Dominion Era/Locations
During the Dominion Era, there are three particular landmasses that Tretalleri historians believe bear significance. These are Di'Termalttë, the Di'Ternôltë, and Di'Tersyrë, the Heartland, the Northern Lands, and the Eastern Land respectively. These landmasses are considered, historically, to have participated in the Dominion Era because at some point between the establishment of the Dominion and the journey to IldRenn some thirty thousand years later, the Dominion established holdings in these lands and conquered a significant portion of them.
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Termalttë
Di'Termalttë, known also as the Heartland, or the Homeland, this is the place of origin of the Tretallë, and the Elledynnë. It is the site of the millennia-long vicious rivalry between the two cultures. There are five distinct regions in Di'Termalttë:
The Dominion
The word Tretallë is a Tretalleri polyseme. To the Bone Elves, the word is not only their demonym, but it is also the word that they use to pertain to the very concept of Dominion that is intrinsic to Tretalleri identity and society. Finally, the word Tretallë is used interchangeably with the phrase D'Lanakhë Di'Tretallë, lit. The Realm of the Dominion. Despite the rather even playing field between the Tretallë and the Elledynnë, the Dominion itself covers an area of land in Di'Termalttë roughly three times the size of what the Silvered Realm covers. This is in part due to the superior military numbers of the Dominion, but it is largely because the expansion of Elledynnë territory is painfully slow due to the way that their military is constructed to rely on magic, and by extension, the trees that act as the foci for this magic.
The Forest of Bones
The Forest of Bones is a sacred place to the Tretallë of the Dominion. Legend holds that the wondrous artifact that allowed for the establishment of the Dominion, the Ivory Throne was unearthed in the Forest of Bones and gave rise to the Kingship of the Bone Trees, which consolidated the power of the Tretalleri tribes and city-states that bordered its territory before sweeping across Tretalleri lands and absorbing the rest of the Tretalleri people into one unified sovereign nation.
The Forest of Bones gained its name and its sacred heritage from the long and arduous process of unearthing the Ivory Throne. While the Tretallë dug up the grand artifact, many of them died. With no time and no graves of stone to bury their dead in, the families of the deceased instead cut open trees in the forest and interred the bones of their loved ones in the trees instead. This is also the origin of the tradition of the Bone Trees.
The Ivory City
The Ivory City, where the Ivory Throne is housed, lies at the very heart of the Forest of Bones. Though the Ivory City has steadily expanded over the years to cover an area far larger than it had in the humble beginnings of the Dominion, it has remained respectful of the sacred heritage of the Tretallë in the Forest of Bones. There are strict laws that have been followed since the construction of the Old Ivory City about where the city could expand toward and what parts of the Forest of Bones it could disturb.
Of course, there have been amendments to these laws over the long history of the Dominion, but nevertheless, there is a very clear reverence for the Forest of Bones that is evident in the architecture and civil engineering of the Ivory City. Every square kilometer of the city has an undisturbed grove of the Forest of Bones in a small park at each corner. Exquisite care and meticulous planning is undertaken so that as the city expands, these sections of the forest remain untouched and are respected by the citizens. The Tretalleri reverence for the Forest of Bones is further exemplified in the motif of gnarled drooping branches, which is reminiscent of the tree species that thrive in the Forest of Bones, that is quite commonly seen decorating buildings in the Ivory City.
The Imperial Palace
The Imperial Palace is the heart of the Dominion. It lies in the centre of the Ivory City, which radiates outward from it like the authority of Di'Adeýla Cilanannë himself. The Palace itself houses the Ivory Throne and the Imperator's Court. The Palace is a grand structure. A large stone gate that reaches up twenty feet into the sky adorns the eastern face of the Palace. Carved into the gate is a scene all-too-familiar to any child that has begun formal education. The gate recounts the moment that the Stranger guided the ancestors of Di'Tretallë to the Heart of Di'Teýrivellë and showed them the remains of fallen stars that they would use to break the hold of their captors.
The Palace, however, also has eight other gates, opening out into the eight roads(with the exception of the Imperial road) that lead to the Courtyard of the Nine. As a result, the Palace is rather vulnerable to attack. This is not too great a concern, however, as the Bone Elves have proven, time and again, that the Ivory Throne is nigh-indestructible.
The Imperial Citadel
The Imperial Citadel is the military heart of the Ivory City. It lies to the west of the city, its thick, impregnable walls looming over the countryside and the Forest of Bones. The Citadel itself is divided into two parts, the Eastern Citadel and the Western Citadel. This is because there is a river that runs through the Citadel: Di'Rinë, formally known as Rodë Reýlinë. The river is a source of fresh water for the Citadel on most days, but in case an enemy force encamped outside the citadel decides to poison the river, there are two large subterranean spring-fed cisterns that any inhabitants of the Citadel could use. There is also a section of the Citadel, located more toward the east, that is dedicated to a small crop that could be used in the case of a protracted siege.
There are three distinct layers to the Citadel, which are separated by stone walls that are each at least ten feet thick. Within the first ring of walls and towers lie the Twin Courts and the Grand Hall of War, two structures that are vital to the continued functioning of the Dominion even in the event of a protracted siege against the capital city. Within the second ring of walls and towers are the Grand Rookery, Di'Korveserë, (Raven-crest, the premiere academy for higher learning in the Dominion), the Archive of Anmaranë, and the Martial Rookery. The third and final ring of walls protects the Spire and the Imperial Shield, the residence of the Pale Imperator in the event of a siege, and the very last line of defense should it be necessary.
The Twin Courts
The name "Twin Courts" not only pertain to the two legislative bodies that take up the governance of the land should there not be a Pale Imperator on the Throne, but also to the structures that house these two legislative bodies when they are in session. Located to the northeast side of the Citadel, the Twin Courts are two near-identical buildings that are sat facing each other. In the courtyard that lies between the two Courts, there is an old sculpture of the Mother and the Father. The two gods are facing each other across the line that divides the courtyard into two halves. The Father stands on the half of the Court of Crows and the Mother stands on the half dedicated to the Court of Ravens.
The sculpture is symbolic, and though to an outsider, may indicate that the two Courts stand in opposition to each other, in fact, depicts that the two Courts are complementary—that each court cannot function without the other. This hearkens back to the theology of the Faith of the Nine and the way that the Father and the Mother function as foils to each other, acting very differently from one another, but ultimately coming together for the same goal.
