Arboreals
From "The History of the Arboreals", written by Mehtere, the Druidic Priestess:
"In the following pages of this book, I leave the history of our people, the Arboreals. We have endured the ages, united for the cause of Nature and the healing of the Earth. We are the Priests and the forests are our Sanctuary. We are the Healers and the wilds is our Patient. We are the Scholars and the mortal race is our Student. May these stories of our past be preserved, so we may approach the future with wisdom."
History
The beginnings of the modern Arboreals started with the discovery of the herbs that thrived among the wild plants that Asaka, the Wild One, blanketed across Imperian when it was still fresh and new. The herbalists of the Academia Sylvalis are said to have been the first-known sophisticated concoctionists, using these herbs to create powerful healing elixirs and salves. When the Awakening of the year 1 AA brought death and destruction to Aetherius, the Horde descended upon Caanae and caused the surviving members of the Academia to flee into the wilderness.
The colony that formed among the surviving members of the Academia became known as "the Sacred Elmwood", later being called Lalwan Eryn. It was here that the research on earth magick, concoctions, geography, and much more survived. This pleased Asaka enough to encourage her to leave the Garden and visit the Sacred Elmwood, where she gave the naturalists the name of Arboreals. The skill of Bonding was created at this time, and the Goddess also made the forests there sacred.
The devotion of the Arboreals to the forests and Nature blessed them with exceedingly long lifespans and good health, which would become a common trait to those of the sylayan race, which was born out of the Sacred Elmwood.
In the year 250 AA, some Arboreals ventured out of the Sacred Elmwood and found the forest of Khandava. Scholars found this area to have a high concentration of natural magick, and it was decided that this would be the site of future sudy of Groves, Concoctions, and Bonding. Erulehto, Mehtere, and Ikarios stayed behind.
In the year 272 AA, the Arboreals formally called the Khandava Forest their home. With the blessing of Asaka, the forest thrived and soon became the Council that we know it as in modern history. The sylayan race flourished here and the language and culture of the elves was developed at this time.
Amidst the panic caused by the red moon Sukhder moving closer to the surface of Aetherius in the year 1 AD, the Arboreals of the Lalwan Eryn made the decision to create a barrier that protected them from the outside world. Over time, memories of the Eryn faded and its existence was believed to be no more than a folktale.