Mhirdrun | The Thradhel | Linothor | Sundering Isles | Sea of Calingwai |Gwathia | Sulgate | The Blasted Wastes
On the Sundering Isles
Off the western coast of Linothor lay only the Sundering Isles, so named by men for their jagged and inimical cliffs, which smote all landings, ere they were charted. It is owing to this that mariners, so waylaid, became its first reluctant people, and these Men claimed dominion and multiplied, as inland are fields lush and fertile, but they have little recourse to leave. This is for the untamed wilds of the islands, which are replete with feycreatures, and it is said that magic dwells strongly in them, and thus Men are hemmed to their farmlands and valleys out of fear of the forests. Only into Limwood on the largest isle do Men foray widely, after many generations of growing in strength and waging war with great fires, so that they might clear it of creatures, though even now only warily do any tarry there alone. On this isle arose a poor kingdom which is called Nosgrave, under King Leath the 3rd. By all belief this land now called Nosgrave was from whence all Elves came long ago, but in exile, and none any longer can recall wherefore.
Nosgrave hangs between many lesser isles, and most of them stony, but upon which other Men dwell in defiance of the kingdom. Chief among these is Liracel, a warrior maiden who rules the isle of Gorond north of Nosgrave, and though she fashions fealty from but few allegiances, and her people are sparse and ill-equipped, they are friend to the fey, and valiant, and tolerate no incursion by Nosgrave, except with great violence, and being of little means King Leath the 3rd is content to leave them well enough alone.
On Leath III, King of Nosgrave
Leath the 3rd is yet young, Leath the 2nd, his father, having passed recently and thus thrusting his son into prominence, at a moment which wisdom would decry, for he is in possession only of sixteen years in living. Though Leath the 2nd is remembered fondly for his strength and determination, Leath the 3rd, it is said, labors overmuch to fill the crown left for him, and lacking the requisite skills, which he has yet to find or earn.
Leath the 3rd is of lesser stature among Men, even providing generosity to his age, though he is long-limbed, and has a narrow disposition, and with golden hair worn long and bundled over his back. His face is oft described as that of a maiden's. He has taken already a woman for his queen, who is much his senior, being one of his aunts. That the lineage of royalty must resort to these measures is to be expected given the small size of Nosgrave, and the rude means of its scattered people.
Leath the 3rd's queen is called Maylar, and she is poorly regarded among the people of Nosgrave, and oft blamed for the worst of the king's decisions, which are innumerable, for it is said he acts impulsively, and is in wont always for guidance, but accepts it readily, especially from those closest to him.
On Liracel, Maiden Warlord of Gorond
As though steel forged over many months, and precisely to combat the soft and unformed clay stuff of which Leath the 3rd is made, Liracel his opponent is known for being a hard woman, and unyielding, having spent much of her two decades in the wild as a savage ere she emerged to claim the lands and peoples of Gorond. As few live in Nosgrave, fewer still yet live in Gorond, and it takes but few acts of bloodshed to be known widely, and feared. Liracel has committed these acts and, it is said, unspeakable others also, communing with the feycreatures of the forests in heathen pacts and grotesque unions.
Thus does she oppose also the pure nature of Leath's royal line, begetting mongrels and consorting with them, and to what ends no outsider can fathom. Few are permitted even to behold this maiden, and those who see her call her fair of skin, and with hair of copper, but bearing always an expression of ferocity, as if an animal, and though she carries a sword by her belt, her teeth and claws are feared also, for she is known to use them in violence. Never does she sleep, nor bathe, so as never to render herself vulnerable to her enemies, and thus does she become more alike to fey, with mud oft clung about her. On her body are tattoos, or paint, in savage designs, and it is said she bears always with her a magic horn, and upon blowing it, the designs of her skin glow, giving her great strength. No doubt these unnatural magics are owed to the fey, who call her kin as much as her fellow men of Gorond.
On the Peoples of the Sundering Isles
Men
The Men of these isles are alike to all humans though they are more often pale or ruddy, and with gold or fiery hair. Queer pairings emerge between them and their fey neighbors, but the features of these offspring are little spoken of, and never with pride.
Dress among them is most oft crude, with rough-spun flax, or linens, and leather, except among the highest chieftains, though they too deign little use for ostentation, except in things they find very beautiful, and these they wear proudly.
There is little division among these Men, for even those who live highly must labor hard, as few are spared to gentle servitude, when so many devote to land and to craft. Thus in destitution to the eyes of the rich lands of Linothor and Sulgate, they of the Sundering Isles are most equal to one another, and take great sense of brotherhood and pride and call all their landsmen close as family.
Feycreatures
Feycreatures as before described keep mostly to the forests, and their appearance is so exotic and diverse as to exceed in the enumeration any plausible description, even among those which are seen by the eyes of Men, for the host of them stay out of sight and remain apart as much as they are able. Some Feycreatures maintain peaceful relations with Men, while others subject any Men encountered to unspeakable horrors. The risks inherent in this gamble see to it that few explore its possibilities.