The Spines

The Spines is an island chain in the Natorn Archipelago, linking the Anrel Isles in the north with Besoa in the south. The islands are the “backbone” of the archipelago. With their geology of grey and white basalt rock, many of the islands are said to resemble gnarled bones, rising out of the sea. Local folkloreplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigFolklore

Folklore

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

topics cult1 tell that the Spines are the bones of a gigantic prehistoric monster. plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigAtlas: The Spines

[spines.png] * Zoom out * Helevos

The Spines

The Spines is an island chain in the Natorn Archipelago, linking the Anrel Isles in the north with Besoa in the south. The islands are the “backbone” of the archipelago. With their geology of grey and white basalt rock, many of the islands are said to resemble gnarled bones, rising out of the sea. Local AnrelAnrelHartheran

The chain stretches 900 km north to south, consisting of thousands of islands. Most are too small to support human habitation, having little fresh water, and are either so low lying that they are inundated by tidal waves during the storm tide season, or so rocky and precipitous that landing is difficult.

The chain is home to nomadic Asokway tribes, who survive on the abundant fish, and by migratory subsistence agriculture. Various peoples have attempted to settle the islands permanently, but most failed due to poor soils and lack of water, so the islands are littered with ruins. Today only the largest islands are inhabited to any extent.

In recent decades The Spines has acquired a disreputable reputation for piracy, particularly following the Hartheran conquest of Besoa. The Hartheranplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigHarthera

The Hartheran Union, commonly named Harthera, is an imperialist maritime nation state dominating the northeast of Anásthias. It is one of the two great powers of the modern epoch, arguably the most technologically and militarily powerful nation in the world, only matched by the vast size and wealth of its neighbour, viridviridOrorrMEOrorrOrorrOrorrOrorr Navy alleges that attacks on ships are sponsored by the Sann'ali Court-in-Exile.

Skerim is the largest island in the group, being 46 km wide and 41 km north-south. It lies 300 km north of Besoa, with a large natural harbour on its north side. Skerim Town, the largest settlement in the Spines, is a trading port for ships travelling between Anrel and Besoa, but its primitive harbour facilities make it little more than a waypoint for ships in need of supplies. The island is low-lying and largely treeless as the result of overgrazing and demand for fuel, so the town is a ramshackle construction of driftwood, mud, stone and the scavenged remains of old ships. Skerim is considered the disreputable haunt of exiles and outcasts from both Anrelplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigAnrel Isles

Anrel [ANN-rel], or the Anrel Isles, is the most northerly island group in the Natorn Archipelago. It consists of three major islands and numerous smaller ones. The largest, colloquially if infrequently called Mainland, is divided between the kingdoms of Trésard and Narette. The island and Besoa.

Pibilet lies 275 km north of Skerim, a serpentine isle of rolling hills which supports some independent villages who are fiercely independent and never welcome visitors. Villages are so insular so they are wary even of each other, except once a year at the Storm Festival, when the islanders travel to higher ground and pray to their gods (including a variant of Natrawul) for protection from the sea. The festival involves fires and feasting with roast ovor meat, and is also the time when marriage contracts are brokered between villages.

Sandil is a day north of Pibilet, just over 500 km south of the Anrel coast. Though the smallest of the major settlements at a mere 20 km across, it has deepwater harbour and a thriving town, with regular trade to the mainland of Anrel. Sandil is the reputable opposite of Skerim, in that it is fortified with a neat construction of stone and wooden houses, ruled by a small mercantile council employing mercenaries to keep order. Commercial ships travelling between Anrel and the south often stop here to make repairs and transship goods. Illegal trading and rowdy behaviour is generally discouraged, usually with the business end of a mercenary club.

Theen is one of the largest islands in land area (52 km from east to west), but is so narrow and low-lying that it is often inundated by the sea. It is a regular grazing ground for migrant Asokway, who erect temporary boat-villages of wood and whale-hides, finding safer shelter during the storm tides.

Hobith is a ring-shaped island approximately 40 km across, with a lagoon almost as wide in the centre. The majority of the island itself is a narrow strip of land only a kilometre or so across. At high tides much of this narrow strip is either inundated by sea, or washed over by the surging waves. Only the far north and south remain above water, islands of higher ground no more than 10 km across. Hobith is famously a meeting ground for clans of Asokway, who moor their boats in the relatively safety of the lagoon during the storm tideplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigStorm tides

Storm tides are particularly high tides, often accompanied by storm surges and dangerous flooding, which occur on Helevos every 1.3 solar years when Helevos comes into conjunction with the giant planet Kwato'or. Storm tides are at their peak within a two week period, and at their most severe when accompanied by natural storms. season, while holding annual moots on the higher ground, the only time of year when they are far from their boats.

This division into north and south is the basis of tribal politics, an arbitrary yet occasionally bloody affair. Rival Asokway leaders pitch their camps on either island, with their supporters clustering around them as a rudimentary form of voting.

These three islands are all rocky and surrounded by towering cliffs, but are unusual in having a settled, cultivated population.

• Salasy is the largest and the only one with much agricultural land, so it is the main producer of food of the three.
• Pruncoty is famed for its vine fruits and brandy.
• Coitry is known for its weaving of lace made from very fine ovorn thread.

All three islands were colonised by settlers from the Kingdom of Heronbar, who built fortified villages on the vertiginous cliffs. They later came under the nominal suzerainty of the Kingdom of Sann'al, though they have remained self governing, independent and essentially isolated from the world. Few ships stop at the islands as there are no decent harbours, the hardy islanders instead lowering their goods down from the cliff-top villages to boats below. The three islands trade mainly amongst themselves, or haul their goods to the markets in Skerim Town. Their unique and highly prized goods have made the islands relatively prosperous, but they jealously guard their isolation.

The “Lordship of the Isles” has been claimed by various leaders and nations in history, most famously by the Kingdom of Heronbar, then later by the kings of Sann'al. However, the islands have little enough land, and no resources of any value, so its inhabitants have generally been left to their own devices.

With the annexation of Besoa and Antyok by the Hartherans, the Spines have come under increasing Hartheran naval influence, but have generally been considered ungovernable by history.