Independent forest communities that collect memory rain, cultivate living architecture and negotiate on behalf of the Viridian Expanse.
Overview
The Orunai do not claim the forest. They describe themselves as the people currently permitted to remain within it. Their settlements are coaxed from living trunks and may be dismantled without killing a tree.
Each enclave is governed by a listener circle chosen for the ability to hold contradictory memories without forcing them into a single account. Outsiders often mistake this patience for indecision.
History
Orunai oral tradition begins after an unnamed earlier people abandoned the causeways below the roots. The Enclaves learned to collect memory rain and used it to maintain continuity despite moving settlements.
They broke the Veyran advance by redirecting the army's own fires. Later they helped found the Sable Concord, but refused permanent membership on the grounds that the forest had not consented to borders.
The present record
The Enclaves regulate access to deep forest routes and arbitrate claims based on recovered memory. Their medicines are prized, particularly draughts that restore a memory without restoring its pain.
Several listener circles now report memories belonging to people not yet born. The Orunai have prohibited their sale.
Notes and record
This article combines campaign record, spoken lore and the mythic account preserved in the Earin archive.