Gamfene (ɡamˈfə.ne)

"It's a lovely place, sure - but it's so boring! There is no society, no parties, nothing! I will rot until I am forgiven and am allowed home again." - Tura Malanoa, when he first arrived on Gamfene

Gamfene is the largest island in the Lamofo group, and was considered a backwater part of the Kingdom of Gailo until recently. The island had been annexed by Gailo over thirty years ago, when there were rumors of gold having been discovered in the mountains around Funa Gamsia. The island was lightly populated by a mixture of Mangimoi, Pulawan and Ularan communities who put up virtually no resistance to the conquest by Gailo. When the expeditions into the mountains failed to turn up significant quantities of gold, Gailo all but abandoned Gamfene, leaving a governor and a small garrison in the town of Gailolo on the eastern coast. The position of Governor of Lamofo was used as a form of 'soft exile' for troublesome nobles who needed to be removed from the capital on Tubu. The last governor sent to the island was Malanoa, a fifth son of the Tura of Gailo who had disgraced himself through his excessive and wanton behavior.

Everything changed when Malanoa had been Governor of Lamofo for a little over a year. First, ships from Tubu stopped arriving, and then shortly afterwards ships from the surrounding islands brought astonishing and terrible news. Something had happened to Tubu which caused every person and animal on the island to vanish. Not even insects remained, much less the royal family of Gailo. Suddenly, Malanoa was the Tura of Gailo. Nobles who lived away from the main island, or who had been traveling began to pour into Gailolo demanding answers and direction. A few had plans to remove Malanoa and make themselves Tura, but their plans were ill-coordinated and easily detected - in some cases, they betrayed each other when one ambitious noble would attempt to recruit another. But with the core of the kingdom gone, most people were more focused on creating stability than on gathering power.

Malanoa chose not to return to Tubu, fearing that whatever depopulated the island could strike it again. Instead, he declared Gailolo as the new capital of the kingdom, and has set about rebuilding the royal court and bureaucracy on Gamfene. This has caused the population of Gamfene to increase exponentially over the last three years, and Gailolo has more new buildings than old now.

Notable Spirits

The forests of Gamfene are said to be home to the Hantu Waruga, a kind of ancestral spirit. For generations, the people of Gamfene have buried their dead in the forest and planted a tree to memorialize each one. The spirit of the honored ancestor is then connected to the tree, and can choose to manifest nearby it. They cannot speak, but many stories tell of a Hantu Waruga warning or advising their descendants through gestures or simply by appearing when called for. Under extreme cases, the Hantu Waruga has been able to animate their tree, and can even uproot it to walk across the landscape. Such an action will typically kill the tree and undo the ancestor's connection to it, so this is only done when all other options are gone.

Geography

The island of Gamfene is oval shaped, measuring about 75 miles from east to west, and averaging 27 miles wide. It is surrounded by coral reefs, and navigating safely into the harbor at Gailolo typically requires a pilot who is familiar with the region. A line of dormant volcanos runs down the center of the island, with Funa Gamsia as the highest point. There are persistent rumors of gold deposits in the mountains, and in recent years there has been a renewed effort to find and exploit them, if they exist. There are several streams that run down out of the mountain; they have a tendency to disappear in the dry season, and then flood during the rainy season.

Type

Island

Location under

Lamofo Islands

Included Locations

• Funa Gamsia
• Gailolo

Owning Organization

Kingdom of Gailo

Geographic Details

Location: Southern Region
Latitude: 6.11 degrees South
Longitude: 19.18 degrees West
Average Elevation: 295 ft
Highest Point: 4,511 ft (Funa Gamsia)
Lowest Point: 0 ft
Area: 1,023.9 sq mi

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