Nations of Gabriola. [WIP]

{Blackbrier Forest.}

{Castellum de Aerius Magnas = ABSORB CULTURE FROM GARCIA.}

{ARCHIPELAGO WEST OF STENSIA = NAME/CREATE/TURN INTO PROVINCE/JUNGLE ELVES + FAY.}

The Dralhassari Islands.

They are a tropical place consisting of three seperate archipelagos: Lehenlo, Cacaris and Dralhassa.

The Dralhassan Islands are the largest of the region, the most northerly gives its name to the region - Dralhassa. The southerly is named Ganessu by the locals. Both islands are lush rain forests, grown upon steep slopes from high cliff faces. Dralhassa is itself named for the active volcano on the island which in the native tongue is called Dral. Fire burns at the top of the peak, but it has been almost a century since it last burst forth - a catastrophic event that ignites half the island.

The natives are a distant relative of the Gabriolan Elves, specifically the ones of the Ravenheart. Known by outsiders as Jungle Elves, these Elves appear largely primitive in comparison to their continental cousins. They appear to live in crude huts in the jungles, usually at ground level in artificial clearings. However if an explorer befriends these Elves, they would find that the crude huts belong to Wardens and Hermits. Deeper into the humid depths lie entire cities of Elves, wooden huts built into stone ruins older than Man itself. Particularly notable are grand pyramid structures, which at night glow with a blue hue.

The entrances to these buildings are very high and wide, with wooden stairs built by the current occupants or ropes that are climbed. Jungle Elves are exceptionally good climbers and use their natural talents to scale the grand structures every day without accident. Farmers exist in the clearings outside the city, growing crops in the rich volcanic soils. Traders flit between the cities to ply their goods on others. Soldiers clad in green-tinted metal armour stand watchful to keep the peace and keep wildlife out. A dangerous prospect, given that the islands are host to large toothed cats, horned rampaging monstrosities and a species of four-winged Dragon that stalks the jungle canopy looking for food.

Jungle Elves are not the only inhabitants of these islands, as they are host to Fay, small humanoid beings with multiple wings and short tails that flit about the canopy looking for fruits and insects. The small beings are strong magic users, although their size dictates that the wounds caused by them are little more than annoyances at the worst of times.

Lehenlo stretches north from the two main Dralhassan Islands. A series of smaller islands covered in dense tropical vegetation. A number of Jungle Elf settlements exist on the closer islands to Dralhassi, but further island settlements were wiped out in a war of conquest by the Ravenheart Confederacy. Those islands closest to the Confederacy now play an important roll in shipbuilding as ports for their Outter-Sea Fleet.

Land-bound beasts are a rarity, with only those who can fly or are strong swimmers surviving on these islands. The most notable species, or group of them, are the Draconic Lehn - about the size of a house cat or at most twice that. They flit from tree to tree with their winged limbs, which are tipped in hook claws used to grip logs or trees. Remarkably intelligent beasts, Lehn are kept as pets by some offshorers, especially ship captains who pass by the islands.