Old'kali Volcano Valley

Place

Place Name:

Old'kali Volcano Valley

Biome:

Volcano Valley

Size:

Unknown

Continent:

Unknown

Subcontinent

Unknown

Geography

In the early days of Taerel, Old’kali was a region full of thousands of active volcanos. The region originally was about 2 million acres in diameter, on the eastern coast of the continent. Over the millenia about 1 million acres dropped under water into the ocean. The majority of volcanoes went extinct at the same time, and all those that did not went dormant; all but the largest which was later called ‘Krug the Kreator’ by those who came to the region. Krug is the only volcano in the region to be considered active.

Due to the large amount of volcanoes the region for nearly a century, about 2 centuries before the neighboring regions started to be settled offically, the region was completely covered in an ocean of lava and magma as an eruption by ‘Krug’ triggered a mass eruption event in all the volcanoes. After this eruption, nearly all were rendered extinct. Over the next half century, the lava and magma cooled into volcanic rock, and for the century after the conditions were right for a branch of the river running through the Cersamhin region to make its way through the Valley.

The leftover ash caused the land to be extremely fertile, and the river that ran out of the valley and at one point ran through the Toras Terrace making the land extremely fertile as well. Being on the coast, the edges of the original land were broken down into black volcanic sand- though it was never used because the trip over the volcano line to the cliff edges was impossible to conduct safely. Of the many in the region, a temple and shrine had been built at the base of those volcanos worshiping ‘Krug’, prayers often asked to keep those volcanos safe, as they acted as a natural barrier and deterrent from any sea invasion attempts.

The main river that runs through the region broke down the stone inside the Valley allowing for safe harvesting of gravel and sand which would later be used to make concrete and stone homes; instead of their original wood homes to protect from the sun. The river splits in many parts, making multiple smaller rivers that run into many regions (the one that went to the Toras dried and was diverted over time), though the most potent and beneficial effects of the river were concentrated strongest within the region. There were also a few underground rivers that formed hot springs when they reached the surface.

The river revealed to the Mejebo some of the resources of the region, including various metal veins, diamonds, and sulphur. The sulphur was used to create various medicines that was sometimes traded to the neighboring regions. There was mines and excavations created to harvest the metal veins in the land; which Mejebo worked to increase output once they officially formed as a government. The metal had various immediate uses, including: (some) iron for weapons and tools and gold for jewelry and idols; others like nickel, aluminum and zinc were mainly used for trade.

Due to its proximity to the ocean, and the many rivers in its territory, the region is extremely humid. The humidity mixed with the heat from the (inactive) volcanos gives the region a boiling like climate. The region often had very destructive natural disasters in the forms of avalanches, mudflow and floods that sometimes threatened the crops being grown.

Plants

There are two types of plant areas in the Old’kali region. The first is the ‘natural’ plants that grew and thrived from being left to their own devices for centuries. This covered most of the extinct volcanos and the furthest edges of the flat plain areas. On the volcanoes themselves, the majority were of the shrub and bushes that grew out of the cracks in the volcanic rock. One of the most common in the Southern region, specifically on the Krug volcano was a berry bush that was called ‘Krugs’s blessing’. The berry itself holds high levels of nutrients, making it suitable for both zu’aan and kin’toni consumption.

In the roots of the plant, there’s a variety of medicinal properties that is used as a ‘generic’ remedy, as it can treat a large deal of ailments, or narrow down the proper treatment for those that it doesn’t treat. In the Western side of the region, the volcanoes contain plants from neighboring regions brought over by the various bird species in their travels. The quickest growing of those is the ‘Ocean basin’- a cactus type plant that naturally grows in a bowl like shape. Each petal grows in individual bowl shapes, facing upward, and collect large amounts of rain, which they hold for the dryer seasons.

Depending on the region, ‘Ocean basin’ plants have different colors- those from the Southern regions have green near the stem with an intense red at the tip, those from the North West region tend to be paler green to pale blue. A rare mutation from natural crossbreeding in the plants gave rise to a red, yellow, orange and black variety that looked like the plant was made of flowing lava. This variant was dubbed ‘Ocean basin of Krug’s rage’, or just ‘Rage’ for short. The other type of plants in the region were those for farming.

The Mejebo set up their farming in the center of the valley, going toward ‘Krug’, in the South, as that was the most bountiful areas of the entire region. They set up long plots of land, where they grew vegetables. Most types were of the root variant as, in the volcanic soil, those received the most beneficial properties. Early on, the Mejebo traded with those in the Ler’ther Bushy Grove for the pijina plant- a root type plant with a single stock flower. While not the most used, the Mejebo kept a decent amount stored away in case there was problems with any of their other crops, so they wouldn’t be left in short food supply.

The plant grown in the highest quantity is a carrot type plant that from a single stem can grow as many as five large roots (the main edible part). The specific variety was named ‘calipso’ after the botanist who created it.Closer to their homes, the Mejebo kept the fruiting tree orchards, so they were placed closest inland toward the necessary pollinators. Along with the fields, each home kept one of each type: Credicom, an apple like tree; Boshii, a banana like tree; and copguh a citrus type tree. Everyone kept one of each type, so that they could trade amongst themselves if anyone needed more of a specific fruit as there were enough trees around that they would not run out (unless it was an extremely bad season).

Animals

Due to the close proximity to the Oria mountain and the connected mountain range, it was not uncommon to see Mountain goats wonder over into the region- treating the volcanos the same as the nearby mountains. The goats would eat from the variety of plants on the volcanoes. The Mejebo would use the resulting scat to make fertilizer to trade with other regions, as even after absorbing most of the nutrients from the plants, there was still more left over than that of other regions. There had been cases where a Mountain goat or two would fall from one of the volcanoes, and unlike other goat species, the ones that frequented their region rejected any offspring that was not their own.

Because of this, any orphaned goats were taken in by the nearest clan member and raised. While they did not frequently house goats for their farming, they would make an exception- the other Mejebo clan members would often offer some extra harvest to the member who was keeping the goat to supplement the extra feed needed. The animals they did tend to keep were of cow and bull variety. They had found their way into the region a little before the Mejebo did. They were given the name ‘Kali cattle’ after the region. They have very thin hair over their hide, which helps regulate their temperature in the humid region.

They have a triple stomach system which allows them to eat nearly any plant no matter the nutrient level. The males, including horns, stand at about 7 feet tall on all fours (its rare for the species to go up on their hind legs), while the females can range between 4 and 5 feet tall. They do not have a specific regulated mating cycle, so there are often calves seen in the region throughout the year. The river provided a variety of fish during the year that the Mejebo would mainly spear hunt. When it gets cooler, the number of fish that pass-through tapers off to only a handful a day.

Due to this, it is regulated within the clan how much is allowed to be hunted during that period; the rest of the year there is no regulation. Many birds passed through the region. The Mejebo recognize that the birds bring many of the seeds for the plants that litter the volcanoes’ surfaces. So, to encourage their stay and return, the Mejebo would keep them fed during the winter. Some of each species would stay year-round. Specifically, those too old or weak to make the trip, but most would travel back to their various regions during the beginning of spring to breed and would return to Old’kali when their young were old enough to travel.

Not known to many, the earliest of the vaarai species originated in the region. They were originally adapted to live inside the top rings of the volcanoes as they were extremely heat resistant. After the mass eruptions and extinction of most of the volcanoes in the region, the vaarai had to adapt to less extreme temperatures. Over time, many of the species left to cycle through Taerel following the warmest season in each region. There are still a few vaarai that live in the Old’kali region permanently, making their home in ‘Krug’, but are rarely seen as they hunt their food from the ocean and cliff-side where few ever frequent.

Historical Timeline of Ages

Age Name	Dates	Controller
Stone Age	Before 1E 0	Unknown
Copper Age	1E 1–1E 2200	Unknown
Bronze Age	1E 2200–1E 4400	Unknown
Iron Age	2E 0–2E 700	Unknown
Ancient Age	2E 700–2E 2200	Unknown
Middle Age	3E 0–3E 2050	Unknown
Early Modern Age	3E 2050–3E 2600	Unknown
Industrial Age	3E 2600–3E 2700	Unknown
Machine Age	3E 2700–3E 2800	Unknown
Atomic Age	3E 2800–3E 2850	Unknown
Space Age	3E 2850–3E 2875	Unknown
Information Age	3E 2875–3E 2900	Unknown
Genetic Age	3E 2950–3E 3000	Unknown
Awakening Age	3E 3000–3E 3415	Unknown
Twilight Age	4E 0–4E 500	Mejebo Kin'toni Clan

This article is written by Crystal Iris. Copyright 2026 Crystal Iris. All rights reserved.