On'vesu Dry Forest

Place

Place Name:

On'vesu Dry Forest

Biome:

Dry Forest

Size:

Unknown

Continent:

Unknown

Subcontinent

Unknown

History

History by Age

Twilight Age: 4E 0-4E 500

In its long history, the On’vesu Dry Forest has rarely been involved in conflict; mostly due to the fact that there was never any large settlements in the area that gave any group a solid or recognized claim to the region for many ages. Pre-Awakening and Shattering age, various small zu’aan settlements would be built up or reused over the years, though they were ultimately abandoned after a handful of decades or even centuries. This was because all the settlements in the region- pre-kin’toni- were inconsequential and had little to no trading value for any of the other larger settlements so no trade routes were ever formed to the region.

This led them to struggle severely as large portions of the zu’aan who attempted to live in the region were ill equipped skill-wise to live off the land without outside assistance. The families that were better skilled would stay longer, but would ultimately move out of the region and end up forming new settlements on the borders of the forest. The Tigisa Kin'toni Clan took over the forest and currently lives in the On’vesu region, acting mainly as reclusive and relatively peaceful residents; like those that came before them. They would have a habit of conducting raids against the bordering zu’aan civilizations that would drag them and the region into a handful of various conflicts.

During their raids, livestock and children were stolen- the children turned to keep the clan from dying out. The clan always had low numbers for various reasons, including low levels of recruitment so they were constantly on the razor’s edge of being wiped out. During one raid, the Tigisa ended up taking and turning the daughter of a renowned zu’aan member which triggered a war in the region. It was called the ‘Culling’, where the zu’aan armies would invade the region. During these invasions, the zu’aan would burn down sections of the forest during the day in an attempt to kill the kin’toni.

The fights though led to both sides nearly being wiped out. Those that escaped burning death from the sunlight moved into the caves where they began to better arm themselves. Using tactics like sneak attack ambushes and raiding bands, the Tigisa would rule the night, but loose ground during the day in a constant teeter totter between the bordering zu’aan and the kin’toni of the region. What saved the clan from being wiped out was when the kin’toni outbreak in the west started to spread, the zu’aan armies withdrew and fled in panic from the new threat.

From that point, the Tigisa secured their place in the region, acting as the political and chief heads for the region. They, back to their reclusive nature, did not want to engage in standard open warfare when in conflict; they would rather raid their opponent to both demoralize and destroy the opposition’s supply lines. This led to many fearing them, giving them more advantageous in diplomatic matters. The Tigisa though, mainly wanted to be left along, so on their clan and region’s behalf they would form peace agreements with various zu’aan civilizations- which surprised them as they were found to be rational with a moral code, even if it was different from their own.

This though doesn’t stop the region from having small skirmishes though from their continued raids on various zu’aan civilizations to keep their clan numbers up.

Geography

The On’vesu Dry Forest is a region south-west of the center of Taerel; some distance north west of the desert region that contains the Polgaru and Striamtan territories. It’s a mid-sized region, though it has little in the way of unique or desirable resources. Due to this, there was little travel into the region beyond the small handful of groups that lived there over the ages before the Tigisa made the region their home. Above ground, the region was covered in a large forest for the grand majority of its history. The forest was heavily damaged, like that of the Cersamhim region, during the ‘Culling’ and the razing the zu’aan armies conducted on the area.

Just under a quarter of the original forest remains. The razing scorched the land, which the various plants and animals of the region are still attempting to recover from years later. The sparse rains in the region do not help much in the regrowth process. Due to its close proximity to the desert climate, long periods without rain are extremely common. Right at the border of the end of the hottest part of the season and the beginning of the cold there’s a short monsoon like season where there will be large amounts of rainfall that threaten to almost flood the region- especially without the majority of the forest to absorb the water from the soil.

The soil is a mix of a darker larger grain loam soil and a finer silt soil. The mix holds on to a large amount of water and can take weeks to fully dry out which is one of the main causes of the possibility for flooding in the region during the short but heavy rain season. The rest of the seasons are rather mild, never getting consistently cold enough for snow or ice to form, but also not too hot like the nearby deserts- though with the sudden decline in tree cover, the hottest season is much warmer than it had been in the past. Below ground there are a series of caves.

Their above ground entrances are relatively discreet, as those not familiar with the region can easily mistake the opening as simply being a shallow cove created by some downed trees. Each cave entrance is usually uphill with the actual entrance facing downhill, so there is little risk during the monsoon season of the various passages in the cave flooding. The Tigisa’s original above ground homes had been built close to the cave entrances, more out of coincidence as the land was flatter and a bit more sparse with trees, which allowed the closer located kin’toni to escape into the various caves.

Their slimmer frames allowed them to travel deeper into the caves than most others could, and safe navigation became a priority. Part of their tracking of such was pictograph type writings written on the walls; in combination with years of information and their deeper access of the cave they managed to create entire cities undergound in the larger caverns scattered in the region; a smaller version of the type of city that Ga’eal of the Polgaru region wished to create.

Plants

On the surface, there’s an average variety of plants for a forest. Many of them struggle to thrive after the Culling though due to the scorched land and the rapid drop in population. The trees of the forest are made up largely of the calahur trees. They’re a wild tree that produces mini peach like fruits, that have thin grain like seeds spread throughout the flesh. Due to their small size and previous abundance, they are often the choice meal of the bemkect. They have a slightly bitter taste, but their seeds carry a high abundance of nutrients that easily transfers to whomever or whatever consumes them.

They are extremely finicky plants though, as they have a low water tolerance and can easily be over watered- especially now that the majority of the other calahur trees are not there to take in the excess water during the monsoon season. Other smaller shrub like plants make up the rest of the surface of On’vesu. Given the right circumstances, they are capable of growing to the size of a young tree. One that produces blackberry like berries that have a minor reflective nature is the avael. The avael is less popular with the zu’aan that border the region and the various animal residents as it contains a more bitter flavor.

When processed properly though, it creates a well-rounded general medicine to fight infection. The first year after the Culling the avael in the region struggled due to being extremely easy to sunburn, but being that they grow better the more access to water they have, they’re quickly growing and expanding to replace the calahur as the dominant plant in the region. The two plants have a minor symbiotic relationship, as the avael will usually entwine its roots with the closest calahur tree. The avael will then absorb the majority of the water in the area and disperse it to the calahur’s roots. In exchange, the tree provides shade so the avael will not burn and go into shock.

Inside the caves, the various fruits and berries eaten with the leftovers dropped and left to rot created the presence of a ‘blood mushroom’ by the name of daimjaskan. The daimjaskan is one of the main sources of meals for the Tigisa as its capable of acting as a substitute for blood. It grows with a similar appearance to a red cap mushroom until it reaches ‘maturity’; once mature and fully grown, the red cap hardens turning to a dark rusted red color and the white nodules fall off creating holes. At the base of the holes, a softer more malleable skin starts to grow.

When pressure is applied, the skin will start to force its way out the holes created by the nodules and, if broken, many small vein-like tubes will start to ‘bleed’ a red blood like sap that holds similar nutritional properties to blood. The vein-like tubes run through the entirety of the plant, so the Tigisa figured out that boiling it into a soup like meal gives the highest payoff per individual in their harvest.

Animals

Like the Trin Lush and Nys’aw regions, there’s a variety of animals living both on the surface and in the caves in the On’vesu region. One of the main types that the Tigisa feed on is another bat like type of creature- in the same family as the berkaja of the Trin Lush Swampy Grove and the berkurru of the Nys’aw Cold Forest. The Bemkect is on the larger side of an average mega bat size. They are covered in a thin coat of fur, thin enough that their heads look almost bald. They mainly rely on their sight though, and only stay in the caves when they want to sleep.

They sleep in groups of nearly 50, with an additional outer ‘watch’ ring about a yard away from the group. Their main food source is fruits and berries from the smaller plants in the forest, and with their ability to store food in their cheeks its not uncommon to find them eating before settling down to sleep. The Tigisa are careful about hunting too many bemkect though as the dropped remains of their meals encourages daimjaskan growth, which is also one of their main substitutes for blood.

The Bemkect when food is sparse will also eat the blood mushrooms which will cause the fur that grows while they have it in their system to become a deep red that fades to their natural color as it leaves their system. Another cave dwelling creature that the Tigisa make their meals are the svisofin. They are a blind salamander type creature that lives majorly in or around any pools of water that are in the caves. Svisofins are large for salamanders, but are still small overall. They are extremely long with extremely flat skulls that make them look more like snakes, though they have 2 sets of thin legs that they use when they are moving out of water.

Despite their small size, they have nearly triple the amount of blood other creatures their size carry as they will use it as a defense mechanism. Svisofins creature blood very quickly- though it also does not last long- so they will store the blood that is nearing cell death in a special pouch that runs along the length of their body that they will shoot out at predators at extremely high pressures. When at point blank range, the pressure is enough that it can break bone. While hunting and living they are moderately solitary, when one Svisofin is found, there are usually others nearby due to the close water source.

On the surface, the region held a squirrel like creature that lived in the trees called the slarys. Their population dropped rapidly though as their homes were burned when the ‘Culling’ occurred and wiped out the majority of the forest. Also being rather solitary creatures, they were forced to form minor social and familial structures since what used to be a single slarys den now was required to hold 6 or more to keep the population from being completely wiped out. They eat the seeds and berries that the trees drop, so they are slowly over time helping the regrowth process as they search for food along the newer outer border of the forest.

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	Tigisa Kin'toni Clan

Place

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On'vesu Dry Forest

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