In the language of the fey the -man suffix means "land of", so Xalliman is literally the land of the Xalli, the name of the Astral Elf society which rules over the area. The Xalli occupy highly mystical areas deep inside the forest, some not even wholly in our plane of existence. The Xalli consider themselves above the bestial and primitive residents of the forests, and rightfully their lords and masters. They practice high magic as it relates to planar travel, the feywild in particular, and a brand of druidic and natural divine magic which relies on elemental powers and fey gifts from other planes rather than the gifts available naturally; or impressive arcane magic that taps into the inherent powers of other planes. As such the Xalli tend to focus towards Transmutation and especially Conjuration with their mystical studies. Xalli High Magic is largely geometric in nature, and tend to use Menhirs in the creation of large summoning or transmutation arrays. Another favored method is to artificially force local plant growth into precise geometrical patterns which invoke great mystical powers, thusly an innocent seeming redwood forest could actually be the framework for a deadly prismatic wall.
Names: Typical Elven names consist of a given name, followed by the prefix il' and the elf's race/nation, and then a family name. Often preceded by their title, and notable elves will occasionally have a nickname attached to them. i.e. Nicoli il'Ghall Yonheiri is a moon elf of the Yonheiri family, or the legendary Avariel Wizard, Lady Constance il'Aeri Bennicus the Mother of Portals.
Important Sites
Shabardai: One city, Shabardai, is prized by planar travellers as a crossing point between planes, and some say even worlds. Ancient Xalli magic in the city of Shabardai has weakened the borders to other planes here to the point where they leak across, and some parts of the city actually exist in other planes. It is entirely posible to take a series of wrong turns down an alley and end up in the feywild, astral plane or an elemental plane. One notable exception from the planes easily accessed from Shabardai is the Ethereal plane, which strangely enough shares a stronger connection with the forests of Xalliman the farther you get away from Xalli cities. The underclass of Xalliman, the druids, shamans and Elves, claim that this is due to the Xalli ties to the immortal feywild and turning their back on the world's true natural order.
Ghostlands: On 8 AC, the Ossian military sent a group of mercenaries after a tyrannical Xalli Wizard who had broken away from the traditions of his people; Harridan. Harridan bound terrible dragons to his service, as well as many other dire creatures, and carved out a swath of destruction across the Ossian borders before finally building himself a stronghold in the side of a mountain not far from the large town of Lamplight, which his minions routinely pillaged for treasure and slaves. When the mercenaries, the Order of the Claw, snuck into Harridan's fortress and attacked something terrible happened, resulting in a huge unexplainable arcane explosion. When the dust cleared, every single living soul in the surrounding area, including Lamplight, was completely gone. The first expedition into the area, by looters, turned up no evidence as to what happened, but as night fell the ghosts came out. One might assume that these were the ghosts of those killed, but they would be wrong, these are ghosts and beasts from another world entirely. One brave shaman attempted to enter the area via astral projection, and then later in an ethereal form, but each time he tried he was resisted. He then tried to assume an ethereal form while inside, and hasn't been heard from since. As time went on, the ghosts and beasts no longer came out just at night, although they haven't crossed the border, yet…
Silver Falls: A treetop city built around a waterfall made silver by it's ties with the astral plane. The water is world renowned for having an intrinsic connection with the astral plane, making it a highly sought after material component for summoning spells and rituals.
The Elven Courts of Xalliman
When the Xalli adopted the forests of Xalliman as their home they quickly civilized the land in true colonial fashion, dividing the country into provinces based on that land's affinity to individual planes and elements, and then placed one of their own nobility as the ruling prince for each province. As time went on the Xalli became less focused on the responsibilities of ruling each province, preferring instead to focus on managing the country as a whole, and so formed the Elven Courts. They elevated the predominant noble family in each province to the position of ruling family, and the dominant member of each family was given the title of Prince and the authority to rule the province largely under his own automation, though still within the bounds of Xalli law. The King of Xalliman retains all of his powers as Regent and is still a powerful figure, though many princes see him as a distant figurehead, particularly the Shahri; this isn't helped by the fact that the Xalli are increasingly distant, placing more importance on their pursuits in other planes.
The Xalli - Astral Elves
Extradimensional elven relatives, the Xalli are the highest order of the elves in Xalliman. It is from their name that the land takes it's name and identity, and through their ancient magics that the land derives much of it's inherent power. The Xalli are aloof nobles however; and the Shahri have largely usurped their power in the principalities, having accumulated a vast network of wealth and influence over the past centuries while the Xalli busied themselves with studies of the planes and their crossings.
The Shahri - Sun Elves
The Sun Elves are naturally magical, and the Shahri have used that magical ability through the ages to build a longstanding tradition of magical studies and colleges. They became the world's leading experts in summoning, and extra-dimensional binding around the same time the Drowri and Jubruqi were banished from Xalliman for Infernal Binding; a largely unknown and suspicious coincidence.
Since the Drowri's banishment and exile the Shahri advanced their practice of divine and elemental binding and have been making a good bit of gold in the process, though they don't seem to be spending too much of it. Whispered rumors say that the Shahri have been putting their gold back into national defense spending, creating arcane golems, war engines and assassins, all out of the public eye. What it is that the Shahri are preparing to fight back against is not clear, though it is reaonable to assume that they fear reprisal from the Drow and Jubruq.
Associated Material: Platinum
The Lunahri - Moon Elves
The most common of the elven races, the moon elves are spread throughout the land. These elves are generally considered the middle class. The craftsmen, scholars, wizards and diplomats of the principalities. Though not looked down upon like the Naturi are, the Lunahri still don't command much respect within the elven courts, seen as being made too base by their exposure to the lesser races of Aterra. Many Lunahri take to arcane study as a profession and often find themselves employed as professors of the arts at more cosmpolitan universities and institutes. One family of Lunahri gained great international respect and distinction as they were employed as arcane advisors by Ossia during the great war. Another family was infamous for participating in the war in a more clandestine fashion, offering their services as spies and assassins for whichever side could produce the coin; though it was often Ossia, there were enough instances of backstabbing within the family to make many war veterans quite cautious of any dealings with greedy elves.
The Ghallri - Gold Elves
The Merchant Class of elves, they have a wide network of traders spread across the continent.
The Naturi - Wood Elves
The common forest dwelling caste. These elves have been traditionally the hunters, rangers, druids and farmers of the elven lands. Looked down upon by their higher castes, the Naturi are nonetheless essential to the principalities of Xalliman, serving as their protectors, providers, and often their representatives to the outside nations of the world. In fact most of the common folk simply assume that the only elves on the continent are the Wood Elves, whether they served with them during the great war as mercenaries or spies, or because they've run afoul of their sometimes extreme xenophobic border patrols.
The Stahri - Star Elves
A rare breed of interplanar elves, they intermarried with their neighboring Xalli, and have used their talents to create a home for themselves in a dimension of their own. The common star elves now don't know why their ancestors created their pocket dimension, but they continue to live there regardless. It's thought that they originally fled there to avoid a threat on the material plane, and even though that threat seems to have passed, they've built a home there and are there to stay. Mekkgnome astrologers, one of the purist forms of Mekkgnome science, posit that the Stahri may in fact have found a way to another planet or moon in their solar system through portal magic and desperately wish to recreate it for their own uses. The Star Elves are not interested in anyone possessing the ability to travel to their home without their express permission however and so it is a closely guarded secret, despite the diminutive aspiring astronaut's best intentions and insistence.
The Aeri - Winged Elves (Avariels)
They occupy the flying city of Aiuran, a joint elven work of immense cost and magical prowess. The Avariels were created by the Shahri by binding Xalli to Angels in birth over several generations. They were created as a warrior race to protect Aiuran from Dragon attacks, and as a measure of respect for their burden they were granted the -ri honorific and became a separate honored race of their own in Elven society.
Exile of the Drowri and Jubruqi
Threats to Xalliman
Illyon - Inhabitants of the Astral Plane, the Illyon frequently disrupt Xalli interplanar travel and trade and, due to the weakend interplanar borders of Xalliman, often break through into the material plane with raiding parties. Their