The Blessed Isles is one of Gehennum’s near neighbours, lying roughly 2100 km NNE of Thekla. It is a group of seven coral-fringed volcanic islands, similar in size and geology to Earth’s Hawaii. Total land area is about 28,000 square kilometres, much of it rugged forest. There are 24 active volcanoes.
The climate of the Blessed Isles is dominated by the Trade Winds, which blow strong and steady from the East-North-East all year. Rain falls throughout the year, but more heavily on the higher and windward parts of the islands than the sea-level and leeward parts.
The people of the Blessed Isles are of the same racial stocks and physical types as the Gehennese (normal humans and divers). They number about quarter of a million in the Archaic Period, twice that number in the Classical Period and one million in the Decadent Period. The split between normal humans and divers is about 90-10. The people of the Blessed Isles are supposed to be a very attractive race, their lives a byword for ease. The royal families are famed for beauty.
The economy is based on intensive polyculture farming of family smallholdings (largely the responsibility of women), and hunting and fishing (largely the responsibility of men). Agricultural surpluses are large, and support an elaborate culture and a large population of artisans. The Blessed Isle are rich and sophisticated.
The Blessed Isles are poor in minerals, and must import all metals. On the other hand, their 1,400 species of plants not known elsewhere provide exportable dyes, spices, and luxury foods. They also export pearls, beautiful handicrafts and (in the later periods) fine silks. The Blessed Isles invented sericulture.
The Blessed Isles have extensive deposits of obsidian, which is used to edge and point weapons and tools, and in jewelry. The stone-knappers of the Blessed Isles are among the best in the World of Isles: facet-cut gems are an invention of the people of the Blessed Isles, and named for them.
Buildings in the Blessed Isles are characteristically modest dwellings of timber and thatch, slightly raised on short piles. Palaces and temples tend to great magnificence, and have at least there ground-floor walls constructed of coral and coloured tuffs, elaborately carved. These stone buildings contain storerooms, granaries, and prisons where such are needed.
The boats of the Blessed Isles are high-sided outrigger canoes, and very seaworthy. The largest, built for international trading expeditions, can be fifteen to twenty-five metres long. The folk of the Blessed Isles are capable and intrepid sailors, and excellent navigators.
Society
In the Blessed Isle families are matrilineal, inheritance and authority in the family follow the avuncular pattern, which is to say that a chieftain’s heirs are his sisters’ sons, and that the head of a child’s family is his or her mother’s eldest brother (or uncle, if he is still alive). There is no marriage as such—couples live together and part on their own terms and as they please, the women being protected by their brothers. Land belongs to families rather than people, and there is much corporate activity on the family and clan level.
The families are organised into clans, each with a noble house at its head. The clans in turn are organised into eight tribes, each based on a different island (or at sea). Each clan is led by a great house, of which (some of?) the chieftain’s sisters, nieces, grand-nieces etc. are sacrosanct priestesses and concubines of the geist of the tribe’s island. The great chieftains of each island (and their nephews, grand-nephews etc.) are therefore demigods, and base their authority partly on that of their divine father.
The Eight Tribes (as the nation is known internally) are presided over by a King of the Isles and a King of the Sea, who are sons and priests of the geist of the archipelago. The sisters, nieces etc. of these kings are priestesses and concubines of his father. The Royal House of the Isles are normal human demigods. The Royal House of the Sea are diver demigods, and double as Great House of the tribe of divers. The kings are not, indeed, responsible for much detailed administration, but their prestige is enormous.
The Eight Tribes live an existence that is on the whole orderly and peaceful. The men compete for glory, which is won by daring and fortitude. These qualities are displayed on the hunt and at sea, and on the field in games of hurling. They are proclaimed by the display of extensive, intricate, abstract tattoos. Clans and tribes compete by conspicuous construction, and in displays of taste, magnificence, and piety in their temples and festivals.
The Blessed Isles have no military tradition, but the co-operation of the divers, humans, and geists make them an unappealing prospect for raiders and would-be conquerors.
The climate of the Blessed Isles is dominated by the Trade Winds, which blow strong and steady from the East-North-East all year. Rain falls throughout the year, but more heavily on the higher and windward parts of the islands than the sea-level and leeward parts.
The people of the Blessed Isles are of the same racial stocks and physical types as the Gehennese (normal humans and divers). They number about quarter of a million in the Archaic Period, twice that number in the Classical Period and one million in the Decadent Period. The split between normal humans and divers is about 90-10. The people of the Blessed Isles are supposed to be a very attractive race, their lives a byword for ease. The royal families are famed for beauty.
The economy is based on intensive polyculture farming of family smallholdings (largely the responsibility of women), and hunting and fishing (largely the responsibility of men). Agricultural surpluses are large, and support an elaborate culture and a large population of artisans. The Blessed Isle are rich and sophisticated.
The Blessed Isles are poor in minerals, and must import all metals. On the other hand, their 1,400 species of plants not known elsewhere provide exportable dyes, spices, and luxury foods. They also export pearls, beautiful handicrafts and (in the later periods) fine silks. The Blessed Isles invented sericulture.
The Blessed Isles have extensive deposits of obsidian, which is used to edge and point weapons and tools, and in jewelry. The stone-knappers of the Blessed Isles are among the best in the World of Isles: facet-cut gems are an invention of the people of the Blessed Isles, and named for them.
Buildings in the Blessed Isles are characteristically modest dwellings of timber and thatch, slightly raised on short piles. Palaces and temples tend to great magnificence, and have at least there ground-floor walls constructed of coral and coloured tuffs, elaborately carved. These stone buildings contain storerooms, granaries, and prisons where such are needed.
The boats of the Blessed Isles are high-sided outrigger canoes, and very seaworthy. The largest, built for international trading expeditions, can be fifteen to twenty-five metres long. The folk of the Blessed Isles are capable and intrepid sailors, and excellent navigators.
Society
In the Blessed Isle families are matrilineal, inheritance and authority in the family follow the avuncular pattern, which is to say that a chieftain’s heirs are his sisters’ sons, and that the head of a child’s family is his or her mother’s eldest brother (or uncle, if he is still alive). There is no marriage as such—couples live together and part on their own terms and as they please, the women being protected by their brothers. Land belongs to families rather than people, and there is much corporate activity on the family and clan level.
The families are organised into clans, each with a noble house at its head. The clans in turn are organised into eight tribes, each based on a different island (or at sea). Each clan is led by a great house, of which (some of?) the chieftain’s sisters, nieces, grand-nieces etc. are sacrosanct priestesses and concubines of the geist of the tribe’s island. The great chieftains of each island (and their nephews, grand-nephews etc.) are therefore demigods, and base their authority partly on that of their divine father.
The Eight Tribes (as the nation is known internally) are presided over by a King of the Isles and a King of the Sea, who are sons and priests of the geist of the archipelago. The sisters, nieces etc. of these kings are priestesses and concubines of his father. The Royal House of the Isles are normal human demigods. The Royal House of the Sea are diver demigods, and double as Great House of the tribe of divers. The kings are not, indeed, responsible for much detailed administration, but their prestige is enormous.
The Eight Tribes live an existence that is on the whole orderly and peaceful. The men compete for glory, which is won by daring and fortitude. These qualities are displayed on the hunt and at sea, and on the field in games of hurling. They are proclaimed by the display of extensive, intricate, abstract tattoos. Clans and tribes compete by conspicuous construction, and in displays of taste, magnificence, and piety in their temples and festivals.
The Blessed Isles have no military tradition, but the co-operation of the divers, humans, and geists make them an unappealing prospect for raiders and would-be conquerors.
