A Brief History of Layla:)

The area known as Layla:) has been inhabited since the Ancient Times by the Elves (of the Earth) and the Driads (of the Trees). There are also Faeries (of the Sky) but they're rather anti-social.

Much more recently, the area was "settled" by French and Scottish immigrants. The French settled mostly in the area now known as "Le For�t des R�ves", the name of which was taken from the native designation "Forest of Dreams" (of course, in the original Elvish and Driadic languages). The French were the first to name the area around Moosetail Lake "La Place des Orignals" ("The Place of the Moose"), and also named the lake and river (now known in translation).

The Scots settled in the wild plains of Layla:) and Newshregsburg, and along the coast of Calypso Beach. While the French were busy trying to catch faeries (they had heard the dust was an aphrodisiac, not that the French need aphrodisiacs), the Scots formed the first government of Layla:). At the time, the entire town was called Newshregsburg.

With such an annoying name, the area languished both in population and economy. An influx of Greek settlers changed things somewhat when they landed on a beautiful stretch of beach and named it after their favorite sea nymph, Calypso. (Greek Mythology lesson: Calypso was a bad girl who delayed Odysseus for seven years while he was trying to get home. Yay, Calypso!) The Greeks promptly bought a pile of real estate from the Scots and opened a bunch of mediocre pizza houses. Luckily, Calypso Beach soon developed into a highly residential area, with the exception of a small downtown area with schools and funky boutiques. But there are still too many pizza houses.

Over the years, the area known as Newshregsburg became infested with WASPs and got to be very rich, very prestigious, and very snobby. Only pretentious people want to live there now. And some crazy artists up on Skimmer Pond, at the Art Colony (est. 1938).

In the 1960s, influenced by the music of the Beach Boys (and probably a little something else...), a bunch of surfers headed to the southerly coast of Layla:), established a commune, and named it Surf Strip.

In the 1970s, influenced by the music of Eric Clapton (and probably a little something else...), a real estate developer from Poland bought the boring plains area east of Calypso Beach, south of Newshregsburg, and west of Le For�t, and dubbed it Layla. Then, in what was undoubtedly the area's most famous act of weirdness, he added a smiley face to the end of the name. Have A Nice Day!

In late 1979, the leaders of Le For�t, Newshregsburg, Calypso Beach, Surf Strip, and Layla:) got together and decided to combine their resources. After a few furious rounds of Foosball, the name Layla:) won out as the name of the whole town, although the boroughs would continue to be known by their historical names for postal purposes.

In the 1990s, with the swelling influence of the Internet and "emoticons", the city became commonly known by "Layla:)"; that is to say, with the smiley emoticon as opposed to a graphic smiley. Although on some computers, it still made no difference. Oh well.