Volcanians
Volcanians are an inteligent spiecies that evolved seperate from the rest of Ecoth on the island of Volavo. The island was populated by no other major life forms as it was filled with active volcanos which constantly released toxic volcanic ash into the air on the island. The temperatures on the island were also known to be incredibly high due to the intense volcanic activity, and somehow, an inteligent spiecies has managed to survive and evolve in these thought to be unliveable conditions.
Little is known about the Volcanians as they have remained seperate from humanity for their entire existance, only discovered in the -4900s and not studied until much later. Although we have been able to figure out various things about their biology, origins and culture are still very much a mystery.
History of Discovery
Discovery and early settlement of Volavo
Volavo is a volcanic island off Ecoth's west costline which has undergone intense volcanic activity across Ecoth's modern history. It was discovered early on in the human habitation of the western coast and there were multiple recorded attempts to settle it. In the year -5591 ,the first recorded ship to Volavo left from the port town of Yabozi, which was the closest major settlement to the island. The ship contained a crew of twenty six sailers and two cats. Documents describe how the ship snuck gracefully into the early morning fog as it drifted ever closer to the island until it had completly dissapeared from view. The ship and its crew were never seen again.
Over the next centeries, others would try to reach the island but none would return or make it all the way until the king of Aratachu took interest in the island. The story goes that in -5363, the King was looking to expand his lands and, blocked by mountains to his east, decided to try and colanise the island of Volavo. He offered money to anyone able to sucsesfully cross to the island and set up a permanent colany. Plenty of people came forward, but none more skilled than talented sailer and navigator, Antowine Vitrox. Raised on the islands around Capti, Antwine had spent his entire life manning ships and crossing between different islands. Acompanied by a team of fifteen men, Antwine managed to cross to Volavo where he stayed for two weeks before returning to the King of Aratachu.
Upon his retern, Antwine explained how the island was completly uninhabitable, littered with active volcanos and toxic volcanic ash. He told the king that no colany would be able to survive on the island as there was not a living thing in sight. After this the king took down the cash reward for settling the island and any future ideas for expeditions to the island were abandoned.
Discovery of the Volcanians
In the year -5273 sailers fishing off the coast of Volavo noticed a strange humanoid shape moving along the shorelane. The captain recounted looking through his telescope and seeing the blurry movement for a second, as if an upright creature was picking through the rock pools at the base of the baron bank. He reported this to the Shipping Guild operators at the port city of Yabozi but nothing ever came of it besides a mention in a log.
In the -4900s the Suhuvan Empire began expanding at an exelerated pace, eventually moving across the dividing Aratachu Mountains into the kingdom of Aratachu itself. As the kingdom was absorbed by the Suhuvans and the cultures began to mix, news of the mysterious island of Volavo became more widespread and the Suhuvan Emperor Valdous the Conqueror, began to take an interest in this new land. He sent over ships, but this time they were not merchants and sailers, but Suhuvan Soldiers from a port in Suhuva, landing further to the south of the island than Antwine and his explorers. They set down on a section of the island that had less volcanic ash and set up a small camp, however it was not long before they were discovered by the Volcanians.
The soldiers sent to Volavo recount being terified as tall, rock like humanoid creatures aproached on their camp. They said that the creatures did no intentional harm but looked and acted very intimidating. Multiple soldiers drew their swords and all pulled up their shields. There was a complete communication barrier so all the soldiers could do was stand still and hope that the creatures wern't aggresive. Thankfully the Volcanians left after a half an hour of inspecting the soldier's camps and the soldiers decided to leave the island shortly after.
The discovery of non-human life on Volavo both concerned and exited many groups across Ecoth. Religious ideas began circulating such as an idea from New Dynalism that they were guarding Meluvas, Being of Mystery/Chance, who was exiled to the island for causing too much chaos. Some claimed that the cretures were simply primative humanoids whilst other philosophers sugested that they could mean humas wern't the only inteligent life forms in Ecoth.
Discovery, Exploration and War
Over the next centeries many explorers and even pilgrams attempted to visit the island of Volavo to try and uncover the mystery behind the Volcanians. Suddenly the port city of Yabozi became a much more important shipping port as various peoples sailed out to visit the island. The southern shore was discovered to be the best place to land on the island, as the wind blew mostly northwards so there was much less volcanic ash. The discovery of the Volcanians also led to the first real attempts to map the island as before it had been considered unnecessary. Whilst much of the inland remained unmaped due to the difficult terrain and harsh climate, much of the terain and landmarks along the shoreline, and on the sothern most point of the island were mapped and named, confirming that Volavo was the largest volcanic formation in Ecoth.
Despite the intensified interest there were very few sightings of the creatures, as experts predicted they lived underground during daylight hours and it was difficult for expeditions to travel inland over the mountainous terrain. This led to a loss of interest and by the time of the Great South War starting in -4761 most people had more important concerns and the island began to lose appeal.
Whilst the discovery for some was a great religious revalation, or scientific curiosity, for Suhuva it was a simple nightmare. Unaware of the number, sentiance or power of their newly discovered neighbors, Suhuva began to prepare for a possible war with the Volavoans. More ships were sent to the island but very few spotted the creatures and none made contact.
With no effective way to gage the abilities of a potential enemy right on their doorstep, Suhuva made it their mission to fortify the Aratachan coast in case of an attack. Yabozi became a fortress and many of the smaller islands around Volavo were outfitted with ports and signal fires. Suhuva based their entire Ecothnic goals around being powerful enough to repel a potential invasion, but no invasion ever came.
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