Rifenmist Peninsula

The Rifenmist Peninsula is a landmass on the southern end of the Tal'Dorei continent. The Beynsfal Plateaus in the southern reaches of the peninsula are controlled by the Iron Authority's tyrannical empire, but north of that is a large area beyond the rule of the Authority, the Republic of Tal'Dorei, or Syngorn. The small camps of the Mornset Countryside are known as a "free" land, often used as a place of refuge for those wishing to live beyond the law, and in the Rifenmist Jungle lay the ruins of lost and forgotten ancient places, buried by time or forgotten by design.

Geography
Much of the Rifenmist's lowlands are covered in thick jungles, partly bisected by the Stormpoint Mountains.

Qoniira
The Qoniira culture rose and fell years before the Calamity (or when the Calamity hit) and was ancient even to other ancient civilizations of Exandria. Its ruins now lie lost in the Rifenmist Jungle.

The Calamity
During the Calamity, the Strife Emperor Bane and his goblinkin armies battled repeatedly with the Wildmother Melora and her Free Children. In battle, Bane took the form of an almost unimaginably large giant, clad from head to toe in pitted iron. The Wildmother finally defeated Bane at Beynsfal Plateau and he was banished, but the site of his defeat was reduced to rock and ash, and plants will never grow there again. The Strife Emperor's armor remained and crashed to the ground.

Post-Divergence
Following Bane's defeat, many of his goblinkin followers remained on Tal'Dorei, still under the Curse of Strife. The goblins scattered across the Rifenmist Peninsula and beyond. Several kingdoms of hobgoblins asserted their authority over the squabbling tribes, and around 822 PD the Iron Authority conquered the Beynsfal Plateau, then kept expanding over the next decade to control all the hobgoblin kingdoms of the region under Tz'Jarr, the Iron Emperor.

Around 792 or 793 PD, Thordak began to raid caravans and the autonomous villages of the Mornset Countryside, at the edge of the Tal'Dorei Council's influence. The people of the area asked the Council for armed assistance, describing a "nightmare of fire and malice," but Sovereign Odellan Tal'Dorei found the rumors too vague to justify the great expense of sending a regiment.

Around 794 or 795 PD, Thordak destroyed half of Byroden and killed a third of the population. By that time he had bent the Outerfolk of the Countryside to slavery and claimed dominion over the land. Emon finally sent its forces to do battle, but it was Allura Vysoren's adventuring party and the Arcana Pansophical who were ultimately able to stop Thordak by sealing him in the Elemental Plane of Fire.

By 812 PD Byroden had been rebuilt.