THE FOUNDING OF ARITAE

In the late second millenia after the Vilildrbjarga, the Rankuian dwelling in the southern Dond grew increasingly marginalized. Following the gifts of Taahl and Muuhl of Kahssai, the Dunkuian quickly expanded across mid-Pasgel in the southern Dond, and the Markuian across the Yelyen region of the mid-Dond, leaving the Rankuian increasingly isolated from their kin in Fuor to the east (who came to be known as the Feorni), and through a series of ethnic conflicts they found themselves limited to a stretch of south-west Pasgel and the peninsula stretching further west, dominated by one great island, the J'tand. To the south, in the Peldic isles, the elder of the Droegeh're watched, and plotted.

Chief of them was Megereph. Not just notorious amongst his fellow Droegeh're, he had also become a figure of legend in Fuor and the Dond due to his part in establishing the Derwyd court ~3500 years ago, and his ferociousness in the wars in Fuor between the Droegeh're and the combined forces of the Oganite Dwelfenae and the Aelin kingdom of Celiargon that immediately preceded the Vilildrbjarga. Long he had brooded over the terms, which stated that the Droegeh're should keep to the Peldic isles and not act in aggression against the men of the Dond and Fuor, and  he grew to resent them for this and the actions of Rak Ratagan, which had precipitated the wars. And now, with the rise of the powerful nation of Kahssai, and the increasingly sophisticated technology and organization of the Kuian and others, breaking the terms was too dangerous a course of action for him to contemplate. But finally, his mind's eye cast over the internecine clashes on the continent, he set his plan into action.

Sending an envoy to the Rankuian of the J'tand and Pasgel, he promised them safe haven through the Pelic isles to the southern side, where lay an uninhabited continent where they could be free from the pressure of their unruly neighbours. Uleph, the envoy, completed his task masterfully, and within few years many thousands of Rankuian were engaged in the boat-building necessary to cross the Peldicarlo. Those who came to leave were thus known as the Arit, the travellers, whilst those who stayed in the J'tand became the J'tandelin in the time of later empires. Those in Pasgel dwindled in number, and in time assimilated with the mainlanders, the seafaring Pesghi, or took the long journey to rejoin their lost kin in Fuor. Eventually, the construction was finished, and a great fleet set sail with Uleph there to steward their passage. However, neither Uleph nor the Arit suspected Megereph's true intentions.

From the Arit Megereph had withheld certain information. The continent was not completely uninhabited - tribes of pre-Kuian Nonecu had migrated there many thousands of years ago before the arrival of the Droegeh're and the sinking of the land bridge, the Pald, into the ocean. They were no real danger to the Arit, but worse still, the continent played a vital part in the life cycle of the unintelligent lesser dragons, the Gibrihoeh'l. Erupting from nests every several hundred years, the young Gibrihoeh'l feasted on the mammoth-like Yakang and when they grew strong they were drawn to the heat of the Peldic isles. Here, they became the main foodstuff of the Droegeh're themselves. Alas, the number of Yakang had dropped precipitously to near-extinction levels, and less Gibrihoeh'l made it to the Peldic isles every year, cycle, with those arriving being smaller, scrawnier, a meager meal for the Droegeh're. Megereph's ambitious plan was to replace the Yakang with the Arit - much smaller but much more fecund - and thus bring secure food for the Droegeh're by doing the same for their prey. In time, he foresaw the establishment of a dominion over these men, as he had attempted on the northern continents, far away from the prying eyes of the powerful Maadrae and mages who had reduced their numbers so through war and subdued them with the Vilildrbjarga.