Vanai Island
Vanai island is located southwest of Eashinth, not far from the southern polar ice cap and within its bounds during the winter. It is notorious for the malicious oni who inhabit it, who make their living through piracy and slaving.
Geography
The island is volcanic, with a gradual incline towards the center where the caldera lies. Being so far south, it's mostly tundra, with the permafrost only being absent near the volcano or when it erupts. Several glaciers flow from the highlands to the ocean, where they break apart into icebergs in the summer, or crash against the polar ice in the winter. The volcano's eruptions are frequent and result in the island gradually expanding outward.
Climate
The island's volcano is often erupting, and even when it isn't, it still tends to smoke, which causes frequent lightning. It is cold year-round with only some milder temperatures in the summer. Precipitation happens as rain, snow, and hail with moderate frequency. It's too far south to have any warm-water ports; the surrounding water freezes in the winter.
Fauna & Flora
The island is well south of the tree line, but on the slopes of the volcano the soil is warm enough for some evergreens to grow. Plant life on the rest of the island, except those parts intentionally cultivated by its inhabitants, is relegated to shrubs and grasses. As the island itself is relatively new, its main fauna are birds and other flying creatures, but rodents have arrived on ships, and larger land beasts such as wolves have been brought intentionally by the oni who inhabit the island.
History
The island's oldest inhabitant is an underworld dragon named Anadamamituti, who found it as it was just beginning to rise from the ocean's surface and claimed the volcano's caldera as his lair. He still dwells there today, and some say he even controls the volcano's eruptions. In 663 A.C., an oni pirate ship captained by the goddess Nagushi found the island while sailing into open ocean to escape pursuit. They recognized that it would make a good hiding place and established a rudimentary base there. Nagushi eventually realized that it would be possible to cultivate crops in certain places using warming magic, so she decided to make the island into a permanent home for her and her crew.
The oni used slaves they had captured in raids to build their houses and work their farms for them. With a stable food source and residence, they were able to grow their population. They became a society that engaged in raiding rather than a pirate crew, which also granted them more security as they fortified the island and built more ships. Of course, the people they raided soon followed them far enough to discover the island, but by then it had become nigh impenetrable. It is known among Eashinth's coastal nations that pirate ships must be caught on the water, as getting too close to Vanai island is a suicidal endeavor. The only solace from raids is during the winter when ice forms around the island.
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