Rykela's Clan

From the coastline of the Sunbeam Ruins, a day's journey by foot, the land rises steeply and suddenly, as if the land itself had reared up and tried to touch the sky. They don't quite manage to make vertical cliffs, but come close enough that without relying on flight passage to the other side is nearly impossible. The only reliable means of travel are through the cold rivers that have managed to cut their way through the solid rock after many eons of ceaseless erosion. Some say that a few of these rivers are as old as the planet itself.

Any one of these rivers cuts deep into the heart of the mountains, thundering in steep, rocky cascades on its way to the ocean, creating gorges framed by thick forests of green. From below, the surrounding ridgelines almost seem to draw in close, the brilliant sunlight of the Sunbeam Ruins reduced to scattered, gleaming rays.

It's almost as if you're standing in a cathedral.

The incredible terrain is probably the reason why there aren't any ruins in this part of the island. The mountains are natural walls that put any buildings to shame, and if you follow the rivers far enough, you start to feel as if you're the only person in the entire world. At a certain place on one river in particular, though, thanks to the confluence of two tributary streams, enough land has been worn away to form a reasonably level glade to one side of the riverbank. Not far in either direction is a tall, frothing waterfall, but here in Ferndale Hollow the water is peaceful, bubbling slowly and lazily over smooth round stones.

Here, nestled among the clumps of rhododendrons and wide carpets of moss, lives the Ferndale Clan.