Manaia : The Unknown Island of Sofar
Sofar is an island south of Gramar that appears on very few maps (typically antiquated ones only) of Manaia. Its population is unknown, and similarly, from no known port in Manaia can one find passage to the island. Furthermore, explorers who venture out in their own vessels to find the island of Sofar never return.
What is known, thanks to the few maps that include Sofar, is that the island falls directly beneath the path of the sun. The ancients were known to place great significance upon the path of the sun. Many mysterious temples, monoliths and even cities have been erected directly beneath the sun's path - a practise thought to have gone on since the days of the first men, though the reason why has been largely up for debate.
It is thought by some that the sun's energy is best harvested for spiritual and magical works when directly above, and so the many temples and cities constructed by the ancients along the path, were done so with the intention of amplifying their magical abilities.
Others believe that the path of the sun is in fact determined by the ancient monoliths, which create a magnetic field of sorts to guide the sun across a route chosen by the first men for unknown reasons.
Others still, including some well-known archaeologists, argue that the ancient sites erected beneath the sun's path were constructed for the purposes of human sacrifice, by civilisations who falsely believed that the sun was God - a deception often attributed the theological antagonist of the Creator, Slaekin.
Whatever the case, it is believed that the island is likely to have similar temples or ancient structures, and explorers have been most interested in finding and investigating the island for centuries.
The Gramarians have been accused of protecting the secrecy of the island and even of using their armada to destroy and sink ships that grow too close to discovering it. But no evidence for the claims can be presented, and the accusations have been enthusiastically denied by the elected governors of Gramar. However, it is thought suspicious by more than a few that the majority of modern maps, omitting the island of Sofar, are created in and exported from Gramar to the rest of the world. This raises questions about a potential Gramarian conspiracy to hide the existence of the island, and further curiosities about what is potentially going on there for it to have to be kept a secret.
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