The Grove is the first permanent elthari settlement established on Alphos, located within a naturally sheltered stretch of woodland near the elfin settlement of Ishlian. Among the latest peoples to arrive upon the island, the elthari sought neither the open ground of the humans and merrin, nor the easily defensible and rocky ridges of the turuk and grokon. Instead, they searched for a place where the existing forest already provided much of what they needed—dense vegetation, strong mature trees, fresh water springs, natural shelter, and enough undisturbed growth to eventually shape into something resembling the communities that were ripped from them by the Fading. To an unfamiliar eye, the Grove can appear less like a settlement than a particularly well-traveled patch of forest, with its inhabitants scattered beneath and among the trees rather than gathered behind walls or along streets.

In time, the elthari intend for even the few constructed structures of the Grove to largely disappear. Their traditional homes are cultivated from living plants, with trees, branches, roots, and vines patiently guided into useful shapes over many years. Alas, the elthari—or truly any folk known to them—have not been on Alphs long enough for such architecture to mature, leaving the Grove in an unusual state between wilderness and settlement. Simple timber shelters, platforms, bridges, ladders, and other temporary work made solely of wood that can be overtaken and composted in time provide what the forest cannot yet offer, while young trees and other plants are carefully tended into the beginnings of future homes and communal spaces. What looks to an outside like an oddly positions sapling or a tangled collection of vines may instead to an elthari be obviously a part of a structure whose finished form will not exist for years or decades.

The Grove is therefore much more something to be grown than traditionally build. Alphos is unfamiliar land even to a people as accustomed to wilderness as the Elthari, and its plants do not always behave like those they knew before crossing the Great Sea. Their first months have consequently been spent learning the forest as much as shaping it, discovering which species can be guided, which should be left untouched, and how their old practices must adapt to their new surroundings. Assistance and exchanged knowledge from nearby people, particularly the merrin of Bramley, have helped with this process, while elthari knowledge of Alphos's increasinly familiar wilderness has begun flowing outward in return. The Grove they envision is surely many years away, but its foundations are already literally taking root.
Founding and History
The Grove was established very recently due to the elthari arriving relatively late in the settlement of Alphos. Rather than clear land, they searched the forests near Ishlian until finding a naturally sheltered region suitable for the slow cultivation of a traditional elthari community. The settlement is young, and thus nearly all of its living architecture remains only recently planted or guided into early usable forms, such as living leaf sleeping spaces until the open sky.
Location and Surroundings
The Grove lies within dense woodland near Ishlian, surrounded by massive mature trees, springs, thick undergrowth, and relatively undisturbed wilderness. The elthari deliberately maintain this environment rather than clear it, leaving few obvious boundaries between the Grove and the forest beyond.
Layout and Architecture
There are no streets or visible districts of the Grove, instead following natural clearings, waterways, trees, and terrains. Temporary structures are made almost entirely from untreated or minimally worked wood so that they can eventually rot, compost, or be overtaken by the living structures intended to replace them. The area is filled with young trees, vines, roots, and other plants that are already being carefully trimmed and groomed into future homes, platforms, bridges, and numerous other shapes and forms.

Districts and Important Locations
The Grove has no formal districts. Places are instead distinguished between by natural landmarks, clan occupation, or simply by their general purpose within the community as a whole.
Government and Authority
The Grove doesn't necessarily have any singular ruler. The elthari are somewhat solitary by nature, and tend to be highly aloof. While they do form into clans, these are loose and primarily just led by those that are wise, typically elders, due to that wisdom rather than any divine right or other reasoning claimed by others. Authority is borne by those with the experience and knowledge to make best use of it.
People and Daily Life
Daily life revolves around maintenance and husbandry, keeping the Grove collected and guiding it toward the future. Individuals gather food and materials, hunt, cultivate useful plants, explore the surrounding forest, and tend to the structures that will one day become their homes, gardens, and even furniture. Time is often measured more by daylight, weather, and seasonal changes than strict schedules, often leading to difficulties when speaking to others that have stricter time, as 'after the next rainfall' is rarely exact enough for humans who would prefer a time in days or hours, and nearly useless for the subterranean grokon.
Economy and Resources
The elthari largely lack any sort of proper economy, instead relying heavily on what the surrounding world can sustainably provide. In particular, this includes herbs, foraging, game, timber, fibers, and medicinal plants. Herblore is among the Grove's most valuable specialties, and knowledge, medicines, gathered materials, and woodland products provide useful goods for trade when they do interact with outsiders.
Defenses and Security
The Grove possesses no walls and few conventional fortifications. Its greatest defense is the forest itself and the elthari's familiarity with it. Scouts watch the surrounding woodland while concealed paths and dense vegetation make approaching unnoticed considerably harder than the settlement's open appearance. When threatened, the elthari favor bows, ambushes, concealment, traps—particularly with natural toxins, and their much easier movement through the undergrowth to confound, confuse, and outpace any foes they may have.
Culture, Faith, and Traditions
WIP
Relations
The Grove maintains close relations with nearby Ishlian, whose elfin inhabitants share ancient ancestry and many cultural traditions with the elthari despite the differences that have developed between them. The Grove remains culturally and internally independent from them, however, and they don't take to elfin law, instead self-governing.

Bramley has also become an unexpectedly close neighbor. The merrin produce a huge surplus of food that, while the elthari wouldn't grow it themselves as it is too disruptive to the natural plant life, they will gladly trade for. In return, the elthari have taught many merrin the art of herblore, creating concoctions, tonics, salves, and all sorts of naturalistic remedies. Merrin cooking has even become increasingly popular among the elthari, though reproducing it often requires ingredients obtained directly from Bramley, thus continuing their trade.
Current Issues and Rumors
The largest difficulty the elthari are facing is a lack of time and knowledge. Not every Alphosian plant responds to traditional elthari cultivation techniques, forcing experimentations while they are already behind in the growth of their settlement.
Notable People
WIP
Settlement Identity
The Grove is defined by patience and a respect for the natural world above all else. The elthari refuse to damage the environment, particularly by establishing massive structures such as walls that would impede the growth of the world, but also understand that they must allow some compromise until they can properly grow their shelters.