Kira Jungle
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The Kira Jungle (From Tai'ora Keiradai: "The Greater, Elder Forest/Our Cathedral") is a large, hostile jungle in the southwestern-most area of Atheryin. It houses some of the most dangerous species on the planet, including the Kam'ak'tuun. Such species are known to be the result of magical fallout from the neighboring Faeland Plateau. The Kira River is also known to carry some of these magical energies out of the plateau.
The area's local peoples, the ritualistic Kutai and the primitive Yakira, have forever been behind technologically compared to the rest of the world, due to their rugged homeland and disconnection from other nations. Though, Kutai society is nothing to be underestimated—their rich culture and dangerously skilled militaries make them a harsh opponent for any invaders. The Yakira are often regarded simply as animals writhing in the jungle's filth, constantly hunted by Kutai and living in clay huts around river deltas. Oftentimes they are thought of as simply unwilling to advance, but some schools of thought would believe that this is a more justified decision.
Etymology
Although its origins are simple, the original Tai'ora name for the jungle itself, given by the Kutai, has mysterious meanings and origins. Though Yakira speech and naming is often disregarded (and even less understood), names in their native tongue do sometimes surface, that is, even less often than even the now-local Tai'ora Keiradai.
The name Keiradai could be directly translated, often nonsensically, but Kutai scholars and Kira natives insist the word is a very vague form of "Our Cathedral" or "The Elder Forest".
Location
The Kira Jungle is located in the most southern westernly part of the continent of Atheryin. It borders Thyros, the Faelands, and the lands of the Yakira, which are considered by many to be one with the forest. It lies in a unique tropical pocket of currents, and so is extremely humid, which led to the rainforest to spring up in the Kira River Valley.
Landscape
The landscape of the Kira Jungle has been shaped entirely by the River Kira. It runs through the land, depositing rich, fertile soil. The Jungle, as ancient as time, is an almost impenetrable barrier to any development in the region, leaving the Jungle almost untouched by any sentient race. The sole exception is the Yakira and Kutai, tribal peoples, who make their villages inside the Jungle.