Overview
A large, isolated lush island located offshore and around the northern boundary of
Settled Dosjorya. Home to the White Shrine, though no
Gendirlo or Sulendirlo live here.
Characteristics
Even though it is fairly far north compared to the rest of Settled Dosjorya, Idan Island sees much milder weather in comparison. Constant moisture allows for regular periods of rain, contributing to the prevalence of a dense, deep green canopy. Small streams merge into larger ones which gradually carve into the ground. Idan Island has no drastic elevation changes, though its southern end is home to two hills.
Tropical vegetation makes its home here, closely mirroring the types of vegetation commonly found many hundreds of miles south of Settled Dosjorya. Rarely does Idan Island see snow, but when it does, many of the trees die off. Since these rare cold snaps are brief, the island recovers quickly.
Despite the mild weather and the bounty of plant and tree life, no large creatures live on the island, and no Gendirl has ever lived on the island permanently. Only strong flyers can reach it, though any such visitor would have the luxury of resting and hunting before returning to the mainland. The Gendirlo of old who built White Shrine left a small record that still exists of their time in the area, then a part of the mainland, stating that while the place felt like paradise, it did not feel like home, and they were eager to leave permanently once their duty was complete. The feeling of bounty and awe in their initial visit likely was the reason for building a
shrine there for the
God of Joy.
Origins
Despite the knowledge of how Xazdos Island likely came about, no one knows for sure how Idan Island formed, as no known volcano has formed it. Idan Island almost certainly came into existence at the same time of the cataclysm that split the land, which made Xazdos Volcano become an island as well. The most common and accepted theory for Idan Island's formation, as well as for the formation of any offshore island, is that when the land split, some random pieces broke off from either half near the end of the cataclysm, keeping them close to shore. This theory suggests that the
Ocean is littered with islands and that it might be possible to island hop all the way to the other side, to the continent that used to be attached to Dosjorya.
However, no Gendirl has ever tried to explore the ocean beyond the horizon, and the first humans that arrived in Dosjorya became so occupied by war and by building a new nation that no written documents were ever made to record what they saw during their trip. The knowledge of how they built their large, ocean traversing boats was also lost, though in this case, no shipbuilders were aboard so the knowledge was lost the moment they left their home. Early Dosjoryans had made their peace with the fact that they would never return home, leading to a lack of interest in the Gendirl theory that the ocean is full of islands like Idan. Some Gendirlo state this as evidence that the theory of pieces breaking off the landmass as false, for the humans would have harbored some interest in returning home if they had encountered numerous islands on their way here.
Another theory that is accepted by some is that the God of Joy influenced the cataclysm just enough that Idan Island not only formed in the first place but remained close to the Dosjoryan mainland. This same influence, directed not by a god with power over rock but by a god with power over light, might not have worked perfectly and created other similar islands scattered thinly across the coastline. Many Gendirlo, however, disagree with this theory and sometimes state that there may not be an answer for the island's origins that makes sense to them; it could be something as simple as chance or fate, just as there is no explanation for why a particular mountain is placed in a particular spot or why the stars are organized in their spots.
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