Enthrorra (enn-THROR-rah)

Enthrorra is a damp, misty isle swathed in near-perpetual fog. Tales are passed from generation to generation about the ghosts and spirits haunting the barrows and lurking just beyond torchlight, not all of them ancestral. The rocky hills and mountains thrusting sharply into the sky only add more tension to an already cautious landscape riddled with sudden drops and many a haunt of the night. Above them all, however, rise the dragons. Majestic, powerful, intimidating creatures, the dragons and the humanoids have a tumultuous relationship. Some say that dragons and humanoids were never meant to live together, that the violence and drama between them is inevitable whenever the two forces are in close proximity. Others though, others respect, admire, even worship the mighty creatures as near-godlike beings, relics of a past age where mighty heroes forged themselves into legends worthy of standing toe to toe with even the most luminous among dragonkind.   Some have taken up the cause of fostering peace and harmony between people and dragonkind, telling stories of great compassion and teamwork between their peoples. Others have taken an unforgiving path, and aspire to be the diplomatic forces standing in between the two factions and keeping them from colliding head on. These are the Mantelion, the watchers who act as a go between, serving both but belonging to none. There are precious few of them, for that lifestyle can be a harsh and lonely one, but it can also be one of great reward.   The peoples of Enthrorra are arrayed in small groups called kinships. Every one of these kinships possess perhaps a dozen to four dozen people, and lead a semi-migratory life as they follow the paths of the stars across the rolling misty steppes they call home. Long houses of sturdy timber are constructed every number of years, once the heavens have moved enough to indicate where their ancestors are pointing them to. These peoples refer to themselves not by species, but as ‘Kin’. It is possible to become Kin, if one gains the recognition of enough in a kinship and are accepted into the group. Kin respect and revere their ancestors, giving them offerings at every meal and sometimes saying a few words of gratitude or supplication with it as is sometimes appropriate.   Dragons figure highly in their iconography and storytelling, although other common creatures to appear are crowned elk, large seabirds, and giant orange butterflies that flit amongst the dangerous fens and wetland. Elk are mostly depicted as rivals and fierce warriors, a force to be respected. Seabirds are seen as far and often lonely travelers, as well as portents of great change. The orange butterflies which haunt fens are viewed cautiously but reverently, considered to be messengers from the ancestors. They can bring good or ill tidings, depending on the message they’ve been tasked with, and it is not always clear which.