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Human History

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The Landing - 400 PT

The Time of the Landing

This is the benchmark date for humans on Komadas, and in Lost Isles in general. The years immediately following the settling of Saotan (now Old Saotan) were known as “The Time of the Landing.” This time was highlighted by the founding of (Old) Saotan, and Kavel’s discovery of and first meeting with the aoru. It was a relatively peaceful time, and the humans explored the immediate areas, up along the Hebi river towards Piiya, and the aoru towns to the north. During this time, the humans tried merely to survive, and aided by the aoru, they did.



The Quake - 268 PT

The first catastrophe for human settlement on Komadas happened without warning early one morning. A massive earthquake ripped through the eastern half of the island. Fissures tore through the ground from the north, and a large one forked as it reached Saotan, tearing the town into three parts, and leveling nearly every building. Although many people lost their lives in the disaster, it did not stop the humans, and with the help of the aoru they began founding a new city slightly to the south, between the beach along the western edge of Tsume Bay and a huge limestone cliff. They named the new city Saotan, and dubbed the crumbled ruins Old Saotan. It was much better protected than the previous settlement, from both the elements and unsavory local fauna. This time period lasted for nearly 170 years.



The Visit - 100 PT

Saotan was first probed, and then invaded, by warfaring naktul, and humans, (with tongue firmly in cheek) dubbed this encounter The Visit. That they were ultimately able to repel the naktul with the help of Linid, and a great many aoru, is perhaps the reason they are able to look at the occurrence lightly nowadays. Instead of destroying the naktul prisoners of war, they treated them honorably, and learned a great many things about other islands in the archipelago. Armed with this information, the humans, who would not have been able to withstand any more invasions at this time from anyone, decided the best bet was to set out on their own quests for peace and diplomacy, and eventually trade. Their first goal was to establish direct relations with the neighboring island of Adu. Goods from and stories about the giants and dwarves of the island to the north came to them through the aoru, who had enjoyed a direct trade agreement with Adu for the last few hundred years. The humans decided it was time to work out their own alliances, and having met a few giants and dwarves over the course of three hundred years, felt comfortable starting their diplomatic work with Adu.



The Uniting - 50 PT

The humans sailed to the Adu port city of Chamkha and established direct contact with the people there. The diplomacy and relations were successful, and a firm trade was built up. Humans became strong allies with the giants, and to a lesser extent, with the dwarves. The humans began to establish a reputation as effective diplomats and traders. At this point, humans began to develop the Common language – a language that all the races on the islands could speak. The biggest surprise, however, occurred half a century later, when the first human ships landed at Morjan, on K’Tumal. It was a risky venture, to be sure, since it had only been about one hundred years since the naktul tried to wipe out the humans. But in the interim, a few random meetings had taken place, and the time was right for formal relations to be attempted. It was successful. If nothing else, the naktul admired the human’s resistance during the earlier battle. From this point, the humans and naktul created an uneasy truce, and established a successful trade.



The Purge - year 50 by the common calendar

Once successful trade routes had opened up the archipelago to the humans, their next interest was exploring to the west of the Sebone Mountains, and around Omatsu, the great volcano. Initial scouting parties discovered vast deposits of gold in the blasted plains west of Omatsu, and a small mining camp was founded, called Deng. The little town was successful in mining lots of gold and other metals for Saotan, which were shipped back overland, across the mountains, and down the Hebi. Disaster struck when the entire population of sixty was struck down by the poru, a fire-oriented race of humanoids from within the bowels of Omatsu. Not long thereafter, the humans sent another group of miners to Deng, among them a priest of Sajol named Teodek. They reestablished the operation, but soon thereafter were again raided by poru. Rather than fight or flee, Teodek convinced all the humans there to commit suicide. His brand of mutated religion spread to a small segment of the human population, resulting in a sharp increase in negative dealings and crime. This went on for about forty years , until the leaders of Saotan finally had enough. They rounded up all the brigands and thieves, escorted them under guard several hundred miles below the bottom of the Sebone range, to the southwest coast of Komadas. The criminals were sent on a boat westward into the uncharted sea, and ultimately founded Zensen on the barren island of Mubleair Xan. Saotan settled into another time of peace and prosperity.



The Second Uniting - year 250 by the Common Calendar

Saotan was thriving, and the humans wanted to continue their trading ways with all the islands of the archipelago. A huge break came when the qurshan of Qaroo opened up trade with the humans, and also revealed a glimpse of their xenophobic culture. Like K’Tumal, relations with Qaroo were strained, but profitable. One hundred and fifty years later, the last piece of the trade puzzle was found: the megi of Sumil Kai. This last step completed the unification of all of the races of the Lost Isles, not necessarily on friendly terms, but at least on workable ones. The extreme distance to Sumil Kai prompted a group of hearty humans to establish a permanent settlement on the island to facilitate trade and relations with the megi.



The Present - from year 600 by the Common Calendar to the present

The last few centuries have seen the humans build Saotan to become the largest city in the archipelago, and the biggest voice in trade and inter-island relations. Knowing they lack the numbers of other, longer-established indigenous races of the isles, the humans knew their ticket to survival was being allied with all the “friendly” races. This time period saw the settling of several other towns and outposts on Komadas, among them Iro, Tsuuka, Saoru, and Isaji, a small port outpost with direct sea access to Mubleair Xan, which by now is a thriving - if unsavory and criminally-run - trading center. Today the humans have a strong government, are generally well liked. They work tirelessly to maintain trade and a shred of unity throughout the isles.

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