Vel

 
Aeguth started a trade route to Tarku a century or so before their power waned. They found writings in Tarku history that told of a monastic tribe that lived northeast of the Deadlands.

The Watchers

In Aeguth, a cult had developed who held the belief that the risings of the sun and both moons imparted the power of life to Raieh, and as the three orbs passed through the sky their power waned and grew evil. The cult members called themselves The Watchers, and they also came to believe that Raieh was flat, but vertical, and the sun and moons were reborn daily at the 'top' of the world in the east, and 'fell' westward. Their maps, therefore, were always drawn with east at the top.

After a short while decided to leave their homes in Aeguth, and move to the eastern edge of the land, so they could see the risings as early as possible. The journey was much longer than they expected, though, and although food and water were reasonably ample along the way, more than a few of them died before reaching their goal. Also, several of the families refused to go any farther when they first saw the western edge of the Deadlands. (They returned to the last oasis they had seen, and settled the village of Wirih-oun-Ecket, which would become the largest town on the Aeguth to Tarku trade route.)

Eventually the remaining Watchers made it all the way across the continent of Erkemen until they reached the western shore of the Naasen Vihas. There, they founded the city of Sollunessen on the top of Korrehan mesa, and built the Observatory on top of the easternmost cliff.

Every building in Sollunessen, including the Great Hall (Shiravi Ojianere) and the Observatory (Ojiashira Ojianere), was built according to strict guidelines. The walls were designed very precisely to protect the building from the attack of western spirits, and to maximize the view to the east. Statues were made of animals which were revered for their vision, such as the hawk, owl, and wolf, and the more elaborate buildings were also adorned with images of the eye itself.

The Departure

After several generations, three of the chief Watchers got disillusioned with the cult. Taluchan, Tarkuneh, Velen, and their families left Sollunessen, and migrated to the south. They moved slowly along the coast, until they were well past the Deadlands. There they found fertile lands, and the families grew and prospered. After many more generations, political strife between the family-tribes eventually split the area into Taluch, Tarku, and Vel. It was not long after that they began their separate yet related paths into obscurity.

The Vel Artifact Map

This is a map found on a plaster wall in the Great Hall. The details that the Watchers discovered on their own are largely accurate, but some of the outlying areas are distorted or omitted. These areas were based on reports from a race they called the 'Boat People', which may have been travelers from Vihanuul or other seafaring peoples. Interestingly, it indicates several coastal cities in their known area that cannot be located today.

Lee Jenkins: Here are some more fractal maps of Vel.

North Vel

SouthVel

VelAndTarku

Language

The language of greater Vel page is here.

Editors Note

When I had the idea that the Watchers believed that the east was the top of the world, I had no knowledge that this idea was found elsewhere. However, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_country_name_etymologies claims that:

"Yemen: From the Arabic root ymn... meaning "right-hand side" and by extension "south" (many Semitic languages, including Arabic and Hebrew, show traces of a system with south on the right and north on the left)."!