Notes
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Since my arrival on the isle I have learned a lot of interesting things. Most of it is folklore of course, as the people sadly had little use for record as it seemed. What I found out, from ancient tales and crumbling tomes as well as from my explorations of the isle, granted me some insights. First of all, before men settled here some ancient race left its mark on the isle. From what I have seen, the remaining ruins indicate some advanced civilisation that pre-dated men. They commanded some technological knowledge beyond what I've seen anywhere. Perhaps those ancient ruins are all what's left from the mythical civilisation of Yalahar. Perhaps while strolling through Rathleton I've walked through what the ravages of time left over from the famous city itself? However, when the first humans arrived, the city had been abandoned and lain in ruins since long ago. The humans, wherever they might have come from, settled for a simple life in the ruins, in ignorance of the marvels ans wonders around them. Curiosity led them to some minor rediscoveries of ancient knowledge, but it seems they made little out of it. Some forages were made into the area of forging and the use of steam, whereas architecture was oddly neglected and people rather sook shelter in caves.
It is uncertain what exactly happened, but I assume at some point their digging and exploring awakened some ancient evil, something so powerful that they stood no chance of resistance. They were overwhelmed and enslaved by an entity that was drawn to sacrifices, and especially blood. But if any of the ancient fairy tales are worth something, it was not some vampire, perhaps not even a physical being. Nonetheless, dark times of servitude began for the people of the isle. Slavery and taxes in blood was their lot for many generations.
This did only change with the arrival of 'princess' Ramora. Now this person is shrouded in mystery, too. Though each story claims highest nobility for her, there is no record at all about such a princess in any archive that I had access to. This might mean nothing though, as it is entirely possible that this princess and her conquest date back to the last days of the mythical Corpse Wars. Though native lore and that of the invaders mingle here, it is often mentioned that things took place in the time when 'dead men walked'. Given the constant threat of the Corpse Wars, it seems likely that those incidents triggered the exodus of said princess and her people. Still, the nobility of this princess is disputable. Granted, there is next to no record that survived from those times. It is entirely possible that the princess was some tribe's ruler or something like that. The key here is that no heritage or title but that of 'princess' in her name connect to her in any existing lore. Knowing to what an end the nobility goes to preserve their family names, at least ist must strike one as odd that no traceable surname survived in all those tales. The next thing are clashing reports about how the exodus took place.
