Contributed by Siena

Early Yraela (1000+++ years BN)

A medium-sized continent, north of Nigeri, Yraela was the ancestral home of Teltaha. The continent was almost entirely ringed by mountains, and the sloping bowl in between filled with thick forest divided by several rivers. Teltaha inhabited most of the mountains and hunted in the forests, while various human communities also thrived within the bowl.

Later Yraela and The Falling of Scythe-Shadows (approx 200 years BN)

Over time the forests diminished, leaving much of the bowl as drying, swampy scrub. There was some competition over resources, but the Teltaha were content to coexist and withdrew further into the mountains.The human communities however, took a sudden and violent interest in the retreating dragons about this time, hunting them for sport and to obtain the telta (referred to as dragon pearls) from their foreheads. As Teltaha bred extremely slowly the effect on their population was devastating. The humans used shrarka poison in their attacks, finally seizing the last Teltaha refuge – the Shadow City – and driving the survivors off the mainland. An elderly Teltaha, Yantara had mistakenly betrayed the location and was disgraced.

Talayon Island (2000 years BN)

Named strength in Yraelic, the volcanic island of Talayon because a sanctuary for the surviving Teltaha. The community was strictly run with only the hunters allowed to leave the crater to prevent their discovery, although these restrictions loosened over the intervening years. Talayon was briefly ruled by Halan (see Beyond Dyrin, Fly Free; N1 Archives), a depraved dragon who founded his own secret police, the Rathen, but was eventually overthrown.Shortly after Synacra began his campaign on Nigeri, the volcano erupted without warning, despite the magic wards and precautions the Teltaha had taken. While some of the survivors flew to Nigeri – with members joining both sides of the conflict – the majority returned to barren Yraela.

Modern Yraela (300- years AN)

The Teltaha returned to find the swamps and the forests all but gone, and the scant remainder died over the following years. Now the mountain ranges and bowl remain, but it is a cracked desert. Beneath the deepest trenches the largest of the old rivers still flow. Dragon-made caverns run under the bowl, the roofs supported by the ancient trunks of the trees buried, once buried by the swamps.They found the human population was greatly reduced as they had moved away to the smaller more fertile islands; although hostilities almost immediately resumed. Dragon pearls were still highly prized relics among the the tribal human cultures, including on the smaller islands in the surrounding archipelago. Killing a Teltaha was a means to shortcut almost all of their rites of passage, and it was apparent to both sides very quickly, that peace was never going to be achievable.Holding their own against new alliances, when the Teltaha were joined by the elven and dragon refugees from Nigeri they evicted the entire human population, though the conflict waged back and forth for nearly three centuries.The elves are slowly restoring some of the plant life, and they and the dragons live off the wild plants and animals still living in the craggy mountains; assisted when necessary by the elves on Talayon.

Modern Talayon (300 years AN)

Following the eruption, Talayon slowly grew to support life again. A decade after Synacra’s victory, the island was given to the elves who had fled to Yraela, and their presence greatly sped up Talayon’s rebirth. They cultivated new plant and animal life and have flourished alongside with both.The island was enchanted to appear as a black volcanic rock from the outside, but truly the crater is verdant and full. The peak is not as sharp as it used to be, the grassy slopes giving way to a shallow shelf extending beyond the island. Sea lilies cover the entire expanse of ankle-deep water, shedding their glowing seeds after dark.The vast majority of Talayon’s population is elven, with few dragons; the reverse of Yraela, but the two communities have remained close.