Xiphos

Forests, mountains and frigid tundras dominate Xiphos, and the jagged black rocks of the land resemble teeth chewing the earth, leading to ancient myths about the island being the mouth of a giant killed by the gods during the creation of the world. Khezyu is said to have been its tongue.

In the plains, large herds of reindeer and musk ox, as well as feral horses escaped from captivity feed upon the vast grasses, as do rabbits, hares and large flightless white birds known as Chumps by the locals, preyed upon by several species of fox, ferret, hawk and eagle, with the largest being the rognuros, a great black and white eagle with a five metre wingspan, capable of attacking even reindeer and humans, and revered by locals as the children of a local deity. Great white bears and white Griffs also visit the islands from time to time, feasting on the fish and seals around the coasts. Off sea, great whales, scythe whales and drakuuns may be found in the frigid waters, and may be hunted by daring Vunkish, though the Xipho are forbidden to do so, fearing death from the dreadful Rust that may roam the seas, by decree of the ‘Empur’.

Regular volcanic eruptions and geothermal vents exist here in substantial quantities, providing hot water and springs forests the people of the land. Sulphur is also abundant here. The great lights of the south are even more intense here than in Vunk, and so illuminate the night skies during the long winters. During this, the long abandoned and supposedly cursed ruins of Khezyu, glow green and red and gold, illuminating for miles around. The locals consider it utterly cursed, claiming ghosts, demons and disappearings happen, and even exorcists fear to tread inside.

The earliest known settlement of Xiphos is hard to say, but the settlement of Drefon by the Empire of Olm was established by Gadnafaz Siljun in the year 238 BF, though it is noted there were already local humans present, and the Khezyu ruins as well. From here, the outbreak gradually but surely grew and spawned others, as part of the Crimson Emperors’ ambitious plans to colonise the corners of the earth. When the decade long volcanic winters hit, and the homeland collapse, the early colonies were struck particularly hard. Legends claim that they would have been wiped out had they not sought refuge in the island’s caves, under a man claiming to be distant kin of the Crimson dynasty. Others sought refuge in the ruins of Kheyzu, but none returned alive. With the old realm fallen to chaos, this individual, named ‘Jijoupalid’ in the Xipho books, declared himself ‘Empur’ and his descendants, maintained through a ‘pure’ bloodline continue to rule the island to this day.