Hilkreath

Hilkreath is the only major settlement on Gyarhame, a jungle-covered island inhabited by tough, barbarous inhabitants and dinosaurs, some of which eat the fiercest barbarians for breakfast.  Its origins are mysterious, though some say the original inhabitants were elven exiles from Ryth who were barred from landing on the Sundur Coast and forced to sail elsewhere to find somewhere to settle.  It was founded inside the much older ruins of an enormous temple-city partly submerged in a large coastal lagoon, and consists of dwellings constructed in the stone edifices linked together by wooden bridges, some over the water and some suspended high in the air.   Hilkreath became a large Taorminite naval base, fishing port and centre of a network of spice-collecting and dinosaur-catching stations (which were constructed for the dinosaur-gladiators fights popular in Taormun in previous times).  Many of the native barbarian tribes in the region visit the city and many have settled inside its walls, preferring urban life to the danger of enormous scaly beasts in the jungle.     The climate in Hilkreath is wet all year round, but especially in the mild winters, with warm summers, during which the spice trees native to Gyarhame produce their valuable fruit (and the dinosaurs are particularly active).  The waters around the island are warm, shallow and filled with sea-grass, heavily populated with fish who breed in large numbers.   The inhabitants of Hilkreath are mostly humans of all the races found around the Emel Sea, with a large minority of elves descended from the realms of Ryth destroyed during the Breaking of Nations as well as Dragonborn sailors from the Three Cathaya.  The barbarians, known as 'Hillanders', are reputedly the most skilled trackers and hunters in all of Casiphon.