Population

Roughly 8,500 elves call Everdusk home, their numbers spread thin across hundreds of hidden enclaves woven into the forest canopy. Families live in sprawling tree-homes carved without harm into trunks of giant oaks. The Wood Elves are reclusive yet tightly bonded to their kin, relying on archery, stealth, and druidic craft for survival. Outsiders rarely glimpse their true population, as Everdusk seems to allow its inhabitants to appear and vanish with the shadows.

Politics

Everdusk is governed by the Circle of Branches, a council of elders. Decisions are made communally, guided by reverence for the Gloom Wood itself. The Circle does not command; it interprets the will of the forest. Rarely, when grave threats arise, the Circle appoints a Voice of the Trees—a single leader who speaks for the wood and wields authority until the balance is restored.

Everdusk lies hidden within the shadowed canopy of the Gloom Wood, a realm where twilight lingers and moonlight filters through endless leaves. For four millennia, the Wood Elves have dwelled here, descendants of the wandering Dark Elves and kin to the radiant Sun Elves. Unlike their cousins, they forsook stone and fire, choosing instead to weave their lives into the living forest. Their homes are not built upon the land but within it—lofty halls among branches, rope bridges spanning treetop to treetop, and platforms where the green canopy serves as both roof and sky.

The Brand of Duty

The Moon Bridge

A silver-threaded rope bridge that appears only under moonlight, glowing faintly as though woven from starlight. It marks the official threshold into Everdusk and spans a nameless river in a gorge deep below.

The Silmwood Groves

Sacred stands of silmwood trees, whose pale bark glimmers under moonlight. The bark can only be harvested at night, and when properly gathered it becomes a key ingredient in enchantments, spell-scrolls, and living wards.

Canopy Markets

A suspended gathering place high above the forest floor, where elves trade fruits, herbs, and moonlit crafts. Lanterns of captured glowmoths illuminate the night, creating a shimmering constellation among branches.

Visiting Everdusk

Foreigners who wander the Gloom Wood seldom reach Everdusk unbidden—its paths are treacherous and patrols of silent rangers keep a watchful eye. Guests are guided blindfolded until they reach the Moon-Bridge, the ceremonial entrance into Everdusk. Hospitality is offered with caution: visitors are expected to show reverence for the forest and to harm no living thing under its canopy. Those who come in peace may be shown wonders; those who betray the forest’s trust are never seen again.

Hall of whispering leaves

A council platform encircling a colossal oak, where the Circle of Branches meets. It is said that the oak itself murmurs wisdom when the wind passes through its boughs.

Everfalls

A waterfall cascading through the heart of the forest, its mist imbued with faint magical energy. Platforms and rope paths cross its roaring descent, and nearby shrines honor the forest spirits.

The Glade of silent arrows

A hidden training ground for the rangers of Everdusk, where targets are set among shadows and leaves. Here, archers learn to loose arrows so silent that no prey hears them before it is struck.