Great Canada Forest

Great Canada Forest is both a location and nation of elves that exists east of the Rhoden Kingdom.

Background
A dense forest that lined the base of the Furyu mountain range. It covered a vast area to the east of the Rhoden Kingdom. Though commonly referred to as the Furyu Forest, it was known by a different name by humans as the "Elf Forest" or the "Lost Woods." To humans the forest is a perilous place as it is filled with various beasts and monsters. In addition the forest emits a mist that interferes with human magic making it unreliable. Due to these obstacles, navigating through the forest nearly impossible and hence is avoided by humanity.

Eight hundred years ago, the location of where the Great Canada Forest stood was originally a barren wasteland, but through the power of the elven Wanderer Evanjulan a vibrant forest grew. The Wandered created the forest for all non-humans fleeing as a sanctuary for both elves and dwarves fleeing against the predations of humans. With the creation of the city of Maple through the magic of the elves and craftmanship of the dwarves the Great Canada Forest was formed. The foundation of the country coincided of a time when the dwarves vanished from the known world, seemingly rendered extinct by humanity though secretly have been kept hidden within the forest by the elves.

Light Novel Volume 01
The Great Canada Forest faced an incursion by humans, which resulting in several elves in being kidnapped by human slavers. In order to rescue their captured brethren, the elders of the forest dispatched a team led by Ariane to retrieve them. Before heading towards the location where their kin were taken, the team thwarted another raid lead by Udolan who had captured several elven children. The team had the upper hand but the humans used the children to force the elves to stand down. Before the humans could chain Ariane and her team, Arc arrived to help defeat the slavers. Once the elven children were released, and seeing the knight's power, Ariane hired Arc for a mission on behalf of the elves. The mission being rescuing the captured elves within the city of Diento. The operation sees to that the slave warehouses destroyed and the feudal lord killed. However not all the elves that were captured are accounted for, as they had been sold before the rescue. Though the rescue team were able to find a contract that would hopefully lead to where the remaining elves were sold.

In the aftermath, the incident was addressed by the royals in Olav. In fear that this was the work of the elves in retaliation for breaking the centuries old treaty, the king was worried that the elves would soon cut trade with their intermediary the Grand Duchy of Limbult. As the kingdom relied heavily on the trade of magic tools, the king permitted his daughter, Princess Yuriarna to seek an audience with the elves at Limbult to avoid hostilities.

Light Novel Volume 02
Arc was given special permission to enter the village of Lalatoya in a rare gesture of trust. The Council of Elders convened at Maple to address not only address Rhoden Kingdom's illegal slavery but the execution of Marquis Diento by Ariane. Though a few on the council wanted to reprimand her for the act, as it would no doubt cause the Kingdom to retaliate against their nation, her actions were defended by both her father and grandfather arguing that the elves were the true victims in the incident. It was agreed by the council that they would not offer any official explanation to the Kingdom and instead wait for the humans to approach them. In the meantime Ariane to make up for the unauthorized assassination of the human noble charged her in locating the missing elves.

Culture
The Great Canada Forest is mostly comprised of various villages that were spread throughout its depths. Though the forest contained various dangerous beasts, which act as a deterrent against human invaders, one would assume it would isolate the elven settlements. However the elves are in truth actually able to maintain connections with their territories via their network of teleportation points established by the first elder. Through the network the elves are able to instantaneously travel to any settlement with each other and transmit information with rapid speed in comparison to the human neighbors. Before their alliance with the human nations to defeat the Holy Hilk Kingdom, the knowledge of the teleportation network was a secret though rumors of such a novelty were known to the humans as the spirit paths, but were believed to be just fairy tales.

Unlike their human counterparts, the standard of living within Canada is much higher, as elven households contained various magical items that are comparable to modern home appliances. A main fuel source of the elves was not wood but powered mana. The elves functioned mostly on a barter system within their villages. While currency existed, elven money was used during trade between villages.

The Great Canada Forest was known to welcome all elves who’d had been persecuted by humanity, thus leading to a high degree of cultural diversity.

Religion
While there is no formal worship, the elves hold an animistic belief in respecting nature and the spirits.

Politics
The Great Canada Forest was a organized in various independent settlements, each headed by an elder. Each elder of a village or a town has authority within their own domain. Though above the elders are the higher elders who rule from the capital of Maple. They are a group of ten individuals who oversaw their own villages and came together to the capital to make decisions of important on policies that impacts the entirety of Canada.

Rhoden Kingdom
Six hundred year prior to the current story, the Great Canada Forest was engaged in a war with the Rhoden Kingdom. The Kingdom though even with their combined armies could not defeat the elves and were on the verge of defeat. The Kingdom only sued for peace when the Revlon Empire broke out into civil war. With the threat of another war at their doorstep, the Kingdom was forced to end their war against the elves. Four hundred years ago the Rhoden Kingdom officially apologized to the elven nation. As part of their sincerity the Kingdom and Canada entered into a treaty forbidding the enslavement of elves. Though centuries have passed, to the elves it only as been a generation, and still regard humans to wariness. To that there had been no direct contact since then. Currently the Rhoden Kingdom has a treaty with Canada, forbidding the illegal selling and hunting of elves. While elves have no wish to interfere or be involved with humans, the same is not said for their human neighbors. Illegal slave trafficking is still present in the criminal underground, with many nobles involved always seeking to capture elves to add to their harem or wallets in clear violation of the treaty. The actions of the nobles though were never properly investigated due to the nobles' influence and hold over the princes. It was only when a duke heavily involved in the slave trade was killed did the royal family move to make amends to the elves in fear of losing their access to magic items.

Grand Duchy of Limbult
The duchy formerly being a part of the Rhoden Kingdom, seceded from its parent nation in clear protest against the former's declaration of war against the elves six hundred years ago. Since then the elves have maintained direct trade with the duchy. While elves hold the duchy in higher regard to the kingdom, like all humans they still do not trust them as they deny citizens from Limbult from entering its territory.

Strength
According to the rumors outside the forest, among the human nations, elf soldiers are incredibly skilled in combat. They are able to use earth magic to pierce their enemies, and the wind itself to cut them apart.

Known Characters

 * Arc
 * Ariane
 * Briahn Bond Evanjulin Maple
 * Ponta
 * Danka Niel Maple
 * Dando
 * Dillan Tahg Lalatoya
 * Donaha
 * Eevin Glenys Maple
 * Fangas Flan Maple

Trivia

 * The Great Canada Forest is one of three nations in the world founded by Wanderers.