Kaoh (kʰaoh)
"We stand on Phnom Moha Soben, the highest peak in the world, from where the whole land of Kaoh can be seen. To the west the great city of Kaoh Tuich stands; you will see the great dome of the temple to Kaoh Piphop Soben shining in the sunlight."
"Um - you are pointing at the village at the foot of the hill? I don't see any dome."
"It's there, but not here, yet. But it will be here soon." - one of the Anak Kaoh, describing the future empire of Kaoh to a bewildered foreigner
Kaoh is one the newest islands in Great Ring, and one of the most remote, with the nearest island being Koa'ki, over five hundred miles to the west. It rose out of the sea a century ago, when a small boat carrying two lovers, a Naga woman and a Human man, were blown near the site of the island during a storm. They became the progenitors of the Anak Kaoh who inhabit the island today.
Beneath the waves, the dreaming god Kaoh Piphop Soben heard the frantic prayers of the doomed couple, and saw in them the realization of its own dreams. They caused the peak of Phnom Moha Soben to appear above the sea, lifting the boat from the waters and saving the couple from the storm.
In the days after it first emerged from the sea, the island continued to grow as more and more of the mountain emerged from the water. It rapidly turned from a small rock jutting out of the ocean into a small islet over a square mile in area. As the population of Kaoh has grown, the island has grown with it, adding more land with each new birth. Today, it is about 30 square miles, and the Anak Kaoh claim that it will grow to be larger than any island in the Great Ring.
There are four villages of the Anak Kaoh on the island. The largest of these is Kaoh Tuich, located near the central peak. It was founded by the original couple who Kaoh rescued and their children, and is said to be where their boat first met the rocks of Kaoh. There are rarely any visitors to the island, and the Anak Kaoh have only a few boats, due to the scarcity of wood on the island.
Notable Spirits
The island of Kaoh is a part of the dreams of Kaoh Piphop Soben, brought forth from the dream and into the physical realm. Kaoh Piphop Soben is a god of dreams made manifest, and has long dreamed of a great civilization of the Anak Kaoh. Kaoh Piphop Soben wished to make these dreams into reality, and when the storm blew a small boat within its reach, the god siezed on the opportunity. After rescuing the couple, Kaoh Piphop Soben invested them with magic which enabled the lovers to conceive children despite the difference in their species. Two eggs were the result, and from them came the first of the Anak Kaoh, Rithin and Sreyleap.
They considered Kaoh Piphop Soben to be their third parent, and one who had granted them far more than simply physical characteristics. They were hatchd knowing the language of Phasah Kaoh, which had never before been spoken outside Kaoh's dreams. They also had memories of the empire of Kaoh, of the cities and marvels that Kaoh Piphop Soben had dreamed of for so long, and spoke of them as things already there, but invisible.
Kaoh Piphop Soben continues to enable the Anak Kaoh to reproduce, and gifts each hatchling with the knowledge of the future world the god has dreamed of.
Geography
When it first emerged, Kaoh was a steaming, sharp-edged pillar of rock jutting out of the ocean. While it has grown, it is still mostly a harsh and forbidding landscape of volcanic rock. With each birth among the Anak Kaoh, the entire island shudders slightly as new land emerges from the sea. It is crescent shaped, and measures a little more than ten miles long, with a maximum width of about 5 miles. The island slopes upwards from the sea to a central mountain named Phnom Moha Soben, the Great Dream Mountain.
Ecosystem
There are no large animals on the island of Kaoh, and few plants. While Kaoh Piphop Soben has manifested what life it could find in The Dream that would survive on its exposed rock, the Anak Kaoh mostly depend on seafood and insect life for food. There are a vast array of insects on the island, manifested by Kaoh Piphop Soben, many of which do not appear anywhere else in the world. The abundance of insects has led to the dishes that characterize the Ahar Kaoh style of cooking.
One animal on the island is particularly interesting to outsiders. This is the sngaorotrei, which roughly translates to 'stew fish'. In Ahar Kaoh, the sngaorotrei is added to stews and soups and allowed to swim around, sometimes for days at a time. The stew fish is native to volcanic mudpits on Kaoh, and thrives in a pot of hot stew. The Anak Kaoh say that the sngaorotrei adds an essential flavor to the stew, although they are always careful to remove it and place it back into hot mud before eating the stew.
Geographic Details
Location: Southern RegionLatitude: 0.54 degrees South
Longitude: 15.5 degrees East
Average Elevation: 82 ft
Highest Point: 1,024 ft
Lowest Point: -3 ft
Area: 30 sq mi
What a fascinating island. I love that they have memories of a future where their empire is huge and beautiful, but it's currently a rock with a few plants and many insects on it.
Thanks! I'm glad you liked it!