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The Construction of Ven'Tul | The Exodus of DewWillow
The Construction of Ven'Tul
Long ago three ancient mages of the Kingdom of DewWillow had hatched upon an idea. For centuries the human encroachment had seized more and more of their vast lands, their pollution affecting the health and well being of their forests and people. Game was becoming harder to find in the great forests because of the greedy and thoughtless use of it by the human civilizations that consumed everything in their path.
The Mages had scried far into the future, they saw the coming of the ShadowKnights and the Empire of Damocles. They'd known of the eventual fall of Muldune and the rise of power of the Drow Nation. The three sages had been greatly disturbed by these dark visions of the future...and they knew that unless something was done now.. their people would eventually die off.. and extinct race.
They hatched upon a plan in secret.. and began researching the world of Imperia with several magical mapping devices that they sent high into the atmosphere. They were amazed at how truly vast the planet was.. they'd never had a reason to reasearch it until now it seemed. After a decade of careful searching and exploring using the portals, they ascertained the safest spot for a new colony. An island far to the Northwest of Axius laid like a ignored pebble in the great sea.
The island was rich in natural resources, minerals and metals. The edges of the Island were surrounded by a massive mountain range the height of Earth's Everest on 3 sides, the back of the island was the only place where a small harbor to the sea existed. Because of its location and natural camaflouge, from almost every other direction it looked simply like a massive spike of mountains rising from the sea, no habitable land was visible unless one approached the back of the island.
They agreed upon their plan, the island was hugely defensible because of it's location and the massive ring of mountains surrounding it. They approached the King with their discoveries and scryings and explained their plan to him. He scoffed, calling them names and armageddon peddlers sending them away and telling them not to bother him with trifles again. DewWillow was a peaceful Kingdom he said.. and the problems with the humans would solve themselves in time.
The sages were angry... none had dared question their wisdom before ever. They bided their time, and began making plans and drawing for the great fortress city they would build, taking into consideration the natural elements available. The old King died several years later and his son Kendryk Al'Vadin took power. The boy had been practically raised by the Sages, his father had little time for him. They again approached him with the idea and information they had gathered several decades before.
The problems with the humans that had begun in his fathers time were even more pronounced now, and the people were becoming hard pressed to retain anything of their lands. Alvadin agreed to let the Sages do as they wished, only they would know the exact location of the Island not even the King would have that informaton lest it get loose to their enemies.
So, for the next 200 years the Sages and their servants built the new city of Arcadia. Natural cystal was abundant on the island, and it had a unique property which allowed it to absorb the energy of any weapon or spell directed at it.
Gleaming towers and onion domes rose, massive courtyards and buildings, perfectly chiseled streets and houses were carved from the crystal and rock of the mountains. Inside the massive mountain range they'd discovered huge caverns of precious gems and metals, mining the ore they'd used it to buy the supplies they'd need for the undertaking. The caverns were transformed into small towns and villages, safe places for the people to go should an attack from the small harbor force them to seek more secure shelter.
The mountains were thick with hardwoods and lush forests, however very little wildlife existed here..mostly small animals. They began introducing deer and fox, rabit and duck, animals that could propogate without harming the natural balance of the enviorment of the island. Finally the construction was complete.. the massive and ancient libraries of their people began being transferred. A small group of soldiers, some 500 of them were ordered to inhabit the new city full time until the colony arrived. For the next 50 years they spent their time building armories full of Masterwork Armor and weapons, learning the island inside and out, making maps of their new home and looking for any possible points of weakness. They were named the Shel'tuath which in the ancient elven tongue meant "Wise Defenders".
The rest as they say.. is history.