Entamiret

In the northwest, a large stone mesa known as Entamiret sits high above the forest canopy, looming over the grassy plains and treelands below. Inhabited by humans of various tribes, mountain birds, and a massive mushroom colony that supports an entire ecosystem. Water from the Entamiret lake pours down Entamiret Falls into the Dogtribe lakes, and from there the rest of Iribesk.

Etymology
[en-Tamir-et]

Humans throughout history have had many names for the tableland, as have arboreal Primians that have seen it from hundreds of miles away while scaling the treetops. The grasstribes used the word Entamiret to describe the mesa's immense waterfall before colonizing the mesa itself. The name over time came to refer to the general area and the mesa as a whole.

Pre-Exodus
Human civilizations had settled parts of Entamiret long before the exodus out of Primian's Jungle. An affluent society of cave dwellers had carved a city into the cliffs and engaged in sustainable trade with a society of crows and ravens before the Primians had even developed spoken language. A small nomadic tribal nation of lightning-worshippers known as the Skycult inhabited territory near the base of Ampres, and had learned to use mushroom colonies and copper to capture electricity during thunderstorms and store it for later use.

The Aphotic Ascent
Following the massive influx of settlers from the south during the Spoken Age exodus, grasstribes began sending explorers into the Entamiret caves to discover a route to the top. By the Written Age, grasstribe expeditions had found a system of wet switchback caves leading to the mesa's surface, which was soon dubbed the Aphotic Ascent. Immediately upon their arrival the explorers encountered resistance from the so-called Skycult and many convoys and mining expeditions fell to infighting among their own ranks.

The Mining Expeditions
Grasstribe mining expeditions began mobilizing en masse and set up of colonies and settlements along the cliffs of Ampres. Their operations caused widespread damage to the mesa's fresh water and were killing off the Skycult's sacred mushroom colonies. Settlers hoped to find plants and game on top of the mesa but found only solid rock and fungus. Many would have starved if not for the discovery that the bountiful mushrooms were edible and, if prepared adeptly, quite delicious. As more settlers poured in, the Skycult felt a need to protect their ancient way of life and the mystical, Godlike mushroom colony from these new intruders.

The Skycult
The native tablelanders became split on how to deal with the grasstribes. Some called for war, for extermination, while others called for integration and education. Some believed the mushroom colony was more important than their own lives, and were willing to kill and die for it. Others thought there was enough to go around. The natives eventually split into two groups, with the radical xenophobes declaring war while the rest chose to move north across the lake.

The Grasstribe Response
Having their retreat cut off by native forces, the grasstribes fought and died and migrated north. They ceased their mining operations and focused on survival, and somewhere along the way the native radicals seemed to lose interest. The grasstribe settlers established a new home unwittingly close to the peaceful natives, and found that the individuals left alive in these two groups shared many common interests, particularly in physical science. A fragile coexistence lead to open trade and travel, while expansion and growth led to the eventual combining of the two civilizations. They called themselves the Falspar Conference and established a comprehensive government plan and rules for their new society.

The Falspar Conference
With the natives teaching the settlers about electricity and metal and the mysterious properties of the mushroom colony, and the settlers teaching the natives about animal biology, particularly bird domestication and dog breeding. Together they formed a haven for the continent's first scientists and electrical engineers, and soon traders from all over Iribesk were traveling to Entamiret to acquire Falspar tools, weapons, manuscripts and essays, and experts to assist in implementing new technologies. The Conference is also responsible for establishing the official and universal writing system still used in Iribesk today.

The Mushroom Cult
The Skycult extremists found themselves united by the mushroom colony far more than lightning these days, and with a renewed influx of travelers showing up on the mesa, perceived a threat that needed to be dealt with once and for all. Their biologists began developing strains of weaponized fungus capable of causing nightmarish hallucinations, brain infections, and asphyxiation. The former Skycult had rallied around the God Colony and were filled with righteous malice as they raided Falspar and launched covert attacks, smuggling in deadly spores and releasing them in crowded areas. Former Skycult natives in Falspar became enraged at their former comrades, believing they had crossed a sacred line, and mesa erupted into fullscale war.