Koamun (pronounced koh-ah-MOON) is a region in southern Kea Racha. Centuries of volcanic eruptions in Koamun have buried most of the old cities of the islands and Wildrock Peninsula in ash. The people that remain mostly live in networks of underground settlements, protected from the harsh terrain and dangerous creatures above.
Geography, flora, and fauna
Once a land of lush jungles, today most of the surface of Koamun is a wasteland of ash, tephra, and lava flows. For almost four hundred years, the once-dormant volcanoes of the Wrathpeaks have erupted with startling frequency. Though the islands of Koamun were all volcanic in origin, no major eruptions had occurred for millennia. Most of the once verdant landscape has been turned gray, though the native tropical plants often begin grow back in the rich soil between eruptions.
Planar tears to the Plane of Fire are common throughout Koamun, especially underground and in close proximity to the active volcanoes.
One of the few non-magical creatures that has thrived in Koamun since the eruptions began, giant fire ants dig tunnels and colonies into the ashy soil. Extremely resistant to the often oppressive heat, these ants are able to venture into areas where few other living creatures can. Though these fire-breathing insects are highly dangerous, some Koamunite communities have learned to domesticate them, using the ants as mounts, sources of food, or in construction.
Magma dragons, asleep for millennia in their volcanic abodes, have since awoken and spread out across Koamun. Most Koamunites take every precaution possible to avoid these violently unpredictable creatures.
While life in some parts of the Mhasmuth Ocean near Koamun have been choked out by the volcanic ash and debris, especially in areas close to the volcanoes themselves, in others the ash has sparked a rapid growth of phytoplankton and the creatures that eat them. Many of the coral reefs just south of Koamun have withered and died, and massive red algae blooms, fueled by the settling ash, sometimes grow to cover thousands of square miles in the ocean.
History
For most of its history, modern-day Koamun was considered part of Sangiran. Under the Sangiran Empire the regions were ruled by a single government, and regular travel between the mainland and the islands kept cultural ties close.
The eruptions of the Wrathpeaks began soon after the death of the most recent incarnation of the Eternal Suzerain in Y9606*. Though there is only circumstantial evidence to tie the two events, some Koamunites believe that either the volcanism was being held at bay by their draconic demigod, or that the eruptions were a divine punishment for a faltering faith. Whether or not there was any divine symbolism to the eruptions, the remnant of the Empire was unable to do more than begin evacuations of some of the larger cities on the islands. Imperial control rapidly declined afterwards.
Most of the surface cities were destroyed by the eruptions. Small communities of ifrit continue to exist on the surface, but most survivors who refused evacuation built underground instead. In the centuries since, a handful of cities have regrown beneath the buried remains.
Demographics
Most Koamunites are either human, ratfolk, nagagi, elf, or half-elf. Though they accounted for only a small proportion of the population of Koamun prior to the beginning of the eruptions, many dwarves have immigrated to the region, drawn by the rapidly growing underground settlements.
Ifrits are, relatively speaking, extremely common in Koamun. Inherently resistant to the heat of the volcanoes, life in Koamun is less harsh for ifrit than it is for most others. A disproportionate number of tieflings, especially ash-eater tieflings, also live in Koamun.
Small tribes of ash giants, warped by the influence of the volcanoes, live nomadic lives across the islands.
Culture
Government
Koamun has no central government. Sangiran traditions of governance still hold sway, and most cities in the region are led by autocratic rulers in close association with local temples.
Economy
Koamun has a vibrant and growing economy; though the volcanoes destroyed effectively all of the surface industry and agriculture, they opened new opportunities at the same time.