Sea of Trees



The Haltina Sea of Trees (ハルツィナ) is the main location of most of the demi-humans in Tortus.

Layout
The Sea of Trees is located on the far east of Tortus' northern continent. It's a large forest that is surrounded by an impenetrable fog barrier that only beastmen can properly navigate around. As a result, the Sea of Trees has been nicknamed "The Forest of the Forgotten"

Inside the Sea of Trees is beastman nation of Verbergen. In addition, it also houses may smaller beastman settlements.

Although the Sea of Trees' fog protects beastmen from being attacked by other races, it is home to a multitude of dangerous monsters.

Although beastmen are the only once capable of properly navigating though the forest's fog, the Sea of Trees also houses a special mineral called Verdren Crystals that are capable of warding off nearby fog by emitting a faint blue light, and can also ward off weak Monsters through that same method. These crystals are used by Verbergen as a means of creating a safe path for beastmen to enter and leave.

In the center of the Sea of Trees is the "Grand Tree Uralt" (ウーア・アルト) that acts as branch for the World Tree of True World Astral, as well as containing the Labyrinth of Lyutillis Haltina. Its girth is at least 50 meters in diameter, while also reaching up to a height of one kilometer.

History
When Ehit ad his allies were planning to rule over Tortus, the guardian avatar of the Grand Tree, Uralt, fought against him alongside Tortus' first Hero Darrion Kaus, but both of them were defeated. After her death, she transferred her soul into the Holy Sword artifact that shared her name.

Throughout much of Tortus' history, The Sea of Trees, known back then as the Pale Forest (の), remained a safe haven for most beastmen. They had even established a nation called the Haltina Republic, who's ruler was chosen by the Grand Tree, and also acted at the forest's guardian that was able to magical control both the forest and the surrounding fog. It was built around the Grand Tree, with it serving as the royal palace.

The religion that worshipped Ehit, the Holy Church, had made many attempts to conquer the forest, but had failed each time, thus making one of the few locations that was untouched by its influence. They did, however, come close one time when then used a kidnapped beastman named Shushu Corthea that they brainwashed into following them and guide them to the beastmen nation. However, this also ended in the church's defeat when the beastmen managed to repel them and Shushu.

When the church discovered that a beastman within the forest was in possession of one of the seven Ancient Magics (who would later turn out to be Lyutillis Haltina), they declared war against the Haltina Republic with the intention of capturing this individual and brainwash them into serving Ehit. After over a month long campaign, the church's forces was defeated by both the Republic and the anti-church organization, the Liberators, but the battle had left the Grand Tree in a state of everlasting decrepitude as a means of preventing Ehit's servant from controlling its power.

After the Liberators' bid to defeat Ehit failed, Lyutillis had established a Labyrinth within the Grand Tree as a means to offer aid to anyone who planned to resume her comrades' mission of fighting Ehit in the future.

Thousands of years later, when the demons had acquired Ancient Magic that allowed them to control Monsters, they attacked the new beastman nation, Verbergen, in order to locate and conquer Lyutillis' Labyrinth. Ultimately, the Demons were defeated thanks to the Haulia Tribe of Rabbitmen, but the attack had severely damaged Verbergen, and caused massive casualties for the beastmen. To make matters worse, they were invaded soon after by the Hoelscher Empire, who burned down much of the forest in order to locate and capture as many beastmen as possible. The damaged portions of the forest would be restored soon after by Kaori Shirasaki as she cast her restoration magic over it.

Trivia

 * The Grand Tree, as well as the other trees that are present in the other worlds, is based on the  from various stories (particularly from ). Furthermore, the concept of the Grand Tree being the source of all of Tortus' mana is based on the tree from the Tales role-playing game series that has a similar function.
 * In the Anime, the Verdren Crystals are replaced by a glowing flower that comes in a variety of colors.