Brokeneck
A chokehold for peace
B
rokeneck is an isthmus connecting north and south Islemanoton. It separates the Sister Seia to the west and the Mouth of Charen to the east. At its narrowest point, it is only 30 kilometers between those seas, and this strip forms the border between present-day Tollia and Varic. It is considered to be the southern boundary of The Hinterlands.
At the end of the Age of Cervia, Brokeneck became the crack that signaled the splintering of Auld Cervia. Northern Islemanoton was, quite literally, walled off from the rest of the continent after the events of the Evyrnight in 479 AoC. Far from protecting either side, Willow Wall became the site of endless skirmishes and epic wars for hundreds of years. The wall was eventually destroyed by the Galloping Razer in 1307 PE.
A new barrier, christened Widow's Wall, was erected in 2131 PE by Heilestra Donovus. The intention this time was to quell the stream of raiders that routinely ranged down to Islemanoton from Smugglers' Moot. Although Widow's Wall stood for nearly a thousand years, it was largely ineffective at stopping the attacks.
Brokeneck is no longer a site of frequent conflict. In the modern era, it is instead a delineation of cultures. Not only does it act as a border between Tollia and Varic, but perhaps more significantly, it serves as a dividing point between the cultures of northern and southern Islemanoton. Although all of the continent's societies think of themselves as Tallonai in an ethnic sense, the cultures present on either side of Brokeneck began diverging long ago and now they are quite distinct.
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