Song of Promise

Cultural event

The survivors of the storm begin to rebuild and settle the islands. The mercenary hobgoblins break-away and form their own tribes.

With the sea folk marooned on one of the Alphatian Isles, their first thought was to try and repair their vessels and get home. This proved quite tricky, as they were not proficient in making their watercraft, nor navigation of the high seas, accustomed as they were to simply following the coastline of Westeros from port to port. But they persevered nonetheless, and established the first human settlement on Alphatia, exploring the island they were on over the course of the years.   At first, exploration of the islands was tentative and minimal, for the Varisians were not interested in staying long enough to settle this rugged and inhospitable place. The years wore on, and the next generations of Varisians were born and raised. As it became clear that rebuilding the fleet and gaining the skills to sail back to their old homeland would be the work of several lifetimes, the Varisians became determined to provide a better life for their descendants. An existence dependent on being stranded on a remote island with no contact to the rest of humanity, seemed bleak. They bestowed on their offspring the song of promise; to become great sailors, and one day return over the sea to their ancestral homeland. With the energy of a new song now directing the destiny of the sea folk, they turned in earnest to creating positive relations with the other races, establishing mutually beneficial trade and learning the secrets of the Alphatian Isles. In the coming years conflicts with the hobgoblins who were notoriously opportunistic raiders, became common.   The Hobgoblins had traveled with the sea folk from Westeros as guards and crew. When the boats had crashed on the island the Hobgoblins had founded their own village away from the human settlements. Their villages were far more ordered than the Varisians, the Hobgoblins wanting to return to their militaristic ways with a clear chain of command and structured behaviors. The Hobgoblins though were few in number and none of them had any real knowledge of crafting tools or weapons. The warlike creatures began to send out patrols to steal food and equipment from their neighbors, making use of their large size and military training. The Hobgoblins also began to capture women from the human settlement to help swell their numbers. A hobgoblin and human mating would always produce hobgoblin children, usually in litters of 4-6. So the two tribes grew and developed, the Varisians building and crafting, the Hobgoblins raiding and stealing.