Grace Islands

The Grace Islands (Isjlas Grasja) are a chain of islands in the Sea of Grace, off the coast of southwest Anásthias, part of the Kingdom of Hesjbagaaia. The four largest islands are inhabited, from west to east being: Ayell, Agueda, Ameda and Arguila.

The islands were settled by the Eijult Empire in the 6th century ME, and though today they are ruled by Hesjbagaaia, they retain a native Manthi population and characteristic Eijult architecture.

The Grace Islands were probably the inspiration for the “Dragon Isles”, mythical lands found in the folkloreplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigFolklore

Folklore

This is in a series of articles about oral traditions, tales, folk practices, and folklore.

topics cult1 of northeast Anásthias and Besoa in particular. Aego Gastrinimer claimed to have visited the Dragon Isles.

The islands are likely formed by ancient volcanoes, though there is little evidence of volcanic activity in recorded history.

Ayéll is an oval island 40 km across, 100 km from the coast of Chosilha. Its topography is dome-shaped, being an ancient dormant volcano, with little flat land at the coast and a virid-choked crater at it's centre. In the mid 7th century ME it was settled by the Eijult Empire, with the intention of using the island as a base for assailing the mainland. In 672 ME, visitors found the island was completely empty of human presence: the entire population had mysteriously disappeared. The disappearance has been the subject of many legends, conspiracy theories, and investigation by natural philosophers. The leading theory is that a the precarious settlements were washed away by a rogue wave or storm tide, but according to accounts the settlements, though mostly destroyed, were entirely dry. Another theory claims the population were all killed by a toxic seahar, though the Sea of Grace is not generally prone to these toxic blooms, and it would not explain the lack of bodies.

Today the island has a very small population of fishermen living on the precarious coast and is seldom visited by travellers.

Aguéda consists of a rocky main island of rolling hills 28 km wide, with a 23 km northerly spur of scrubby sand dunes. During the Little Ice Age it was much larger, though the lower sea level mainly exposed sand dunes and sea-carved rock formations. The island is particularly beautiful, and was the subject of seventeen renowned paintings by the 9th century artist Virs Preisjistos. The paintings led to the creation of a bohemian artistic community on the island, and today is used as a paradise retreat for the wealthy elites of Hesjbagaaia.

Améida [a-MAY-ee-da, also eh-MAY-tha] is the most remote of the Grace Islands, an oval 32 km long and 16 wide, 350 km from the coast. The west coast is either flat or rolling hills of greenplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigGreen

The Green Kingdom of flora and fauna includes humans, mammals, birds, whales, greenfish, and most green plants and crops cultivated by humankind. woodland and agriculture, while the east and south are mountainous, thickly virid-forested. The population have a distinct language and heritage predating the Eijult Empire, and still keep themselves isolated from Manthi and Hesjbagaaian newcomers. The island is considered tranquil but uninspiring.

In the 9th century the island was the base for piratesplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigPiracy

Piracy has always been a danger for shipping around the world. Throughout history merchants have been preyed upon by desperate or greedy fishermen, by rogue naval ships acting as privateers, as well as organised fleets dedicated to larceny.

HartheranOrorrHarthera attacking passing. Consequently the Hesjbagaaian Navy regularly patrol the area and maintain a small fortification.

Arguila [ar-goo-EE-la, also Ageesja] is a long narrow island, 32 km long and an average of 4 km wide. It lies only 30 km from the coast so is the closest island. The island is naturally arid and rocky with little virid vegetation, but the Eijult occupiers built an intricate network of bore holes and reservoirs to capture rainwater, which allowed a relatively prosperous population to thrive. After the reconquest the water network collapsed leading to a decimation of the population, which only recovered in the 9th century with prosperous Hesjbagaaians reclaiming and rebuilding the old Eijult forts as houses for the wealthy. Today the island is a resort particularly for Hesjbagaaians wishing to escape the crush and sweat of the capital, Isjbela.