Kejafros

Kejafros (/kʰeɪ.ja.fɹos/) is a continent in the world of Abexilas; the southeastern-most of the realm's nine continents. It is one of the most populous parts of Abexilas; home to several massive nations including Ischanor, Zilatra, Arcael, Hälge, Lenoria, and several others.

Etymology
The name itself comes from the now-extinct Proto-Aysar language, spoken by the ancestors of many of the continent's indigenous peoples. Meaning "settled land", coming from the roots *kejana "to settle" and *afros "land", the term reflects the expansion and development of agriculture by the originally nomadic Aysar peoples before they diversified into the modern nations of the continent.

In the modern vernacular languages of Kejafros, the name itself is modified to reflect the language spoken. The term in modern Ischanic, a direct descendant of Proto-Aysar, is Kjeavrē, and the Baszku term Keyafu is a modified loanword.

The term Khanen, roughly meaning "courage" in Lenorian, was also proposed as a name for the continent; it currently generally refers to the various nations to the north, who are culturally distinct from the southern Aysari-Baszku ethnolinguistic region.

In Night Tongue the continent is named Nocsid valildus, which is a contraction of the phrase Noc sid Valin'aldus meaning "Forests of the Moon".

Geology
There are two massive mountain ranges which expand vertically across the continent in the Northwest and Northeast; the latter mountain range being one of the largest in Abexilas. The western mountains are likely the result of a subducting oceanic plate moving in the eastward direction underneath the main Kejafros plate. The eastern mountains are very old, and especially in the south contain abundant carbonate rock, including some metamorphics. The limestone and marble quarries in southeastern Ischanor are of historically great importance, and chert and dolomite are also present in large quantities. Ancient stone-age peoples used these stones for tool making, and the Lachawakans still exploit this resource to this day for the same purpose.

The Rolling Plateau, a mountainous region in the Ischanori kingdom of Lynarith, has a strange geology, with a number of ancient marine rocks of varying types, and a large buildup of loess blown from the east in ancient times when the climate was drier. Nearby volcanism also created ashfall beds, which have also incorporated into the soil. These qualities, plus the humid low-montane climate and hummocky topography preventing much erosion of the fertile sediment, made this plateau into an incredibly fertile region for agriculture.

The underground depths of the continent also contain large rivers of molten rock. These lava tubes or "lava rivers" stretch for what may be kilometers, though few have travelled to do any kind of proper measurement due to the intense heat of the magma. These lava rivers have always been important in Noctadel culture as they represent the veins of the underworld. Many underground lakes of water have formed in the depths, either in caves formed from tectonic forces or from fluctuations in the water levels of the limestone aquifers. Over time much of the aquifer and subterranean-lake water flowed out and flooded into the lava tubes, creating various igneous deposits, including large obsidian deposits as well as various rhyolites, andesites, and basalts depending on how mafic or felsic the chemistry of the parent lava is.

Ecology and climate
Much of the continent is temperate, with wide expanses of prairie, temperate forests, and wetlands (often called by the Baszku term "Anqe"), though there exists large mountains which bisect much of the continent and giving way for taigas. In particular, there exist large tundras, cold mountains, and cold taigas in Zilatra, Hälge, and Arcael.

Broadleaf forests
The temperate broadleaf forests can be separated into deciduous and evergreen types. In the warmer frost-free areas along the coasts and northern end of the continent, evergreen broadleaf forests dominate, consisting of a mix of laurel, beech, eucalyptus, acacia, and tree ferns. These trees generally do not shed their leaves as winters here are exceptionally mild, with only light morning frost at the most.

The deciduous forests are dominated primarily by southern beech, which fulfills the same ecological niche that oaks provide in the northern continents. There are also many eucalyptus, which tend to grow near water or disturbed habitat, providing the remainder of the forest canopy, with an understory of acacia, frostbark, and podocarp. Many of the acacia and eucalyptus trees of the deciduous forests are thought to have evolved from ancestors who were dry-season deciduous in prehistoric times when the climate was warmer and drier, as they are relatives of hardy arid-climate trees.

Coniferous forests
The southern hemisphere of Abexilas has no truly native pinopsid conifers, including spruce and pine. Instead, the temperate xeric woodlands and taigas are dominated by an assortment of endemic conifers. The most common types are the umbrella-shaped fechlin and the conical santhal. Fechlin trees are spiny with long, spine- or lance-shaped leaves growing along most of the stem, and bear large cones which are harvested for their large, edible nuts. Santhal trees are also bear whorl-like leaf arrangements, and tend to grow conical in shape, but have much smaller cypress-like cones. Both of these kinds of trees have several species native to Kejafros, most of them endemic, and many of them are able to withstand incredibly cold temperatures. The understories of conifer forests also tend to have small laurels, ferns, and podocarpus where they may be hardy. The conifer forests generally grow either in areas too cold for most broadleaf trees, or in xeric environments with well-draining sandy soil where nutrients are poor. The most notable exception are the coastal temperate rainforests, where sea fog and abundant rains allow for trees to attain massive sizes, up to thirty meters in some areas. These forests are in danger due to high demand for logging and development, and while their podzol soils are acidic for agriculture, these coastal forests are nonetheless targets for constructing trade hubs and industrial centers.

Basin prairies
The center of the continent is not terribly arid, however in ancient times a large cold desert existed there. The soils there today vary from rich blacklands to arid sand hills, and apart from riparian eucalypts and willows few trees grow here; wildfires and herbivore grazing also keep these prairies open and dominated by grasses and forbs. The plains here were historically the lands where the Proto-Herlundian herders grazed their herds, and were home to several pastoralist peoples later on. The fertile soils here are ideal for wheat agriculture as well. Many wild animals, such as mammoths, wild oxen, and flightless Pfearoi birds, can be found in the areas not closed off for ranching or farming.

The basin region, due to its location in the center of the continent, is prone to extreme weather throughout the year. There are cold winters and hot summers, and cold winds may descend from the mountains to bring freak snowstorms late in spring and early in fall. This, plus the proclivity of wildfire, make the central plains a harsher place to live than the temperate forests, but they more than make up for these shortcomings in agricultural productivity.

Humid lush caves
A lot of the underground caves below the surface of Kejafros are filled with various endemic floral assemblages. The reasons for this are unknown, but the humidity of the caves is a common factor in the establishment of subterranean "forests". According to Noctadel mythology, the amount of underground life is due to a legendary event in which the Goddess of Night cried over the land, her tears flowing through the ground and ending up mutating the rare plant life living in the depths. Modern botanists believe that the evolution of bioluminescence in plants and fungi allowed for the colonization of plants from the surface, which could survive from the low light, were fertilized by bat guano, and pollinated by cave insects.

Ethnography
The continent is primarily home to Humans; including two broad indigenous groups, the Aysar and Baszku. Other ethnicities such as Villagers, Herlundians, and more are also native to Kejafros. Today however, the continent bears a massive population of Rathnirian and Eldhamite refugees from the War of the Comet.

The continent has also been home to the Noctadels, who claim to have ancestors on the continent going back nearly 20,000 years.