Axtalan

At last I understand: I hear a song, I see a flower. / Oh, may they never wilt! / I feel out of myself, I weep, grieve and ponder, say and remember: Oh, if I were never to die, never to disappear! / Go where death is not, where victory is mine, Thither I should go! / Oh, if I were never to die, never to disappear! Anonymous Poet Long Ago, after the The Story of the Dragonfire, the many races that were enslaved by the Elders in the Dark escaped the wrath of the Dragons, and for centuries they lived under their shadow, hiding from the fire and the cold, protecting themselves from the power they brought. And when they finished, the human tribes emerged form the mountains, and began to explore. They saw a world verdant with life, but devoid of the darkness and the dread the Elders had built in the course of countless generations. And the Dragons were there. Great Serpents that came from the stars, they stayed with mankind, and taught them all the knew, they gave them starry wisdom, and one by one they left, to sleep under the world, until the time would come for them to rejoin their newfound children, the Axtalani Empire. But other serpents came from the Below, known later as the Deceivers, and caused great suffering to the Empire, and mankind; they fought against these Deceiver and their servants, those who mixed their blood with them in promise of service, and eventually drove them off the land... But, much was lost, and the Empire would never recover. Now, the jungle has reclaimed much of the roads and cities that once were there, and the people began instead to live as part of city-states, but united against the followers of the Deceivers; they still honor the Serpents that gave them their starry wisdom, and still follow they deigns, but, with new fervor: Their cities are awash in magic, and there is almost no need for the elven Thaumaturge-Steam, instead they rely on their old magic, and some basic engineering, but even with all this, much of the land seems... Unexplored, the old cities and temples that were lost in the jungle -especially those made to the Deceivers- have appeared in other places. While it is considered to be one of the most inhabited places in Karash, due to the abundance of resources, it is also a place that has condensed most of its population close to the city-states, letting the jungle retake much of the older ruins of the previous kingdom.

Tlayapan, the City of the Sun This is, by far, one of the most important city of Axtalan. Before the collapse, it was considered a sacred city due to the number of temples and schools of the Wisepeople of the Starry Wisdom. Today, it still has an important place due to trade and access to the Rainbow Lake; its canals and urban grid are the envy of every engineer of The Academy , so much so they have an enclave and a sky-port in the city.

Watcher's Port & Quill's Port, the Twin Cities: Founded by members of the Academy, years after the Crimson Crusade ended, these cities act as secondary enclaves to Axtalan, but also are a staging point into the study of the Serpent sea itself, for some members of the Academy have fund interesting findings there. Besides that, these cities have benefitted from fishing, and help communicate Axtalan with The Unconquered Lands.

Ker-Agar, the Sentinel City: Ker-Agar is one of the great Dragonborn cities that were founded to safeguard the Agar-Akai mountains, which are of great importance to the Dragonborn. Those Dragonborn in the know, believe that it may be important to the Dragons themselves, but try as they might, they can't fully get the full memories of the Dragons.

Geography

Most of Axtalan is covered in thick jungle, yet the land is harsh and requires much manual labor to harvest crops (unless magic is used), as well as a majority of the water of the land is in underground rivers and lakes called cenotes, to the exception of the Great River Yaitskaal, which feeds the Rainbow Lake that, according to legend, it was here that the Great Serpent Dragons taught the Axtalan people their wisdom from the stars. On the Northwest, the Witskaal Mountains define the the line between Axtalan and Ikele:, and in the North, the Sea of Serpents does the same. There is another mountainous formation in the East, with high volcanic activity: the Agar-Akai mountains; inhabited mostly by Dragonborn and Greenborn Elves, this area is defined by impassible jungles, earthquakes, and the smoking mountains.

Fauna & Flora

The Thick jungle of Axtalan is known for the exotic trees, roots, flowers and other plants that seem to explode in colors of red, blue, and even yellow. The birds themselves also seem to explode in color, and in the thick jungles, jaguars and crocodiles, as well lumbering dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus stalk the jungle.

Natural Resources

Axtalan has a treasure trove of different spices (such as Cacao, chiles, vanilla, etc.) , exotic wood, herbs, flowers, jade, even animals such as turkeys, rainbow birds (also known as Quetzal), different kinds of fish, dinosaurs and such that make Atxalan a wealthy territory, even if they no longer have the unifying power as they did before. Merchants from the The Crimson Lands have tried to fin ways to sail towards Axtalan safely, but unfortunately the inherent dangers of the Fae Coast have made it next to impossible, and sky-ships also fail due to fastest route being through Ikele , and even the sky above the Grasslands is dangerous due to the fae-storms that tend to happen on random occasions (as well a number of sky-pirates and giant vultures attacking the ships), which leaves to longer routes, or following the Merchant trail of the Witskaal Mountains.

Alternative Name(s)

The Great Jungle, the Cradle of Mankind,