Ka'Arelua

Ka'arelua was once a thriving coastal village nestled in the shadow of Mt. Ki'Inoro, the sacred volcano at the heart of the Shark Tooth Isles. Home to the Ki'Inori people, descendants of sun worshippers whose god Ki'Inoro watches from the blazing sky, the village was famed for its dazzling sunstone carvings, vibrant dances, and ritual offerings made to the mountain itself. Each generation believed they held a pact with the god — that their devotion would keep the fire beneath the island’s crust at bay. That belief was shattered when Mt. Ki'Inoro roared to life, belching ash and flame in a cataclysm now known as The Sundering of the Teeth. Though the eruption spared much of the Shark Tooth Isles, Ka'arelua was obliterated beneath molten rock and searing gas. Survivors, clinging to broken outrigger canoes and charred remnants of their lives, fled to the outer isles or inland to higher ground. Some claimed the eruption was punishment — not for faithlessness, but for hubris. That the Ki'Inori had stopped listening and started demanding. Today, the ruins of Ka'arelua are partially submerged, forming a scorched and sunken crescent near the southern base of Mt. Ki'Inoro. Coral has claimed the stone foundations, and vibrant sea life now weaves through the skeletons of sun-temples and longhouses. Divers and mystics sometimes risk the treacherous currents to reach the site, seeking visions or relics from before The Sundering. The Ki'Inori view it with reverence — not as a warning, but as a reminder: that their gods are not tame. Ki'Inoro gives light and life, but can take it away just as fiercely. Some stories say Uhnoro, god of the moon and twin to Ki'Inoro, wept for the destruction and whispered to the tides to reclaim what fire had ruined. The resulting reefs, known as Uhnoro’s Cradle, are seen as a sacred scar — a place of sorrow, beauty, and rebirth.