Al'ar Meets the Beast World

When the world was new, a thousand miles of ocean hid felines from other species. Cities were erected on the mainland, borders were drawn, and armies were raised to defend against unfamiliar new neighbors. The magic of the Common language sparked from friction between mainlanders trying to communicate. Felines wouldn’t hear a word of Common for over three centuries. 

Beast World historians write about Al’ari society’s uniqueness to other homelands. Mainland cultures are defined by their relationship with each other. Depending on one’s point of view, Al’ar’s time to find its own identity was a gift or its isolation was a curse. As the grandi academic Arvede Chella writes, “No man is an island. But for a while, cat was.” 

Cat & Fox 

In the year 341, the most renowned diviner wizard in Vinyot was a tradewind vulpine named Gesualda. In July of that year, she and three crew members boarded a small schooner called the Crystalchaser to voyage farther west than anyone had yet managed. 

Meanwhile, across the ocean, a lone Al’ari chikitu named Nevis made preparations to search for a new island on her own two-week pearl diving expedition. Nevis was famous among her own people; her keen eyes were said to see ten miles through water or air. 

On a clear summer midnight, these two tiny boats drifted on water like black glass. Moonlight reflected off the calm sea and back to the starry sky.

Bang!

The Crystalchaser rammed Nevis’ fishing sloop, capsizing it and tossing its screeching captain into the water. Pirhoua’s grace brought cats into contact with the rest of the world, but Varasta’s meddling made it an occasion requiring a towel.  

Wary Cautious Acquaintances  

Soon after Nevis and Gesualda’s fateful meeting, the chattering of kits and kittens brought Vinyot and Al’ar into formal introductions. Word spread quickly about the new species, and in less than a year, every other homeland had contacted felines. With the aid of Gesualda’s arcane thesis, a spell to interpret spoken languages, the gap was finally bridged. The world had grown for the dock-dwelling Al’ari people. 

Felines were hesitant to settle on the mainland. Its mountain ranges and endless fields were intimidating. The mainland cultures were welcoming, but the people were so noisy. Much like their animal ancestors, the beasts of Al’ar didn’t come when called, content to let curious folks come to them instead. 

Warming Up

In the decades that followed, Al’ar acclimated to the mainland world. For reasons debated by historians, the smaller chikitu were more keen to settle across the homelands. Grandi preferred to stay on the islands, a tendency that remains true to this day. Al’ar also attuned to the magical miracle of Common during this time. Kittens who had never left their home island intuited the meaning of its words. This confirmed the early theories that Common wasn’t cultural, but magic that remains unexplained to this day. 

A dozen Vinyotians and a few Allemagnians joined existing dock towns, but Al’ar’s reception to outsiders moving in was chilly. Caciques were clear in their desire to stay friendly trade partners—and nothing else—for the time being. 

Platinum Wave 

Vinyotian traders were happy to make the voyage. Mainlanders yearned for anything from this novel homeland. Spices and textiles from Al’ar became a hot commodity. For a century after first contact with the Al’ari, it was fashionable to pepper one’s speech with words from the Old Al’ari language. Trend-setting celerines started the practice, and the strange dialect still vexes academics who study writing from the era. 

Cinnamon and sailcloth made the journey worthwhile, but traders discovered something more lucrative on Aurica: platinum. This precious metal was unfamiliar to mainlanders; only traces exist anywhere else in the world. Its novelty and rarity make refined platinum worth ten times as much as gold. Once the first platinum piece was minted, Vinyotian trade lords became impatient with Pirhouan camaraderie. Greed filled their sails instead. 

The Autumn Hurricane 

To Vinyotian mercantilists, Al’ar’s refusal to allow them to build platinum mines on Aurica was the one thing keeping them from a never-ending stream of wealth. The trade companies’ feelings about Al’ar soured after a decade of failed efforts to sweet-talk them. The spice boom wasn’t enough anymore. Wealth wants more wealth. 

The trade lords devised a brilliant diplomatic plan: they would mine Aurica anyway. They sent ships from Arloris carrying everything needed to build a settlement on the far side of the island. They carried people, food, steel, and supplies to erect the entire mining operation. They were hoping to substitute forgiveness for permission. 

Of course, the plan was an unmitigated disaster. The Al’ari druids made their displeasure crystal clear—half of the Vinyotian trade fleet was scuttled while retreating from the dismantled ruin of their little experiment. Only undeserved luck kept the event an overcrowded trip home instead of a watery mass grave. Dock towns around Aurica refer to that day as the “Autumn Hurricane”. 

The Docker Rebellion 

Undeterred by this temporary setback, the trade lords set to risking their workers’ lives in a second attempt. A more uneasy crew helmed the second voyage, accompanied by the trade companies’ most adept vessels of war. Ugliness seemed inevitable. 

Throughout the voyage, the Vinyotian dockers shared a collective, profound experience. The days were quiet, and the sea gave them time to think. With only the seawinds in their ears, the mariners considered the consequences of forcing their ambition on the Al’ari. The trade lords promised a handsome bonus, and this job would make them all comfortable for life. But what were they doing for that bonus? 

Aurica had expected the foxes to return, and every Al’ari was ready to fight for their beliefs. The trade ships came in slow that morning. Felines on the beach saw the sails as harbingers of death, but their dinghies carried unarmed dockers to shore. They didn’t want to fight, and they didn’t want to mine Aurica. 

When the striking dockers returned to Vinyot, they brought every cat their ships could carry. Together, they’d deliver a warning to the trade lords of Vinyot. 

“Al’ar will not be colonized. The dockers will not be your colonizers. Take heed or die.”