n ages gone past, before the rise of humans, the goodly elven kindreds ruled large swathes of the Surface, and great forests extended unbroken for thousands of miles. Those days are long gone now, and the felling and logging and building of generation upon generation of humans has stunted the once mighty forests, even as their proud rulers have withdrawn further and further from interaction with human communities. But even where the elves choose not to trade or communicate with the younger races, still they maintain isolated outposts deep within what forests remain to watch the actions of their neighbors and provide early warning against any attack. Each outpost is garrisoned by grim elven warriors of great skill both in combat and in the arts of stealth and subterfuge in the woods, that their structures should remain undetected by the races on whom they spy.