Oral History of Hyrhafell

Hyrhafell is a world unlike any other; it’s believed that this world and its vast range of biomes come from many other worlds from different realms colliding to form a new world and realm. The first signs of early civilization are thought to be more than fifteen thousand years old but there are ruins and fossils even older than that. The early signs of sentient communities showed that people started off nomadic for centuries, probably living as hunter/gatherers in a world so varied that settling down and trying to form villages was dangerous. The strong force of the weave was believed to be wild and erratic back when Hyrhafell was formed and early fossils show that these primitive people weren’t shaped by the force of the weave yet so all signs of these early people have a range of about 400 years. The next archeological artifacts are dated starting 800 years after the first signs of life; there are ruins of ancient stone work and excavation. These people start to resemble what we know as the races currently found on Hyrhafell from remains found though groups are found closely resembling fellow group members so either these people divided themselves or the weave did not change people on the individual level. From then there are signs of different groups over the next thousand years moving throughout the lands, settlements never getting larger than a few dozen family units; land samples from this time show seasons changed rapidly so settling was too difficult to sustain.

There is a 200 year gap in archaeological findings, possibly from either some environmental event or tribes fighting as these sights end. The next findings are in geflügelt, these are the first findings of multiple races sharing a location and there is no evidence of these early people crossing the river with boats so the theory is that the ones to cross were water Genasi and possibly air Genasi and Aasimar. This tribe is the first evidence of the weaves influence on genetics as those born from the ones who crossed are of different races. These findings have a 700 year range on them, this group seemed to have had success with settling and there are signs that these people may have had magic and formed written communication.

With the progress this group made, its unclear why but the findings show than they abandoned the island to expand. There was another settling group in the northeast clearing to geflügelt where it seems the geflügelt tribe went to war with these people. During the same period of time, a tribe moved from the rainbow dessert to try and settle in the open plains to the south. Attempting to establish a settlement they seemed to have some success before this tribe was wiped out by another one. During the next two thousand years various tribes can be tracked though fossils and land samples, tribes during this time ranged from a few dozen family units to the largest one in the forests of what is now Ruhe. While there were few signs of tribes being able to settle for long, the Ruhe tribe seemed to find success; like the geflügelt tribe before them the geography of the land they settled in gave them protection from invaders. One theory of why the Ruhe tribe was able to settle for so long is that even with the season patterns, the forest provided enough resources for the people.

During the end of this period of time, where more tribes were finding success in settling, there are examples of tool use and written communication; stones painted with depictions of long extinct flora and fauna and markings that seem to indicate rituals and the first burial signs are from this period of time. The next thousand years shows that as more tribes turned into settlements, their communication got more advanced, though each settlement had it least its own written language if not also spoken. There are artifacts showing records of trade between settlements, crudely mined and carved metals and gemstones and other indiscernible items. The use of magic shows up again in this time, carved depictions of people casting spells and some items that were more cared for or more carefully crafted that are believed to be spell components.

Over the next 800 years there was an explosion of progress among these settlements as they truly became societies; though still unintelligible, there are preserved books and scroll from this period of time. Ruins of stone buildings, signs of what were once roads, signs of lands that were cleared for livestock and farmlands. These civilizations were in the rainbow desert, Ruhe and the land below the floating mountains, a common script was formed that the three civilizations shared but still each had its own and it’s unclear what present of each population was at least bilingual. While each culture was unique there was growing overlap and shared myths and deities. For the most part the depiction of the other societies is believed to have been truthful, as time went on each society began to grow a strangely common xenophobia towards the others. The depictions became more exaggerated and bestial, trade and travel slowed down on all fronts and curiously enough there are remains from this time that while not exactly what was depicted were more animalistic then what we know of the people from this time.

There have been what is thought to be shrines dedicated to ether gods or leaders in various historical sites in various part of the world, including what looks to be a person coming out of a connection point. It seems that in this era the first connection points have been formed, at least two were stable for 300 years based on depictions in carvings and tapestries. During this era, findings from the once trade partners of rainbow desert, Ruhe and the land below the floating mountains abruptly end; it’s unsure how all three societies ended at once. If they went to war with one another then there would have been battle sights somewhere between their lands or signs of weapon manufacturing but none have ever been found. Because of this some scholars believe there might have been some plague that was deadly and fast spreading enough to leave little time for these people to document it; some back up this theory with the last remains found of these people seem mutated from the people we knew to live in these lands.

Those a few fossils have been found from the next era, there is a period of 400 years with little findings to know what happened to the ancient people. Communication, written and depicted almost all stopped for this period of time those soil samples show that the seasons weren’t as volatile as they  had been in past eons so that has been ruled out as one reason for this sudden regression. Eventually we see the re-emergence of civilizations, language seems to have changed from the last area; tablets found from this era seem to have a wholly new script. Not only is this a new script but one found in several different settlements that don’t seem to have a connection to one another. There are findings of new connection points made in this area, portals that lasted over 600 years as they are referred to in the following era.

After the re-emergence from the lost era, not only are there growing civilizations but they start to resemble our modern era, this is the connection point of our past. The common script that was found begins to change to an archaic form of modern Hira; people are gravitating to the settlements that would become modern geflügelt, Beschattet, Ruhe, Segen and Atem. We also find references to what would come to be known as Lebe Wohl’s beginning and depictions of Fly.

During the last era of what would be considered ancient times, we see society progressing in a sort of parasocial way to that of other worlds connected to Hyrhafell; economic practices focused on commerce and trade. A gem mine was formed outside of Beschattet, geflügelt fell into economic depression due to lack of sellable resources, a town had started for form in the Valley of Stars. Eventually the people of Hyrhafell rejecting this economic system, banding together to form what we now know as the Aufgehen. Though the change was slow and difficult for the first few decades, eventually with being able to harness magic in a much stronger way and the people finding ways to work together we now have the Hyrhafell that we know today.