02. The First Settlers Of Aloalo Island
While neither Aloalo's natural beauty nor its various inhabitants' resourcefulness is in question, it is but a small island amidst volatile seas, prone to experiencing the full force of nature's fury. Thus is its history one of prolonged settlement punctuated by abrupt abandonment.
According to stories told to Kalika by the island's former caretakers, the earliest known settlers arrived during the waning years of the Fourth Astral Era. However, at the onset of the Fifth Calamity, otherwise known as the Age of Endless Frost, these settlers vanished, leaving behind the great shrine which housed the statue of the Speaker. Dubbed the “forgotten people” by those who came after, their mark upon Aloalo would endure, but their identity remains shrouded in mystery.
During the Fifth Astral Era, Aloalo was home to another people who became skilled at navigating the open sea. Some subsequently migrated to Vylbrand and would go on to found the city-state of Nym. However, when the Sixth Calamity brought destruction to Nym's gates, those who could returned to the birthplace of their forebears.
Later, in the Sixth Astral Era, some of Aloalo's residents again crossed the sea to Vylbrand, and their knowledge of arcanima would become the foundation of what is practiced today.
Alas, history would repeat itself when the island was abandoned for the third time a century ago in response to the eruption of an underwater volcano. Now Aloalo sits quietly, awaiting any who might start the cycle anew.