Thousand Isles
Lying to the east of Galzhür, south of Jin-El Aethis, and north and east of the Vashyl twins is a messy splattering of islands, small and large, from small atolls to large continental islands. The cultures scattered across the islands are as varied as the region itself. Peoples on islands separated by mere nautical miles can be as different as those Kolburra and Galzhür. Nearly every island is inhabited by some intelligent race or another -- often only one due to the regions long history of constant conflict and competition.
To this day, this spirit of competition is pervasive, manifesting itself in the form of rampant regional piracy. Merchant ships passing through are almost always armed or escorted by the elven royal navy, who are often considered little better than the pirates as they charge a heavy tax for this protection. Still, nearly five percent of all goods passing through the Isles is lost, either stolen by the pirates or used to bribe them. While fatalities among the merchant mariners are relatively rare, the theft has prompted the elven military, rather controversially, to involve itself in the affairs of its neighbors, often forcibly. While not considered, technically, to be a war proper, elves kill perceived pirates and are killed by them.
However, the Thousand Isles is a big place. Perhaps geographically wider-strewn than any of the continents yet fully discovered. There are many parts of this large conglomeration of kingdoms that are welcoming to outsiders and even oft-sought getaway locations for world travellers. From the beautiful beaches of Aiolia to the famed city of Ošgarde on Kingsisle, races and peoples of all kinds can be found lounging and exploring this vast and beautiful world.
The history of the Thousand Isles can be broadly categorized into four main phases: Isolation, First Contacts, the Jujii Interregnum, and the Age of Pirates, which is the current phase. Some historians have suggested that the elven interference in the region over the last half-century has ushered in a new phase of history in the region, to be called Intervention, but for the sake of this article, I shall stick to the canonical four phases that have been established by historians.
Isolation is the first phase of known history of the Thousand Isles. Of course, preceding this, dear readers, you must recall that Morlu Age was crashing to an end, and we know very little of Morlu times, as many of the records that that ancient society may have left were destroyed by the Morlu Cataclysm. Thus, this phase of history lasted from the end of the Morlu Age, 0 AC, until about 568 AC, which is the first recorded major war between neighboring powers. This age was characterized by a lack of contact (as one may have guessed) between anyone but the closest of neighbors. Those living upon the same island, of course, would have met each other during this time period, but, generally, only one race or species would survive to dominate each island, with few exceptions coming from the larger islands with multiple large living spaces. There were no powerful kingdoms in this era. Most societies' main focus was merely subsisting, largely through extensive fishing. Agriculture was not very prevalent at this time, as most of the islands in the chain had little or no arable land available for cultivation, not to mention that many of the crops that could be grown in the climates found on many of the islands were of very little use as far as community survival went. Rather interestingly, the intense focus on fishing would lead to the rise of more and more powerful naval powers in the region -- many of the most talented mariners still come from the Thousand Isles, and they also cook the best fish in all Ultor. Isolation was brought to an end by the rise of the Hamjii, small kingdoms often ruled over by a warlord who controlled much of the food supply of the burgeoning settlements, usually by purchasing, stealing, or building the most ships from which food could be collected. Notably, the kingdoms of Leutra, Nolis, and, later, Juje began to grow exceptionally large and began to control more and more of their neighbors through military hegemony.
The first phase of Isles history was brought to an end in 568 with the first major war between the neighboring powers of Leutra and Nolis sparked over territory on the rather large island of Culcerna. It is widely believed by historians that Culcerna was very desirable for its capacity to grow olives, a much-desired crop at the time, which served a multitude of purposes, from medicine to food seasoning. The Leutrans were lizardfolk hailing from the swamps and jungles of the Leutra Jungle-Chain who sought greater wealth and power over their neighbors. The Noles, from the island bearing their name, likewise sought greater wealth, and were part of an ambitious human empire seeking to establish a secure trade route from Vashyl to Galzhür. Both the Leutrans and the Noles had subdued their immediate neighbors, and their expansionist policies made a war between the kingdoms inevitable. While this conflict was of no great consequence at its conclusion, it marked the first time that regional kingdoms fielded armies recruited from or supported by subject peoples. While the Leutrans were notoriously mistrustful of non-lizardfolk, and preferred only to heavily tax their subjects, the Noles believed that loyalty could be bought, and so, in return for lower taxes and more generous financial support, recruited levies from their subjects and sent them to fight the kingdom's wars. The (first) war for Culcerna ended with Leutran dominance on the island, though it would change hands many times throughout this period of Isles history, and was of very little import in the wider historical scope. Following this first war, many, many small kingdoms rose and fell just as quickly, and there was a general increase in the amount of warring in the region. Whether the other islands were copying the example set by the Leutrans and Noles, or whether it was just an evolution of the expanding societies of the Isolation age is unknown, but the result, after nearly ninety years of constant conflict, was a large collection of depleted and weak states ripe for takeover by a stronger power.
A near century of conflict had, by 652 AC, severely depleted the manpower and resources of most of the small kingdoms of the Thousand Isles. The kingdoms of Leutra and Nolis were but shadows of their former selves, though they were still far more powerful than their neighbors, but a rising power in the east was soon to outshine them all. During the First Contacts period of Isles history, the fledgling kingdom of Juje, comprised mainly of a race known as Vesas-Alva or, "Fish Elf" in ancient elvish, managed to carve a small piece of territory out for themselves, centered on the eponymous island of the Iboaean chain. Unlike Nolis or Leutra, Iboaea had much arable land that could sustain a relatively large population compared to other islands in the region. As such, the Jujii had little need to forcibly expand to their neighbors, especially considering that they seemed relatively uninterested in the accumulation of material wealth that so preoccupied the neighboring giants. The Jujii favored a much more spiritual life, focused on improvement of the individual self through meditation, communication with the gods, and adherence to a strict traditional code of ethics set down, allegedly, by the god and goddess of the sea, Imoji and Yuji, respectively. Material wealth, to the Jujii, was simply unimportant. It was not frowned upon, nor given any special status, much as none of us in the modern world care about the number of words others know. Interest in controlling their neighbors, however, grew steadily throughout the First Contact period, as neighboring kingdoms began to raid Jujii territory more and more frequently. While those on the interior of Iboaea would normally not have been particularly affected by these small raids, the amphibious nature of the Vesas-Alva, more properly known today as Pelisarians or fishfolk, created an interesting situation throughout the empire, whereby most of the citizens of Juje travelled frequently to the coast to visit one of the many all-important shrine cities. These cities were works of grand architecture dedicated to Imoji and Yuji, and were of great cultural significance to the Jujii. When one of these cities was raided in 648 AC, public opinion was permanently swayed towards taking action, and in the following years an army was raised to prevent such attacks from happening on Jujii holy sites ever again. As it so happens, the Jujii appeared to subscribe to the age-old advice that "the best defense is a good offense" and, when their army was raised in 652 AC, began sweeping over neighboring kingdoms and subjugating them. You will recall that, as previously mentioned, nearly every other kingdom was exhausted by the constant warring, and they were no match for the fresh, well-funded, and well-equipped Jujii army and navy. It appears that once the Jujii had had a taste of empire, they wanted more, and they swept westward, overtaking the old kingdoms of Leutra and Nolis, and establishing themselves as the masters of the majority of the Thousand Isles. In all corners of their empire, Pelisarians were resettled and temples dedicated to the various Jujii gods were commissioned, many of which still exist today. The results of this conquest were far-reaching and profound. For perhaps the first time in its history, the region was united under a single banner. Food became less and less of a concern, and the focus of Juje shifted to commerce with the continental powers of Jin-El Aethis and Galzür. The kingdom became very rich in a short time, and quality of life for the islanders improved drastically. Along with this, the resettlement of so many fishfolk means that, even today, Pelisarians can be found strewn throughout the Thousand Isles, and their culture has seeped into all of the cultures present in the modern Thousand Isles. However, unity does not appear to be the natural state of the Isles, and things began to fall apart almost as quickly as they came together. The empire, at its inception, went through a golden age of expansion and enrichment that lasted for nearly one hundred years (many generations of Pelisarian, who only live to be around 20 human years of age). But underneath the serene appearance of the empire, dissent was always bubbling just below the surface. Many races and cultures chafed under Jujii rule. The Jujii did nothing to suppress local religion and culture, but they forced their subjects to partake of Jujii culture and worship. Racial purists like the Leutrans could not abide this insult, and so there was always some rebellious plot or other threatening to break the empire apart. Finally, in the year 815 AC, the Jujii emperor Ihibishnic stepped down from the throne and disbanded the empire following a deadly revolt in Leutra that saw much of his royal cabinet killed or jailed. This rebellion, combined with recent typhoons that swept through the region, had weakened the empire to the point that it could no longer support its massive size. In some portions of the empire, the Pelisarians faced retribution by a newly freed purist population, while in others the news was greeted with great sadness as the empire that had made so many lives more peaceful and prosperous fell to ruin.
Alongside the Jujii empire fell the quality of life of those who had lived in it. Many Pelisarians found themselves persecuted by their former subjects/neighbors and many non-fishfolk found that their lives returned to the violent status-quo that had dominated the region before the arrival of the Jujii. The main difference being that the advancement of the continental powers to the north and west led to an increase in trade going to and through the Isles, which led to the astute observation that it was easier to take the goods of the travelling merchants than to acquire them legally. What I allude to, of course, is the rapid increase in piracy and the emergence of the so-called pirate-kings at the beginning of the Pirate Age. As the amount of goods flowing through the Isles increases, so did piracy, and the discovery of how to use the vast oil and mineral reserves on Vashyl Minor only accelerated mercantile activity in the region. Many of the pirate-kings turned out to be former vassals of the Jujii who had not quite lost their grip on power, and who turned to a new source of income to stabilize their little corner of the Isles. Of course, the introduction of rampant piracy to the region has done little to unite the Isles politically, and it is suspected that the multitude of pirate-kings has actually increased competition between rival groups and thus prevented the reformation of kingdoms like Leutra and Nolis, who seemed to be on the verge of reemerging following the fall of the Jujii. This increase in competition and emergence of piracy as the new norm brings us all the way to the present day. Merchants passing through the region long sought the support of the continental powers in order to safeguard goods passing through the Isles, as sailing around them is prohibitively expensive and time-consuming. Until about ten years ago, the continental powers resisted this influence, but, finally, in the midst of increasing piracy and product loss, the elven royal court at Jin-El Aethis was forced by the merchant class to take action on the matter, and a contingent of the elven military was created to deal with the pirates and protect elven merchant shipping in the region (or anyone else's shipping for a fee...). While the declaration of this new task force was well received by the public, the methods that the military began to use in the Isles quickly became a point of contestation between interventionists and anti-intervention thinkers. The military was known to raid suspected pirate outposts with no hard evidence of any piracy, and of hanging anyone suspected of being a pirate, with or without proof. The result, as it seems, is a feedback loop wherein innocents are likely harmed, which only increases anti-elven sentiment in the region, leading to more violent pirates, who in turn create a harsher military response. The situation in the Isles may not seem to be of great import given other events of our day, such as the Ghostlands Plague and the Krik'tha Flood, but mark my words -- we are reaching, faster and faster, a point at which open war will break out in the Isles, and we elves will not win.
History
The history of the Thousand Isles can be broadly categorized into four main phases: Isolation, First Contacts, the Jujii Interregnum, and the Age of Pirates, which is the current phase. Some historians have suggested that the elven interference in the region over the last half-century has ushered in a new phase of history in the region, to be called Intervention, but for the sake of this article, I shall stick to the canonical four phases that have been established by historians.
Isolation (0 AC - 568 AC)
Isolation is the first phase of known history of the Thousand Isles. Of course, preceding this, dear readers, you must recall that Morlu Age was crashing to an end, and we know very little of Morlu times, as many of the records that that ancient society may have left were destroyed by the Morlu Cataclysm. Thus, this phase of history lasted from the end of the Morlu Age, 0 AC, until about 568 AC, which is the first recorded major war between neighboring powers. This age was characterized by a lack of contact (as one may have guessed) between anyone but the closest of neighbors. Those living upon the same island, of course, would have met each other during this time period, but, generally, only one race or species would survive to dominate each island, with few exceptions coming from the larger islands with multiple large living spaces. There were no powerful kingdoms in this era. Most societies' main focus was merely subsisting, largely through extensive fishing. Agriculture was not very prevalent at this time, as most of the islands in the chain had little or no arable land available for cultivation, not to mention that many of the crops that could be grown in the climates found on many of the islands were of very little use as far as community survival went. Rather interestingly, the intense focus on fishing would lead to the rise of more and more powerful naval powers in the region -- many of the most talented mariners still come from the Thousand Isles, and they also cook the best fish in all Ultor. Isolation was brought to an end by the rise of the Hamjii, small kingdoms often ruled over by a warlord who controlled much of the food supply of the burgeoning settlements, usually by purchasing, stealing, or building the most ships from which food could be collected. Notably, the kingdoms of Leutra, Nolis, and, later, Juje began to grow exceptionally large and began to control more and more of their neighbors through military hegemony.
First Contacts (568 AC - 652 AC)
The first phase of Isles history was brought to an end in 568 with the first major war between the neighboring powers of Leutra and Nolis sparked over territory on the rather large island of Culcerna. It is widely believed by historians that Culcerna was very desirable for its capacity to grow olives, a much-desired crop at the time, which served a multitude of purposes, from medicine to food seasoning. The Leutrans were lizardfolk hailing from the swamps and jungles of the Leutra Jungle-Chain who sought greater wealth and power over their neighbors. The Noles, from the island bearing their name, likewise sought greater wealth, and were part of an ambitious human empire seeking to establish a secure trade route from Vashyl to Galzhür. Both the Leutrans and the Noles had subdued their immediate neighbors, and their expansionist policies made a war between the kingdoms inevitable. While this conflict was of no great consequence at its conclusion, it marked the first time that regional kingdoms fielded armies recruited from or supported by subject peoples. While the Leutrans were notoriously mistrustful of non-lizardfolk, and preferred only to heavily tax their subjects, the Noles believed that loyalty could be bought, and so, in return for lower taxes and more generous financial support, recruited levies from their subjects and sent them to fight the kingdom's wars. The (first) war for Culcerna ended with Leutran dominance on the island, though it would change hands many times throughout this period of Isles history, and was of very little import in the wider historical scope. Following this first war, many, many small kingdoms rose and fell just as quickly, and there was a general increase in the amount of warring in the region. Whether the other islands were copying the example set by the Leutrans and Noles, or whether it was just an evolution of the expanding societies of the Isolation age is unknown, but the result, after nearly ninety years of constant conflict, was a large collection of depleted and weak states ripe for takeover by a stronger power.
The Jujii Interregnum (652 AC - 815 AC)
A near century of conflict had, by 652 AC, severely depleted the manpower and resources of most of the small kingdoms of the Thousand Isles. The kingdoms of Leutra and Nolis were but shadows of their former selves, though they were still far more powerful than their neighbors, but a rising power in the east was soon to outshine them all. During the First Contacts period of Isles history, the fledgling kingdom of Juje, comprised mainly of a race known as Vesas-Alva or, "Fish Elf" in ancient elvish, managed to carve a small piece of territory out for themselves, centered on the eponymous island of the Iboaean chain. Unlike Nolis or Leutra, Iboaea had much arable land that could sustain a relatively large population compared to other islands in the region. As such, the Jujii had little need to forcibly expand to their neighbors, especially considering that they seemed relatively uninterested in the accumulation of material wealth that so preoccupied the neighboring giants. The Jujii favored a much more spiritual life, focused on improvement of the individual self through meditation, communication with the gods, and adherence to a strict traditional code of ethics set down, allegedly, by the god and goddess of the sea, Imoji and Yuji, respectively. Material wealth, to the Jujii, was simply unimportant. It was not frowned upon, nor given any special status, much as none of us in the modern world care about the number of words others know. Interest in controlling their neighbors, however, grew steadily throughout the First Contact period, as neighboring kingdoms began to raid Jujii territory more and more frequently. While those on the interior of Iboaea would normally not have been particularly affected by these small raids, the amphibious nature of the Vesas-Alva, more properly known today as Pelisarians or fishfolk, created an interesting situation throughout the empire, whereby most of the citizens of Juje travelled frequently to the coast to visit one of the many all-important shrine cities. These cities were works of grand architecture dedicated to Imoji and Yuji, and were of great cultural significance to the Jujii. When one of these cities was raided in 648 AC, public opinion was permanently swayed towards taking action, and in the following years an army was raised to prevent such attacks from happening on Jujii holy sites ever again. As it so happens, the Jujii appeared to subscribe to the age-old advice that "the best defense is a good offense" and, when their army was raised in 652 AC, began sweeping over neighboring kingdoms and subjugating them. You will recall that, as previously mentioned, nearly every other kingdom was exhausted by the constant warring, and they were no match for the fresh, well-funded, and well-equipped Jujii army and navy. It appears that once the Jujii had had a taste of empire, they wanted more, and they swept westward, overtaking the old kingdoms of Leutra and Nolis, and establishing themselves as the masters of the majority of the Thousand Isles. In all corners of their empire, Pelisarians were resettled and temples dedicated to the various Jujii gods were commissioned, many of which still exist today. The results of this conquest were far-reaching and profound. For perhaps the first time in its history, the region was united under a single banner. Food became less and less of a concern, and the focus of Juje shifted to commerce with the continental powers of Jin-El Aethis and Galzür. The kingdom became very rich in a short time, and quality of life for the islanders improved drastically. Along with this, the resettlement of so many fishfolk means that, even today, Pelisarians can be found strewn throughout the Thousand Isles, and their culture has seeped into all of the cultures present in the modern Thousand Isles. However, unity does not appear to be the natural state of the Isles, and things began to fall apart almost as quickly as they came together. The empire, at its inception, went through a golden age of expansion and enrichment that lasted for nearly one hundred years (many generations of Pelisarian, who only live to be around 20 human years of age). But underneath the serene appearance of the empire, dissent was always bubbling just below the surface. Many races and cultures chafed under Jujii rule. The Jujii did nothing to suppress local religion and culture, but they forced their subjects to partake of Jujii culture and worship. Racial purists like the Leutrans could not abide this insult, and so there was always some rebellious plot or other threatening to break the empire apart. Finally, in the year 815 AC, the Jujii emperor Ihibishnic stepped down from the throne and disbanded the empire following a deadly revolt in Leutra that saw much of his royal cabinet killed or jailed. This rebellion, combined with recent typhoons that swept through the region, had weakened the empire to the point that it could no longer support its massive size. In some portions of the empire, the Pelisarians faced retribution by a newly freed purist population, while in others the news was greeted with great sadness as the empire that had made so many lives more peaceful and prosperous fell to ruin.
Age of Pirates (815 AC - Present)
Alongside the Jujii empire fell the quality of life of those who had lived in it. Many Pelisarians found themselves persecuted by their former subjects/neighbors and many non-fishfolk found that their lives returned to the violent status-quo that had dominated the region before the arrival of the Jujii. The main difference being that the advancement of the continental powers to the north and west led to an increase in trade going to and through the Isles, which led to the astute observation that it was easier to take the goods of the travelling merchants than to acquire them legally. What I allude to, of course, is the rapid increase in piracy and the emergence of the so-called pirate-kings at the beginning of the Pirate Age. As the amount of goods flowing through the Isles increases, so did piracy, and the discovery of how to use the vast oil and mineral reserves on Vashyl Minor only accelerated mercantile activity in the region. Many of the pirate-kings turned out to be former vassals of the Jujii who had not quite lost their grip on power, and who turned to a new source of income to stabilize their little corner of the Isles. Of course, the introduction of rampant piracy to the region has done little to unite the Isles politically, and it is suspected that the multitude of pirate-kings has actually increased competition between rival groups and thus prevented the reformation of kingdoms like Leutra and Nolis, who seemed to be on the verge of reemerging following the fall of the Jujii. This increase in competition and emergence of piracy as the new norm brings us all the way to the present day. Merchants passing through the region long sought the support of the continental powers in order to safeguard goods passing through the Isles, as sailing around them is prohibitively expensive and time-consuming. Until about ten years ago, the continental powers resisted this influence, but, finally, in the midst of increasing piracy and product loss, the elven royal court at Jin-El Aethis was forced by the merchant class to take action on the matter, and a contingent of the elven military was created to deal with the pirates and protect elven merchant shipping in the region (or anyone else's shipping for a fee...). While the declaration of this new task force was well received by the public, the methods that the military began to use in the Isles quickly became a point of contestation between interventionists and anti-intervention thinkers. The military was known to raid suspected pirate outposts with no hard evidence of any piracy, and of hanging anyone suspected of being a pirate, with or without proof. The result, as it seems, is a feedback loop wherein innocents are likely harmed, which only increases anti-elven sentiment in the region, leading to more violent pirates, who in turn create a harsher military response. The situation in the Isles may not seem to be of great import given other events of our day, such as the Ghostlands Plague and the Krik'tha Flood, but mark my words -- we are reaching, faster and faster, a point at which open war will break out in the Isles, and we elves will not win.
Comments