Denonym: Elvani
Prior to the Long War, the Elvani lived in the lowlands to the south and west of their present kingdom. They were progressively forced north into the mountains by Ivar's expansion during the war. While the mountains lacked in good agricultural land, they were supremely defensible. The Elvani built multiple rings of fortifications from the foothills into the deep mountains. Their mines delve deep into the mountains' roots and have been expanded in places to serve as vast storehouses or tunnels connecting citadels many miles apart. Between these insurmountable bulwarks and their network of alliances with Thule and the Windborn, Elvan preserved its independence as a small kingdom rich in minerals and unsurpassed in skill at building with stone.
Everything built by the Elvani takes defense into consideration. Even the smallest shepherd's huts are arranged as potential strong-points for hypothetical infantry battles, and every building has a place to store water. A common joke around the world is that the Elvani would even build cisterns in a swamp.
Elvan has several port towns on their northeastern coast. Like everthing else that the Elvani build, these ports are designed primarily for defense rather than trade and they cannot accomodate large ships. However, merchants from the southern kingdoms have learned to deal with the ports' inconvenient layouts and Elvan is a primary source of metal and mineral products to the south.