Difference between revisions of "Islands of the Southwestern Threshold"

Revision as of 14:40, 2 August 2012

Forsaken Isle: Island sitting outside the traveled sea routes, and avoided by most mariners due to the ghostly dangers said to haunt its ruin-strewn shores.

Highcliff: An uninhabited island of high cliffs, difficult to access from the water, atop which pelagic seabirds make their nests in great numbers... eggs, poultry, and fresh water can be retrieved by crews dedicated enough to ascend the cliffs.

Jejo: A small group of rocky islands jutting up from the sea, without permanent inhabitants.

Karathay: A sandy island kingdom, independent of Realm influence. Its inhabitants are said to be tainted by Wyld mutation, and are known for their expertise as weavers of plant fibres and seaweed, and at crafting local coral, as well as their seagoing balsa rafts. Karathay is home to a fortified Guild factory, the merchant cabal’s primary outpost in the region.

Murak: A large hilly island, home to the Shogunate of Murak, a state independent of Realm influence built upon ruins from the First Age. Known for its smelted metals, a rare commodity in the West, and tales of its accomplishments in artifice. Its ore-rich soil is ill-suited for agriculture, and so it imports significant foodstuffs, though a hardy local species of plum tree provides fruit for production of rakia, a sweet liqueur exported widely to surrounding islands.

Parak Atoll: A coral island embracing a shallow lagoon, the Parak atoll is not permanently inhabited and has no sources of fresh water (nor metals) to support a local population. Its lagoon does, however, provide sheltered anchor for passing ships caught in ill-weather, and winds have brought soil and rain to settle and support small groves of coconut trees which can be exploited for food and wood. The atoll has recently been claimed by the nearby Suzerainty of Bushan, and their war canoes are frequently seen in nearby waters.

Pinapha: A rocky island whose poor soil can support only a sparse existence for its inhabitants, Pinapha is notable only for the powerful manse that takes advantage of its location on a confluence of dragon lines. The Temple of the Rolling Surf, dedicated to the Immaculate Dragon Danaa’d, is controlled by the Immaculate Order and used as a monastic retreat, where Immaculate monks can devote themselves to meditation and self-perfection without material or social distractions.

Pinnacle Rock: A rounded spire of rock which juts straight upward from the ocean depths... its surface bears marks which might once have been carvings but have long since worn away beneath the assault of wind and waves. Lacking significant area or deep crevasses in which seabirds or plant life might settle, the barren rock provides little of use to passing mariners.

Seaweed Fields: A wide expanse of ocean where local currents have brought together a mass of seaweed, growing in long fronds valued by the weavers of Karathay. Fishermen also frequent the area, to catch conger eels seeking shelter beneath the cover of the seaweed.

Sunken Isle: Whatever it might once have been, the Sunken Isle today exists as the half-crumbled lip of a large volcano jutting from the ocean, the now-flooded caldera providing shelter but little sustenance to passing ships. Beneath the surface traces of habitation can be found, ruins speaking of settlements destroyed in a long-passed eruption. While some foolhardy divers hope to find treasures within such ruins, the more reasonable do not waste their time: in the millennia or more the since the Isle was laid low, all of value has surely been stripped or worn away.

Sushima: Large island kingdom, satrapy of the Realm under the care of House Peleps. Sushima’s capital Still Waters is home to an Imperial Navy port, and the island is primarily known for agricultural exports, primarily breadfruit, pineapples, and the salted meat of a local species of wild boar.
See: Sushiman Cuisine

Winding Isles: An archipelago of some three dozen scattered islands of varying sizes, many of which are inhabited by small tribes who subsist on fishing and kelp-gathering. The tribes lack a unifying government, but are generally peaceful, wary of strangers but willing to trade what little they have for baubles and valuables. Due to their weakness compared to their neighbours, the tribes of the Winding Isles are frequent targets for raiders from nearby kingdoms (primarily Karathay, and Bushan), who seize food and slaves on a regular basis.