Verdant Woods

The Verdant Woods are a wild region of the interior Western Coast, inhabited almost exclusively by arboreals as well as dryads and other fey. Greenwood Landing is the only permanent settlement in the Woods, serving as a trading post for merchants from elsewhere who purchase valuable greenwood in exchange for guarantees to leave the forests alone.

Geography

Located about 130 miles from the coast of the Chaska Sea, the waves of colonization of the Western Coast have largely left the Verdant Woods untouched, though it has been inhabited by arboreals and fey since ancient times. The Hale River runs through the Woods, providing an environment in which aquatic animals and fey can thrive.

Inhabitants

Aside from arboreals and fey, almost all the inhabitants of the Verdant Woods live at Greenwood Landing, less a town and more of a trading post. A handful of hermits and more independently-minded types live in isolated locations on the margins of the forest, always careful to avoid upsetting the arboreals.

The arboreals of the Verdant Woods long ago realized they had to actively protect the forests in which they lived. Rather than fight those that wished to settle in their lands and harvest their resources, they decided on a rather more innovative arrangement. In exchange for producing greenwood and providing it to visiting merchants, the arboreals insist on assurances that none will intrude into and exploit the Woods. The arboreals do not trust blindly, however - they are perfectly capable of defending their lands, and actively do so when their arrangement is broken. Rather than incur their wrath, most have realized the arboreals' trades are more desirable.

The Verdant Woods has no real government. The arboreals convene moots when required to make decisions that affect them collectively, but otherwise see little use for such a formality.