Verbergen

The Beastman Country of Verbergen (フェアベルゲン) is a nation located deep within the Sea of Trees of Tortus.

Layout
Verbergen is surrounded by a barrier of living trees, each one at least thirty meters tall. Its entrance is a massive gate with thick trunks interlocked together to form an arch, and the double doors enshrined within were also made of wood. They served as the final defence against invaders and were outfitted with various traps and bulwarks. There were bunches of tree trunks that could be set loose with the snap of a rope, and archery platforms for defenders to rain arrows down from built into the upper branches of the larger trees.

Numerous massive trees dotted the landscape, a dwelling carved into each one. Warm lamplight poured out of the windows that had been cut into the trunks. Thick branches, wide enough for dozens of people to walk across abreast, link the treetops together into one big aerial highway. Vines serve as pulleys, allowing for huge elevators big enough to pull up carts. There are even wooden aqueducts, carrying water from tree to tree.

Verbergen and the neighboring villages are surrounded by Verdren Crystals that are used to ward off the fog that was produced by the forest. They are also somewhat effective at warding off certain monsters.

Ideology
Verbergen is a confederation of various beastman races, with several of their leaders serving as members of council of elders that act as the governing body.

The citizens of Verbergen initially did not follow any religion. This was due to most religions imprinting the philosophy that beastmen are an inferior species to all other races, thus it did not come as a surprise to them when learning of Ehit's true nature as a malevolent mad god. When Verbergen is restored by Kaori Shirasaki after it was destroyed by a demon invasion, many beastmen now worship her as a goddess and have started a new following unofficially known as "Kaorism". It eventually develops into an official religious organization known as the "Angel Religion" that is comprised of Kaori's supporters from Verbergen, as well as those from the Dukedom of Ankaji. Furthermore, many other beastmen also revered Kaori's husband, Hajime Nagumo, as well as several of his other wives and their parents.

Since beastmen are incapable of using magic, they initially viewed anyone of their own that was born with mana as "cursed", and executed them, as well as anyone that was found guilty of harboring them.

All beastmen respect the circle of life and death. It is customary in Verbergen to bury the dead under the roots of trees, so they could once again become one with nature. Having fulfilled their purpose in life, beastmen are returned to the forest in death, so that they could create new life and ensure the continued prosperity of the woods.

Verbergen regards anyone that has completed any of the Great Labyrinths as "The Chosen" and would support them to the best of their abilities.

Like many other nations in Tortus, Verbergen has legalized polygamy, in which the greater one's status, the more spouses they would marry.

Military
Verbergen's army is an amalgamation of militias from the various allied beastman tribes. Depending on their race, different beastmen are grouped into various regiments, such as infantry that are typically comprised of bearmen and tigermen, scouts that are composed of harpies and foxmen, archers that are composed of elves, and so on.

The person in charge of Verbergen's army is known as the "Supreme Commander", with five generals serving directly under that individual.

History
Verbergen was established long after one of the Liberators, Lyutillis Haltina, created her Labyrinth in the Sea of Trees. She explained to a beastman elder that they should not oppose those that managed to have completed any of the Great Labyrinths made by her six comrades. Since then, Verbergen has held a vague law that simply stated that if anyone bearing a crest belonging to one of the Great Labyrinths were to appear in the Sea of Trees, the beastmen were not to oppose that person, regardless of who they were, and to support them as best they could. However due to the difficulty of completing even one of these trials, the law fell in to obscurity where only a few of Verbergen's elders were aware of its existence.

The elders of Verbergen came into contact with Hajime Nagumo and Yue after they were guided by the exiled Haulia Tribe. They learned the truth about the Liberators and the God of Tortus from Hajime and offered to guide him to the Grand Tree, but he refused since he already made a deal with the Haulia for their help. during the meeting, Hajime several injured the bearman elder Jin Vanton.

Months later, Verbergen later came under attack by the Demons after one of them conquered another of the Labyrinths and used the Ancient Magic he obtained from it to control monsters. Their objective was to get the beastmen to lead them to the Labyrinth that resided in the Sea of Trees. When they refused, Verbergen was damaged as a result and many of its people were killed, but the Demons were defeated thanks to the efforts of the reborn Haulia Tribe. Unfortunately, he Hoelscher Empire raided Verbergen not long after the Demons's attack, in which many of the surviving beastmen were captured and taken away to be used as slave labor. When Hajime's party arrived in Verbergen, it was soon restored to its former beauty by Kaori Shirasaki using restoration magic. The enslaved beastmen were later liberated from the empire and be able to return home, thanks to the combined efforts of Hajime's party and the Haulia Tribe.

When Ehit was preparing to wipe out all life on Tortus, Verbergen allied itself with the nations that were banding together to fight back.

After Ehit's death, as beastman were now universally regarded as equals amongst sapient beings, Verbegan continued expanding its diplomatic relations with other nations, and also exported various goods throughout he rest of Tortus (such as issues of their monthly magazine publications as a way help expand Verbergen's culture to the rest of Tortus).

Elders

 * Ulfric Heipyst (Chief Elder)
 * Jin Vanton (formerly)
 * Guze
 * Lua
 * Mao
 * Zel

Others

 * Altina Heipyst
 * Regin Vanton
 * Gil
 * Gouto†
 * Tonto Vanton†
 * Zam
 * Kira
 * Zack

Note: †; deceased

Trivia

 * Verbergen means "to hide" in German. This is likely a reference to the beastman nation being hidden by an impenetrable fog barrier.
 * Verbergen celebrates the new year at the beginning of spring.