The Crane Basin
The Crane Basin is the large island continent to the south of Malruch, surrounded by high mountains and tumultuous seas. It is rare to see someone from the Basin, for few ever travel there and even fewer leave, but not for nefarious or sinister means, no. The Basin enjoys a great deal of isolation due to supernatural forces that keep it's borders safe and ensure that only the wiliest and unfortunate can travel beyond the rugged peaks that encompass the continent.
For those lucky enough to venture within, they will not find a primitive, paranoid, or even contentious place, but a sprawling wildes, both tame and untamed by the storied peoples of the Basin. Due in great part to their isolation, the Basin has thrived in its own unique culture and identity, the likes of which, the world at large does not fully understand. Ancient rivers flow, encircling the hills and valleys home to as ancient of peoples and traditions beneath the shadow of their great Wildes Trees and the Holy Mountain of the Moon.
The Basin is as much an oddity as it is a gorgeous marvel to behold. A multifaceted gem in the western seas, untouched and untainted by the ever turning machinations of the outside world, but that isolation had bread a culture of honor, duty, and self worth that each of the diverse peoples have taken to and made as much apart of themselves as they are of the Basin.
Geography
The Island continent is surrounded on all sides by a range of mountains that provide a natural defense along the edge of the landmass. These ranges do branch off and sweep into the Basin itself, one from the west, another in the north, and other broken chains of maintains in the south. Within the protective ring of mountains the basin sports a variety of rolling hills, plains, dense forests, and other features that encroach on the center where a singular lone mountain, the Great Mountain, reaches up and pierces the cloudlike. This mountain is one of the tallest on Ellecrid, second only to Halia at Deities' Reach.
The second most notable feature within the geography of the basin is the multitude of rivers that wind their way out from the Inner Sea which sits below the Great Mountain. There are few rivers within the basin that do not feed off the Inner Sea and carry out to the ocean surrounding the continent. Some rivers are even noted to branch off from each other only to join up with another branch of another river, or even the same river it branched off of many many miles from each other.
The wildes that persist in the basin are some of the more treacherous areas within. The peoples of the Basin have carved brick laden paths through the wildes, knowing that they are the only safe paths through. These paths have become a feature of the basin itself, alongside the wildes. The Wildes are most commonly characterized as overgrown and dense jungle like areas, whose trees dwarf most any other in the world, save perhaps Merridain. Expanding out from the wildes can be found various breeds of coniferous forest and underbrush. Often times, unwary folk will confuse these areas for the wildes, though there are clear differences in the bark of the trees as well as the size, shape, and color of the leaves. These two variants of forested areas are not synonymous with each other and the people of the basin know this, but to neglect care when traversing either could spell ruin for anyone making the trek off the paths.
Coming down from the mountains will be found fairly rugged rock formations and features that will eventually become gentle rolling hills and valleys. The most rugged of the terrain can be found along the northern arc of the southern ring, where canyons, gorges, and boulder fields decorate the landscape. The Northern bend quickly becomes rolling hills, thanks to it's wider girdle of land below the mountains.
There are two notable flatlands in the basin, to the west of the Great Mountain and the the west of the eastern mountain ring. Dry winds from the east blow over the mountains allowing little rain to fall in that bend in the east. The flatland below the Great Mountain seems to be the fault of the mountain itself barring the precipitation accumulated by the Inner Sea to fall within it's shadow.
Ecosystem
The ecology of the Basin is alien to all outsiders more than anywhere else in the world. The territories of Keur, Olog, and the Blind Bog being the only similar areas that share similiarities, but even those are dissonant in many ways.
The beasts that stalk the jungles and the steppes are fierce and territorial, but the people of the Basin seem to have some sort of symbiotic relationship with them. A common warning in the Basin reads: "Never stray from the path" referring to the twisting paths, as widespread and winding as the river systems. There is a sure sense of confidence in this warning as the beasts will never intentionally stalk or obstruct the roads in any way, only edging closer should the traveler be bold enough to take a short cut.
Localized Phenomena
It is said that the Gods of the Grove yet linger in the basin. These legends may be true, but no reports have confirmed this to be the case. Instead, the locals have documented five phenomena that are native to the basin.
The first is something that parallel certain reports found in Merridain, Ostland, Vandebaux, and the Aentari Wildes, where folk would have somehow found themselves in the wildes of the basin and experienced strange circumstances including but not limited to; temporal and spatial dealation, hallucinations, fits of uncharacteristic madness, cravenness, bouts of ravenous sickness, flights of blissful revelry, and some even claim to have traveled to another realm. Concerning the accounts of folk traveling to another realm, their reports mirror or match the experiences cataloged by those from across the ocean, namely the use of such names as the Hedge and Arcadia to describe where they had gone.
The other four seem to only be native to the Basin. The first of which is called the Star's Will or the Tiger's Prowling. This phenomena describes the experience of folk who attempt to leave the basin or travel along the mountain ring and find themselves drawn back through some otherworldly force. The coast of the basin is still rampant with freak gales, storms and hurricanes that seem to come out of no where. It is not uncommon for a ship to leave the basin, be hit with one of these storms and be forced to turn back. inversely, a ship approaching the Basin may be hit with one of these storms and be thrown so harshly that they crash against the jagged rocks that protrude from beneath the waves along the coast. Within the mountains, travelers have settled camp for an evening within the mountain paths only to wake and find themselves and their camp in a different place than where they placed it. usually they have been moved to the roots of the mountain they had made camp on. In more extreme circumstances, travelers have discovered their camp was moved miles from their original campsite, counterclockwise around the mountain ring. Locals say this is the work of one of their four deities, the Star, keeping the borders of the basin safe and ferrying travelers whom it favors along it's path to safer places to rest, while it stalks the ring of peaks as an ever vigilant guardian. Locals will not usually comment on camps that had settled in the mountain paths for a night only to be savagely destroyed in the night with no trace of an assailant party, but when they do, the comment will refer to the Star as a steadfast guardian who must satiate it's hunger from time to time.
The second phenomena local to the basin is commonly referred to as the Swallowing World. This phenomena describes an event where a tremor will shake the Basin and leave in it's wake a gapping hole within which the average person can climb into and explore. This is both encouraged and forewarned against by the folk of the Basin as they see this as an invitation from their deity, called the World, to descend into his bosom and treat with him. However, in many cases, shortly after someone does descend into the hole in the ground, another tremor occurs that closes the former gateway to the World and trapping whoever went in inside. The locals have taken this to mean that they who went to treat with the World was found to be displeasing and so the World swallowed them. For those who do return, they are said to in short order seek out the various monasteries within the basin to exchange their anecdotes of enlightenment they received while treating with the World.
The third phenomena local to the basin is called the Sun's Blessing or the Phoenix Plume. Death is seen as something fairly sacred within the basin. the practice of necromancy also takes on a new form here, vastly different than anywhere else in the world. When a person dies, it is important that their spirit be allowed to make the journey down the rivers of death to finally pass on into their awaited afterlife, but once in a long, long while, a spirit is not allowed to do this by the will of another local god, the Sun, or the Phoenix. When this happens, the person ressurrects, often in a brilliant blaze like that of a sun. This is seen as one of the highest boons awarded within the basin and that resurrected person is closely monitored and celebrated, believed to be destined for great deeds in the eyes of the Phoenix.
The fourth and final local phenomena is called the Moon's Dream. Specifics are foggy on the the hstory and impact of this phenomena, as many clans, groups, and organizations will claim that they suffered the Moon's Dream and that is what led them to their tradition, status, or doctrine that defines who they are today. The dream itself is said to be the inciting moment of destiny within the basin. When someone endures the dream, they are given visions of the great Mountain, but more specifically, the secret path they must trod to reach to cave within which the deity of the Moon is said to dwell. There, the Moon will give them their task, their destiny, and they must then go out and claim it. The visions will include glimpses of other persons, places, or items that may play a part in the over arching journey they will soon embark upon, but remain cloudy as to the final outcome. There are hundreds of stories and legends in the basin of old heroes and clan founders who began their journey due to the inciting intervention of the Moon's Dream. Divination into the dormant dream banks of basin folk do allude to such dreams being present, however muddied and forgotten, but nothing other than legends allude to the prominence of this phenomena in the basin today.
Climate
The Basin observes a variety of climates across its vast landmass, though it is primarily temperate to balmy, with cooler areas residing closer to the Inner Se, and warmer arid areas scattered about, mostly on the western half of the continent.
The vast majority of the continent is covered in thick jungles of trees, vines, and diverse floral underbrushes. These areas don't get the most sunlight from the dense canopies of the trees overhead, nor heavy rainfall, instead percipitation is most commonly called creeping rain as the rain clings to the leaves, vines, branches, and trunks of the jungle and follows them down to the ground. This does lead to a great deal of humidity during the warmer months in the jungles.
The rolling hills and valleys scattered throughout the Basin are windswept and covered in tall grass and sparse trees. These areas often see the most frequent changes of temperature over the course of the year and tend to be where most cultures will establish settlements, usually alongside one of the many winding rivers that cut their way through the valley.
The arid, almost desert like steppes of the Basin are rugged and hold only specific forms of vegetation, grass which can withstand the winds and dry climate, seeing little rain and often enduring flooding when heavier rains fall. The riverbends are the most fertile of the soils here, so will see the most population centers formed around them. irrigation is also employed most prominently here, but the seasonal flooding leave it as the most sparsely populated area.
History
There is a very long and storied history within the mountainous walls of the Basin, but little is known outside in the rest of the world due in no small part to the isolationist faculties the Basin has held up until recent years. Therefore, much of what the denizens of the Basin would call history, is still being sifted through to put together an accurate account as some tales overlap, mislead, are actually fables, or contradict another historical claim. To better know the history of the Basin is to consult with the recors in the Great Library deep within the Basin's Wildes. Despite the disparate records and folktales, some reliably reoccurring events have surfaced.
In the earliest days, when the gods had dolled out their lots and set about populating the world, they did so by clearing out the untamed wildes that stretcher across the globe. This affront angered the gods of the wildes and their champions leading to the legendary War with the Wildes. During the war, the Basin ws known as the Untouched Grove as it had been so heavily defended and maintained by the hosts of the wildes it had never seen combat upon it's soil. The war would come to an end, however, as the Champion of the Wildes, Kaelytheryn, to fall. Some say Kaelytheryn was betrayed by the four champions of the Untouched Grove, some claiming the four were to rally with the champion and push back the gods, but instead abandonded the conflict and shore themselves up in the grove and waited for the conflict to end.
Shortly after Kaelytheryn's fall, the gods made their advance on the Grove, but once again found their defenses impassible. An accord was struck and the Grove became a safe haven for champions and courtiers to hide, though not all would find their ways here before the mystical barrier was errected shutting away the grove from the outside world for millennia. This was said to be the plan of the Grove's champions, to secure their own dominance over the Courts of the Wildes, but remnants of the courts have been found in Merridain and the lands sickened by the elder black dragon Aentari, so speculation is still unclear.
In it's solitude, the grove then began to thrive, birthing forth numerous species of folk and developing a swath of distinct cultures and traditions, most of which have endured to the modern day. The first major cultural step forward was the establishment of the Great Clans, a traditions that pushed the various squabbling clans of the Basin to strive for prosperity and preservation of their own within the grove. The traditions and customs of the clans, how to be recognized as greater, the hierarchy including the lesser clans, as well as the practices of meditative and martial arts became binding social constructs that held the grove together. In time, the champions and derelict courtiers would remove themselves in some capacity from the goings on of the day-to-day within the grove, giving way for it's renaming into the Basin.
It would be the Crane clan, a great clan, that would proclaim the basin's name after their own clan. In many circles, the Cranes had grown extremely powerful, with status, lesser clan vassals, wealth, resources, technologies, and force of arms the other clans could only dream of, and so it came to pass that the Untouched Grove became the Crane Basin.
As time continued to press forward, great clans rose and fell, rivalries bloomed, grudges sunk deep into the ancient trees, and the wildes ever shifted and changed, as fickle as they had been at the dawn of the world. Some notable events include; the many wars fought between the Cat and Dog clans, a feud that may possibly never truly end, the Wukong clan completing the rites to be recognized as a Great Clan, but refusing it every time, The standardization of the Arata blades across the Basin, a son of the Cranes, driven mad by foul portents led a bloody campaign against the Dragon clan nearly wiping them out if it had not been for the interventions of the Oni clan, an event that would so severely cripple the Crane clan that they would lose their status as a Great Clan, and the Shisubeki, the mortal humans going from a petty kingdom of hunter-gatherers, to a steadfast, growing imperial power.
Most recently, the Basin has been freed from it's mystical isolation, opening up it's borders to the world with excitement, curiosity, and no small amount of caution for the outside world. This was brought about by the Swearing of the Great Oath by the Great clans to unite for the first time ever in order to shed the yoke of protection their four gods had laid out for them.
Tourism
Up until recently, tourism was nonexistent in the Basin. The Basin had, for centuries been cut off from the rest of Ellecrid by some supernatural storm that wouldn't allow anything to enter or escape. In recent years, it seems, that storm has lifted and the island continent has become accessible. Despite this, the natives are fairly protective of their homeland, cultures, and traditions, having been so isolated for so long, that they are not quick to welcome newcomers to deep into their ancient home. Many port cities have been thrown up quickly to accommodate and introduce trade with the outside world, but few outsiders have dared to journey much farther beyond the port. and even fewer have returned with all their limbs and sanity in tact.
Alternative Name(s)
The Untouched Grove
Type
Continent
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