Dafin River
The river connecting the cities of Southbay and Roundtree in Southern Rota. Upriver from Roundtree, the river borders the Omina Forest, where numerous “wild” elves live. From here on up to the Gnome hills, the river is known as “The Isiat”, an ancient elven word of unknown meaning.
As recently as the 8th century (400 years ago), the Dafin River valley was populated almost entirely by elves from Omina Forest, with humans limited to a trading town at the mouth of the river (later to become Southbay). The valley served as a buffer between the large human population in the north and the “smaller” races to the south (mostly Halfling and Gnome), which the elves protected.
By the start of the 9th century, though, the kingdom of Rota was prospering and the human population was growing at such a rate that expansion was necessary. Combined with a resurging Goblin and Kobold population, the elves decided that the humans could “take their turn” protecting Dafin, so they retreated into their forest – effectively ceding control of the valley to the kingdom of Rota.