Nela

The island of Nela is a land that stands apart.
Placed just off the northwest coast of the greatland of Nelania, Nela is a peculiar yet unassuming place. Majorly inhabited by Nelanians, Nela has had a checkered history of cultural and demographic evolution.
The island was originally settled by the ancient Inbetwers. After the Great Discovery, Nela became a major trading hub between Nelania and the rest of Everim. With the rise of the Phantinian Golden Empire, Nela was invaded in the later half of the Sixth Campaign. With them the Phantinians brought advancements in farming, cultivation, technology, magic and the prowess of Azurey. Nelans being of Inbetwer decent are of the few peoples of Everim capable of natural ability to cast magic so their use of shards were limited. After the Emperal Rebellions which brought the Phantinian Empire to its knees, Nela enjoyed a short reprieve of foreign occupation, but soon warships appeared on the horizon as the then imperialistic Emperals sought to reestablish the great Empire under their own banner. Nela was too great a port of trade to Nelania to leave unattended. However, history would eventually repeat itself as the Imperial Empire of Unicora would similarly fall to rebellion and civil war. Nela, being over half a world away from the Emperal homelands, proved too difficult to maintain as a colony and was abandoned.
Since the withdrawal of the Emperals, Nela has largely been left alone its own affairs.

Geography

Nela's peculiarity lies in its geography. For such a small place it has a curiously high variety of biomes. To the north is a long strip of grassy farmlands and a few forests scattered about. The southwest of the island is the same, but with the notable presence of the longest river and the largest lake, Mary's Lake, named after an ancient Inbetwer matriarch who looked after the settlement that lay on its shores. In the southwest of Nela is also more grass planes, but also a very large stretch of swampland. This part of Nela, referred to as The Lost Realm, has been deserted for many, many years due to a largely unknown cause. Rumors abound about the source of the abandonment, but many believe some strange breed of creatures killed most the inhabitants and ran off the rest. No such creatures have ever reported being seen.
At the center of Nela lay The Old Desert. Once a lush pasture, it is said to have appeared on the same day the Dry Calamity wracked the landscape of Scuorpio. It's speculated to have been an overreaching after effect of the Calamity as deserts had also appeared on many other places on Everim during that time. In the desert resides the upwardly reaching layers of plateau: the Peak of Prophesy. There resides four of the seven ancient standing stones on Nela. The legends have that the indecipherable markings on the standing stones lead to the whereabouts of a great horde of treasure deep inside the caverns of the Peak. None have ever been able to prove this theory and the standing stones have long remained a mystery.

Type

Island

Location under

Nelania

Owner/Ruler

King Indan Anorias

Owning Organization

Anorias Dynasty

Characters in Location

• King Indan Anorias