The Howling Isles

History

Discovery

Once the Howling Isles were nothing but myth, stories passed around by sailors in taverns and drinking holes across the eastern coast, while scholars and those more educated dismissed any idea of islands beyond the great storm of the Howling Sea. It was only in 483 that someone dared to brave the Howling Sea to prove the existence of the Islands, and that someone was John Young.
  Young was unique among his fellows, a low ranking baron of the Nuzun Peerage, he was known as eccentric, prone to frivolous spending of his family's wealth on whatever caught his fancy and had fascination with the sea, Young would using much of his family's fortune commision a ship, which he named the Perseverance, this ship was built to Young's exact specifications, capable of deep sea travel and to stand against the storms of the Sea. With his new ship, and a crew composed of serfs from his estate and veteran sailors not fully aware of his destination, Young departed the City of Atford where he had his ship built and made his way northeast, into the sea.
  Young's expedition would not be heard from again for over a year, many writing off the man as dead, leaving his widowed wife and infant son behind, yet in late 484 the Perseverance would pull into the Port of Atford, worse for wear and half the crew dead, but still together and Young aboard, the man himself thinner then he was when he departed, and Young would share with everyone his discovery. Land, a series of Islands located 500 miles northeast through the Howling Sea, which he had named the Howling Isles after the Sea, while Young would only land upon one island, which he named Margaret Island in honor of his Wife, he confirmed the existence of at least half a dozen more before a sudden plague and low food made him turn his ship back towards the calmer waters of the continent.
  With the sudden confirmation that the Archipelago was in fact real, a flurry of interest would explode across the eastern half of continent , with the Kingdoms of Lexan and The Nuzun, the preeminent powers in the eastern half of the Continent, immediately beginning preparations for their own expeditions to map and claim these islands for themselves, the Nuzun would enlist the aid of Young who provided the plans and experience to build more ships akin to the Perseverance, meanwhile the Lexan would rely on stolen copies of Young's plans procured by royal agents in 486.

Race for Colonies.

The very First colonial venture in the Howling Isles would take place in 486, when the Royal Nuzun Fleet ships HMS Discovery and Victory made landfall upon the northern side of Margaret Island and established the settlement of New Atford, located on the river which they named Henry, after the infant son of John and Margaret Young, since the expedition was lead by none other then John Young himself, his wife and son having made the voyage with him, as his wife Margaret had no intention of him disappearing on her ever again.
  The Settlement of New Atford would be slow growing, as the thick forested environment made it difficult to establish agriculture and grazing land for livestock, making the settlement reliant on fishing and food imports from the Nuzun Mainland for its first few years. However, even as New Atford struggled to establish itself, the Free City of Tetford sponsored it's own mission to a previously uncharted island which they named New Tetford, establishing a colony of the same name, which would one day grow to be the second largest city in all of the Howling Isles.
  Meanwhile, the Nuzun were not the only ones to begin establishing a presence in the islands, in 489, the Kingdom of Lexan would land upon the island of Marldonwen, then in 491 upon the islands of Balingham, Fiveham and Squid Isle, but while the Nuzun were establishing mostly settlements and trade posts, the Lexan were building Military fortress, with the Crown of Lexan predicting the Howling Isles as a new theater against it's rising rival in Nuzun, and wished to secure its position in what it foresaw as an inevitable war for control of the islands.
  The final major Colonial effort in this period would be in 495, when the City of New Ibarga would be established on the Island of Hartonby, the largest Island in the archipelago, this venture would be sponsored by Noble Ikaran Refugees who had fled the Forzorian Conquest of their homeland just 3 years prior, hoping to establish a settlement for themselves free of the Empire and to rebuild their lost nation. It would also mark the first independent city in the region, not beholden to the Nuzun or Lexan Kingdoms.

First Lexan-Nuzun War

This period of peaceful colonization would come to an end in the Year 516, when the First Nuzun-Lexan war would break out over a border dispute on the continent. While the majority of the fighting would be contained to the mainland, both sides would dispatch naval squadrons to harass shipping in the islands and attempt to seize islands from each other. This front of the war would see light naval skirmishes but very little territory would change hands, the Rason Key would be seized by Nuzun warships in late 516, but would be retaken only a month later by a Nuzun counterattack. It would be in 517 however, that the most famous engagement of the war in the Howling Isles would take place.
  James Young, the 17 year old grandson of John Young, would acquire a letter of marque from the Nuzun Crown and using his family's wealth, with the aid of his illustrious grandfather, commision 5 ships to begin committing attacks of piracy on Lexan Shipping. However James Young's ambitions would far outstrip simply petty acts of piracy upon the Lexan, he set his eyes upon Squid Isle, home to one of the largest Lexan forts in the Howling Isles and it's largest settlement of Las Rocas.
  Young would attack the fort in the middle of the night as a heavy fog set in around the Island, using 4 of his ships, he managed to create a diversion and draw out the 3 Lexan ships that were currently in port, he would then unload the crew of his 5th ship and managed to scale the Fort overlooking the bay leading into the Port of Las Rocas and and seized control of it's guns, so when the Lexan ships returned to port after failing to catch his ships, all the fort cannons began open fire on the confused Lexan ships. Then from the fog emerged his 4 remaining ships and pinned in the Lexan ships, destroying two and capturing a third when it waved the white flag, then sending his men to seize the town from the confused and half-tired defenders.
  Following the capture of the Island, James Young, proving himself just as ambitious and perhaps just as mad as his grandfather, would not turn the Port over to the Nuzun Navy or simply sack it for all it’s worth and move on, would instead hoist over the Fort his own personal Flag, a white Skull with a cannonball in its mouth, red blood dripping from the empty eye sockets upon a Blue field. He proclaimed Las Rocas, which he renamed to Freeport independent of both the Kingdoms Lexan and the Nuzun, becoming the First Pirate Lord of the Howling Isles, turning Freeport into a haven for not just himself but all sorts of pirates, thieves and criminals seeking a new life in the Howling Isles.
  The Formation of Freeport would barely register for both the Lexan and Nuzun, as they were still embroiled in a war that would not end until late 523, and by then Young had fortified Freeport and rallied to him a fleet of over two dozen ships belonging to pirates and brigands from across the Isles, officially establishing the Pirate Lord's Council which would initially consist of himself, alongside Pirates Lords Sir Oscar Merrill, Daniel Willis and Ana Belen Marinero, a loose alliance of pirates dedicating to keep Freeport free and raiding whoever they pleased within the confines of the archipelago.
  The last major naval engagement in the archipelago would be in 522, as both powers began to concentrate more and more of their naval might against each other in hopes of turning the stalemate into a decisive victory before the inevitable peace talks. The Lexan would launch the final move, as the Lexan Fleet launched a full assault upon Margaret Island in hopes of seizing New Atford and cutting off the rest of the Nuzun colonies from the mainland on the Continent, the battle would be one of the largest naval engagements of the war and while it would end after 3 days of bloody fighting in a Nuzun victory, it would come at a heavy cost as half of the Fleet would be destroyed and several ships simply lost in the chaos. Chief among the lost ships was the Exalted Advance, a Royal Galleon and the Flagship of the Royal Nuzun Navy, which would reemerge in 523 dubbed as the Bloody Harpy, a Pirate Ship based out of Freeport and captained by former crewmen Joseph Lawrence, with the rest of the officers long dead from the battle and a later mutiny by the crew.

Peace and Piracy

Following the end of the First Lexan-Nuzun War, both sides would seek to downsize their militaries in hopes of recovering economically from the devastating conflict, but would find such a thing difficult as both had to now contend with an organized and growing pirate menace across the Howling Isles. While the City of Freeport would rapidly grow as the Hub of pirate activity in the archipelago, many port authorities would begin to accept bribes to permit pirate ships to dock and seek repairs, while small pirate ports would pop up across the Isles, essentially allowing them to appear anywhere without warning and attack shipping without provocation.
  This would force both kingdoms to invest in their navies, but with little funds and both already marred by over half a decade of fighting, such investments would be next to impossible and were instead forced to rely on what naval forces they had left to counter the Pirates. Meanwhile, the Banking families of Tetford simply paid the pirates off, entering secret agreements that in return for ships under the Tetford standard being spared, they would see stolen goods elsewhere for the pirates, allowing them to expand their wealth, especially in Tetford banks, with many Pirate Lords becoming richer then the Lords of the Nuzun or Lexan.
  New Ibarga would also suffer a seismic change during this period, with the Nobles who ruled the city overthrown in a mostly bloodless revolution in 524, with the Republic of New Ibarga established, with all male citizens granted voting rights, the first of what is considered the Modern Republics. This would send shockwaves across the archipelago, with many in both Nuzun and Lexan colonies slowly growing resentful of what they viewed as distant nobles, unable or unwilling to protect them against pirates and exploiting their homes for all they were worth.
  Currently, the year is 530, and such ideas are young and only have hold in the foolish, for truly the archipelago does not belong to these common people, nor to the proud lords of Nuzun or Lexan, now the archipelago is the domain of those strong enough to seize their destiny, they sail from secret coves and fortresses, or from their Grand Haven of Freeport, they host flags of Black, Red, White, Blue or whatever combination of the four, the sight of which has sent their victims into terror and despair, they are the Pirates of the Howling Isles, and they are as untamed as the islands they call home.

Geography

Physical Geography

The most defining feature of the Howling Isles is the Howling Sea itself. The Howling Sea encircles the entire Continent, and takes its name from the massive storms that are a daily fact for those that attempt to sail into its depths, the howling winds of which are so loud that many find it impossible to even hear their own thoughts.
  Despite the name however, the Howling Isles are not a frequent home to the storms of the Howling Sea, the islands seemingly serving as a beacon of tranquility and calm within the middle of the storms. The Howling Isles instead rarely get clouds, they are sunny and bright, home to soft winds and calm tides, the exact opposite of the sea around the archipelago.
  The islands of the archipelago are diverse, from the thick forests of Margaret Island, to the sweeping plains of New Tetford, the rocky Rason Key to the snowy Island of Hartonby, the geography of the islands have leant to themselves to all kinds of industries and ways of life the settlers upon them have created. Upon New Tetford, sweeping plains are grazed by sheep and cattle imported from the continent, Margaret Island has become a hub of trade and exporting special howling wood from their forests, while the island of Haronby is home to breeding grounds for a special breed of dog capable of traversing the thick snows with ease.
  Perhaps the most important feature of the isles, and one that has been taken advantage of by the pirates that prowl it’s sea, is the abundance of sea caves and secret coves across its many islands, many of which have been turned into secret lairs and bases for the Pirates of the Howling Sea. These secret caves and coves can be found anywhere in the Isles, and where there is one known to a sailor, there is certain to be half a dozen more ready to be discovered and put to use for whatever purposes, nefarious or honest, that its discoverer decides.

Political Geography

Territorial Control in the Howling Isles is split into five, with five distinct entities holding territory in the islands, those being: The Kingdom of The Nuzun, the Kingdom of Lexan, The Free City of Tetford, Freeport and the Republic of New Ibarga. New Ibarga’s Control is relegated to the Island of Haronby, with its power centered in the southern half of the island around the City of New Ibarga, while Tetford’s control is entirely based around the Island of New Tetford and the smaller island of The Steep Haven, which Tetford Bankers and Merchants bought the majority of off the Nuzun Crown in 521 to help finance the war with Lexan.
  Freeport by far has the most widespread, but also most shadowy control in the Isles, officially it only directly controls Squid Isle, where Freeport is based, but pirates affiliated to the pirate haven operate out of secret strongholds across the archipelago. In addition the Pirates of Freeport run all sorts of clandestine business across the isles, including if rumours are to be believed, secret trade deals with the banks of Tetford to circumnavigate efforts by the Nuzun to prevent the pirates from selling the goods they steal from Nuzun shipping.
  The Lexan have the most militant presence in the isles, with military fortresses and towns dotting the easternmost islands of the archipelago. Including Balingham, Fiveham, Gralven Haven and Marldonwen and Thelninch, which serves as the extent of Lexan control in the archipelago. The rest of the Howling Isles are dominated by the Kingdom of The Nuzun, with New Atford on Margaret Island having grown to serve as the center of the Crown’s efforts to secure the islands in the name of the King. The Nuzun however have long struggled to secure such a grip, with its fleet still not fully restored from the devastating battle of Margaret Island and piracy running rampant, hindering shipping and cutting off many of the valuable goods from the islands, including the Gold Mines of the Northern Barnacle Refuge.