Nethalaz

The settlement of Nethalaz is an unrecognized city-state and abandoned settlement on the Eldham island of Zamotz.

History
The city of Nethalaz was founded on June 9th, 2021, becoming one of the first settlements on the island. Notably, the settlement made no contact with the local Indusi natives and, besides a brief interaction with Suuntur explorers, never made contact with anybody on the island. It remained neutral in every conflict, and made no response when the Neupeykonian States of Eldham claimed it the next day apart from continuing to declare itself independent.

According to the Suuntur explorers, they had only met one person from the settlement, a man who only referred to himself as the Miner. Though human in appearance, suspicions amongst the local population suggest that Nethalaz is neither from Eldham or Rathnir, rather a colony from the Nether on overworld soil. The last known sighting of Miner was on June 21st, 2021, and no response by Nethalaz was given when the State of Elatsania declared independence from Neubaykonia and re-affirmed its claims on the settlement; Thus, the settlement is considered abandoned.

Legacy
The city of Nethalaz has been an enigma for the island of Zamotz. While some residents of the island believe it to be ruins of an unusually early Indusian civilization or settlers from outside Zamotz, other individuals have come up with alternative explanations.

Nether Origin
One theory is that an unknown group of Nether natives attempted to make a settlement on the overworld in the hopes of colonizing it or developing relations with non-Nether groups. Given Miner's sighting, proponents of this theory argue that the Nethalaz civilization must be made up of humans who somehow developed a way to permanently live in the Nether, or shapeshifters who can take on the appearance of a human. Other proponents argue that the Miner sighting was false, or that Miner falsely claimed to be a part of Nethalaz.

Despite substantial mining efforts in the Nether, no discoveries of any sort of Nether civilization in connection to Nethalaz have been revealed, largely discrediting the theory.

Religious Origin
The prevailing theory amongst Indusians and other Zamotians is that the settlement was a result of divine intervention. Given other abrupt nether sightings on the island, including a nether micro-biome in the province of Kolnor which was witnessed by followers of the Stone Path, and a small crimson forest within the territory of the Cult of Black Banfaet in Cyrillia.