Diafotis (Dee-ah-foh-tih-ss)
Three Weeks From Everywhere
"Our island is the most beautiful of all, isn't it Grandfather?"
"Aye lad. It is blessed with isolation from the strife of the outside world, and so retains a spiritual wholesomeness that has been lost elsewhere."
"That's why so many come, to seek truth."
"That's right. But my boy, very few come. The world has more people in it than you can possibly imagine. More than there are stars in the sky. The few who make their way here are the most determined, the most dedicated... and perhaps the most desperate."
Geography
As a large, rounded island, the land of Diafotis is varied and fairly lush.
Steep mountains dominate the center. The cliffs of these are so sheer, almost nothing grows on the sides, only in places where the rock levels into horizontal strips. The glaciers and streams from the mountains are the source of freshwater for the island, and small rivers run in all directions from them.
On the north-northwest side of the island, warm prevailing winds bring rains from the equator. As a result, lush forests dominate the mountainous foothills. The trees thin into rolling plains which stretch to the sea. The rains which make these regions so fertile do not reach the south-southwest side, however, and the resulting rain shadow creates a colder rocky desert region.
The transitional regions to the east and west are perfectly pleasant and livable grasslands, but lack the stark beauty of the primary three regions. On the wetter side, they feature a marshy offshoot of the forests, and on the drier side experience summer wildfires from tinder-dry grasses exposed to concentrated sunlight.
Ecosystem Cycles
Conditions on Diafotis are fairly stable from season to season, but there are some notable changes nonetheless.
In the lush northern regions, all four seasons are well represented. The land becomes thick with wildflowers as the winter thaws, muggy in the heat of summer, ripening to a golden riot in the autumn, and collecting sheets of sleet in the deepest parts of winter. Many creatures hibernate out the winter, waiting for the more prosperous months of the year.
By contrast, winter brings little change to the desert side of the island. The zone remains inhospitable, with the additional hardship of sea ice forming in the coldest months. The residents here do not hibernate, instead continuing with their regular activities, though herbivores migrate to the transitional zones as what vegetation is available withers until the spring.
The transitional zones notice the greatest change at the seasonal extremes. As stated above, herds of migrating herbivores come to these places in the winter to seek better grazing, which is a godsend to many carnivores who cannot sleep away the cold. In the summer, wildfires are common on the southern ends as the grasses fully dry out, but these fires are expected and cyclical. In fact, they have a restoring effect on the soil, and grasses regrow riotously in the autumn. This in turn creates the needed food for the herds- everything in a circle.
The marshy forests, home to most of the reptiles and amphibians on the island, are all but silent in the cold months, as the residents go dormant. In the summer, however, they are some of the most lively places.
The central mountain range is the most stable of all- the altitude keeps each season similar to the last. Cool, with a few short rains a week, life is comfortable in all but the winter months, but food can always be found with some ingenuity. Snows can make the sheer cliffs treacherous, so the animals and people who live in the region take steps to prevent disasters.
Localized Phenomena
A number of natural wonders can be observed on Diafotis thanks to the high density of nature spirits in residence. Unmolested by the hand of industry, minor elementals and celestials roam freely and create a number of spectacular effects.
Of debatable provenance is the Catastrophe Crater, a depression half a mile across and 280 feet deep. This is the site of the event which withered the Bardic College, and visitors have reported a number of strange effects within the boundaries of it. At a minimum, a crawling feeling that one is intruding can be felt, and those that are sensitive to ghosts (such as bards from the College of Spirits) can hear whispers and even faint music, though the source of these auditory hallucinations is unclear.
Fauna & Flora
The biodiversity is very high on the island due to its size and the different biomes present. This section will just be an overview of the more notable residents.
The forests to the north are largely deciduous, with the trees becoming salt-hardy evergreens in the marshlands of the transition zones. Almost no vegetation grows in the southernmost reaches; that which does exist requires almost no water, such as spiny cactus ferns or lichen. The grassy plains both along the northern coast and in the transitional zones produce cereal grasses, which can reach up to waist-height when fully grown. The sheer cliff mountains in the center of the island are home to the odd, twisting trees which seem to follow monastic orders wherever they put down roots.
Herbivores range from squirrels and rabbits to deer and elk. Of particular note are the herds of large goats which migrate from their summer grazing grounds in the south to the transitional regions in the winter. They prefer the desert when they can graze there due to the lack of predators in the area- it's terribly hard to ambush a herd of anything with near perfect visibility.
Birds of all varieties are residents on the island, and some even migrate here to nest in paradise. Falcons thrive here, as it is a perfect hunting ground and their cliff-nook nests are almost perfectly protected against poaching. Of particular note are the puffins which make their home on the southernmost coast, fishing in all weather and comfy as can be.
Reptiles and amphibians are mostly confined to the swampy woodlands, and range from finger-length salamanders to alligators. Iguanas hunt off the coast on the northern side of the island and can be found commonly in the heat of summer.
There are a few carnivores on the island. Bears and leopards both love the mountains, and while the cats will also range into the grasslands the bears prefer the cover of the forest trees. For the most part they do not come into conflict with the most successful predators of all, the humans, as those which live here do not seek to poach them and there is plentiful food without antagonizing the humans anyway.
Finally, whales of many species can be seen from the island and all around it, as the deep ocean water all around Diafotis makes for a brilliant hunting ground.
History
Geologists who study the island have determined that it was once a much larger subcontinent, but for unknown reasons the landmass became unstable and fell into the depths of the sea sometime during the Eldritch War. Luckily, no traces of civilization have been discovered in the wreckage, so it is believed that the island has only been known to sentient races in its current configuration.
A number of organizations have found the isolation and beauty of the island to be a boon to their pursuits. A major druidic Circle of the Stars claim to be the first to arrive, and they maintain a library of druidic knowledge deep in the forests where they can protect it. They believe the isolation of Disfotis makes it ideal for such a reserve, as it precludes damage from warfare and makes destruction by natural calamity far less likely.
The head monasteries of Arianas' Astral Self, Sun Soul, and Four Elements monks are here, but not near to each other. Each has built as far from the others as possible in the mountains, and acts as though they are entirely alone (which, to be fair, they may as well be given how hard it is to move from one mountain to the next).
Clerics occasionally visit to meditate on the mysteries of their gods in near-total isolation from the troubles of the world. A conclave of Liinites have actually set up a fairly large temple here in their search for greater truth about their liege. A few followers of the warforged god have also arrived for this purpose, but they are less established.
Finally, there was once a large bardic college here- one of the best in the world. However, about 150 years ago a great calamity struck them, leaving the Cataclysm Crater and diminishing the school greatly. Now the only course of study there is the College of Spirits- though it is still sought out as it is the only place to truly learn such skills on Arianas.
Tourism
Due to the extreme isolation of the island, there's not exactly a thriving tourist industry. There's not even population centers as we would think of them. Those that visit the island do so for a very specific reason, usually related to one of the organizations that has set up shop there. With extreme rarity, a few very rich weirdos turn up to poke around the place, but they frequently leave a little disappointed that enlightenment wasn't achieved just by coming ashore.
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