The Equikoran Continents Are Discovered By Cristobal de Arzco

Discovery, Exploration

Eighty years after the discovery of Buwan and a mass human exodus out of Edane to other continents, it was commonly accepted that the world ended there, with nothing existing beyond the vast expanses of the oceans. One man, a member of the Haspaini settlers in Buwan, believed the Forces created a vast and expansive world full of wonder and believed more existed beyond the horizon.

Eighty years after the discovery of Buwan and a mass human exodus out of Edane to other continents, it was commonly accepted that the world ended there, with nothing existing beyond the vast expanses of the oceans. One man, a member of the Haspaini settlers in Buwan, believed the Forces created a vast and expansive world full of wonder and believed more existed beyond the horizon.

His name was Cristobal de Arzco, as by this time he was already an accomplished sailor having made the passage from Buwan to Edane and back nearly a dozen times. A Feat many sailors only dared do once or twice in a life time. Cristobal was born in Buwan, but accordingly to letters and journal entries had always possessed the Spirit of Felios, a divine call to adventure.

It took him nearly 15 years to convince the leaders of the Haspaini tribe to fund his expedition, and by the time they agreed most of Buwan and many of the larger ports of Edane had heard tale of the human who sought to defy the gods and sail across the open sea. On the day he set sail jeering crowds arrived on the docks from Buwan to mock him and bid him farewell as he was destined to never return. They did not know how correct they were.

Cristobal had no idea how large the world was or how much ocean he would need to cross, so in preparation he commissioned construction of the largest ship built at that time, The Honor of Felios. A massive galley type vessel more than 100 feet in length and crewed by 200 men. Powered primarily by oars and a single square rigged sail, the vessel was the hardiest constructed at the time and Cristobal felt it more than up to the challenge.

They sailed along Buwan's southern coastline for a month a half before breaking out the oars and heading further east into the open sea. Cristobal would never see Buwan or his people again, though his accomplishments are still sung about today. Cristobal and his crew sailed for five more weeks through the stormy waters that lie between North Equikora and Buwan before finally sighting land. Ancient Elvish stories from the tribes that inhabited what is now western Aldir tell tales of a massive wooden behemoth that sailed south along their coastline, strange visitors disembarked from the beast in order to chop down trees and hunt animals before returning to the wooden monster and disappearing forever.

During this time Cristobal had fallen severely ill, plagued by an illness contracted by fish they had caught in these waters for food. The Honor of Felios had been heavily damaged throughout the storms and the ships crew, after sighting land, went ashore to gather supplies. According to journal entries from some of the crew, when they first spotted the western shores of modern day Aldir they believed it to be Buwan, and that the ship had been turned around in the storm. It wasn't until the first encounter with the native inhabitants of North Equikora that they realized they had found a new world entirely.

The first recorded interaction between Elves and Humans was during the two days that the Honor of Felios cruised down the coast of Aldir gathering supplies. While the officers argued that the land they were now adjacent to could not be Buwan given the relative position of the sun, crew were sent ashore for wood and water. While chopping down trees the crew members suddenly found themselves surrounded by foreign natives with coppery skin, dark hair, brilliant green eyes, slighter builds and pointed ears. Startled by these new creatures that existed nowhere on Buwan, the Haspaini men fled back to their ship and reported their findings. Curious of these newcomers' intentions, the elves gathered on the shore in sight of the ship and watched to see what the humans would do.

Cristobal had been recovering from his illness, but at this news he felt invigorated with new life and lead the shore party to meet the natives. Records from the Honor of Felios and ancient elvish records tell us that very little happened between the two parties other than an acknowledgement of each others presence before the elves peacefully departed back into the woods. While the interaction was not very significant, it was immediately clear: they had found a new world.