The Cherry Islands
Ruled by: Archean Empire
Census: 10,500 (spirit folk, gnomes, humans)
Religion:
Language: Common
Cities: None
Notable Ships: None
Resources: Water, provisions
This tiny archipelago of four islands is about fourteen days travel from New Gear with a good tail wind at your back. Captain Marks thought he could make some quick coin at the Festival of Blossoms, and soon the White Raven was putting into port at the islands’ only settlement worth a copper.
What a hovel! The settlement is barely more than few score buildings, all simple wooden structures! I cannot for the life of me understand why the Emperor saw fit to put a garrison on the island, but I can see why there wasn’t a fight to take it. Not much worth fighting for that I could see.
The Cherry Islands is so named for the groves of cherry trees everywhere. There’s one big island where all the people live, a smaller lantern island, and two forested islands given over to park-like wilderness. The people, strange folk that look pretty much like humans, but pale and have fur on the backs of their hands. They call themselves the Spirit Folk, a term that claims fey ancestry.
These people believe themselves highly cultured, living in harmony with the land. They lead quite lives sipping green tea in ornate huts, reciting poetry, and otherwise wasting time, which they seem to have an abundance of. They tend groves of cherry trees and sell their bounty to passing ships. Since the Cherry Islands are along a minor trade route between Archea and Talinsta, it sees its fair share of ships. Mostly it’s just a place to pick up extra supplies before heading to one of the bigger archipelagos.
A garrison of my fellow gnomes, and some humans, is stationed on the main island. There’s an old, run down fort at one end of the island currently occupied by the garrison. Think the sole reason they’re there is to prevent the place from being overrun by pirates. It’d make a pretty tempting target, too, but since the natives have no interest in gold or other valuables, pirates leave the place be. During the stopover, I met some of these gnomes. Strange folk, think they’ve been stationed here too long, because they started picking up the natives bad habits like observing tea ceremonies and reciting poetry. That blasted assistant of mine, Sprina, took a shying to them, and prattled on and on about how wonderful the Cherry Islands were for weeks afterwards. Bah, give the bustling streets of my hometown New Haven any day. The Cherry Islands are pretty in a primitive fashion, but lack the luster of the brick houses or the charm of humming factories.
We stopped by right at the start of their spring festival. It’s when the cherry trees loose all their blossoms, which fly away in a great white cloud. When I heard that, my heart nearly stopped! What in the Nine Hells was Captain Marks thinking! Those damned blossoms were going to clog the engines! If we’re lucky, we’ll only be cleaning those twice-blasted things out of the White Raven for weeks! Did he listen to me? No, of course not. Damned humans never listen to gnomes when we talk sense.
Anyways, the festival is a big deal at the Islands. Big party, lots of drinking of tea and cooking crabs. I’ve been told, by Sprina during her ramblings about how great the place was, that the ceremony dates back to when the Islands came to the Ethersea. The people were once stuck between two great empires during some really bad war. The war got so bad that both sides decided the best way to win was total extermination of each other. Seas red with blood, that sort of thing. The islands were to be the site of one of the biggest battles when they were removed completely from the playing field before either fleet could arrive and begin the slaughter.
The whole island turned out for the festival, spirit folk and gnomes alike. Sprina dragged me to the festival…I think she needed a couple of strong arms to carry all the junk she bought! Where she put it all, I will never know.
The festival is pretty popular, because about a dozen ships were already there. Lots of humans, elves, even halflings and gnomes showed up. From what I understand, originally it was a private ceremony for the spirit folk and a handful of invited guests. Word got out, and people began inviting themselves. Any excuse to party, is the reason I got from some of the people I talked to. All kinds of merchants arrived from the Civilized Realms, mainly the Archean Empire, to sell their trinkets to party-goers.
As the day wore on, after Sprina had bought enough packages such that I could not see the road ahead of me, we stopped to get a meal of cherry dumplings and rice. After that, we headed down a row of stalls with food from all over the Civilized Realms. We had spiced fire beetles from Talinsta, boiled shrimp from Orlobo, and exotic fruits from Hyloc. I managed to convince Sprina to let me unload her packages on the Raven before the night festivities began. The night was filled with dancing and fireworks displays. Sprina dragged me onto the dance floor, though she probably regretted it when we discovered I had two left feet. She had patience enough for several dances, but I cut out early to save her shins.
As it turns out, the natives have fewer coin than Captain Marks anticipated, and we barely broke even on the trip. So much for his latest get-rich-quick-scheme. Of course, he fancied himself a romantic hero, so he ordered the White Raven to fly THROUGH the trice-damned cloud of cherry blossoms! Though the look on his face was almost worth the three days it took to clean the engines when they cut out and left us drifting in the Ethersea! Cost him a whole lot of money on repairs and replacement parts. Serves him right.
Great job Nightdruid.
Actually, I did work a good deal on the elf areas, though I don't think I was satisfied with the results. I do have a writeup of the Mysty Islands (a cluster not unlike the Cherry Islands, just owned by the elves); I think its done, but I don't remember. I started on Ashenroot, but changed directions 180 in the middle of it (that's why its in the state of flux; it started off as mysterious, being almost conquered by the neogi, but I pulled that back, and made them a major, active empire rather than a typical "mystery elf place").
I'll dig that stuff up tonight and see if any of it is fit to post