Mana Nui

The sacred island of Mana Nui has a sordid past, and is infamous among those learned in the history of Cùl-tìre. Populated by the Iwi people for near on four thousand years before the arrival of the Khana Empire, the secrets of the crystal caves were known to few, and their great power wielded by even fewer. The Iwi used the sihiri crystals sparingly, and only ever within the confines of the twisting caverns beneath Mana Kaha. But the great need of the King of Khana could not be satisfied by the existence of subtle magics in far off places, and he demanded the sihiri crystals brought back to the Maha mainland. Soon the ancient caves were turned to mines, the Iwi priests forced to remove their sacred crystals from the natural, subterranean cathedrals, and the island was slowly corrupted, and stripped of its wonder. Then, four hundred years ago, the world was plunged into chaos. The island of Mana Nui, once the conduit for heaven’s glory, suddenly cracked open and erupted forth a great stream of hellfire. The eruption destroyed the crystal caverns, sunk many of the surrounding islands into the sea and plunged the whole world into a literal and figurative darkness as the skies turned black and the magic that had sustained the Khana dried up, fracturing the ancient empire. The link between earth and the empyrean was severed, and the power of the sihiri crystals faded. For five years, ash choked the earth, and the cataclysm ushered in a great winter, that chilled the hearts of Cùl-tìre for generations to come.

Geography

The landscape of the island of Mana Nui has been shaped by numerous geological processes over its history. The land has been rifted, uplifted, gouged by glaciers, and subjected to intense seismic activity and volcanism over millennia. All of this activity has left the island crisscrossed by mountains, canyons and plateaus, creating spectacular vistas and a network of unforgiving terrains. At the heart of this once beautiful island, the holy mountain of Mana Kaha once towered above the forest. In the depths of the ancient lava tunnels beneath this mighty volcanic mountain, the mysterious sihiri crystals could be found, growing in large, temple-like chambers. but as these crystals were removed, and the area grew unstable, the true majesty of Mana Nui was unleashed. Now, all that remains in the heart of the complex is a great, sulphurous lake. The giant caldera where the mountain once stood having been inundated with flood waters in the years since the volcano's eruption. The lush forests and twisting caves below, which played such an important role in the final centuries of the Age of Light, have been totally erased from the landscape. Now geysers and acid lakes are all that populate the scarred landscape.

Natural Resources

Beneath the surface of Mana Nui, a vast network of interconnected, branching tunnels once linked the numerous ancient volcanoes that dotted the landscape. These ancient lava tunnels were home to an important resource in the Age of Light, the magnificent sihiri crystals. These crystals were said to have held a the great power of the empyrean, and allowed for mere mortals to access the assistance of the creator gods in the settlement of their worldly affairs. Unfortunately, humanity's greed led to the depletion of this great resource, and since the eruption of the sacred island destroyed the crystal caves at the onset of the Age of Ash, no new crystals have been discovered.

Type

Volcano

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