The Lucayans is an archipelago of islands to the north of Ancasara and Hisperia, and southeast of Pascau. Notable islands include
Providence island with its largest port of
Nassau, and Eleuthera island fifty miles to the east, with it neighbouring Harbour Island. However, there are over 30 inhabitable islands in total. In the early eighteenth century, Nassau became the haven for
pirates, while other smaller islands became refuges for escaped slave communities.
Geography
The archipelago consists of nearly 700 islands, cays, and islets.
Avalonian settlements exist in Abaco in the north and Inagua in the south.
Providence Island is relatively located and is home to the large port of Nassau, which has become a pirate den. Harbour Island is 40 miles away, and still a legitimate port.
People
The Lucayans are one of the more heterogeneous Avalonian colonies, largely due to the fact that the Avalonian hold on it is tenuous at best. Many groups that inhabit the Lucayans have no allegiance to the Empire whatsoever. These include the pirates of Nassau, the community of Maroons, and Albinus and his Baymen.
Those that do still swear allegiance to the crown, such as the communities in Harbour Island, Abaco, and the interior of Providence Island, largely consist of sugar plantations, with large numbers of
Tabaxi slaves to do the work.
History
The Lucayans were originally inhabited by a group of Arawak natives known as Lucayan. Originally from the South Aurelian continent, some of the Arawak had been driven north into the Guerreros by the Carib natives. Unlike their Carib neighbours, the Lucayan were generally peaceful, more involved in fishing than agriculture, and not cannibalistic.
When Aureli reached the New World in 1492, he is thought to have landed on San Salvador or possibly Samana Cay, both in the Lucayans. The
Esperians made no attempt to settle but operated slave raids on the peaceful Arawak that depopulated the islands. By the time the Avalonians arrived, the Lucayans were uninhabited.
In 1629, Charles I of Avalon granted the islands to one of his ministers, but no attempt at settlement was made. In 1648, William Sayle led a group of Avalonian Puritans from Bermuda to, it is thought, Eleuthera Island. This settlement met with extreme adversity and did not prosper, but other Bermudan migrants continued to arrive. Providence was settled in 1656. By 1670 the Lucayans were given to the Duke of Albemarle and seven others as a proprietary colony along with Carolina. The proprietors were mostly uninterested in the islands, and few of the settlements prospered. Piracy became a way of life for many.
When Rimnoque outlawed piracy, Nassau, on the island of Providence became more important as a pirate hideout. With the end of the
War of the Espérian Succession and the peace that followed, The Avalon started to crack down on piracy but for a while, the Lucayans remained relatively ignored.
