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Aerie Shalan

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Aerie Shalan was the base of operations and ancestral home of the Aerians, a race of winged humanoids capable of flight. It was a city built on and into a roughly-conical pillar of rock that towered into the sky of the Shalan region of Pangea, an artificially-maintained tropical environment located amidst the snowy wastes of the continent of Antarctica.[3]

Aerie Shalan was the center of Aerian civilization. It was the home where every Aerian lived, with its sheer walls protecting them from ground-based threats. A tall tower built atop the summit had a cylindrical central shaft that extended down into the depths of the Aerie, possibly down into the rock spire upon which it had been built. It was in those depths that the hall where the ancient Aerians had once worshipped their ancient gods was located, as were the laboratories where Aerian scientists developed their highly advanced technology.[6]

History

Although Aerie Shalan was one of the oldest non-Atlantean structures in Pangea, no details about its founding have ever been revealed. It may have been built by the ancient Aerians after they were forced from the caverns of Athmeth (Aerie Athmeth) by their long-time enemies, the Pterons, or it may have been built before the Pterons wrested the caverns from them.[3]

Ka-Zar and Shanna the She-Devil first visited Aerie Shalan when they were brought there by the Aerian scouts who had saved their lives by catching them when they fell off the cliff separating Pangea from the Savage Land. They were soon joined by Zabu, who surprised the Aerians by managing to climb up the Aerie's sheer walls.[3]

Soon afterwards, an attempt to overthrow the kingdom was thwarted, but not before the Aerian leader, Lord M'Dom Typ, was assassinated.[7]

Days later, Aerie Shalan was attacked by an enormous griffin. At least one Aerian, Dephine, was critically injured by the beast before it was driven off by the spears of the Aerian warriors.[8]

Weeks later, when a dying Ka-Zar and an insane Shanna had returned to the Savage Land after an eventful time away, they were brought to Aerie Shalan for medical treatment that saved Ka-Zar's life and restored Shanna's sanity.[6]

Two weeks later, when it was discovered that the Mount Flavius volcano was soon going to violently erupt and possibly inundate Shalan with lava, a precautionary evacuation was begun. However, the successful completion of a plan to blow open a hole in the side of the volcano in order to divert its lava elsewhere allowed the Aerians to return to their home.[9]

A day later, as part of a plan that Belasco had orchestrated through his pawn, Queen Leanne, Aerie Shalan was attacked by an allied army made up of Lemurans, Pterons and Tubanti while most of its population was miles away as the Temple of Vant attending the wedding of Ka-Zar and Shanna. The minimal defensive force was quickly overcome and killed when the attacking army breached the Aerie's gates and seized the city. When the army then attacked and overran the temple, the Aerians were forced back to Aerie Shalan and soon defeated. At least part of the Aerie was then set afire.[10]

After Ka-Zar, Shanna and Aerian High Priestess Wend were captured, they were brought back to the conquered city where the surviving Aerians had been imprisoned. The allied forces then put Ka-Zar and Wend on trial for crimes they had allegedly committed. During the trial, the Lemuran leaders began to realize that they may have been misled. When the captive Aerians were freed and the Botor tree-people arrived to help them, the tide turned and Ka-Zar was able to force an end to the fighting by threatening the life of the now-comatose Leanne. All five groups agreed to form a peace council, but their first act was to banish Ka-Zar from Pangea for all time.[11]

In the course of the peace talks held in Aerie Shalan, Dherk reminded all present of the First Pangean War, the ancient conflict in which the animal-men rebelled against the Atlanteans who had created them to be their slaves and won their freedom. Ka-Zar, Shanna and Zabu left Aerie Shalan, never to return.[12]

Only months later, a giant armored being who was impersonating (and acting as an agent of) the planet-ravager Terminus rampaged through the Savage Land and then entered Pangea. After incinerating the city of Lemura and all it inhabitants, this false Terminus began walking through the Gorahn Sea, causing it to boil into steam. When observers in Aerie Shalan spotted the steam cloud and then the giant being who was creating it, the leader, Lord Typ, ordered an alarm to be sounded and all of his people to flee. However, all of the fleeing bird-people were killed by the raging atomic storm that advanced ahead of Terminues, a storm which also melted their centuries-old city like wax in a blast furnace.[13]

Residents

Notes

  • Aerie Shalan existed within the region of Pangea that had been known as Shalan since the time of the ancient Atlanteans.[14] The Aerie was probably named after the region, but this has never been confirmed.
  • During the Aerie's earliest appearances, four variations of its name were used before "Shalan" was made the correct spelling. Presumably, all four variations sounded alike.

See Also

Links and References

References

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