Thoughts on the post Rain of Fire Tanagoro Migrations
by DJ HartelInspired by the history Havard wrote up I have some speculation about their motives... What if the Tanagoro fled Skothar in waves like they did because their area became as uninhabitable as the southern Elves did. I haven't researched the source material to see if there is reasons for the migration, instead this is a shot in the dark... (Standard warning, below are my ideas, not cannon, but just my standpoint and wondering if others had similar ideas or differences :)
The main reason I could see for a huge migration is there is a lot of extra people, land is tightly contested and people. I don't see this as likely cause after the great rain of fire there should have been a huge population drop. Assuming some cultural and technological exchange, I could see increased food and or medicinal benefits vanishing after the great rain of Fire. (I'm viewing this as either a peaceful exchange or the Tanagoro raiding Blackmoor on occasion as both would allow the benefits mentioned before). The population, which would have been at a higher level would have dropped precipitously. This would have encouraged the Tanagoro to stay put and to spread out... which didn't happen.
The only other reason I could see for the migrations would be to escape the aftermath of the Great Rain of Fire. In this case, you have the population collapse, you have an environment that could be very hostile (kind of mad max in the jungle) and a people who may have had access to fairly accurate maps. Looking through, you can see they first hit Zyxl.... which before was not as habitable. At the same time it looks like another group decided to go to what was the Northern continent to see if they could find another area they could inhabit. I'm unsure if they were looking for elves (perhaps their tribes had a peaceful history with the elves as teachers) or just a location that wasn't an ecological mess. Either way, Serpeant Peninsula was good.
Next up a group sails from Zyxl to Izonda. This also makes me think they had a map and thought hey, where are the elves we were friends with. (I can't see why the would just deiced to sail into the great ocean away from land on a whim... there'd be a good chance they'd never come back. Same with the next group that sailed right to Vulcania (even closer to where elves were). The last place settled is the Pearl Islands, which may have been a group looking for the Serpeant Peninsula Tanagoro.
At this point the Tanagoro stopped. One could wonder, do any more exist in their native lands? Could Eastern Skothar be a wasteland jungle mix that is not vary habitable for humans... or do they have kingdoms like other places? (IMC I am more and more envisioning Skothar as the "Dark Sun" continent of Mystara... a land wrecked from extreme tech use where the soil is very poor and the creatures there aren't what they seem to be at first glance).
I know there is a bunch of fan written stuff of the African based kingdoms of western Davania (Which I think are quite well done :) I just think Skothar seems kind of too empty of a blank slate which is weirdly devoid of much history of why they left. Could it be an ecological mess, could other dark secrets be there? Maybe Meenlock version of Blackmoorian ancestors (ala the Time Machine)? And I really am curious as to the Tanagoro and elves if they had some kind of relationship pre-Great Rain of Fire. Lastly, the Tanagoro as a people seem to be mainly based upon the Polynesians, atleast in their migration patterns.