Nyalia

Nyalia is a rocky island in the series of small islands known collectively as the Arysian Isles. In the days of the Holy Celestine Empire it was the site of the Jewel of the Empires Research Facilities, but it is now simply home to a settlement of merians.

It is not known how long the research facilities on Nyalia have existed. However, at the time of Project Cosmic Hope, Nyalia had four towers to accommodate the four mage guilds. The Aquamancers, as the Emperor's most trusted mages, served as leads on the project. They and the Geomancers were buffers between the Aeromancers and Pyromancers who absolutely loathed one another. They were only on the island for the gorgog project as their skill was needed to harness their respective elements to build the gorgogs. Once their part of the gorgog project was complete they were recalled back to Gaudiguch and Hallifax. Before they left they destroyed their towers because they hated each other so much, just so that the other group wouldn't get their hands on their discarded items.

The remaining Geomancers and Aquamancers remained and continued work on Project Cosmic Hope, sending the gorgogs as probes and establishing the means by which the Empire might reach the Supra plane. At the center of the facility was a machine that was used by the mage-scientists to plumb the depths of the aether.

When Project Cosmic Hope failed, the Taint corrupted and warped the minds of the Geomancers. The most powerful of the Aquamancers gathered and destroyed the Geomancers, erasing their blighted minds from reality. As a result of this, the Geomancer tower was destroyed, leaving only the Aquamancers and merians as residents of the island.

The Aquamancers then used the same machine they used to investigate the aether in order to seal away the gorgogs who had gone mad from the Taint in a dimensional pocket. The mage-scientists and their descendants have remained on the island to guard the machine and ensure that the pocket can be sealed again if it is ever opened.