Kalmansa Wilds
The Kalmansa Wilds is a vast, sweltering, and incredibly brutal jungle region that covers the western expanse of the planet Eryn. Defined by its thick canopy, extreme heat, and an unforgiving ecosystem, it is a perilous wilderness where survival is a constant battle against the elements and apex predators.
Geography and Environment
The Kalmansa Wilds are characterized by towering trees that plunge the forest floor into deep shadows, interwoven with thick vines, ferns, and bright pops of red and yellow heliconia flowers. The jungle's eastern boundary is marked by the Kojo River, a wide, swift, and freezing gray waterway that serves as a natural dividing line between the Kalmansa Wilds and the Sholorna Wilds to the east. From within the deep jungle, the skies periodically reveal Eryn's moons, including the blue moon Geija and the sickly red moon Argul.
The environment is notoriously hostile. The air is thick with humidity and swarms of blood-sucking bekal flies, while the ground is ruled by solitary kabul wildcats, pack-hunting welak wolves, and the gigantic, lumbering cavek. Due to the density of the jungle, the presence of the airborne, fire-breathing Phylax (dragons) is relatively rare but greatly feared.
The Wilds serve as the native territory for numerous packs of rylak, the upright, sentient wolf-men of Eryn who construct primitive villages out of mangrove shafts and burlap. Notable rylak settlements in the region include the modern village of Felgr and the ancient, ruined village of Skallgr.
Key Events
Cariel's Vengeance
Over one hundred thousand years ago, the Kalmansa Wilds were the territory of the Skallgr pack, a brutal group of rylak who enslaved the Eldrim stranded on the planet. Among these slaves was Cariel (who later assumes the persona Calarel during the events of The Savage Wild). After being viciously attacked, permanently blinded, and cast out into the deadly jungle to die, Cariel survived by discovering her unique soulbinding magic and taming a deadly kabul cat.
Operating from the shadows of the Wilds, she eventually bound an unprecedented army of cavek, sakul birds, and wildcats. In a horrific act of revenge for her torture, Cariel unleashed her subjugated beasts upon Skallgr, completely massacring the pack and cementing her terrifying legend (as Magona) among the surviving rylak.
Lysa's Escape
In the modern era, the young human demisoul Lysa spent a decade enslaved as bait by the Felgr pack. During a chaotic night when the pack was distracted by a fire set by her friend Amra, Lysa fled Felgr and escaped into the pitch-black Kalmansa Wilds. Armed with nothing but a stolen dragon egg and a makeshift spear, she survived several days of starvation before being violently ambushed by a territorial kabul. The wildcat chased a bleeding Lysa to the edge of the Kojo River; choosing the rapids over certain death, Lysa leapt into the freezing water and was swept away from the Kalmansa Wilds toward the eastern Sholorna Wilds.
Jascyn's Flight
When a flight of Phylax encroached on Felgr territory, the rylak attempted to hunt a massive talonwyrm in the jungle. During the disastrous battle, the young firesake Jascyn inadvertently helped the dragon (named Ranu), who in turn saved him from the enraged rylak elites. The dragon took flight with Jascyn clinging to its back, soaring high above the Kalmansa canopy, crossing the Kojo River, and delivering Jascyn into the Sholorna Wilds, forever changing the trajectory of the young rylak's life.