The Primodial Isle

Eryia is not the only discovered landmass upon our world. There are several more, including one particularly lush and windswept territory some 250,000 square miles to the north-west of our home continent. It has received several names in the past, from its old-world moniker of Ophidias to its more modern names ‘Timeless Isthmus’, or most popularly, ‘The Primordial Aisle’, so named for its unique properties.

Properties

The Primordial Isle is a particularly difficult environment to describe due to its ridiculously high rate of change. Located at the intersection of two major high-pressure systems, a near-constant coastal breeze pours northward towards our planet's equator through the entire land, only slowing as it passes over its lush rich jungles. Eight hundred years ago, the island was stripped to bare earth by the Jordbani and the resulting blanketing of Magichem. It has since regrown with terrifying and unnatural wildlife.

Being left upon the Primordial Isle is considered a death sentence by most, and the challenges of the island merit that caution. The local flora is typically quite poisonous (in addition to Magichem Poisoning which persistent threat is always present), and the fauna is huge and filled with predators who are man eating. If the inhabitants don't make an end of visitors, the countless tropical illnesses and fevers will finish off the visitor.

In short, visitors don't come back - as is true of all attempts at colonization thus far.

Colonization

To date, since the Jordbani there have been 17 major attempts at colonization of the Primordial Aisle, and countless individual/smaller attempts by either individual groups, villages, tribes and other more formal organizations such as the Church of Sol. All have failed. Within the records, 8 are attributed to violent and dangerous creatures that could not be overcome, 3 were due to brutal spikes in acute Magichem Poisoning among the population, 1 is a suspected mass poisoning due to unnatural flora, and 5 have either unknown or unexplained failures of the colony in question. The last major attempt was made some 60 years ago by a single splinter ship from the Rite of Sending, and their survivors returned to Egriss with less than one third their initial number, and an infection of parasitic wasp that incubate within human flesh. Total survivors of the expedition numbered less than 12 after eradication of the pest.

Wildlife

Due to the hostile and rapidly changing weather conditions and the combination of the ocean's wild magic and the wind-borne Magichem, on the Primordial Isle, the ecosystem is diverse with countless species. The Jordbani completely stripped the island of life, but the fertile soil, the proximity of the mainland of Eryia, th weather conditions and the intense magical fields have caused the island to regrow into a verdant jungle with flora and fauna whose specimens at adulthood are up to three times their traditional size on the Eryia mainland .

Below are some notable creatures reported to call the Primordial Aisle home:

• Large predatory cats, capable of eating humans. 6 confirmed varieties, some estimates are as high as 10.
• Frogs of immense size, larger estimates place them at 3 foot tall insectivores, regularly consuming a nest per week of standard strain ants, bees, termites, or other nesting insects.
• Over 60 breeds of distinct birds of paradise. Of note, all observers of one particular grey-feathered bird were rendered blind within a month of their reported eyewitness account of seeing this avian.
• Violent creatures with long central spiraling horns that are used as offensive and defensive weapons. These come in both an amphibious mammal variety, and several equine varieties.
• Winged snakes between two and seven saplings long, with the capacity for basic barter and an exploitable preference for precious minerals, shells, and other delicate, naturally occurring formations.
• Bipedal lizards standing a full 3 men tall, underdeveloped arms, and an apparently voracious appetite.
• Bipedal, semi-human hybrids with basic language and barter capabilities and a disposition towards early tribal behavior.
• There has been a single recorded instance of a predatory bird of bright orange and red that makes its nest within one of the active volcanoes of the Primordial Aisle. The report is considered unrealistic, but claimed this creature had a wingspan as long as an Eryian Deep Sea Vessel and the capability to produce and control fire seemingly at will.

Due to the lack of long term settlements on the Primordial aisle, and the unreliability of sea travel in general (as well as the well documented hallucinatory effects much of the flora has on humans), all of these reports are suspect. In all cases, it has been deemed that no more energy should be spent colonizing the Primordial Aisle.