Kyonin

Although many people in the Inner Sea region see the elves of Kyonin as standoffish and isolationist—a stereotype unintentionally reinforced by the elves’ long focus on various internal struggles—the newly returned threat of Tar-Baphon has drawn the elves’ attention outward once more. Elven experts’ own experience and historical records suggest that it’s only a matter of time before Tar-Baphon becomes an unavoidable threat to the entire region, and thus Kyonin’s leadership has begun sending more diplomatic emissaries to other nations in preparation for a large-scale war that could ravage the continent. At the same time, this need for greater cooperation with other nations has led Kyonin’s leaders to open their own carefully watched borders to ambassadors and visitors from a wide array of ancestries and nations.

This elven push for international alliance is seen by many as a drastic change from Kyonin’s traditional policy, yet elven records and memories reveal many instances of similar collaboration against evil, now long forgotten by younger nations. Still, the elven love of freedom means that many of these efforts are the acts of like-minded individuals rather than ruling institutions—in truth, even the elves’ current undertakings are less the result of a formal governmental order and more a collective drive among individuals to work toward the greater good. The fact that Kyonin’s assistance is almost never a national decision, but instead the independent undertaking of numerous individuals, has given rise to the widespread opinion that elves as a whole care little for the other nations of Avistan. The recent destruction of Lastwall has rallied many younger elves into action, hoping to combat their nation’s reputation for ambivalence as well as the Whispering Tyrant.

Despite a heightened involvement on the global stage, life in Kyonin has changed little over the centuries. The elves continue their appreciation of deep learning, crafting, and the arcane arts, though the influx of outsiders into the realm has led to the introduction of new ideas that diverge from purely elven tradition. Elves’ apparent disinterest and detachment belie a keen eye on current events, a shifting political landscape, and growing and changing threats on a global and long-term scale. Even within the courts of Queen Telandia Edasseril, intrigue abounds as disparate factions vie for influence, and not all players agree with the decision to allow outsiders into the realm. Likewise, even this increased outreach has not overcome longstanding rivalries: Kyonin remains at odds with the River Kingdoms, especially regarding the human-occupied elven ruin of Sevenarches, and Razmiran’s hostile policy toward the elves has caused an ongoing cold war across the West Sellen River.

Those groups who question the wisdom of allowing outsiders into Kyonin have been most convincing with regard to the Fierani Forest, and especially the capital of Iadara, where several aiudara—elf gates—link the elven realm to distant lands, and where the Sovyrian Stone that powers all aiudara is carefully hidden away. For this reason, parts of the city remain swathed in illusion and supernatural mists to deter non-elven visitors from straying from their designated areas. Ironically, many of these same groups worried about the safety of the elven capital also appreciate the influx of non-elven warriors from the north, who bring experience

THE SIXTH KING OF MOUNTAINS

The Five Kings Mountains are known for their dwarven residents, yet the mountains are home to another denizen of note. The great wyrm red dragon Daralathyxl has roamed this part of the world for more 2,000 years and established a lair among the Five Kings Mountains around 3001 ar. As one of the most powerful dragons in all of Golarion, Daralathyxl has come to be known as the “Sixth King of the Mountains.” The dwarven residents of the region are ever watchful, lest their wrathful neighbor reemerge and rampage across the Shining Kingdoms.

FINAL BLADE TREERAZER

Spawn of the demon lord Cyth-V’sug, the nascent demon lord Treerazer somehow incurred his sire’s wrath and was cast from the Abyss. Finding Golarion to his liking, Treerazer set about making a home for himself on the Material Plane, eventually settling in the abandoned elven homeland of Kyonin. Though he has since been contained in the swamps of Tanglebriar, Treerazer retains his nominal divinity, and some cults worship him as a god.

KYONIN from the demon-hunting Mendevian crusades that may be crucial in elven efforts to contain the threat of Treerazer in Kyonin’s southern reaches.

Tanglebriar

The elves’ long retreat to Sovyrian during the Age of Darkness may have saved their people, but their escape left their ancestral lands to rot and ruin. During their absence, the nascent demon lord Treerazer claimed much of Kyonin, twisting and perverting its sylvan majesty, culminating in an attempt to warp the Sovyrian Stone itself into a permanent portal to the Abyss. Fortunately for Golarion, this last atrocity was detected before it could succeed, prompting the elves to return to Golarion en masse in a ferocious counterattack. In the centuries to follow, elven forces drove the nascent demon lord from the heart of their realm, sequestering him in a vast swamp they dubbed Tanglebriar. Yet in spite of their migration back to the world they’d abandoned and their reforged ties with humanity and other nations, they’ve remained unable to destroy Treerazer completely or force him out of their lands.

While few elves would say their conflict with Treerazer has been a success, most acknowledge that the threat the demon lord poses has been largely contained. Of late, elven forces have gained reinforcements as some crusaders from the Worldwound chose to join in the efforts against Treerazer rather than continuing south to confront Tar-Baphon, giving defenders renewed hope that victory may finally be within sight.

The guardians of Tanglebriar cannot rest easy, however. Threats still creep from the swamp with deadly regularity, in the form of demons, dark fey, carnivorous fungi, and several cults that worship the nascent demon lord. Additionally, Treerazer is the son of the demon lord of fungus and parasites Cyth-V’sug, and though the two are estranged, the waning of Cyth-V’sug’s influence in Fangwood Forest and the Worldwound has stirred fears that the two might reconcile. United, the two demon lords might have the strength to launch an offensive to take control of all Kyonin and beyond. Worse yet, either might form an alliance with Tar-Baphon, a possibility that has scouts and skirmishers on a perpetual lookout.