Osaye Thicket

Place

Place Name:

Osaye Thicket

Biome:

Thicket

Size:

Unknown

Continent:

Unknown

Subcontinent

Unknown

Geography

Osaye is located between the territories of a couple dozen different kin’toni clans and zu’aan tribes who are all either at war with each other, and sending armies at each other, or at peace with each other, and sending merchants to each other. The relations between all these peoples are very definite, and while they do change on occasion… so long as your information isn’t months old, you can probably predict what will happen when a soldier from one territory meets a soldier from another territory. Osaye being located between all these places, it gets a lot of travellers, despite its small size.

The roads here are simply the best. Bandits don’t really dare to hang out here for long, because there’s always soldiers marching about and no good place to hide. Neither are there territorial disputes about marching into the crossroads of Osaye. The roads technically belong to the Elamyn clan, but those kin’tonis are mostly concerned with keeping people out of their forest. That essentially leaves the control of the crossroads in the hands of the Lesser Baron Awark, who loves business, so long as his customers don’t fight in the inn itself. There’s a field over there for that.

The crossroads are one place. The forest is another. The Forest of Osaye is what is usually meant when foreigners bring up Osaye in conversation — the crossroads they refer to as ‘the crossroads’ or, more frequently, ‘the inn’ — and there are few who dare to enter it uninvited. The most common knowledge of the Elamyn clan’s military comes from the guards that Chel’lorio hires to guard his inn. Chel’lorio was able to hire only the most competent guards for a reasonable rate because of this — the more competent the guards that guard his inn, you see, the more intimidating the Elamyn clan will seem.

Upon entering the forest, one is struck primarily by the noise. Some forests can be described as silent forests. The Forest of Osaye is no such forest. Full of babbling brooks, melodious songbirds, chirping insects, and wind-stirred leaves, there will always be some manner of noise ringing in your ears whilst you travel here. Some even find the constant noise oppressive, though they’re few. The main landmark of the forest is the meadow near its heart, where the Elamyn kin’toni clan lives. Most kin’tonis have seen this place before, because while the Elamyn always conceal the state of their military.

They’re not shy of inviting guests to their meadow, to participate in their acclaimed festivals. It means they sell more of their equally acclaimed cloth, which is richly dyed and well-made. The other defining characteristic of this forest is its tunnels. They’re not landmarks. They’re secrets. The Elamyn kin’tonis use them to get around their enemies (or their friends) with astonishing speed, and only Elamyn kin’tonis even know of the existence of these tunnels. The forest is rather thick and difficult to travel through at any great speed without using these tunnels.

So the Elamyn kin’tonis will always have the advantage against any enemies in terms of speed, so long as their tunnels aren’t discovered. Which they probably won’t be.

Plants

The obvious place to begin when discussing the plants of Osaye, is the gigantic black tree with blue leaves standing right in the middle of the meadow in which the Elamyn kin’toni live. Named bahrus, this tree is either the last of its kind or the first of its kind, since no other trees like it can be found anywhere. The Elamyn worship Bahrus, believing that it blesses them with good fortune when hunting. Sometimes they will sit in its shade even during the day, since its leaves are enormous and block out almost all of the sunlight — even in the winter, since Bahrus never sheds its leaves when the autumn rolls around.

Bahrus stands higher than any other tree in the Forest of Osaye, but not so high that you can see it from outside of the forest. Its trunk is thick and straight and sturdy, and its branches spread so wide that at noon, it casts the whole meadow in which it sits into shadow. Also, the entrance to the secret tunnel system of the Elamyn clan lies beneath bahrus. No wonder they don’t let those from other clans approach the tree. If you ask the Elamyn kin’tonis whether or not their giant black tree has ever produced any seeds, they’ll proudly show you the seeds that Bahrus has produced.

And request that you bow to them, out of respect, at least. Supposedly, every few years, Bahrus will produce a very small number of pink and yellow spotted fruits, which have a bittersweet taste and contain a large number of seeds. If you ask whether the Elamyn have ever considered planting these seeds, they’ll look insulted, and you’ll know not to ask that particular question any more. Many of the guests to the Elamyn clan’s festivals have considered stealing some of these seeds, and planting them in their own territories. As far as the world knows, though, no one has ever actually attempted it.

Or maybe someone has attempted it, and failed. Or maybe someone has attempted it, and succeeded so well that no one knew he had succeeded. In any case… when the market begins filling up with the rich black wood of the Bahrus tree, you’ll know what’s happened. The Elamyn clan is also famous for the crops which it grows — namely, ta'rel, which it uses to make linen, which it then dyes to produce its famously luxurious textiles. (They also grow some kinds of fruits, but these don’t sell for nearly so much as their textiles do, so they’re less famous, although they’re quite tasty.)

The ta'rel fields of the Elamyn can be found not too far from the meadow in which Bahrus grows. The weaving workshops can also be found here. The Elamyn clan can produce immense amounts of cloth over the course of a year, but they’re always expanding both their fields and their workshops as their numbers increase. So while the ta'rel fields may seem enormous today, just wait five years and they’ll be even bigger.

Animals

The variety of birds in Osaye is almost stunning — every one of them a songbird of some sort, living off of the many insects in Osaye as well as the many fruit trees that grow hidden in every corner of the Forest of Osaye. The chorin is a large, dark brown and scarlet bird. Quite possibly the largest songbird you’ll ever see; the size of its body directly correlates to the size of its repertoire. A single chorin can, over the course of its lifetime of six or seven years, learn (or be taught) an entire symphony’s worth of music. This it typically does by copying the songs of other birds, which it will remember until the day it dies.

Sometimes it will blend the songs together — it’s possible for a Chorin to sing two songs at once, thanks to a unique structure in its throat. Unfortunately for other birds, Chorins aren’t terribly responsible with their powers of mimicry, and often use them to confuse the mating songs of other birds. This is because female Chorins are mostly impressed by the most mischievous males, as well as by the ones with the largest repertoires. In contrast to the chorins, yelnads are very responsible birds. These white, grey-streaked songbirds spend their whole lives.

(which usually last about three years) building one grand nest, for their children. Their tools? Beaks that are almost ludicrously long, like an oversized pair of tweezers. Three tiny talons precise enough to make watches. A set of tail feathers capable of holding multiple grasses, twigs, and other such nest-building materials. A simple song to keep themselves entertained as they work. And finally, a pair of milky white eyes that look like they should be blind, but are actually strong as those of any high-soaring bird of prey. With these tools of utmost precision at their disposal.

Yelnads can make nests capable of withstanding hurricanes, which they can take refuge in. Yelnads are not the mightiest of fliers. Then there’s the ashvar, as he’s come to be called. The ashvar isn’t a species of bird, he’s just a specific bird, of a species with black and blue plumage. Presumably he has relatives elsewhere. But he’s one of the more distinctive birds of Osaye, since he travels so quickly that he seems to be everywhere at once. One moment he’s at the inn by the crossroads, another moment he’s perching in Bahrus, chuckling all the while.

The ashvar’s song is unique, and unlike the song of any other bird. You know who’s stolen your pie when you hear his song outside your window. Hunts have been organized to find the ashvar and bring him down, but none of these hunts have yet succeeded. Some people just advise waiting for the old bird to die, since he’s been around for fifty years and hasn’t died yet… surely, one of these years he’ll die of old age… surely. Well, maybe we’ll organize one more hunt to bring him down… he can’t evade death forever…

Historical Timeline of Ages

Age Name	Dates	Controller
Stone Age	Before 1E 0	Unknown
Copper Age	1E 1–1E 2200	Unknown
Bronze Age	1E 2200–1E 4400	Unknown
Iron Age	2E 0–2E 700	Unknown
Ancient Age	2E 700–2E 2200	Unknown
Middle Age	3E 0–3E 2050	Unknown
Early Modern Age	3E 2050–3E 2600	Unknown
Industrial Age	3E 2600–3E 2700	Unknown
Machine Age	3E 2700–3E 2800	Unknown
Atomic Age	3E 2800–3E 2850	Unknown
Space Age	3E 2850–3E 2875	Unknown
Information Age	3E 2875–3E 2900	Unknown
Genetic Age	3E 2950–3E 3000	Unknown
Awakening Age	3E 3000–3E 3415	Unknown
Twilight Age	4E 0–4E 500	Elamyn Kin'toni Clan

Place

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Osaye Thicket

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This article is written by Xerxes Worldweaver. Copyright 2026 Xerxes Worldweaver. All rights reserved.