Western Isles

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The Western Isles (Smaionshea, "Great Green" in the native tongue) is a chain of variously-sized islands, known for its rich musical and literary culture.

Geography

Layout

The Western Isles consists of a chain of nine islands. The northernmost and largest of these is the one that typically goes by the name "Smaionshea" with the locals and is 34,640 square miles in size. The other islands are all smaller, and are known as "big, bigger, small, smaller, smallest, south, southmost" in the native tongue.

Landscape

The isles consist mostly of rolling hills covered in verdant grasslands and broadleaf forests. This is an almost perfect environment for farming. Only Smaionshea has a true river on it, the other islands being too small. The two northern isles also have small mountain ranges on them. The Tooth of Olien, the highest peak at 7,043 feet, is rocky and covered with snow most of the year. It can be seen from almost all of Smaionshea (and from several other islands) and is a recurring motif in much of the music and art of the Western Isles. The rolling hills provide easy and comfortable travel, and the rich game of the forests and hills provide ready food for any vagabond passing through.

Climate

These isles have a temperate climate of hot, humid summers, mild to warm autumns and springs, and cold winters. Snow is not uncommon in the northernmost isles, and frost occurs occasionally in the winter in the southern ones. In Smaoinshea's mountains, the climate is much cooler in the summer. The snowpack feeds the headwaters of the Smaionshea River, which winds its way through the valleys before emptying into the ocean.

History

Elvish Pre-History

Smaionshea is theorized to have been colonized by the sea elves roughly 5000 years ago. They didn't establish any large-scale colonies at this time, though they did some thorough exploration of the inlands and blazed the first trails through the verdant countryside.

The Coming of Humans

Sea raiders coming from the cold northern regions happened upon the (mostly) uninhabited continent. Pleased with its rich valleys and warm weather, many sea raiders decided to stay, and they established a lasting civilization. The sea raider culture, with its overpowering themes of wandering, exploration, and living of the land, infused itself into this land. The skalds of the sea-raiders brought their oral storytelling tradition to this land, and they traded with the elves to receive complex musical instruments from the east. It was from this combination that the Western Isles' strong bardic tradition grew.

Culture

Demographics

The Western Isles has a population of roughly 125,000. The racial breakup is as such: 69% human, 12% half-elf, 10% elf, 6% gnome, and 3% other (halflings, orcs, and a small group of renegade drow in some of the smaller, more isolated islands consitutes this).

The human population is almost entirely of northern descent, explaining the predominance of pale skin and eyes, blond and red hair, and physical height. The elvish population is mostly sea elf and wood elf, and the half-elves are a mixture of all these traits.

It is interesting to note that many people in the isles boast noble descent, citing their last names. However, certain names are extremely common, such as "O'Tanner", and are held by many people of non-noble descent.

Arts

The Western Isles boasts a powerful bardic tradition that descends from the sea-raider skalds and the trade with the sea elves that originally populated the isles. Several instruments are famous for their use in the Isles, particularly the harp. The lute, mandolin, drum, and flute are also popular instruments for performers in the isles.