The island home of every ulaya, called Piapadei, had been for years and generations known as a hospitable home, and nature cradled the species in her arms. Habitats varied from verdant pastures to noble forests, rainy jungles, ancient snow-capped mountains, steep-sloped volcanoes and arid deserts. Rivers and lakes dot the landscapes, bringing life in their water.
The undulcan and draco'ula commonly gravitated towards the volcano and its warm soil to make their homes in the cave vents caused by ancient lava flows. Uudesa with vibrant flashing colors lived in the sea and were hardly seen, but less vibrant but still colorful members of the subspecies navigated up rivers and had generations ago been isolated into lakes. Ucolian packs usually gravitated to the mountains below the snow caps, as the elevation gave them a good starting point for gliding. Herds of yunin typically had domain over the forests and shared territory with the pappilu. Moto'undil typically made their homes toward caves carved out by river systems in the deepest part of forests and mountains. Ki'rin? Too elusive to really say. Other ulaya not falling into these species laid claim to a place within these territories and elsewhere. Packs and rogues made their homes across the very habitable island home.
For as long as the living generations of ulaya could remember, life had been good. They began to take their home for granted and forgot about the gods and goddesses who served as their guardians and patrons. And in turn, these gods and goddesses forgot about and turned their backs on the ulaya who had seemingly lost their collective faith in the higher powers. Packs dissolved without their divine guidance, but it seemed as though not much else happened as consequence.
Until, however...
Droughts became more common in formerly rich plains, deserts expanded, rivers and lakes ebbed, the mountains grew colder, the forests' leaves came back less and less each year and the mighty volcano became more and more active with rumblings and noxious gas from the crater. As years passed, natural disasters became more and more common. Floods and hurricanes would precede years and years of droughts. Lava seeped from the mouth of the volcano and drove those who lived nearby into lower elevations while noxious gas and ashes polluted the drinking water. Earthquakes shook the island and tore pack territories straight down the middle, splitting up members permanently and forcing others into unknown lands. A plague decimated most of the population, leaving few alive. Whole families and packs perished in these disasters. Ulaya lost mates and friends.
The more and more ravaged the land became, the more and more conflict spread among the population. Packs fell apart and reformed very quickly as the battle for what little viable territory spread across the island. Ulaya formerly crowned as royalty in their packs now became as commoners and rogues. The population plummeted as hundreds were killed and no new litters were born during this time of chaos.
Some ulaya began to turn to the gods and goddesses who had formerly protected their home, but few immortals answered the call, still scorning their wayward followers. Many worry it was this collective loss of faith that caused the gods to turn on them and that abandonment caused the disasters. However, as more immortals began to answer the calls and cries of the ulaya, more gods followed suit.
There was still much damage done to the land and many inter-pack conflicts to resolve, but things were improving. A spring passed that saw the birth and survival of new litters and Pappilu- the most delicate of the ulaya sub-species and firsts to perish- began to climb in numbers, a heralding of things getting better.
Peaceful gods urged the species to choose ambassadors to help settle conflicts. Ucolians, Yunin, Pappilu and Uudesa were the firsts to make treaties and compromises. The ucolians, yunin and pappilu would have overlapping territories around the forests and plains- the former two taking more forested land and spreading into the mountains while pappilu were more concentrated in pastures and fields. Uudesa had an easy enough time compromising as no other subspecies can exist solely in water, but had to agree to let other species use the waters they lived in as a drinking resource.
That left Moto'undil, Draco'ula and Undulcans primarily still at unease with one another. The draco' considered themselves one of the most highly evolved of the subspecies and had always intended to expand from the volcano into lower territories. Undulcans fought back and ebbed into the more peaceful regions, bringing chaos to those places as well. Moto'undils who tended to keep mostly to themselves then had to struggle with this shift and mostly fought when provoked, but would not concede to these other species.
And Ki'rin? They declined sending an ambassador and were mostly nomadic through whatever territories they pleased.
The species and packs who had begun to settle their differences then felt they had to take upon themselves the responsibility of ending conflicts between the other species. The gods had made it known that they would not once more bless the island until things were resolved. Many refused to participate in these mortal conflicts. However, those of darker domains often took mortal guises and made the wars all the worse and loved to meddle in mortal affairs. After another meeting of ambassadors, word spread across the land that there would be a brief time for all-out and end-all fighting, and at the end, whoever populated certain lands would then have primary dominion over those territories once and for all.
Gods never outright claim responsibility for the disasters or plague, but there are many who suspect they are to blame. Slowly, gods return to the land of the mortal, whether it is to participate in the battles, to try to reestablish peace, or simply to live among the mortals as they do.
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