Aihasoa
Aihasoa, known nowadays as the 'Old Lands', is the southernmost continent of Zurith, and is the ancestral birthplace of the human race. Present day humans know very little about the Old Lands, as their ancestors chose not to share any information after leaving their ancestral home for the continents of Aefareth in the west and Kaerin in the east.
When it was known as Aihasoa, the continent was home to a single huge country that spanned almost the entirety of the continent. In the present day, this country is known as the Ancient Kingdom, but historically it was called Ihirith. Both Ihirith and Aihasoa were abandoned by the humans 13,000 years ago and have remained uninhabited ever since.
Geography
As the birthplace of the human race, as well as the land that housed the humans for 3000 years, Aihasoa was a fertile land. Although not as sustainable for human life as Aefareth later was, Aihasoa was similar to Kailes in that it consisted largely of grasslands and hills. Alongside that, its western area sported a thick forested area, its southern and eastern areas contained a long mountain range, and its central and northern areas were filled with lakes that, alongside the mountain springs, provided the water for the ancient humans living there. During the catastrophe that caused the humans to leave Aihasoa, the land was destroyed and turned to ruin, with droughts and mass-death of wildlife and vegetation--this deterioration continued even after the humans left, until it got to its present state. Currently Aihasoa is completely stripped of its grassy lands, the southern and eastern mountain ranges have shifted to bisect the central area before returning to the east, the lakes and rivers have dried up, and all that remains of the western forest is toppled trees and dead leaves.Ecosystem
Prior to the catastrophe, Aihasoa consisted of various different ecosystems, due to the geographical differences of the areas of Aihasoa. The western area had a forest ecosystem, the central and northern areas had grassland and freshwater ecosystems, and the southern and eastern areas had a rocky mountain ecosystem.Climate
Aihasoa experienced regular seasonal changes; temperatures reached their highest in the summer months, and their lowest in the winter months. Summers in Aihasoa were usually marked by hot periods accompanied by heavy rain; autumns were typically cool and clear; winters were cold but dry; and springs were warm and breezy, normally sunny but with the occasional rainy day. Since the catastrophe, the climate has become unstable; Aihasoa now experiences frequent periods of heavy winds and thunderstorms happen every week, often every more than once a week.Flora and Fauna
It is not known anymore exactly what animals and plants existed in Aihasoa during its habitable period as there are no longer any traces of them after the catastrophe and the humans brought none with them. However, due to the surviving humans instinctively picking up an omnivorous diet after leaving Aihasoa, it can be assumed that Aihasoa had several species of land animals and plants capable of being used as food sources and that the humans had been omnivores even when living in Aihasoa. They were also very familiar with avian animals, suggesting that Aihasoa had a prominent avian population. On top of this, the humans displayed skills in fishing--although it is unknown if this was a skill picked up during their days at sea after the Aihasoan catastrophe, or if it was an indication that Aihasoan lakes had aquatic life.History
Formation of Aihasoa
When the Elder Earth Dragon first created the landmasses of Zurith, Aihasoa was initially formed as a barren land, void of life, as none of the Arcanums chose it as their place of localisation. It wasn't until Kidia, the goddess of life, wished to fill the land of Aihasoa with creatures too that the land was covered in grassland, trees, and other manners of vegetation by Khydall, the god of agriculture and nature.Birth of Humans
Now capable of supporting life, Kidia immediately set about filling the land, sky, and (presumably) rivers and lakes with animal life--although the exact animals she brought into existence there are now only known by her. Then, once she witnessed three of the Arcanums (the Elemental Spirits, the Immortal Queen, and Lathlaeril) creating sentient races of humanoids, either through magic or through natural means, Kidia felt inclined to do the same; she used her power over life and the divine creation power she got the piece of Nemien's own power that formed her entire existence to create a humanoid species as well out of the petals of the Aprianna flower. Unlike the elves, dragons, fae, and dwarves--who were all created by beings of magic--as humans were not made through magical power or by a magical being, they were not born with magic affinity, the ability to sense and manipulate the flow of magical energy that exists throughout Zurith. The humans were unbothered by this, however, as they were rarely made aware of this difference due to the vast distance between Aihasoa and the territories of the more magically-inclined races.Ihirith
Not long after their creation, the humans founded the country of Ihirith. In its height, Ihirith covered almost all of Aihasoa, apart from the small islands off the coast of Aihasoa, the land around the southern and eastern mountain range, and the western forest, although the citizens of Ihirith did also hunt in the mountains and forest, and used the forest's trees for timber. Ihirith stood as the sole nation of Aihasoa for another three thousand years, and was considered to still be in its prime when the catastrophe happened.The Catastrophe
The exact timeline of the events of the catastrophe are unknown. However, it is known that, 3000-so years after Ihirith's creation, the Arcanum, Lathlaeril, visited Aihasoa. His exact reason for his visit remains known only to Lathlaeril himself, but at some point during his visit, he interacted with the country of Ihirith and its inhabitants. Lathlaeril was fascinated by the fact that there was a race completely incapable of magic and that was created by a goddess, rather than an Arcanum, and therefore spent a great amount of time with the humans of Ihirith. Lathlaeril was widely regarded as the strongest Arcanum, even by his fellow Arcanums, due to the fact that his strain of magic was capable of being used in many different forms, as well as the fact that it also wasn't localised to one specific area. Due to this position, some of the other Arcanums often strived to get on his good side, even though they wouldn't benefit much from such a favourable bond. One Arcanum was particularly desperate in this, and that was the Arcanum known as Shade. It could be said that Shade was the second-strongest Arcanum, and they had a particularly strong link to Lathlaeril, for reasons still unknown--a link that was later exploited by the Immortal Queen hundreds of years later. However, Shade was considered the weakest by the other Arcanums as his magic was purely destructive. The only Arcanum who didn't treat him with disdain was Lathlaeril, possibly due to the bond between them, and Lathlaeril treated Shade as he would a little brother. Shade's unhealthy obsession with Lathlaeril reached an all-time high when Lathlaeril spent months with the humans, ignoring even the other Arcanums, and interacting solely with Kidia and her creations. Shade grew increasingly jealous at Lathlaeril being so fascinated by the creations of a goddess, especially when neither the goddess nor her creations had any magical ability--or even special skills of any kind, in regards to the humans. He was convinced that Lathlaeril would soon forget about the humans if they no longer existed, and he also wanted to punish Kidia for trying to take Lathlaeril's attention away from him, even though Kidia didn't create the humans for any such purpose and merely wanted to fill Aihasoa with life as she had done with every other landmass. So, towards the end of Lathlaeril's stay on Aihasoa, Shade travelled there as well and attempted to use his destructive magic to destroy Kidia and wipe the humans out. Lathlaeril, horrified by the extreme action, tried to stop Shade, and while he did succeed, he wasn't quick enough to stop Shade from killing 3/4 of Aihasoa's human population--although he was able to save Kidia's life. Unfortunately, in order to stop Shade, Lathlaeril had to unleash a powerful wave of magic that not only destroyed Shade's physical form, but also changed the terrain of Aihasoa--changing the climate, shifting the mountains, drying up the rivers and lakes and eradicating all forms of life still on Aihasoa, apart from the surviving humans, who Lathlaeril had used his magic to transport to safety on one of Aihasoa's islands that was far enough away from his blast of magic for them to be spared. With their home in ruins, the humans were left lost and distraught; Lathlaeril, who felt responsible for Shade's actions and what happened, directed them to head north-east and north-west until they hit the continents of Aefareth and Kaerin, where they would find new homes under the protection of the other Arcanums. After that, he returned to Nir Kahldur and didn't interact with the humans again until thousands of years later. Present day Aihasoa is abandoned and no human has returned to it since it was destroyed.
Alternative Name(s)
The Old Lands
Type
Continent
Location under
Owning Organization
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