Aureolas Basin Valley

The Aureolas Basin Valley is a part of the Flax Mountains on the Western Coast of West Glastol. It is home to several settlements, both of human and "supernatural" assortment. The territory, as was the majority of the peninsula, stood under the protection of the Darlzford Mining Company with support from the Kingdoms of Arlia, Yieaxfird, and Yastoria several centuries earlier. As of recent times it is ungoverned.   It is the home of Clan Vulfax and Elise Bakuuva.  

History

The Flax Mountains were discovered several centuries before current day. Rich with precious ores and other materials, settlers arrived by the thousands within the first decade. In fifty-years time the Darlzford Mining Company came to be in order to unionize and properly manage the mining operations of the area. The Company became responsible for trade in the region and externally, being founded at the same time as several of the early kingdoms of the West-- notable the Arlia Kingdom.   The Arlia Kingdom formed with a population of tens of thousands at the time, swallowing much of the peninsula and neighboring lands. This was done in order to properly protect the settlers as the Mining Company was unable to legally draft up enough arms to cover the total protection of the area- protection from monsters, pirates, enemy kingdoms. This was a time where a company might hold power but could not stand politically without the backing of a kingdom. With the joint protection of a military force and the company's own security forces the monster & bandit attacks dropped, allowing for more settlers and in turn more development.   The Aureolas Basin Valley became prime estate for settlers due to the massive lake, numerous rivers and smaller water bodies, vast expanses of forest, and walls of mountains. This along with the rich ores in the valley itself led to no fewer than a dozen and a half settlements around the area. The area would remain prosperous for a number of decades to come until the mines themselves began to empty out. Things would nose dive further when both company and kingdom went under.   Around a hundred and ninety years ago a market crash occurred which would decimate the company and severely impact the Arlia Kingdom. The ores of the mountains were in abundance, as they were for countless other mines across the realm and other realms. The mining operation itself became worthless in the span of only a few years. This backed with slowdowns to the trade of other resources, lumber and animal fur alike, due to over-harvesting, would bankrupt the company.   Without the Darlzford Mining Company which was the financial heart of the Arlia Kingdom, the Kingdom itself began to flounder. This was during a time when several other kingdoms of Western Glastol had begun to collapse. With the mountains no longer profitable the kingdom opted to pull out, and with the troops and jobs moved the people. Numerous settlements were dismantled or left simply abandoned; though some would remain.   The next blow came less than a hundred and fifty years ago when monsters began to return to the region in record numbers. This would lead to many of the remaining settlements to fold or be wiped out completely. Only the strongest would survive. The Basin Valley would fair better than others due to the many protections of the valley itself.   While the surplus of ore would sort itself out and the natural resources once traded would replenish due to conservation practices by those who remained, it would all be sustainable only for those who remained. Without the kingdom the mountains were overrun with monsters and bandits. The value of the ore would not rise enough to attract settlers nor a company again. This would become an issue across the peninsula as the Arlia Kingdom folded completely, leaving behind settlements large and small.   For the valley itself, little has changed in the last hundred years. The settlements that've maintained themselves manage doing what they did centuries prior by trading goods and ores down river while returning up-river with supplies. The only change has been the rise in 'supernatural' races to the area, such as the Vampiric and the Lyrian and the Drachon. Some have been capable of getting along with the human settlements while others have not, leading to minor skirmishes and conflict.   It is these conflicts with have attracted more of the religious crusade-types to cleanse the mountains and protect the people.