Junta-Pehrune

Junta-Pehrune lies on the southern coast of Elrinia. It borders Initiav to the east and Gyhan to the west. Along it's northern border is the lands of Eyrodd, Autumhold, Shadowlyn, Erranor, and Galirede. The land of Junta-Pehrune is filled with dense vegetation. The land contains swamps and high mountain Jungle peaks. It is a hard land to survive in; it is very hot, humid, and filled with dangerous plant and animal life. The Orcs, Tortle, Lizardfolk, Grung, and Bullywug are most of the races that hold settlements in this land.

In the Beginning
In the beginning, Soulon the Knowledgeable spoke unto Visrin and Miril, and he said unto them: “Let us put our devices to practice, and through the use of our talents bring forth a great land to stand as our legacy,” and Visrin and Miril agreed. They schemed at length together, before laying the designs for their work at the feet of Dain, the Great Builder. And Dain set forth to lay the foundations of the world.

Miril brought forth every form of fauna and flora that has ever been found in Elrinia. In Junta-Pehrune she left her son the primordial turtle god, Gui Shen to tend to and nurture the life she had seeded.

The Great Conflict
In the aftermath Primevil Conflict hundreds of thousands had died during the wars, and their deaths allowed the Underworld to grow strong with the souls of the damned. At this time, Kraeth raised up death priests in the land of Shadowlyn to bring forth an army of these damned to wash over the lands of Elrinia. The elves, aided by Elyna, used the magic of the ancient druids to bring forth the forest kingdom of Autumnhold, which enclosed the entirety of Shadowlyn against the mountains of Eyrodd, the dwarven kingdom. The dwarves and the elves formed an alliance to hold back the forces of Shadowlyn, and have not seen war since. The lands of early Junta-Pehrune were not as fortunate. The fallen horde flooded into Junta-Pehrune and not even the combined forces of the Tortle, Vedalken, and Locathah were not enough to keep Shadowlyn from expanding. Their undead armies decimated Junta-Pehrune; the Vedalken were wiped out and the Locathah retreated into the ocean never to be seen again. Only the Tortles remained to fight Shadowlyn's forces.

The Battle of Ages
The horde of undead had pushed the Tortles to the western shores of Junta-Pehrune and all hope was begining to seem lost. Having enough of the dead's reckless disregard for life, the primordial god Gui Shen joined the Tortles in their fight, His power was immense and he pushed back wave after wave of their armies. The conflict seemed to go on forever. Days felt like weeks, weeks like months, the Tortles resolve was starting to wain. The battle came to a stand still in a small field within the mountains of Junta-Pehrune. No matter how many undead soldiers the Tortle army managed to put down, Shadowlyn's necromancers would raise the fallen Tortle to fill the gaps. In a last ditch effort to stop the forces of death, the turtle god summoned all of his power and expelled it against them. The undead army was laid to waste but at the cost of Gui Shen's life.

Tree of Gui Shen
The nature goddess Miril felt the death of Gui Shen and she came to Junta-Pehrune. She mourned for her child and to honor him, planted a seed in his shell. From this seed grew the world tree. Over time the tree of Gui Shen repaired the damage done by the Great Conflict, but it did not stop there. Life didn't simply return to Junta-Pehrune it blossomed into the tropical jungles and swamps that are seen today. From these jungles and swamps sprang many different forms of life. The Orcs burst forth from the mountains, Lizardfolk emerged from the rivers, and Anuran rose from the mud.

The Orc War Machine
 Newly sprung from the mountains of Junta-Pehrune the orcs journeyed out in to it's unforgiving jungles. They learned quickly that in order to survive in this harsh environment they needed to become the strongest deadliest predators in it. They learned to live off of the land, tame the wild beasts, and some, the strongest, learned to ride the great reptiles of the jungle. With none able to match them in strength, the orcs flourished. They learned to quarry and cut stone, and how to cultivate crops, and how to make steel. With this knowledge they conceived of great cities, and the next generation brought about a mighty empire that spanned all of Junta-Pehrune.

When the orcs ventured from their jungle, they saw the weakness of men and their warriors rode out to meet them in battle. The orcs burned the crops and villages of men, carried off their livestock and women, took their sons and daughters as slaves, and put the men to the sword. But the houses of men would not cower before the orc horde, and while the orcs possessed great might, the warriors of men were cunning and ruthless. Both sides committed great acts of valor on those bloody fields, and the orcs grew to respect the houses of men, and the men hated the orcs bitterly. That war lasted for generations. The war against the humans ended when the death priests of Shadowlyn arose, and the orcs withdrew to their homeland when the dead invaded.

Second Great Conflict
With the radiant life giving magics finally tapering off in Junta-Pehrune and the mighty Orcs distracted in there war with man, the armies of Shadowlyn marched into Junta-Pehrune as they did hundreds of years ago. Vecna, once one of Autumnhold's mightiest Elven wizards had become corrupted by the death god. Vecna was ripped apart and using death magics, Kraeth reforged him into a great lich. With a powerful champion to lead them, the forces of Shadowlyn believed they could retake Junta-Pehrune and this time for good.

The orcs battled the forces of death with tooth, nail, and axe, but the power of Shadowlyn would not be undone by the might of the orcs. Shamans of the orcs arose and learned how to twist the foul magic that gave power to the dead, and they used it to turn the undead to their own side. They raised their own dead and used their armies to hold their jungle against Shadowlyn. Angered by the lack of progress, Vecna took to the front lines. When he arrived he cut swaths through the Orcish horde. With superior power, Vecna raised the dead before the Orc death shamans could lift a finger. In retaliation the Orcs brought in their strongest weapon. A clan of Orcs that had tamed the great lizards of Junta-Pehrune rode in on their large rex mounts. the fragile dead stood no chance against the combined might of the rex riders and death shamans. They pushed the undead army back to the death fields of Shadowlyn were the Great Conflict reached it's conclusion

The Orc Warchief, an orc from the Skullhunter clan named Rekgar charged into Shadowlyn's forces and challenged Vecna to face him alone to once and for all decide the fate of Junta-Pehrune. Already angry that this campaign had gone on long enough, Vecna agreed to face this Orc. The battle was glorious and Rekgar proved to be more than a match for the Great Lich. The fight ended with Vecna being vanquished and almost instantaneously the fallen armies he commanded collapsed. The death priests attempted to flee and most did, but some were caught by the Orcs. One of the death priests had in their possession the phylactery of Vecna. It was confiscated by the shamans who refused to destroy it for the potential power it held. They did however place wards on the phylactery to prevent Vecna from rising again. The Orcs returned to their jungles and the forces of Shadowlyn have been quiet still to this day.

The Plague of Vecna
The power of death that came from using Vecna's phylactery did so at a terrible cost to the orcs. The death shamans used their new power to oppress their brethren, and they sacrificed many to fuel their foul hunger, and the orcs groaned under the bondage of their new masters. In the end, their foul magic brought about a plague that ravaged the orcs. Every orc over the age of fifteen fell to the plague, and their knowledge faded into memory. The old weapons and armor became relics that could not be duplicated, and were instead passed down from generation to generation. Their great cities became their most guarded possessions; the likes of which would never be built again. Lastly taming the great lizards of Junta-Pehrune became something of legends and myths. Only the knowledge of the jungle lived on; how to survive, for only the strong survive, and the weak die. In the aftermath of the plague the orcs who didn't live in the great cities chose to live in villages within the jungles. While each orc clan was ruled by a chieftain, more often than not it was the clan's death shaman that really held all the power.

Modern Day
It has been hundreds of years since the second Great Conflict. The Orcs, hungry for battle have been attempting to break through their borders however alliances and natural barriers have kept them in Junta-Pehrune. The Tortle live peacefully in their jungle mountain cities. The Anuran have developed into two distinct races do to the interference of the Slaad. The Bullywugs in their mud hut knots worship the Slaad and dream of conquering Junta-Pehrune. The Grung in their Cenote villages concoct their deadly poisons and enslave the local Lizardfolk, trading them to the Adjessi snake men of Gyhan in exchange for gems and glass. The Lizardfolk live deep in their underwater caves trying to escape the dangers of the land above.

Geography
The land is humid, warm, and littered with all forms of fauna and flora. It is one massive tropical jungle with the Al'ahkir Sea along it's eastern border and the Kadha Sea to the west. Mountains stretch around Junta-Pehrune's northern border while the ocean hugs it's southern shore. Both the eastern and western coasts of Southern Junta-Pehrune are littered with sunken ships from the countless naval battles over the years. Located in the jungle mountains of Junta-Pehrune is the Tortle city of Shan Jia. Down the river south of Junta-Pehrune's northern fungal forest is Xochicalco the capital city of the Orcs. Further down that same river is Ikkysnik Village a collection of large Cenotes made home to the Grung. South of Ikkysnik is Deepwater Lake home to the vast majority of free Lizardfolk in Junta-Pehrune. Finally at the end of Xochicalco's south-eastern river is the Large mud hut covered Buhmbug Knot, where the Bullywugs reside. The wildlife of the land includes boars, large spiders, various dinosaurs, crocodiles, jungle cats, various river fish, insects, and other small mammals.

The occasional quarry can be found throughout Junta-Pehrune abandoned and forgotten by the Orcs of old. Reclaimed by nature, most of these quarries are now home to large dangerous predators. Many of them have flooded over the thousands of years becoming the Cenotes now used by Grung as homes.