The Geography of Essin - Alara

The evergreen lands of the everlasting elves

As I began writing this. I had a thought: Why am I starting with the geography? Why am I so insistent on describing these landmasses before getting to the people? It seems a bit arbitrary, doesn’t it?

Well, the answer is twofold. When I first mapped Essin, it was just the area around Varrius Vale. It included that town, as well as Tuberton and Starfell, and it was all set on the east coast of the then unnamed continent. That’s all that existed when I first came up with the geography, but I only felt the need to create that geography for story reasons. One of the crucial characteristics of Varrius Vale is how isolated it is from any other major civilization, and so I surrounded it with mountains and placed the town beside a mostly unused side trail from Starfell to Tuberton.

That’s a whole lot of explaining to simply say this: Stories. characters, and even civilizations are given form, structure, and limitation by their setting. Much like in reality, where someone is born dictates a great deal about their lives, and the same is true for fiction. Lord of the Rings wouldn’t be so memorable without the Shire, Lothlorien, Rivendell, Rohan, Gondor, and Mordor, now would it?

And I think it’s with that subconsciously in mind that I took that simple slice of Essin’s east coast and—very soon after—expanded it into an entire continent. When I did so, Drew and I already knew which fantasy races we wanted to inhabit our world, and to me it was important for each to have their own homeland. We wanted elves to be a somewhat rare sight in that part of the world, and so I designated the continent’s southwest portion, nearly the opposite of Varrius Vale’s Fyellkrid, as the homeland of the elves, and in time, I named it Alara.

Alara, the collection of smaller landmasses, is named after the elves’ matron goddess, whose domain is all plant life. These lands can be further subdivided by their inhabitants; those of the high elves, and those of the wood elves. Alara’An, Restova, Alruna, and Etala are primarily populated by the thin, dignified high elves. The others, Vyrden, Jemifa, Katipa, and Gonjyla are home to the skilled, cautious wood elves.

Alara’An is said to be the ancient homeland of all elvenkind—and they would know, with as long as they live. It is a very green, very beautiful peninsula, but also very uniform in its geography, being composed of gently rolling hills, occasionally broken by small mountains, and with somewhat craggy shores. There are many ancient and influential cities situated on Alara’An, including what is thought to be the oldest city on all of Essin, Alara’Esh. Unfortunately, Alara’Esh was burned to the ground when the Dragon Alliance (Not an alliance of dragons, mind you, just a name that a large band of men, orcs, and dwarves adopted) rose up against the Elven Emperor, thousands of years ago. There is a new capital, closer to Restova, simply called “New Alara’Esh.” Aside from these ancient and influential cities, most of the land here is lush and lively, and a great many small elven villages dot the tranquil landscape. In terms of real-world equivalents, Alara’An is very similar in climate to north-central California, with breezy beaches and temperate weather to spare.

Restova is named for the mountains which make up its eastern border. Of all the high elves, those hailing from Restova have the best relationships with the dwarves of Gnorkott, owing to the fact that their namesake mountains are just the extension of the titanic mountain range dwarves call Merrough’s Maw. There is much active trade in the city of Barasa’Esh, and all along the coast of the sea of Natri’Ya to the north, there are fishing hamlets peopled by both high elves and dwarves. Naturally, these facts mean that the majority of Essin’s dark elf population is from Restova, seeing as dark elves are most often the product of a union between an elf and a dwarf. The Restova mountains are much like the Rockies, and the area surrounding them is similar to the most scenic parts of Colorado and Wyoming.

Moving over the Restova mountains, we reach the westernmost province which the high elves call home, Alruna. In truth, Alruna is more like the lands of Rostlina in both geography and climate. With the mountains surrounding it on the west and in the north, the Great River Barroth to the east, and the Vyrden Sea along its southern border, Alruna is surrounded by, and suffused with beauty. After the Elven Empire fell, many influential high elf families immigrated to the lands of Alruna, which was—before that time—a land settled by sparse human tribes and the occasional dwarven colony. Today, Alruna’s cities exist as thriving cultural melting pots, and most of its untamed wilderness plays host to grand adventures, much like neighboring Parapetia. Aside from where the land slopes down into foothills from the Restova mountains, Alruna is very flat, much like Kansas. Also, like Kansas, it does have its beauty… though, if Essin has a Tornado Alley, it’s in Alruna.

Heading south, we enter the wood elven lands, with Etala. Though it is nearly as beautiful as any elven land, Etala may be the least inhabited. Its southern border is delineated by a winding river which seemingly holds back the untamable wilderness of the Vyrden Jungles. These lands are beautiful and farmable, but not notable for much aside the odd bit of trivia that the city which bears its name, Etala’Esh, is not within the borders of Etala at all, but resides across the narrow bay, in Alruna.

Further south are the jungled lands called Vyrden. Vyrden has no cities to speak of—at least, none which have not been swallowed by vines and roots millennia ago. The Jungles of Vyrden are inhospitable to all but the most dedicated wood elves, and even then, only a few scant tribes live in the deepest reaches of this arboreal bulwark. Vyrden is a sort of cross between the Amazon Rainforest and the Redwood forests of the Californian coast. There are truly massive trees which can house entire communities of wood elves for entire lifetimes, yet the underbrush is damp and deadly, teeming with all sorts of wildlife that’s liable to poison you, turn you to stone, or eat you alive… or perhaps all three. The closest thing these jungles have to thriving inhabitants are the simple-minded, coyote-like savages that people call gnolls. There is no real government or economy in Vyrden, only survival.

Separated from the deadly depths of the jungle by another gracious river, Jemifa is where most of Essin’s traveling wood elves hail from. Though Jemifa is teeming with plantlife, it is more forgiving than the twisted maze of Vyrden. The trees here graciously open to a beautiful coastline, reminiscent of the Baja peninsula. Much of wood elf culture comes from Jemifa, namely its capital, Jemifa’Esh. This city, among many others on the coast, is a port town, and key to several southern trade routes.

Separated from the rest of the wood elf lands by the Bay of Jemi’Nai and its source river, Gonjyla is much like Jemifa, though with dense jungles like Vyrden. Gonjyla is, however, far less treacherous than Vyrden, and Gonjylan wood elves are noted for their hospitality. They think little of formal borders, and bow only to the authority of the plants which provide for them. Of note is the large port city—considered the “twin city” of Jemifa’Esh—Gonjyla’Esh, whose stewards care for the Grand Tower of Ruma’Api, a lighthouse for all sailors of the Jemi’Nai Bay. There is also the Vydren’Sha sanctuary, home to the largest and eldest tree in Essin, which is guarded fervently by the most skilled elven warriors.

Finally, there is Katipa, the smallest of elven provinces. The culture of Katipa is a blended one: Since time immemorial, the Katipan wood elves have shared their teachings and livelihood with human settlers who sailed to their shores from the mainland. Katipa, therefore, has a preponderance of half-elves, more in fact than any other place in Essin. In terms of environment and appearance, Katipa resembles the Yucatan Peninsula.

There are many islands which taper off of the southern points of the wood elf lands. At some point, these were inhabited by a corrupted sect of wood elves, called the Tomo’Gwi, who were so opposed to harming plants that they turned to interspecies cannibalism. They even crafted all of their gear and housing from the hides and bones of their victims, as well as those of animals. Thankfully, they seem to have wiped themselves out after their many attempts to colonize further islands failed, likely because of their shoddily made skin-and-bone boats.

And with that, we’ve covered the elven lands of Alara! All that remains is Gnorkott and Khapses, and though they are quite different, and quite distant from one another, I may as well cover them in one entry. They’re fairly simple, especially compared to Alara and Rostlina.