance is rich in sylvan life of all kinds, and especially the sentient species, such as pixies and dryads. It is part of Oberon’s nature that evil sylvan creatures are also welcome here, as long as they do not harm anyone. Many such creatures enjoy the safety of Oberon’s protection while launching raids into the surrounding mirdain lands. Despite this, Oberon is on relatively friendly terms with Charybdis, who rarely interfere with his affairs.

Religion and magic
The mirdain worship Myrthai and Lorathai, two legendary heroes who perished together on an epic quest. The mirdain took to worshipping the memory of these tragic heroes, slowly abandoning their older gods, who now are all but forgotten.

In addition to being warrior-gods, Myrthai and Lorathai – who were husband and wife in life - are venerated as eternal lovers. There is little to differentiate between the two gods, who are always worshipped as a couple, never as individuals with separate responsibilities or characteristics.

Together, they embody many of the traits most valued by mirdain society. While they are seen as bold, strong and adventurous, they are also artistically inclined, and preoccupied with things of beauty. Myrthai and Lorathai are said to spend much of their time creating things of immense beauty and power, which they give as gifts to each other or to faithful worshippers. They are also said to go on frequent adventures in distant dimensions, and the mirdain do not expect their gods to keep permanent eyes on Agon. Compared to the gods of some other races, Myrthai and Lorathai are somewhat aloof and distant.

Before their death, Myrthai and Lorathai went on countless quests and killed countless monsters, both inside and outside the borders of the Mirendil. Songs and stories tell of their deeds, but through the millennia the variations and embellishments have become so many, that their true nature and accomplishments are somewhat obscured.

It seems certain, however, that Myrthai and Lorathai lived approximately 32 000 years ago, and that they were born into one of Mirendil’s eastern clans. They adventured extensively in a world that was still recovering from the devastation of the Usurper Wars, and killed many legendary monsters and half-gods that still walked the world.

The Final Quest
During the Usurper Wars, many of the combatant gods summoned mercenary demons to fight in their armies. After the wars had died down, demons kept appearing of their own volition, having learned how to navigate between Agon and their home dimension.

The location of the demons’ home dimension was unknown even to the gods who had once called upon them. Myrthai and Lorathai set out to locate it, and to sever the ties that bind it to Agon. The majority of mirdain tales agree that Myrthai and Lorathai succeeded in locating the demon dimension, but that they were detected and slain by a terrible guardian creature.

Their Representations
Lorathai and Myrthai appear as a Mirdain male and female, but they are more beautiful than any earthbound creature could be, and both radiate a soft, golden light. Myrthai resembles a tall elven lord dressed and equipped for hunting. He has long black hair, a longbow over his shoulder and a longsword at his side. A pack of hunting dogs often accompanies him. Lorathai has long golden hair, and resembles a noble elven woman dressed for war; her silver longsword is often drawn, and a bow hangs over her shoulder. While both of them are most commonly depicted in hunting clothes or adventuring gear, they are sometimes seen wearing beautiful, almost contemporary clothes, as If ready to join a procession through the streets of Charybdis.

The most commonly used symbol of Lorathai and Myrthai, is a silver disc worn as a pendant, engraved with a face that is male on the left side, female on the right. The face is smiling, and radiates beams like a stylized sun.

Art and architecture
The mirdain build spacious, light-filled houses of glass and wood. They are masters of manipulating wooden beams into intricate shapes, creating tall, twisting spires, and spacious glass domes supported by latticework of slender beams. The glass in mirdain buildings is thick and coloured, and while the forest outside can only be seen in glimpses, quite a bit of coloured sunlight filters through to the floor below.

Deep shades of red, green and blue are the most common glass colours, with each structure containing a single colour only. Though they look frail, mirdain houses are amazingly resilient, and in practice, they can take just as much punishment as the houses built by other races.

Most mirdain houses consist of a single, large dome, and are completely circular in shape. Larger structures are commonly made by connecting several domes using narrow, glass-overbuilt cobblestone walkways. Some of the very largest domes (often themselves part of larger, walkway-connected structures) rise from a square-shaped lower section.

Inside, many buildings consist only of a single, spacious ground level floor, while others also include a second level halfway between ground and dome. The second level is little more than an expanded gallery, which runs along the building’s glass-and-wood walls. Galleries are built both on completely circular buildings, and on structures with a square-shaped lower section. On large buildings, glass-covered, tubular walkways sometimes connect the different sections at gallery level, as well as on ground level. Slender, winding wooden stairs connect the galleries to the ground.

Mirdain houses are bathed in coloured light that filters through the glass walls and ceilings. The light helps nourish a rich variety of trees and plants growing on the floor. Tall trees reach towards the ceiling, while mosses and ferns cover the ground. Colourful flowers grow between the trees, straining towards the light above. The plant life on the floor of mirdain houses appears natural, and in some cases, the pre-building flora has actually been preserved.

Rooms inside the houses are, quite simply, clearings in the predominant vegetation. The floor in these room-clearings has been covered in large cobblestones that raise it above its damp and sometimes insect-ridden surroundings. The various rooms of a building are connected by cobblestone walkways thorough the dense vegetation. Even in these cobblestone-clad rooms, potted plants and small potted trees are generously distributed, standing on the floor or suspended from the ceiling.

In addition to coloured daylight, mirdain houses are lit by bronze braziers that hang from the ceiling in fine bronze chains. Inside the braziers, open coal-fires burn, giving off a dancing, living kind of light, almost like small campfires. The braziers hang well above head level, even for a visiting mahirim.

Walls and Keeps
Mirdain city walls are almost impossibly tall and slender, and are made of an azure stone called aerthain, which is common throughout Mirendil. Aerthain is extremely heavy and durable, and blocks made from it settle swiftly into each other: After only a few days, aerthain walls have seamless surfaces that seem carved out of some impossibly large slab of rock.

Aerthain seems polished and the walls made from it have a rounded shape to them, seeming to bulge ever so slightly outwards towards the middle. At regular intervals rise tall and slender guardtowers, which seem to disappear upwards, fading into the sky. The mirdain often fly decorative banners and flags from their towers and battlements.

Mirdain keeps are also tall-walled and are made of the characteristic aerthain rock. Like city walls, the keeps have smooth outer surfaces that seem to bulge slightly outwards towards the middle, giving them a soft, slightly organic look. The azure rock reflects splendidly in the sunlight of Mirendil, making mirdain keeps resemble crystal castles from a distance.

While the lower section of mirdain castles consist primarily of naked aerthain, glass is an important component in those parts that are beyond the reach of siege engines. The coloured, semi-translucent glass is of the same kind as in ordinary hoses, and most keeps only have glass of a single colour, usually red, yellow or green.

Even more so than other races, the mirdain decorate their keeps and castles with beautiful flags and banners. Long banners hang down along the walls from battlements, while flags crown tall spires. The mirdain generally prefer single-coloured banners, often adorned with the symbol of the clan or lord who owns the keep.

Art and Decoration
As can readily be seen inside their houses, the people of the Forest Republic prefer to decorate with natural plants, trees and flowers. Additionally, stylized flowers are a popular motif in all mirdain art, including on tapestries and jewelry. Mirdain art is generally quite colourful and with a tendency towards the simple and natural, rather than the intricate.

The emerald is a preferred gemstone among the mirdain, who prefer jewel-carrying necklaces and rings to be of silver rather than gold. Emerald is mined in many places throughout the Mirendil, and mirdain jewelers earn good money exporting the second-best products of their workshops, inset in silver necklaces or golden rings. Rubies are also popular in the Forest Republic, and are much used to decorate on larger items, such as helmets and sword hilts.