Raeluna History

Opening of the Gates 

Years 1 -2. 

500 Years ago (500 Barakeel Island cycles), the proto-Arcanists of Barakeel began opening the Gates of the Ancient Race to link Islands near to each other in their orbits, connecting humanity’s five Cradle Islands and opening and age of exploration and settlement. The native Baraki served as laborers and guardsmen, and without question attempted to use their ties to the Arcanists as a first-mover advantage to explore the Islands, with limited success.     

An underappreciated fact of this pivotal moment in history is the extreme preparation of the Arcanists, and certain of their Baraki Tribal leader allies, well prior to the first attempted Gate opening. They were very confident that it would work, and from how far away, and they knew the flight paths of the Core Islands - and many of the Outer Islands -  from centuries of keen observation. The Barakis had exploration and, crucially, diplomatic teams ready to go, with supplies and gear to survive the first cycles on uninhabited Islands and a clear notion that there were other humans out there. They had years of openings designed so that the first connections to other Cradle Islands would be from intermediary Islands, and not directly from Barakeel.  They had observed over the years several Ruin sites on the ground, and had them incorporated into their grand experiment in opening the Gates. In their most physically ambitious preparation, they developed a plan and program to descend the trailing Kaltvines of Barakeel and severe them, with tools and magic, at a height that would not batter the Islands that pass below. 

The work and planning required before they even opened the first Gate is often overlooked given the chaos and surprise of the first year of contact. 

Day 1 - The Horror on the Ground

The first thing the Arcanist and Baraki explorers encountered was something for which they were not prepared: the terrifying nature of life on the ground. The first opening to a ground site, to an area known today as the Empty Plaza, demonstrated their lack of knowledge in the harshest terms. The fact that Day One of the modern era is pinned to the event is remarkable, given the disaster that unfolded.

Arcanists, guardsmen, and tribal leaders all stepped through the Gate and were amazed to find themselves actually on the ground, amid a scattering of Ancient Ruins, looking up at their own Island blotting out a large portion of the sky, Kaltvines dropping to the distant treetops.  

For a few hours, all was well.  The dignitaries had come and gone, and a sizable group of explorers and laborers was busy moving food and materials to the site. The accounts of the attack come from those who ran for the Gate and got through - the sudden terrible keening noise, the rustle of undergrowth from every direction, half-seen monstrous figures causing piercing headaches to look upon, and brief human screams.  From the Barakeel side, humankind received its first experience with the Gate Guardians. One of the creatures from below came through the Gate, and no one could quite describe what followed in visible terms.   They would later talk about it as a long disturbing dream, though only seconds had passed. The first visual memory was of the aftermath, a deceased creature twisted of flesh and limb on the end of a Gate Guardian’s spear, the Guardian slowly creaking back to its eternal posture of vigilance, and the Gate itself closed. 

The majority of the ground expedition was lost.  The tribal elders and the Arcanists debated fiercely for twenty three days, and in the end decided to cancel the  ground openings but continue the Island openings. No Gate would be again attempted to the ground for more than a decade. 

Day 23 - Encampment on Nade

On Day 23 Barakeel opened a Gate to Nade, a wide flat grassy Island about a quarter the size of Barakeel. Nade would serve as an intermediary to reach many of the Cradle Islands, and more of the unexplored ones. A great deal of food and materials were moved in the 8 days the Gate remained open, and a base encampment of sorts was assembled.  In Baraki tribal style, many grand pavilions and tents were raised and the long pennants of the four Overtribes fluttered above the four corners.  A substantial guardsmen presence protected the encampment, many Arcansists set up shop, and teams and tribal representatives made ready to ride a different Island on a different orbit for the first time in their history. On Day 41 this Gate closed, temporarily cutting off Barakeel from any news of the camp’s successes or failures.                      

Day 59 - Mission on Angbol

On Day 59 a Gate was opened from Barakeel to the Island that would become known as Angbol. Although tiny and inhospitable, Angbol fit into many of the Arcanists diplomatic and exploration plans. Like Nade, it flew a route that would soon open to other Cradle Islands, and uninhabited Islands that in turn would open to Cradle Islands.  After passing through the Core Islands, Angbol would swing away for about a year, and the Arcanists wanted to leave people and observational tools in place for its long journey. The Gate remained open until Day 78, a full 19 days to build Baraki shelters and move a year’s worth of food and supplies. A small contingent was left there to facilitate further explorations. The Arcanists and Baraki would get a second Barakeel-Angbol opening before it made contact with a Cradle Island and began its long journey south.     

Day 68 - First Contact with Uldrath

While Barakeel was moving supplies and people onto Angbol, they would have no way of knowing how things went on Day 68, when the Barakeel expedition on Nade opened the Gate to Uldrath, and for the first time humans of two of the five Cradle Islands officially met. 

The Barakis and Arcanists were in for a few surprises.  First, the Sorceress and council of the Uld and the High Seer and anax of the Rath greeted the Arcanists and Baraki tribal leaders at the Gate. By most accounts, this was unexpected. Second, the Arcanists had assumed that they would be able to “talk” to some others of their kind on inhabited Islands, and this proved not to be the case. By luck or providence the Uldrathis brought with them some individuals with a mystic gift for translation, and they were able to serve as (very over-busy) interpreters. Third, the expedition was taken aback by physical isolation of the Gate on the small Island in the Reach between Uld and Rath. The Baraki were vexed that wouldn’t be able to deploy the tribes they had prepared (for further exploration from future Uldrath Gate openings) as there was very little room on the small Gate Island and no way to get to Uld or Rath proper. 

The initial communication from both the Ulda and the Rathi plainly stated that if these foreigners contemplated invasion it would be an impossible task - for although it was clear (even through the mystic interpreters) that the Ulda and Rathi had a mutual distrust and disdain for each other, they banded together in bristling defensiveness for their jointly held archipelago. As if to emphasize the point, as Nade drew closer to Uldrath, Orn riders began fly-bys of the Nade encampment, terrifying the Barakis and greatly informing the tenor of the talks that followed.  

Over the next 22 days the meeting of the two peoples continued, mediated by Ulda and Rathi mystic translation. The Arcanists displayed their power to the Seer and Sorceress. The Baraki tribal leaders tried to soothe tensions. The foreigners endeavored to prepare the Uldrathis for the next contact with the third Cradle Islanders, and invited them to have a seat at the table when the Gate to Anvard would open from Nade in a short period of time. They also insisted that the Uldrath Gate be used to further connect Islands going forward, and that the Arcanists have a permanent home there. The Rathi for their part demanded and received assurances that they could settle on Nade, an Island that they held in reverence in their folklore. The Uld, not to be outdone, demanded the entire Island of Vaaris (which they similarly revered), a place to which the Arcanists and Baraki had not yet been, but which in a strange and unfortunate coincidence another group of Baraki and Arcanists (those on Angbol) would be exploring very shortly. Eventually they all came to agreement, and Uldrathi greeting and exploration parties moved over to Nade (many via Orn rather than Gate, just to show they could). The Udla were clearly very uncomfortable with the place, and always stayed for as little time as possible, which brought them ridicule from their Rathi cousins. 

Day 89 - Mission on Vaaris

On Day 89, away from the diplomatic endeavors, Angbol opened to Vaaris, a smaller Island with rocky and steep terrain, riddled with deep cool vales dense in tall conifer trees. The Barakis and Arcanists, unaware that their brethren have just made promises about Vaaris to the Ulda, moved an exploration and diplomatic group onto the Island, in preparation for the imminent opening to (uninhabited) Iradel and to build a mission for the much later opening to the Cradle Island Zelix. They also found old remains of a small Uldrathi settlement, a mystery that would be only somewhat solved on Day 145.    

Day 90 - First Contact with Anvard

On Day 90 Nade drew close enough to Anvard to open the Gate. Arcanists, Baraki tribal elders, and Ulda council members and the Rathi anax and his entourage stepped through to the Great Hall of the intact Ancient Ruin that is Anvard City. There too the Gate opening was expected, and the visitors were greeted by the various Clans of Anvard and a large crowd of curious Clanned and Clanless alike.  Both Baraki and Uldrathi stood awed and surprised by the size, scope, and grandeur of the city of Anvard. Uldrathi had their villages and Orn riders, and Baraki larger villages and wide expanses of land, but neither of them had experienced this mass warren of humanity and vertical maze of structures. At that point the Baraki Ancient ruin that would become the Citadel was yet restricted to Arcanists and the newly raised ruler of Barakeel, the Abasdarhan, and not at all built out for human use.

Through mystic translators provided by both Uldrath and Anvard (the Arcanists were still somewhat let down that they are unable to communicate through some innate magical channel), the visitors were shown parts of the huge Ancient Ruin (beautifully retrofitted to human size), verbally bombarded with the excellency of “The City”, and scarcely given time to introduce themselves, their Islands, or their purpose. As many Uldrathi and Baraki were allowed to come through the Uldrath-Nade-Anvard Gate as they wished, and they were all whisked around the City and shown amazing sights, foods, and a confusing array of Clan leaders. It remained unclear if the Anvardi were listening at all, and the visitors spent their days on Anvard bonding with each other in their bewilderment.  

Day 96 - Closing of the Uldrath-Nade Gate

Six days later, on Day 96, the last day that the Uldrath-Nade Gate would be open, a selected group of Anvardi presented themselves to go back through the Gate and join the small group of Barakis on Uldrath. This arrangement had somehow been brokered in the background by the Arcanists, the Anvard Magi Clan, and unknown Anvardi leadership.  The Uldrathi accepted (splitting them between Uld and Rath, of course), and that Gate closed, once again isolating Uldrath and leaving the Nade-Anvard Gate open (it would remain open for another 14 days). Some Uldrathi stayed on Anvard, and many on Nade. The first Rathi settlers stayed to explore where they might start a new settlement, and a large group of Ulda stayed because the Arcanists told them that their fastest way to Vaaris - and thus claiming that Island while the Rathi were setting up on Nade - was through a Gate from Nade to an Island called Morayel and then a Gate from Morayel to Vaaris. They could be there in 49 days with this route, rather than waiting for the Vaaris orbit to come close enough to colonize via Orns. The Ulda stayed in Anvard when the Nade-Anvard Gate was open, preferring to keep themselves off of Nade for as long as possible.   

Day 104 - Angbol Mission restock 

On Day 104, Angbol once again opened to Barakeel, and the Baraki and Arcanists learn of the uneventful expedition to Vaaris, and have 23 days to restock Angbol. Due to the nature of the Island’s orbits, Barakeel is still in the dark about the Uldrath and Anvard missions.  

Day 104 - The Incident on Morayel

On the same Day 104,  Nade is able to open to Morayel, a 14 mile wide Island whose terrain is comprised of hard rock that looks like it was hot and bubbling yesterday and then just solidified. The Arcanists have assured the Ulda that Morayel is their fastest ticket to Vaaris, and so a large number of Ulda, and a smaller number of inscrutable Anvardi ambassadors, accompany the Baraki and Arcanists through the Gate.  There is an obvious set of Ancient Ruins on it, some small scrubby vegetation, a few little vales with trees and grasses….and a small collection of what are clearly Anvardi-style houses clustered near the Gate. To this day it is unclear how they got their first, although Morayel does sometimes pass beneath Anvard during their orbits.

Anvardi individuals emerged and conversed with the ambassadors. Through translators the Anvardi informed the others that the Island was claimed in the name of the Anvard Magi Clan, and that no one else would be suffered to stay. A heated but very slow argument broke out  (translators could not keep up). The Baraki were incensed at being treated so rudely, especially after the (somewhat bizarre) hospitality they experienced on Anvard. They had quite a few guardsmen just on the Nade side of the Gate, and made convoluted threats to simply take the rock by force. They opined that it was their right to go anywhere - the notion of “claimed space” was foreign to them - which is why they had gladly accepted the Uldrathi demands to “go” to Nade and Vaaris. At which point the Ulda took some exception, as they felt they have been granted Vaaris exclusively and not just allowed to travel there. They were also put off by the change in tone of the Anvardi, and demand to be allowed to use Morayel to get to Vaaris, which they of course could not do without the Arcanists.  The Arcanists, for their part, argued that they MUST be allowed to stay on ANY and ALL Islands, because the Gates MUST be opened any time they are close enough to do so. This was, astonishingly, the first that either the Baraki or Ulda had heard this demand, and things became louder and less understood as civility began to break down.  

No one is exactly sure what happened next. One Anvardi Clan Magi had stood silent the entire time, as had one Arcanist. The Arcanist’s name is lost to time, but he would become known as the Injured Arcanist. They glared at each other but spoke no words. Just before the Baraki were set to call for the guardsmen, everyone was stunned by quick flashes of violent lighting. When eyes recovered from the flash, 2 or 3 lesser Anvardi Magi and 2 or 3 of the lesser Arcanists were flat on the ground, gently steaming and quite dead. The silent ones still stood, the Arcanist with a smile (and a nasty burn that left a scar and removed half the hair on his head) and the Magi with fewer injuries but a crooked frown. He turned to the ambassadors and translators, and quietly amended their claim: the Island belonged to the Anvardi Magi Clan, but a few Arcanists would be suffered to stay, as well as the group of Ulda as long as they all left to Vaaris when they were able.  The Injured Arcanist for his part convinced the Baraki tribal leaders to leave, with assurances that he would try to negotiate the use of the Gate for all humanity. Many of the Ulda, freaked out about the destructive power they just witnessed, were torn between retreating to Nade or riding out a trip to Vaaris on the barren bubble-rock that was Morayel. The ones that retreated went all the way back to Anvard (rather than stay on Nade). The Gate was closed, leaving the Anvardi Magi Clan individuals, some Ulda and the Injured Arcanist on the Morayel side. Too late it was realized that no one capable of translation was left on the Morayel side, and for reasons also lost to time the Arcanists on either side did not want to reopen the Gate and risk further upsetting the situation. As Nade-Anvard was still open, the Arcanists and Baraki attempted to take the matter up with the Anvardi, but it was not clear who they should bring their complaints to.  The Clan structure was opaque, and their guides just seemed to want to show them more of the City.   

Day 108 - Outpost on Iradel

On Day 108, Vaaris opened to Iradel, a high snowy Island.  The Baraki mission on Vaaris moved Arcansists and a small contingent into makeshift structures, all unaware of what transpired on Nade, Uldrath, Anvard, and Morayel. Iradel from the beginning was not a popular destination for some Baraki, although those of the Abas and Darhan mountain Overtribes did find it somewhat similar to the high places in their mountains. Nonetheless it was cold and miserable for them, and contrary to their temporary-tent-style of housing, they immediately began building a solid structure to house the Gate.     

Day 110 - Closing of Anvard-Nade

On Day 110, after 20 days of dizzying tours and seeming diplomatic ineffectiveness, and continued confusion and hot feelings over Morayel, the Anvard-Nade Gate closes. Again certain members of certain Clans, without a lot of prior discussion from the principal dignitaries, present themselves to stay in the encampment on Nade. Some Baraki and Uldrathi are invited to stay on Anvard, and though the selection doesn’t seem to make logical sense to the visitors they do leave the selected representatives. The Gate closes, and the three Cradle peoples isolated together on Uldrath, Nade, and Anvard begin to try and understand one another through their harried mystic translators.        

Day 127 - Closing of Barakeel-Angbol 

On Day 127 the Barakeel to Angbol Gate closes, and the Baraki on Angbol prepare for their next opening, to the fourth Cradle Island of Mehujael. 

Day 130 - Iradel pokes its head into Morayel

The outpost on Iradel is expecting the Arcanists to open a Gate from Morayel on Day 130. When this does not occur they become a little rattled. The Arcanist on Iradel opens the Gate himself a day later - to be confronted by the Injured Arcanist on Morayel, who explains that Morayel is off limits for the time being. Many of the Baraki on Iradel are disconsolate, as they had wanted to transfer to Morayel to get away from the cold. They have been there for 28 days.     

Day 145 to Day 285 - The “Silent Time” on Vaaris

On Day 145 the Injured Arcansist on Morayel opens a Gate to Vaaris, in order to fulfill the promise to the Ulda. No Baraki are present on the Morayel side, having been rebuffed by the Anvardi Magi Clan. On Vaaris, the Baraki mission and their Arcanists line up to greet them, but of course have had no news since leaving Barakeel on Day 78 (having ridden Angbol, and then moved to Vaaris on Day 89). It was their first time meeting Ulda, who came through the Gate and began acting as if they owned the place, which to them was true. There were no translators left, and the Baraki mission did not have any, so it was left to the Injured Arcanist (his face healing but half his hair still missing) to explain to his fellow Arcanists what had transpired, and for them to convince the Brakai tribal leaders on Vaaris that the Island is to be granted to these strange people. This was made harder by the fact that the Injured Arcanist insisted that he must stay on Morayel. He furthermore insisted on bringing all but the most senior Arcanist back to Morayel with him.  The four of them ducked back to the other side and the Gate closed. Oddly, it is perhaps because of the lack of translators on Vaaris that the situation did not turn to violence. The Ulda could not press their claim to own the entire Island, and the Baraki could not deny that claim or communicate to the Ulda that they disagreed with the decisions their fellows had made. They all simply lived in a strained and sullen coexistence for 140 days, until Vaaris opened to Nade on Day 285.            

Day 148 to Day 152 - First Unsuccessful Contact with Mehujael

On Day 148, 21 days after Angbol to Barakeel Gate closed, the mission on Angbol opened the Gate to Mehujael. The Arcanists, guardsmen, and tribal leaders stepped through. These Baraki had no way of knowing how any of the other diplomatic missions had gone, and these Arcanists still believed they could communicate through some deeper magical means. However, in this case the Mehujaeli were not at the Gate to greet them, did not expect them, and no translators were on hand. 

The Gate on Mehujael is deep in a forested interior, and without any locals in evidence the Baraki expedition sent guardsmen to cautiously look for the inhabitants. The people on Mehujael, of all the Cradle Islanders, had deep experience with the horrors of the ground, and had even fended off winged creatures on their home turf. It is not surprising that a Mehujael villager, seeing a Baraki guardsmen emerge from the forest in a full metal helm mimicking an Ancient Race design, and unable to communicate with him, assumed that humanoid monsters had invaded the Island from below. This reaction was common. Rather than run, the local droppers attacked, and for the most part got the better of the Barakis. Baraki patrols went missing, and those that came back to the Gate reported the locals to be hostile. The Baraki expedition set up a hard perimeter to defend this side of the Gate while they attempted to make more peaceful contact. This look did not encourage the Mehujael rangers who came to track the interlopers, and at that point the damage had been done.  

Four days after the Gate opening, the most experienced droppers of Mehujael, with the aid of many of the Island’s more formidable individuals, attacked the foreigners in force. The Arcanists were identified as magic users and slain first, else they would have closed the Gate faster. The Barakis took losses and then quickly retreated through the Gate...and were pursued by a hefty group of Mehujaelis. The droppers had decided that the foreign threat needed to be eliminated down to the last individual, and through bravery, foolishness, or just an innate insensitivity to oddities due to their long history visiting the ground, they rushed through the Gate to get the job done.  The Barakis did not have a large contingent on Angbol. The Mehujael pushed through, and slaughtered every Baraki and Arcanist they found. One of the last Arcanists alive closed the Gate just before he perished. 

Day 152 to Day 390 - Angbol’s First Manned Long Orbit

Thus is was that beginning on Day 152 the first humans to ride Angbol on its journey south were stunned Mehujaeli, suddenly cut off from their home on a small rock of an Island at a chilly 8100 ft. They didn’t know what had just happened, or if they would be attacked, or if the Gate would open again, or if they would ever get home. They had a notion that most Islands orbited in circles, and may have witnessed Angbol before, high above their own low orbit. But as the days passed and Angbol flew south in a seemingly straight line they began to ration the food left by the Barakis, and alternately despair and hope for their futures. It was they who first passed through the Shroud, and who first witnessed the aurora-lit mountains on the other side. With the weather growing uncomfortably chilly they eventually abandoned the Baraki shelters and found refuge in crevices and caves on the Island. When Angbol came within mere dozens of feet of three high peaks they debated dropping to the ground.  But by then the Island was turning, and the prospects for survival on those grim peaks seemed worse than just staying on the rock. They would be alone for 238 days, until the Gate re-opened on Day 390. 

Day 205 and Day 226 - Nade keeps its Gate busy

On Day 205 the Nade-Anvard Gate opens again, and further mixing happens with Baraki and Anvardi representatives meeting and deciding who will stay on the other sides when the Gate closes again. Some Ulda and Rathi move back and forth as well, but the Rathi on Nade are busy exploring the Island and there are not that many Uld left on Nade at this time. Discussion, or attempted discussion, of the Moyarel incident takes up a lot of time. The Gate closes on Day 219, and several important Baraki and Arcanists stayed on the Anvard side, in anticipation of Day 252 when Anvard-Barakeel will be connected directly.  

On Day 226 a Nade-Iradel Gate opens, and some Baraki finally get to come back to warmth. The Gate closes on 243, with few tribal leaders agreeing to send their people to stay on Iradel. Construction of a structure around the Iradel Gate is thus delayed, and the Iradel Baraki outpost grows smaller.      

Dat 252 - Barakeel-Anvard opens for a Long Convergence, little progress is made.                 

The next opening took place on Day 252, directly from Barakeel to Anvard. Arcanist and Baraki representatives crossed first, to update Barakeel, the AbasDarhan, and the High Arcanists on everything they knew so far (which does not yet include the loss of the Angbol mission and the disaster at Mehujael, or the current odd standoff on Vaaris). Various tribal dignitaries were shown around the City, and various Clan leaders made a show of coming to look at the Barakeel ruin.  Some of them were reported to have laughed out loud at how unadorned and empty it was. They did seem queasy when shown to the lower reaches open to the air, however. 

As these two peoples were on the largest Islands with the largest populations known at that time, many historians seem to have expected that when the Gates directly connected them for the first time they discussed much in the way of trade and mutual connections. In fact, all the evidence we have points to a near failure to really understand each other. The Anvardi, while suitably impressed that the Arcanists could open Gates, and fascinated that a whole other people lived on a whole other Island, could find nothing in the nomadic heart of the Barakis to connect with, and kept seeking rigid Clan structures and hierarchies where none existed. The Barakis on the other hand alternated between trying to identify tribal leaders to sweet-talk and making angry demands and threats to the groups as a whole, as was within their ancient tribal customs. The Morayel incident hung over the entire opening, and perhaps understandably none the Magi Clan were allowed through to the Barakeel side. The Arcanists did what they could to act as mediators, but were seen by the Anvardis as more or less Baraki, and by Barakis as a mysterious tribal “other”, as they had seen Arcanists for centuries.  

Anvard and Barakeel often share a close orbit for long periods. The first Barakeel-Anvard Gate would stay open for another 128 days, well into the second Baraki Year of the modern era, and through many of incidents on other Islands that followed. They would make little progress in understanding each other until additional Uldrathi came to the table on Day 340.  

Day 266 - Uldrathi Outpost on Jamerah

On Day 266 the Gate opened from Uldrath to previously unexplored Jamerah, a large 45 mile wide Island riding at over 7000 ft. Jamerah’s rocky gentle slopes hold many lakes small and large, and the low ground cover fed by the saturated soil is a mostly uniform bright green. Forested hills break up the landscape here and there, and the high altitude cold brings snow as often as rain in certain times of the year.  In the original Baraki/Arcanist plan, a Baraki exploration team would be stationed on Uldrath to put an outpost on Jamerah. As the Uldrath Gate was on a small Island in the Reach, and only Orns could ferry people to and from the Gate and Uld or Rath, the Barakis did not get that many people onto Uldrath. The plans changed, and they convinced the Uldrathi to go through with them, and live and explore Jamerah for a cycle. The Ulda and Rathi had a difficult time between them deciding on the right mix, but this problem was brokered by the Arcanists - the first in a long series of Ulda/Rathi ongoing disputes brokered by the Arcanists. Both Ulda and Rathi saw the Arcanists as respected sages, much like the ones that guided their own leaders. They viewed the Baraki with fascination but faint suspicion, and the more adventurous Uldrathi were happy to tag along to take a look at new Islands, and a sizable group of Orn Riders from both groups came through. The outpost was fitted with food from Ulda stores, and the temporary buildings were constructed in the Uldrathi style. A handful of Arcanists and Baraki put up their tents on the side. The Gates closed at Day 280, and the joint (but mostly Uldrathi) outpost explored in peace and harmony, isolated from the other Islands for 83 days.  The few Anvardi representatives on Uldrathi were invited to join, but declined.            

Day 285 - Vaaris revisited

On Day 285, The Varris-Nade Gate opened, and the Baraki, Arcanists, and Ulda on Vaaris finally got access to translation. The Udla were understandably upset that the Baraki wanted to keep a mission on Vaaris, but it was explained to them that if they allowed the mission, they could once again participate in first contact, as Vaaris would be the first Island in Gate range of the fifth and final Cradle Island, Zelix, in 49 days. The Udla colonists accepted, and “reverse granted” the area around the Gate back to the Barakis and Arcanists. This caused something of a stir on Nade, however, when the Rathi caught wind of it. Their natural competition with their Ulda cousins compelled them to try to be a part of this first contact as well - however, they viewed Vaaris as a tormented place and would not voluntarily set foot through the Gate. The local Arcanists had to intervene, and in the end the Rathi were “given” more land on Nade to call their own. The Baraki were not amused by this land ownership, but were at least mollified that they got to continue their mission on Vaaris.       

Day 299 - The Hermit of Kasan                 

On Day 299, the Morayel-Kasan Gate opened, and a single Arcanist stepped through with food and supplies to inhabit the 10-mile-wide, high altitude, canyon-carved Island. He was one of the Arcanists that had been living with the Magi Clan on Morayel, brought there from his mission on Vaaris by the Injured Arcanist. He was then assigned by the Injured Arcanist to explore Kasan and wait for the next opening, and became known as the Hermit of Kasan.   

Day 320 Year One Ends 

On Day 320, Barakeel completed one cycle since it opened the first Gate to the Empty Plaza on the ground.  The remainder of this account skips Gate openings that are not relevant - the Arcanists continued to open the Gates between Core Islands and Cradles, and in the first years these openings were the stuff of explorers and sightseers. Mystic translators were few, and in use by the leaders of the various peoples. It would take a few decades for those with interest to learn new languages and for trade to develop, and the language cross-learning happened more quickly on non-Cradle Islands where people began to mix in their colonies and settlements.    

At the end of year one of the modern calendar the disposition of the Core Islands was:   

• Barakeel - open Gate to both Anvard and Vaaris.  Attempting to understand Anvardis, inviting them to have a contingent on Vaaris for when that Gate opens to Zelix. 
• Mehujael - In a state of long alarm, and perhaps self reflection given time to inspect the foreign dead, who appear to have been actual humans and not monsters. Setting up a guard/village around the Gate. 
• Uldrath - Listening to their Arcansist guests and trying to place these new worlds in the context of their war/fued with each other. 
• Anvard - Much the same as always. It has become trendy to go try and talk to the Barakis, but otherwise the opening of the Gates is more the news of the season rather than an historical event. However, some of the Clanless are quietly getting excited about emmigration possibilities. 
• Zelix - The only Cradle Island without a Gate opening, they are late to the party and still in isolation.       
• Jamerah - A small outpost of mostly Uldrathi, but some Baraki, is exploring the brisk, lake-strewn 45 mile wide Island.   
• Kasan - A lone Arcanist hermit lives on this 10 mile wide rock, walking the strange canyons and arches and meditating in the single Ancient Ruin.
• Empyrean - Uninhabited and unexplored. 
• Iradel - A waning outpost of Barakis is slowly freezing their nuts off, not so much exploring as trying to build a Gate-house and stay warm. 
• Vaaris - A Baraki/Arcanist mission prepares for an imminent Gate opening with Zelix, while worshipful Ulda explore the rest of the 22 mile wide rocky, deeply wrinkled Island.     
• Morayel - The Injured Arcansist and two of his fellows are doing who knows what with a small group of Anvardi Magi Clansfolk. 
• Nade - A sizable Baraki encampment is becoming a sort of testing ground for the meeting of the people, and a large group of Rathi are staking claim to new villages and farms.    

Day 340 - First Direct Barakeel-Uldrath opening 

Twenty days into the second year, Uldrathi get to step through to Barakeel for the first time. The Orns were busy shuttling those important or connected enough to the Reach, there to step through the Gate and see the gigantic foreign Island. Orns were seen over the skies of Barakeel. Conversely, not many interested Baraki got to see Uld or Rath. Many Arcanists came through to visit the ruins on the small Island in the Reach, but again tribal leaders were frustrated that they cannot roam and visit Uldrath proper. The Anvard-Barakeel Gate was still open, and adventurous Uldrathi who did not make the trip before were invited to visit the City. They attempted to bring Orns through to explore the skies of Anvard, but the Gate opens into the Great Hall at the center of the City, so this goes about as poorly as one would expect. The Ulda council and Rathi anax joined the diplomatic struggles between the Barakis and Anvardis, and are strangely suited to culturally translate between the two, as their society has elements of both Baraki tribal ways and Anvardi Clan mentality. However, their animosity and distrust of each other often prevents them from facilitating smooth progress. No one yet knows of the Mehujael disaster.       

Day 351 - First Triad of Cradle Islands.     

On Day 351 Uldrath opened to Anvard.  With Anvard open to Barakeel and Barakeel open to Uldrath, this marked the first of those rare times when Cradle Islands are Gate-linked in a triad. It did little to help the slow diplomatic process on Barakeel, but did allow Anvardis to further visit Uldrath. The Uldrathi also allowed the building of a small traveler camp on the Gate Island in the Reach, mostly so they don’t have to ferry people back and forth via Orn, with an added benefit that foreigners can be confined to one place.  

Day 354 - Empyrean Outpost 

On Day 320 Morayel opened to the last uninhabited and unexplored Core Island, Empyrean. Empyrean is the fourth largest Core Island, after Barakeel, Anvard, and Nade. At 53 miles wide, Empyrean’s edge elevation is at 5100 feet, but the Island is dominated by a 4500 ft peak (9600 from “ground”) at its center that gradually gives way to ridges/valleys and large foothills before petering out to flatlands in the last 5-15 miles before the edges. The higher reaches are above treeline, the ridges and vales are heavily forested, and the flat edges are somewhat swampy and mud-ridden most of the time. The Ancient Ruin, contrary to most Islands, sits right on one of the edges, and the Gate is on a bit of ruin that overhangs the edge by 100ft. 

From Morayel came the Injured Arcanist, one of his fellows, and a group of the Avardi Magi Clan. They set up camp near the Ruin, and stored enough food to last until the next opening. Without an exploration party, they stayed near the ruin and left the rest of the large Island unexplored, and did whatever Magi and Arcanists do near such relics.        

Day 363 - Uldrathi Outpost on Jamerah gets an influx of Baraki.    

On Day 363 Jamerah opened to Barakeel directly, and the outpost was able to re-stock. Many exploratory Baraki tribesmen arrived, and Uldrathi who were isolated for months were able to go home, as Barakeel was also open to Uldrath at this time. Many new Uldrathi replaced them. Despite the changing ratios of peoples, the Jamerah outpost retained its “peaceful exploration” character.   The Jamerah Gate would close again on Day 371.  

Day 380 - Barakeel reverts to isolation

On Day 380, Barakeels Gates to both Uldrath and Anvard closed, ending the first long Cradle Triad. Representatives of all groups were left with the others to continue talks. 

Day 382 and 389 - Hermit of Kasan Gets Some Visitors.  

On Day 382 Kasan opened to Jamerah, and the Hermit of Kasan, alone for 83 days, receives both Baraki and Uldrathi visitors to begin a small outpost on Kasan. On Day 389 the Vaaris mission opens to Kasan, and more congress and movement of explorers takes place. The hermit remains as the lead Arcanist on the Island, but when not needed for a Gate opening he yet wanders the canyons of the Island alone, and when asked what he is doing he replies cryptically “Communing with the Ancients.” These Islands and Vaaris connect several times over the next 30 days.     

390 - Angbol is back! 

On Day 390 The Arcanists on Uldrath opened a Gate to Angbol, which has completed its long journey and is back among the Core Islands. Many Arcanists were present in the small camp on the Reach Gate Island, expecting to find their brethren and desirous of the first report from an Outer Island journey. Baraki and their guardsmen were present as well, intending to relieve their own tribal brothers and take up the post. Curious Uldrathi prepared their Orns for exploratory flights.   

When the Gate opened and no one came through, the guardsmen cautiously poked their heads through.  The other side was in a state of abandon and disrepair. In the distance, a lone person was running _from_ the Gate, for the Mehujaeli were then living in the caves of Angbol and left one person by the Gate just in case it should open, and this lucky individual was running in a terror back to the his castaway home.  The guardsmen poured through and set up a defensive line, and the other groups followed in confusion and shock. Soon the Orn were in the air, scouting the Island.  The Mehujael gathered in a nearby rocky depression, weighing their options, and were spotted quickly.  They also spotted the Orn Riders, and fled back to the caves. The Orn followed, and led the assembled groups from Uldrath slowly and carefully to the caves. They surrounded the entrances, and a tense standoff ensued. Over the course of a few days, and with the help of mystic translators, the Mehujaeli surrendered themselves, and the Arcanists demanded from the Baraki tribes that they be treated as allies, despite the mistakes and misunderstandings. 

Thus the Mehujaeli group that stormed the Gate and spent 238 days in hopeless, lonely isolation became that Island’s first explorers and ambassadors to the Core Islands. They would be shown Uldrath, Barakeel, Anvardi, and several of the new colony Islands. They would speak unofficially for the Mehujaelites, and eventually be asked to sort into two groups - one would eventually settle on Vaaris, to join the other Cradle peoples in welcoming the fifth and final Cradle, Zelix, when the time came to open the Gate.  The second would eventually make their way to and settle on Jamerah, to wait for the further distant day when another connection to Mehujael opened (via Kasan), to act as ambassadors to their own Island.       

Day 403 - The Path of the Injured Arcanist

Even as the stranded Mehujaeli were being introduced to the Islands, the Injured Aransist and Anvardi Clan Magi on Empyrean prepared to open the Gate to Mehujael. That they somehow knew of the Mehujael-Angbol accident is often considered proof by historians that the Arcanists or the Anvardi Magi Clan may communicate with other Islands even when they are out of Gate range - for there were no Gate connections to Empyrean in the 13 days since the stranded Mehujaeli were discovered on Angbol, and they seemed to prepare their approach knowing that the Mehujaeli might be hostile. It is also considered potential evidence that the Magi or others have non-Gate paths to travel the Islands, for there was a single mystic translator on Empyrean, which had only been connected to Morayel in the days before the Mehujael Gate opening. Even in the face of this evidence, the Arcanists, Magi Clan, and today’s other modern users of magic deny that such a thing is possible.  

The Injured Arcanist opened the Gate and then he, one other Arcanist, and the Anvardi Magi simply waited, seated, about 100ft away.  On Mehujael, it had been 251 days since the “attack”, and they had set up a defensive position - indeed, a whole new village - around the Gate in the event it should open again. With the blue shimmer of activation, the alarm when up and the village sprang into action, only to be left standing and waiting. After some time they sent a team of droppers through, tied back to several posts in the village, to investigate. They came upon the vista of Empyrean, and were confronted with the non-threatening sight of a few seated humans far enough to alleviate any immediate jumpiness. The Injured Arcanist, though the single translator, began the process of explaining the previous misunderstanding, and over the next 22 days convinced the Mehujael to allow himself and the translator to live among them until the next opening. When the Gate closed on Day 426, he and his translator stayed on Mehujael, and a team of Mehujael droppers stayed on Empyrean to explore.   

Thus the individual who arguably caused the first violence among Cradle people in the Morayel Incident placed himself in the position of explaining and healing the larger, second violence between Cradles. Over the next 163 days the Injured Arcanist and the mystic gifted with tongues lived among the Mehujaeli. 

Day 434 - Zelix, The Final Cradle               

On Day 434 the Gate opened from Vaaris to Zelix, and a greeting party of Arcanists, Baraki, Uldrathi, Anvardi, and Mehujaeli (along with most of the mystic translators humanity had to offer) went through the Gate to welcome the last Cradle Island. Zelix’s tiny population was actively hostile and fearful of the delegation from the other Core Islands. They viewed them as demons or necromancers, given that they appeared from a Gate long associated with death in Zelix culture. The delegation approached the meeting gently, avoiding previous mistakes. The success of the Zelix mission was aided by Zelix’s small population being centered at the other end of the Island from the desolation around the Gate. A waystation for Gate travel was established with little fear of violence from the locals, and Core Island delegations could take their time getting to know the few Zelixi brave or curious enough to make and maintain contact.         

On the inhabited side of Zelix sits the Rainbow Gate, a marbled green arch soaring some three hundred feet above the ground and encircling a field of shimmering rainbow-colored energy, like an oil slick rippling on a patch of water. This vast sheet of energy emits a constant flow of heat and humidity, so powerful that the surrounding ruins are bathed in a tropical microclimate, miraculously cut off from the biting chill atop the the rest of the plateau. The Arcanists took an immediate interest in this one-of-a-kind structure, but it will be years before enough of the Zelixi trust them enough to allow them a permanent presence near the Gate.   

Day 589 - Mehujaeli homecoming. 

On day 589, the Gate from Kasan to Mehujael is opened from the Kasan side. On the Mehujael side waits the Injured Arcanist, those Mehujaeli that he has been able to convince of the outside world’s good intentions, and an armed group of those who remain skeptical. Out of the Gate step some of the Mehujaeli that have been missing for 437 days, over 2 cycles in Mehujael time, and 1.3 years by the modern calendar. The surprise and homecoming quickly overcome the tension, and their story quickly convinces most of the Mehujael. They come through the Gate to find the small outpost on Kasan and meet most of the other Cradle peoples, and are even able to step through from Kasan to the Jamerah village.        

Day 640 - Two years 

Two years after the first Gate opening, all the Cradle peoples are connected, all the Core Islands are inhabited, and adventurous souls are even petitioning the Arcanists to open Outer Islands beyond Angbol. In an odd coincidence to mark the milestone, the two year mark is on day two of a six day stretch without any Core Island Gate openings within range.