Eataine is simply the hinterland of the vast city-state of Lothern, and first amongst the Elf kingdoms. It is the home of the current Phoenix King, Finubar, and the site of his Phoenix Court. Eataine is dotted with vineyards, villas and summer estates to which the noble families of the city retire. The city is one of the wonders of the known world and the source of Eataine's prosperity.
Approaching Lothern, the first thing a mariner sees is the Glittering Tower -- a great lighthouse filled with thousands of lamps, situated on a rocky isle in the mouth of the treacherous straits of Lothern. This titanic fortress guards the approach to the Emerald Gate, the first sea-gate of Lothern. Anyone approaching the Emerald Gate can easily be caught in a crossfire between the massive war engines in the Glittering Tower and those on the Gate itself. The sight of these imposing bastions is enough to turn all but the most insane attackers away.
Any who are allowed through the Emerald Gate pass through the wide channel of the Straits, sheer cliff faces lined with ramparts all constantly garrisoned by the well-armed and alert warriors of the Sea Guard. A second portal bars the way for shining silver set with sapphires the sive of a man's head, beyond which lies a huge lagoon where thousands of vessels of every conceivable size and shape, from tiny pleasure craft to the mighty warships of the High Elf fleet, lie at anchor.
Towering statues of the Phoenix King and the Everqueen face each other across the mouth of the bay. Around the harbour are other great statues of the Elven Gods: Asuryan, Lileath, Kurnous, Isha, and many others. As dusk falls, the statues blaze briefly with white flame: all save that of Khaine, whose eyes and hands glow blood-red.
Around this lagoon sits Lothern itself, and this is as far as any non-elf may travel -- outsiders are forbidden to pass through the third gate of ruby and gold and into the Inner Sea. In these days of dwindling, Lothern is as much a foreign city as an Elven one, for the many merchants who bustle through its streets now seem as numerous as the High Elves with whom they trade.
Source
- Warhammer Armies 8th ED -- High Elves (pg. 9).