Agatha (Continent)

The continent of Agatha is one of the smallest continents on the planet of Azeroth, being a few hundred miles larger than Kul Tiras and Zandalar. Located over nine thousand miles east of the Eastern Kingdoms, the people of the continent developed several semi-unique cultures and have a long history untouched by their planetary neighbors.

History
Originally a large island located to the east of Ancient Kalimdor, Agatha was sent far to the east by the Great Sundering. After the event, a second cataclysmic event fell upon the island. The dormant volcanic ranges of the northwestern peninsula erupted, triggering rage among local Earth and Water elementals, who began their own war upon the island. As years passed, the war shaped the island. Lava colliding with frothing water created new land while rising oceans spilled over a minor breakwater and created an inland sea. Eventually, the elemental war halted, and the continent had its new shape.

As the war raged, the elements were unaware of the inhabitants upon the land they were raging upon. Far beneath the central mountains, a group of Earthen worked away in a minor Titan facility, keeping it safe and stable as the land rocked around them.

Years later, the Visgard Vrykul clan arrived on the island, settling in the northern reaches and creating a society of herders and fishermen. The Vrykul began to explore south into the greener lands, and eventually found their way to the facility's entrance. A fierce battle soon began between the Earthen custodians and the Vrykul, with the pure strength of the Titan-forged winning out and driving the Vrykul back. Yet this raid greatly damaged the facility, and even worse, infected the Earthen with the Curse of Flesh.

Sensing the corruption, many of the Earthen isolated themselves from the valuable machinery of the facility and sent themselves into slumber. Later, they would awaken with bodies of flesh and blood; becoming the Silveraxe Clan of Dwarves. The new Dwarves, having forgotten their duty and reason for existence, established the city of Dun Karak within the halls of the ruined facility.

Not long after the rise of the Dwarves, a small fleet of Highborne exiles arrived at Agatha, making landfall within a secluded Taiga valley in the north. These exiles, led by Lianes Torchbearer, found within the valley a font of Arcane power located upon a nexus of Ley-lines. There, they settled, establishing the city of Thas'thalas, Light Home, to spite the Goddess those that exiled them worshipped. Throughout the years, the Elves would remain rather isolated, using their magic to establish wards around their valley and enchant the forest, while becoming similar to the High Elves.

As the years wore on the Visgardites would find towns the Elves had established upon the coasts of their valley, beginning to raid and war with the smaller creatures. These raids devastated many Elven towns and villages, who were caught mostly unaware by the sudden appearances of these raiders from the morning fog. These raids ravaged the Elves for years, only occasionally being beaten off by the Elven Magisters who managed to react swiftly enough at each arrival.

Kingsreach
Much of Agatha is dominated by temperate deciduous forests and plains, collectively known as the Kingsreach. Many of these forests have names, such as the Forest of Whispers around Lake Merwater, in the foothills of the Karak Mountains, or the Silvar Forest on the northern peninsula. The temperature in these areas ranges from warm and moderate near Agatha's southern shorts, to cool and damp by the Visgarde Mountain Range. Within these forests grow groves of elm, oak, birch, cedar, hickory, walnut, and many more.

Flora common to areas of the Eastern Kingdoms is plentiful here. Wild strawberries and blueberry bushes are common, as are raspberries, blackberries, and wild carrots. In addition, the Kingsreach forests play host to a wide variety of Agathian flora. Blackroot is a common weed, growing in thick tangled bunches around the trunks of old trees, commonly utilized by Agathians as a pain reliever.

Levadon Flowers grow in unchecked abundance, producing sweet nectar that flows like honey. The nectar of Levadon Flowers is used commonly in medicine as an anesthetic, while the flowers are also prized as decoration due to the large pattern of colors their petals can possess. Under the midday sun, flowers produce a form of miasma in the air, inducing intense feelings of drowsiness in those that enter it. It is a common sight to see brown bears asleep beside elk and rabbits in Levadon Flower fields.

Another type of herb is found exclusively in the Forest of Whispers. Dubbed Whispermoss, this dark blue plant glows in the darkness and produces a whispering sound when the wind blows through it. Whispermoss is a strong narcotic and highly addictive, commonly ground into a tantalizing blue powder that smells and tastes of raspberries and lavender. Consumed either through ingestion or smoke, Whispermoss induces heavy feelings of bliss into those who take it, while simultaneously dulling their senses and adding their minds.

Whispermoss is heavily restricted by the modern-day House Feydrid, and members of the Royal Agency of Criminal Justice regularly find themselves kicking in the doors of Whisper-Dens in and around Agathian cities. Due to the sheer abundance of Whispermoss in the wild, it is nearly impossible to truly eradicate it. Strangely, the dwarves of the Silveraxe Clan seem immune to the substance, a mystery that eludes modern-day Azerothian doctors.

The Black Forest
The Black Forest is a wild, dense stretch of wood in Agatha's northern frontier, bordering the Visgarde Mountains to the north, the Praven Sea to the south, and the Burning Caldera to the east. The Black Forest has been left unhindered since ancient times, leaving the roots of the trees to grow strong and deep. Primeval pines dominate the region, having flourished in the ashfall left millennia ago from the violent eruptions from the Burning Caldera.

The Black Forest long served as a natural border between the medieval Kindgom of Agatha and the Visgarde Clan before the establishment of Argon's Wall, the forest's vegetation being almost impassible to man until Argon's expedition, and with the headwaters of the Crown River being found here. The woodland was also heavily utilized by the Mason Order during the Agathian Civil War, with multiple hideaways and hidden camps being constructed by the Order. To further add to the complications of traversing the forest, wild Invernes make their home below the darkened branches. It was not uncommon for hunters and parties to be waylayed by these creatures and never return, the only signs of them having lived at all within the woods being the bloodstained ground from where they were attacked. A local legend in Agatha is that the Black Forest has drunk blood as deeply as it has water.

Despite the dangers of the forest, it is nonetheless a true example of what Agatha may have looked like before the arrival of humanity. Colossal roots yards wide twist around animal paths and streams, while the sun rarely reaches the ground in full due to the dense pine canopy. The flora of the Black Forest has adapted to the lack of sun. Towering piles of vine and ivy reach as high as the trees themselves, while dark, thick bushes and brambles cover the forest floor.

Mushrooms and moss are kings of the forest floor. Dense 'carpets' of fungus cover entire stretches of the forest, while moss grows inches deep across the trunks of the ancient trees. Blackpods and Evander are among the most common mushrooms found, prized by assassins and toxicologists for their intense poison, while the rarer Vosa Cheril grows in small colonies deep underground, nestled in the roots of the most ancient Black Pine trees.

The Crown River
The lifeblood of Agatha, the river of Kings, the Crown River cuts through the heart of the continent. Over fifty miles wide in some places, the Crown River has sometimes been called a very long lake that simply flows out to sea. The river is, for the most part, a gentle giant, with slow currents and an almost mirror-shine to the waters. Areas of turbulence within the Crown are only truly found in the Black Forest, where the water rushes with the force of a hurricane, and the rapids near the Stoneshill River Delta.

During the height of summer, the water reflects the sun's light in an array of pink and violet hues thanks to the algae that permeates every foot of the river, this very algae providing a buffet for the species of fish that live exclusively in the river. Gilded Salmon traverse the river constantly in large schools, while Whiterush Carp thrive in the Stoneshill River Delta. As in some places the river runs hundreds of feet deep, larger creatures can be found within it's tranquil waters. The surface is regularly broken by pods of freshwater Agathian Dolphins, while deeper beneath the waves multi-headed Azure Hydra coil in their dens.

An even rarer creature exists within the Crown, lurking in the deepest reaches of the river and around Whiteliers Lake. Tershaks, an orange humanoid with long limbs and a powerful tail prowl in these waters. Possessing glowing green eyes and a large mouth, filled with seven long teeth and fangs, Tershaks have preyed upon unwary swimmers and fishermen for centuries. Believed by many to be distant cousins of Murlocs, Tershaks have all but annihilated the lesser water-dwelling lifeforms in their territory. House Feydrid actively tries to cull their numbers, yet are unable to track down the Tershaks' deep burrows, located far below the surface of the Crown in underwater cave networks. Tershaks have been sighted as far north as Vraks in Visgarde, where their coloration is a mix of white and blue, and as far south as Stoneshill.

The Crown River's headwaters are found in the Black Forest, where it is fed by thousands of aquifers and underwater lakes created by the eruptions of the Burning Caldera. Waters also flow into the Crown from the Lake Vrak in Visgarde, towering down mile-high waterfalls from the northern reaches.

The land surrounding the Crown has grown rich in fertile land due to the constant flow of water, a fact capitalized upon by the early Agathian human settlers. Ancient irrigation works are still in use to this day, which transmits the flow of water for over five hundred miles around the river. Much of Agatha's farmland is found in the valley the Crown flows through. The river is also used for trade and shipping from Seagarde, through Stoneshill, and up to Argon's Wall. Recently, the Cornharbor Canal has been in construction, to connect the Praven Sea to the Crown for more ease of shipping.

Greenwood
The Greenwood is an ancient oak forest found in Agatha's western frontier, bordering the Voidscar's mountains to the west and the fringes of the Silvar Forest to the north. The Greenwood and the Crown River valley share many similar traits, flora, and fauna, with the Green River being considered a sister to the Crown. The Green River flows from the mouth of Lake Clerin, branches into Lake Honrich, and finally empties into the sea by the city of Vek. Due to the dense forest of the Greenwood, much of the area around it and the Green River is relativity unpopulated. The town of Wood remains the largest populated area for hundreds of miles around the forest.

Silvar Forest
The Silvar Forest is Agatha's most wild and unsettled region, surpassing even the Black Forest in lack of habitation and wildness. For millennia, the Silvar Forest has been untouched by man, Dwarf, or Elf, left to nature to shape and mold, a fact of life there that has continued into the modern age. Even in current times, access to the Silvar Forest is difficult, both practically and legally.

The forest stands on its own in Agatha, with a completely separate microclimate than the rest of the continent. This is thanks to the fact that several ley-lines run through the Silvar Forest toward the nexus in Thas'thalas, imbuing the landscape with a high degree of Arcane radiation. Pools of mana-infused water dot the forest, while the trees grow with sparkling blue and purple leaves. Thas'thalas, the homeland of the Quel'dorei on Agatha, was much like this forest in ancient times.

Much of the border of the Silvar Forest is protected by dense, almost unbreachable woodland and hills, almost as if the land itself actively seeks to protect the forest. Some speculate that the forest is connected to the Emerald Dream, as the large tree growing in the center of the fantastic wood bears a remarkable resemblance to the Great Trees planted by Fandral Staghelm. This is further reinforced by much of the fauna that lives within the Silvar Forest, the Valley Vinefox being a notable example.

Very few people have ever laid eyes on the interior of the forest, and it is considered a restricted national park by the Azerothian government. Several companies have attempted to harvest the unusual purple wood from the forest edges, only to be encountered by House Feydrid patrols and arrested, or their remains found savagely ripped apart by Silvarian Lions. Indeed, the mighty lion prides seem willing to die to protect their homeland, a fact alone which deters many who would seek to despoil it. If not caught and arrested, they'll likely become one of the noble creature's next meal.

Originally, Thas'thalas and the SIlvar Forest were connected by a large land bridge in the northern reaches of the forest. After the Agathian Civil War, this bridge was sunk by Elven Magisters, who sought to further isolate themselves from the chaotic continent. This action was also spurred on by the fear that the victorious Mason Order may seek to invade through the forest.

Thas'thalas Valley
Thas'thalas, Light Home in Thalassian, is one of the few areas outside of Quel'thalas settled in full by the ancient Highborne exiles. The valley is highly secluded, bordered on two sides by towering mountain ranges and surrounded by the sea on the others.

Kareef