| Defences of Liamelia | ||
| Introduction |
 Liamelia has a numerous amount of defenses, all placed with a single goal in mind, to protect one of the last elven kingdoms on the main land of Faerun. The great kingdom has three main defenses with many other minor ones in between. The first line of defense is the outer portion or forest edge, which is guarded by troops of Satyr and Centaur and formidable Tree Treantons. They move throughout the forest on a daily bases, never staying in any one place for a long period of time. Ever watchful of outside intrusions, they will, if situation permits, strongly suggest any outsider to leave quickly or forfeit their lives. The Satyr and Centaur often patrol in groups of seven to ten and do not hesitate to kill if need be. Sleeping, deeper within the forest are the Treants, moving in groves, they are never alone in respect to one another. The Treants wander the forest at their leisure yet accepting the offered rule of never being alone, one that was suggested by the Archwizard, Slimanious Galanodel, while negotiating and convincing that it would be in the Treants best interest to take up greater standing residence in the Liamelian forests. Treants always travel in groves of 4-9 (1D6+3), rarely do they travel alone. Their ability to awake trees around them allow them to not only amass an army unto themselves, but as a grove, may keep the awakening aura and move about the forest keeping the living trees animated. Troops of Satyr and Centaur also roam the forest, mostly along 'The Old Road', which cuts through the western part of the forest toward Chondath. They are also quite intent on keeping outsiders out, but won't think twice to have a little fun at the expense of the intruders. An alternate first defense is by water, the Sea Elves who live in the waters of River Arran and The Naga Flow. These elves guard the harbor side of the market city of Siannodel, act as patrols for the merchant ships that make their way down river and act as deterrence to any trying to make there way into the forest by water ways. These elves are given special rings or even body jewellery depending on their temperament. These gifts allow them to call upon the Factions Masters to dispatch additional units from the kingdom or Siannodel. Where water is concerned, it is the Blue Faction that would answer. The second line of defense is the inner portion at the edge of the great kingdom itself, which is guarded by traveling clans of Wild Elves, Ghostwise Halflings, the great Liamelian Wall and sometimes by the Branches of Liamelia. The clans of Wild Elves and Ghostwise Halflings move about the forest just like the other intelligent races of the forest, never staying in one spot for too long. These groups are extremely protective of the kingdom, not hesitant to kill outsiders on first sight, figuring that if they managed to get around the Satyr, Centaur and Treants, then they have already seen too much. But the Wild Elves and Ghostwise Halflings are not brutes and will let trespassers live if they surrender with out dispute or problem. Those who surrender are lead away from the region through the means of magic and are warned to respect the forest and its protectors and that next time, they will not be so lucky. The Liamelian Wall is a true piece of Dwarven & Gnomish ingenuity and Elven magic. The wall is both a defensive measure and was built in honor of the Elves and others who died in Liamelia's very first war against the human kingdom of Chondath. Many perished to protect the kingdom in it's first stages of development and so, each of their names, families, race and clan have been etched into the inside of the wall during it's creation. This is so those who died that dark day will never be forgotten. Wither the wall is in physical form or ethereal form, the detail of the names can be seen, and so many Liamelian's think of the wall as one large tombstone with all of the deceased written on it. Still many others see it as a great legacy to have their clan's name and lost members scribed on it. The wall's main physical property is that it is made up of an alloy that is a combination of Adamantine and Mithral making it extremely strong and sturdy. The wall's magical property is its Ethereal Foundations. Simply put, this wall is a ghost in both Prime Material and Ethereral World. When called upon and commanded by any of the Lords of Liamelia, the wall shifts into the Prime Material Plane, becoming a strong and resilient obstruction in any path. Anyone caught on the wall during its “shift” is physically moved aside. To refrain from interferences with nature's way, the wall has been anchored in the Material Plane, phasing in and out of a demi-plane the Lords of Liamelia simply refer to as 'Silver Shadows'. In reality, it is a divine plane created by the Lords accumulated strength and experiments in crafting weapons and armors. Not only does it not affect the natural forest, but when in the Ethereal Plane, the wall looks like a ghost image of itself, which often wards off any who see it. Because of this ghostly look, most Humans and other races believe the forest to be haunted. The Lords had manipulated the Plane of Silver Shadows to forge the Silver Forest, a silver oak forest full of trees that vary in size, some are just as big as the one situated in Liamelia, and some are larger. The wood that can be harvested from these magical grown trees proves to be very valuable and highly prized for making weapons and other wooden equipment. Stats for the Silver Oak are that of Blackwood for weight, and durability it is treated as iron 2 inches thick. The third line of defense is the powerful Liamelian Mythal, one that is unseen in any other place in the world, realms, or even planes. This Mythal is the essence of Divinity, clerical power, forged with Arcane magic and without the corruption of erratic minds of humans and other blood tainting races. After the inset of the Divine power, the Mythal becomes a semi-sentient anchor, dimensionally and materialistically. The Mythal is the focus for the enchantments keeping Divine pure, yet weaving the Arcane around it to stabilize any conflicting spells. After some time though it has become apparent that the Divine and Arcane have fused to create something new, something that even transcends the weave. This is thought to be the will of Corellon and the day it was created is celebrated in Liamelia. With a little guidance from the Lords of Liamelia, the Mythal has become the center post for Liamelia's magical defenses. The Mythal consists of an inner ward and an outer ward. The outer ward expands over the entire forest while the inner ward is directed over the center portion of the forest that is occupied by the defensive wall and the actual kingdom. Both wards act like a sphere extending through the air above and the earth below. There are only six individuals that are attuned to the Mythal - the six Lords of Liamelia. The Mythal has two major properties surrounding its many effects, functions and abilities. Any one of those are applied continuously or are simply denied while in any part of the Mythal. The outer ward is imbued with an earth and air elemental ability and is applied continuously. While within the ward, no flame of any kind that burns (normal or magical) can be ignited and any earth that is disturbed without applying a special formula is reformed in 1d4 minutes. There is a continuous effect that denies any spells with the death, evil, summoning or teleportation descriptor that is casted by anyone or creature that is not attuned to the Mythal, is absorbed into the Mythal, rendering it useless or ineffective. The only exceptions are the three portals created by the Lords of Liamelia who have attuned them to the Mythal. The outer ward also has the continuous function of a Hallow spell, which is tied to several other spells including Protection from Evil, Negative Energy Protection, Invisibility Purge, Detect Scrying, and an Antipathy effect to all races and creature that does not meet Liamelia's alignments and are not Elven, Dwarven, Gnomish, Halfling or Goodly Dragons. The inner ward has the same properties as the outer ward plus one addition. There is the continuous function of a Glyph of Warding spell that has the same factors as the Antipathy spell. Those who are affected by the Glyph of Warding suffer the effects of a Bestow Curse spell with no chance of saving throw and bypassing all spell resistance. The Bestow Curse can only be removed if the effected subject leaves the area of the inner ward. Spells that would normally remove a Bestow Curse only disable it for 1d4 minutes in which afterwards the curse effects return (if the subject is still within the inner ward). Creatures who attempt to disable, drain, warp or in any other way effect the Mythal without being attuned to it suffer the effects of an Implosion spell continuously for 10 full days or until the subject dies within that time. The great Silver Oak of Liamelia, from which the Mythal is centered upon, is under the continuous effects of a Divine Encasing spell, requiring those who are attuned to the Mythal, to work in tandem to affect any changes to the Mythal or the Silver Oak. Those who are attuned to the Mythal also have access to the Weather Control spell, which enables clouds to permanently roam about the skies of Liamelia without causing any side effects. It is here where the second part of the third defense is found. Clan Ka’ Thiaer is the small clan of Silver Dragons who have accepted the hospitality of the Lords of Liamelia to rest, regroup and increase their numbers before reclaiming their lost lands and skies. These dragons watch over the center portion of the kingdom and protect Liamelia's aerial borders. The third part to the third defense is the Liamelian Factions. A group of different factions with no specific rank other then that gained by experience, it is based on common respect for talent, age, style and attitude. Each faction is used with different purposes but all are combined to create an army, or the vicious, sadistic, cruel, malicious Elven army. Though, even in respect to their blood, the army acts accordingly. The army never attacks the innocence and will do everything possible to leave them out of any conflict. The army does take prisoners, who are handed over to the Lords of Liamelia. The Lords then hand out a punishment that is in accordance with the act committed. For example, if something is stolen, the party involved is remove of all equipment and casted out Liamelia's region. Any dead enemies are buried or burned with all possessions and equipment; the only things salvaged are magic items and artifacts. The last part of the third defense is the Silver Faction, lead by the Lords of Liamelia. If Liamelia was to ever be invaded to the point where there was fighting inside the kingdom, the elite of the factions are released armed with swords, bows and magic that have been accumulated over the years and locked in the vault. These elves wield much destructive power and once the desperation for such power is apparent, it will be the last thing any enemies ever see. This is because once pushed to this point, only the flow of the enemies' blood can slake the thirst of the righteous elves. No holds are barred and knuckles are bare, this last line of defence is that which would make even the most sadistic human murderers and debauchers blanch in sickness and fear. Lothorion can be quoted in one interview with the famous bard Volo, “There is only so much that can be taken, once that limit is reached, the elves will turn the floors of the forest red and bath in the blood of enemies from lands near and far.” This was later repeated by Slimanious; the Archwizard of Liamelia. "The very last defense of Liamelia is simply this - Death."
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