Inismona

Inismona is largely covered by pine forests.

## Geography and Climate

Inismona is a large island located off of the Northland's northeastern shores, though further east than lands such as the Iceblood Islands and Winterwheat Isle. Despite its northern location, the island has a temperate climate with mild winters. It is not clear to scholars how this is possible, as its proximity to the Sea of Ice should create a much more inhospitable environment.

The island has extremely high and jagged cliffs on its western, northern, and eastern shores, making its sandy southern beaches the only feasible route of approach for most adventurers. Some attempts at aerial approaches have been made, but the dense forests, hills, and attacks from the dangerous creatures inhabiting the island interior have rendered these missions futile.

## Recent History

Though the existence of Inismona had been known to the races of the Northland for some time, it was only at the start of the Havenic Era that serious exploration efforts began. The first such official expedition took place in 27 HE and was spearheaded by early members of the guild that would become the Iron Helix Syndicate, though unbeknownst to them adventurers from a group known as the Ravensturm had beaten them there by several days.

What both groups of adventurers discovered on their treks to the island interior is that in addition to the ferocious fauna, the island was also home to a wide variety of strange and apparently sentient creatures. Some of these races were in the earliest stages of tribal development while others had mastered technologies such as blacksmithing and construction, and others had ascended to godlike levels of power.

The Ravensturm were first to arrive at the Mountain of Light, a mountain-sized, crystalline earth elemental of immense power. This being, shimmering with lights and pulsing with thundering sounds, immediately captivated the Ravensturm, and they would spend an entire year locked in a delirious dance in its shadow.

The adventurers of the Iron Helix Syndicate made it further inland than the Ravensturm, and what they found was that the strange inhabitants of Inismona only got more bizarre and more dangerous as they moved toward the island's interior. As they struggled onward up hills and through dark forests, they were finally forced to turn back upon encountering a dense purple fog that put their minds in a haze and seemed to melt the flesh from their bones.

Few other expeditions were made to the island in the ensuing years, save for a handful of squads sent by The Guild that were never heard from again. However, since the reconstruction of Haven, the Haven Expeditionary Force has helped to establish the tiny colony of Unisreach. Unlike the similar colony of Jackstown in Zonia, Unisreach does not exist as a economic and expansionist venture but is instead dedicated to the missions of exploration and research. Together, the town's scholars and adventurers seek to uncover the mysteries of their extremely unique island home.

## Secret Lore

Unbeknownst to the peoples of Haven (or indeed of the entire Material Plane), Inismona is the origination site of many of the Material Plane's races, including Phulubits, Arachne, Owlbears, Humans, Cho, and others. All of these races can tie their origins to this land in the ancient past, but the island to this day continues to be a place where sentient creatures emerge at extraordinarily high rates. The reason for this is that at the northern edge of the island is a massive underground temple complex housing a structure known as the Ankhor. The Ankhor acts as a focal point for ley energies of the Material Plane as well as energies from all of the other planes of Reality, and through condensing these energies it is able to create the unstable sparks of sentience that give rise to Inismona's strange inhabitants and eventually to entire mortal races. The only feature of the temple visible aboveground is a colossal, ornate stone gate known as the Unseen Door, only spotted once during a risky flyover by Guild sky dolphin riders.