Vautspachl
From Valwiki
Vautspachl (va-uht-spah-chul) is a fair-sized island chain, far west of Meridiem. It's caught in an unusual tropical climate, but it's hard to say what it should truly look like. Many years ago, Searith corrupted the lands, ruining the wildlife - plants and animals alike - into something new. Even the skies see no light, as a murky darkness looms all around. The Vautspachl Chain is one of the few places on the surface where dark creatures, such as Drow, find it easy to live and survive compared to human-heavy or elf-heavy locations.
The small, north-western part of the mainland is called Uvtath. The larger southern area, in it’s entirety, is called Vyk’zlade Nuw. Both names relate to the fact that Vyk’zlade looks like it’s devouring Uvtath. Less-significant locations are not shown on the map, likely wiped of resources.
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General Information
The island chain of Vautspachl is populated mostly by Drow, both those descended from original families upon the surface, and those who have come up from the massive Underdark. The dark lands are home to many corrupted and unsightly beings and animals, however. Vautspachl is also familiar to many slaves, as the great alliance of Mournirra finds their capital city, Sjafor, on Vautspachl's mainland.
Many Drow on the chain were a little different than those on Kharlia or Cruciform, having limited racial integration compared to their distant kin. But ancient ways, preserved by high-up hopefuls as well as scholars within Mournirra, are replacing many of Vautspachl's previous ideals.
Wild Elves, descending from the original "Vautspachlan" Wood Elves who survived - but were unfortunate not to make it to Seule - are still scattered within the forests, fighting for survival, but all in vain. Twisted into madness, many who cannot hide or escape to farther lands are captured as slaves.
Places
(Unlisted places have either little significance, or haven't been written about yet.)
Crepuscula
It's a popular belief among the Vautspachl Drow that the first of their kind was infact created in this forest, and not underground, contrary to foreign popular belief. This is considered a very sacred place to the older generations. In the center of this dense and dark forest is the Ancient Temple of Searith, where not only the Drow, but other dark and evil creatures, pay their respects to the goddess who created them. The Temple had suffered major damage during the spark that sent Abyssals across their land, but it too would be rebuilt. This temple is not to be confused with the "New" Temple of Searith, otherwise known as one of the Churches of Searith, in New Sjafor on Cruciform. Another temple is in Thuulstrea. Several of the few surviving Helviiryn family members - by blood, not the governmental house - live in Crepuscula.
Sjafor
When Vautspachl's lands were twisted centuries ago, many newly-emerged Drow sought to create camps and lord over one another. Many of these camps were either destroyed, either by their own Drowish kin, or by the surviving Elves. Some of these camps would manage to grow, however. Sjafor, the largest and oldest city on the Vautspachl Chain, was originally one of these smaller camps - but has now grown to the point of becoming Mournirra's capital city.
Chakohkev
Chakohkev is now 98% Chakohle, and only 2% Drow. Despite these percentages, the overall number of Chakohle is smaller than it used to be. Like the Sjaforan Drow, they sought to rebuild their city, but like before, it's a bit underdeveloped in comparison. The Chakohle who chose to live here still interact with the Sjaforan Drow across the mainland, but prefer to remain alone and isolated if they can. Chakohkev, as a city, is built mostly underground as a series of tunnels connected to one main tunnel. Almost resembling an ant colony, or a hive, it reflects the idea that while Chakohle are less intelligent, they can work together as a group with astounding results.
Virvius' Jaw
This mountain range was once home to the Red Chakohle Tribe. The tribe had gone nearly extinct because of their berserker nature in the war, so now the mountains are fairly empty. An odd amount of wildlife seems to have collected here, however. Whether the Duegar (dark Dwarves) that once lived underneath are still alive or not is unknown. These mountains, high and jagged, are hollow and desolate as all life and resource has been almost completely removed from them. Only shells of what they once were, there is no way to survive up in the peaks without use of magic.
Maurnelle
Maurnelle is what the bay has come to be known as, though when one speaks of it, they're mostly referring to the connected port-town. Another place to become a part of Mournirra, this is where some of their ships still come and go, but most of them prefer to dock near Sjafor. Maurnelle is a popular town among sailors, pirates, various outcasts, and even some crime lords - but the latter are often quick to die.
Sauropsi Marsh
For many centuries the acidic marsh was, and still remains, a popular dump-site for bodies. It's very dark and desolate with almost no life to be found. The entire area is extremely toxic; taking even a single whiff of it's air could permanently damage - or at an extreme, kill - anyone who is not immune. This is considered the boundary between Kota'sol and the outside world. Sometimes, however, people will briefly travel here to obtain the valuable seeds of the Sil'iluusan plant, otherwise known as Violet Grin. An old folk tale among mainland residents is that a single, white flower grows somewhere in the very center of the Marsh. Said to either make the deadliest poison, or a miraculous cure, it's been sought after by many - but none return.
Kota'sol Jungle
The Kota'sol Jungle, once inhabited by a large tribe of Elf remnants and the Dark Brown Chakohle tribe, is now inhabited mostly by Mournirra's lumbermen. Advancing farther into the jungle is difficult; the lumbermen often run into snags or traps set up by elven survivors, and an unusual increase in wildlife often gives them second thoughts.
Ilythiil
Though it is just west off the coast of Chakohkev, Ilythiil does not interact with the Chakohle or their city. Another location of Drow, some families had been known to send misbehaving children or other relatives there. People often went there by will, but few ever left - Ilythiil was a military training ground, but their inhumane practices left many trainees dead. After the Abyssal menace, the Elysions - coming from a smaller island, farther west of Ilythiil - claimed the once-Drowish location for themselves, but were soon driven back by Mournirra.
Now, like before, the island functions again. Led by it's previous 'owner', Vihzhna Helviiryn, Ilythiil continues to forge tactical, merciless killers.
Seule
Located a bit farther from Vautspachl's main body, Seule is dramatically different when compared to the other areas. This tiny isle is home to the Seulan Elves as well as the Ipeiros. Seulan Elves are descended from the Vautspachlan Wood Elves who were able to escape, advance, and evolve, while the Ipeiros are an ancient, magical creation of them. Rarely do others pass through, but Seule has seen all kinds of beings. Some of the gods worshiped here are Lo, Myria, Singalot, or Djara.
Seule had joined Mournirra for a short while as they worked to clean their island chain of demons, which they succeeded in doing, but many tensions between the Drow and the Seulans caused them to split apart. The Mournirran Council often wonders if anything should be done about the small, seemingly helpless island - but they know all too well what the Seulans are capable of, in regards of magic. Seule is represented by Psitan Kaspros, an Ipeiros who was once a member of the Mournirran Council. However, many inhabitants see Mnisthiti Thesmofylakas, the Magister of the Koryfi ek Gi, Seule’s main library, school, and magic academy, as the city’s true leader.
Elysion
Elysion is a small island-camp to the west of Ilythiil. Inhabited by Elves and Ipeiros, that’s where it’s similarities to Seule end. Isolating themselves from their Seulan kin, they hate what Seule has become, and instead focus on what can possibly be done to save an island chain that once belonged to them. Highly racist, but also powerful in magic, Elysions represent once-pure ideals that became twisted over the years. Too blinded to see their own corruption, they continue their work, and have begun to establish a military presence on Seule.
The War
((This section contains some information regarding the Mournirran-Abyssal war that took place over the 5-year time jump. Not all information is included. Also, this is not a write-up of the goingson, and there will likely never be one. Specific questions should be directed towards Rachel.))
The past five years had been a time of turmoil for the Vautspachl natives. The war against the abyssal demons had went well; only around a year it took, with the help of the Ipeiran laylanders, and their ancient magics. Vautspachl had been almost completely purged of the demons; perhaps they hadn’t expected a full-on war, but strangely enough, some of the stronger Abyssals were already dead. While Mournirra and it’s temporary allies had lost some numbers, no cost was too high for their sacred homeland...
... But almost directly after the highly anticipated war had ended, bad blood re-emerged between some of the Ipeiros and Drow. The Ipeiros, normally nice and understanding creatures, slowly had their minds turned by The Silver Guard, a faction of white, to gray, to light blue Ipeiros that had not emerged publicly in centuries. They knew the origins of the now-slain Abyssals was the fault of few, but they blamed Mournirra for not foreseeing the consequences of what had happened. Because of the argument, the Ipeiros and Drow promptly separated, their temporary alliance shattered. They would not go to war, however, because of a special pact made centuries ago.
Most of the Ipeiros now reside on Seule once again, though some have chosen to remain on Kharlia. Strangely enough, their city had taken minimal damage, as if some unknown force had been protecting their lands. They would not be continuing their constant celebrations of the past, however.. at least, not as much as before. The Ipeiros focused mainly on cleaning up and re-establishing some order. A large statue had also been erected within Seule’s Auditorium - a statue of Olyu, an ancient “Chimaera” - but they know not where it came from.
As for the Mournirrans who were now on Vautspachl, the first thing they did was rebuild the destroyed portions of The Temple of Searith, as well as recover and clean as many books as they could. The Tome of Searith would not be returned to it’s rightful location just yet. Right now, Mournirra focuses on re-establishing a hub on Vautspachl. Sjafor has been almost entirely rebuilt - there are sections still under construction - but things have been going well these past few years. Some of the Vautspachlans who relocated to New Sjafor / House Maelthra after the initial incident would remain, though about half would go back. The outpost on Cruciform would remain a notable location, however, and a very high area of trade.
As for the Mournirran Council, their building remains on Cruciform, but most of the Council has been overseeing Sjafor’s reconstruction. Psitan Kaspros, the Ipeiran councilman, has relinquished his position and gone to live with his people.
