At some point, approximately 800 years ago, the Eladrin settled the island of Frosthaven.  They built numerous structures (such as the Shadowed Vault) and some fortified villages (such as Frosthaven, and the Ayre), but after five hundred years, something went horribly wrong.  As a journal fragment from Eladrin bard Ptolomus says, the Eladrin lord Meiwyrm led his people into the Dark, and countless soul were lost trying to stop him.  In less than a year, the Eladrin on Frosthaven vanished, leaving behind their buildings and more questions than answers.

The next wave of settlement began 90 years ago, starting with the town of Croatan.  Two years later, Sealwatch was founded, followed by a group of pilgrims devoted to the Raven Queen eight years after that who built the Raven's Nest in the heart of the island.  While Croatan was being expanded, traces of the earlier settlements turned up, attracting the famed ranger Avron the Gray and his companions.  Their expedition to map the island vanished with barely a trace.

Fifty-seven years ago, in the depths of winter, Croatan became a ghost town.  No trace of the settlers were ever found.  Croatan minted their own coins in silver (with a salmon on one side), and copper (with a pine tree on one side), and finding traces of the coins might lead to the fate of the settlers.  The two stories told most recently to explain this are -- 1) Croatan was overrun by lycanthropes, and the island purified it, or 2) The legacy of Meiwyrm came from the Dark to claim the people of Croatan as slaves.  Neither story has been confirmed or denyed yet.

In late spring of this year, journals belonging to one of Avron the Gray's bards and cartographers turned up in Sealwatch.  This began the new wave of exploration of the island.