Mythic Art of Noriiland

Noriiland

Art Inspired by the Ancient Stories of Noriiland

One needs a bit of faith in the divine for the spectacular to reveal itself. Erin Behane

Noriiland - An Introduction

Since the human species first walked on planet Earth three hundred thousand years ago, we’ve been looking up at the skies and contemplating what those sparkling dots of light floating in the blackness of space were. As our history evolved so did our thinking about these lights and we began to wonder if other beings lived out in the vastness of the universe. But it wasn’t until the latter half of the twentieth century when humans took a great leap forward and started to truly explore beyond our own planet that our understanding of our solar system grew exponentially. We started, of course, with the moon, and soon began to move farther out into our solar system: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, then Neptune. Eventually, we would even go as far as Pluto and beyond. We went inward toward the sun to Venus and Mercury. What was just science fiction was now becoming reality.

But we still had no evidence that other intelligent beings, or any other life forms, shared this universe with us. Then in February of 1985 the SETI project began operations with their radio telescopes listening for a signal that would confirm that we were not alone. Unfortunately, nothing happened even if there were a few tantalizing signals. As the decades passed and became centuries, still no word from other beings in our universe.

But now, over five hundred years after SETI’s first steps of exploration, through the use of our most sophisticated AI scientific instruments, we have received an undeniable signal from another civilization within our Milky Way galaxy. This signal has been received numerous times and has been confirmed by many of our most sophisticated AI and human science teams. The signals we received came from Sector 5 of the Milky Way galaxy.

We have been planning for this eventuality. Our most advanced AI science robotics teams have been traveling through our galaxy for more than a century. Each sector has two teams and there are ten teams in all. The two Sector 5 teams are currently on their way toward that planet. Their systems have locked on to the signal and we all await what they may discover.

If there are intelligent beings living on this planet, what will they be like? Friendly, hostile? Will they look like us or will they be unrecognizable from the form we take? Time will tell. The two ships should arrive at the planet within the next few months.

The Story Continues

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On the far western side of Noriiland lies a vast woodland forest called the Woods of the Western Lands that stretches from the southern edge of the plateau to the northern edge and one hundred and fifty miles from the western edge inland. The woodland is filled with game and was used by many of the tribes as a source of food.

In the Cave of Knowledge, we discovered many documents that told the history of the Woods of the Western Lands such as the six sites that had some spiritual significance to the people. When Queen Joan first appeared in Noriiland it was a few miles from the eastern edge of the forest in a place now known as the Queen Joan's trees. It was revered as a holy space and was visited by Noriiland pilgrims seeking insights into their lives. And the other five sites, The Portal, The Talking Tree, The Mystery Grove, Where Wind Stars, and The Tree of Peace, all held special significance to the people.

Within each document was a map showing the location of each site, and since we were now committed to discovering everything we could about this civilization, we decided to visit each site and see what it had in store for us. Click on each of the images to discover what we found when we visited each site.