The name of Tas-Nabrenor is known throughout Imperial lands as a distant island where they used to send criminals to rot in exile, two hundred years ago. Now the people of Tas-Nabrenor are enjoying a new prosperity with the sale of the magical metal deusor, conducted by privateers from the lawless town of Paradise.

The price of deusor is kept shored up by the remote location of Tas-Nabrenor and the greed of the men and women who sell it, but furthermore by the dangers involved in mining it. The Prison Mines are twenty miles inland, through treacherous jungle that has resisted all attempts to tame it, jungle that is said to be home to mysterious spirit creatures that can disappear at will, lead men into ambushes and steal supplies.

The spirits of the jungle and mountains are real - it's just that they aren't spirits. The stone circle on the northern end of the island is part of the network of magical portals known as "wizard gates". A long time before the island was discovered by Jevri Lancehold a primitive species of small intelligent bipeds wandered through a gate in their homeland (now lost to memory, perhaps destroyed) and came out on this island. These people were the Junji - human-like in many ways, pale skinned with little in the way of hair, legs that are jointed like those of a bird. The tribe that encountered the island found it quite comfortable, but not home. The portal, however, seemed to be a one way trip.

The Junji possess chameleonic abilities and can blend in with any background (in this, they are far more capable than the salsham'ai). They use this to hide from the occasional visiting Moa-Ruaki fleet and from other possible threats (migrations of razorbirds and such). When people began to settle on the island, the Junji hid, but took an interest. Over time they learned bits of the language and how to steal their food and such. Most importantly, they discovered the concept of tools.

The Junji want the things that the humans have. They might not know exactly what many of the items do, but they are driven by a desire to own these mysterious artifacts of the outlanders. They learned that the humans desperately wanted the silver and deusor that they found so abundantly. With this in mind, they have encouraged the rumours of spirits, sprites, ghosts, and the like to keep the majority of the folk out of their jungle and dropped rumors and ideas of fantastic items to lure people out into the jungle, kill them, and take their things. The Junji only keep those things that they can use or find terribly interesting to look at. One of the prized possessions of the chief is a sextant that his hunters acquired from a pirate. What they don't use is cast into the volcanoes to thank them for peace, protection, and power.

Tas Nabrenor
Wizard Gates
Necklace of Plenty
Oksa