Burnished Isles

Infusions: Copper, hoofed animals
Dotting the Coppercrest Sea, the Burnished isles combine to copper of the ocean with various hoofed animals (varies by island).
The islands (where large enough to justify any overriding government) is carried out through central Chiefs who control administrative complexes known as palaces through which most of the goods of the island flow. Most islands are self-governing, though a few larger islands are divided between two chiefdoms and some palaces administer a small group of islands.
Raids against neighbouring islands, as well as passing traders, are common - especially on the (more empoverished) smaller islands. another model is to impose strict excises - essentially protection money - on ships that enter your territorial waters.
The islands are relatively sparsely inhabited and are not technologically advanced, limited by food supply and the internal fractiousness that makes trading to gather the components needed for Bronze difficult - and there is no iron to replace it.
Though the Burnished Isles form natural stepping-stones for trade between the Eastern and Western continents, the warlike and piratical inhabitants of the islands keep this trade-route from being the preferred route; instead the more northerly routes, hugging the coast or via Elritund, are most popular. they do, however, act as a major source of gold, which is traded far beyond their lands.
This trade is often in the form of their currency, The Hand. these coins are minted in small operations and are of very variable weights and purities. as such, they are often melted down into ingots or objects when traded beyond the islands. the subdivisions of the hand is named after the body-based counting system used on the island:

• 14 fingers to a palm, counted on the 14 bones of the fingers and thumb.
• 5 palms to a hand, counted on the palm-side of the knuckles.
• 8 hands to an arm, marked at 4 points between wrist and elbow, 1-4 using a single finger and 5-8 using a flat hand. An arm is 560 fingers.
• as additions for greater units of wealth, there exists the family (8 arms, 4480 fingers), tribe (8 families, 35840 fingers), and chain (8 tribes, 286720 fingers). a chain is a colloquial term for a fortune, or a large number in general.

Questions:

• Mainland section - make smaller? just the peninsulas?
• what language is spoken here? seaspeak variant? unique language?
• is there a slave trade?

Geography

• Hot dry summers, cooler wetter winters. elements of savannah and shrublands, forests of oak and laurel and pine, grasslands, and mountains.
• the seas are relatively sterile, being both safe to sail and unable to produce much in the way of food. as such, the islands are given over to agriculture.
• most islands are small - the largest are the size of a small country (30-40,000 square km).

Sub-Regions:

• Northern Chain
• western isolates
• southern isolate
• central chain
• Verdigris-proximate
• northern peninsula
• Southern Peninsula

Specific Islands and Locations:

• Minotaur islands
• rhino island
• pig island
• hippo island
• giraffe island

Fauna & Flora

Examples of infused animals (some being dominant on some islands and some being infused with associated elements):

• Bison
• Giraffe
• Antelope
• Rhino (lead)
• Camel
• Wildebeest
• Deer
• Ox
• Tapir (?)
• Pig (gold)
• Hippo(?)

inhabitants:

• minotaurs (bison-infused humans)
• Rhino-infused humans
• pig-infused humans
• hippo-infused humans
• giraffe-centaurs

Natural Resources

• Copper
• Lead
• Gold
• Tin

Alternative Name(s)

Pirate Kingdoms

Type

Archipelago

Location under

Coppercrest Sea