Islands of Agåntyr (a-GON-teer)
The Islands of Agåntyr, sometimes called the Coreward Islands or simply Agåntyr, are an archipelago of hundreds of islands, extending across the Coreward side of the Broken Empire, from the Arcstrand of Oztroja in the Coreëast to Æthermark in the Corewest. The islands also act as a sort of 'cap' at the top of the Mouth of Ranarim inland sea. They do not represent a united nation but instead a collection of clans with close ancestral ties but highly variable relationships.
Agåntyrans speak a family of languages called Agåntyran, which is rich in local dialects. It is rare for islanders to speak Middish Common, so language barriers are an obstacle for visitors.Geography
Description
See also: Image Gallery: Fashion & Scenery of Agåntyr (External)The islands range in length from a few hundred metres to ~30 km (the island of the Craón Clan, bearing the same name). Originally mountainous uplands before The Deluge, the islands are generally characterized by bare crags, alpine forests and subalpine meadows. Geology is commonly calcitic and as such the islands are also known for their extensive and sometimes vast calcite cave systems, and with them their unique biodiversity. As the Veil weakens further into the Third Age, this diversity has grown to include increasingly monstrous and intelligent beings, in forms only whispered about in the oldest stories.
Culture
Despite a wide range of political views, few of the Islands' myriad clans sympathize with mainland Gondara and are uninterested in greater unity; defending their island territories from the Juran Empire felt little different than historical wars with colonizers from Oztroja, Gormengast, Æthermark or, for that matter, rival Agåntyran clans. Many tribes do engage in some level of cultural and material trade with the Gondaran provinces, but do so in a measured way, careful not to compromise on their deep connection with the First Spirits of the crags, calcite caves and boreal forests of the region.
The Islanders are known for their odd fashions, particularly the tartan, cross-hatched and chevron patterning of their clan colours, often combined with pelts and densely-woven strips of cattail and bamboo, which double as armour.Sample Names
Masculine: Garth, Baird, Avár, Gáel, Hulb, Bryn, KromFeminine: Brigid, Ydra, Deunán, Arlin, Eila, Astrid, Bronwyn
The Ghosts of New Rozsa
Like other areas Coreward of Gondara, Agåntyr lies above what used to be the great necrocratic New Rozsan Empire, which was almost completely obliterated by the The Deluge. Ruled by powerful Lichlords, the Empire left remaining sites imprinted with their death throes, and now these areas, including Agåntyr, are the subject of frequent hauntings and other spiteful, necromantic phenomena.
Unlike some Coreward cultures which take a more "live and let live" approach to these ghosts (for example Gormengast and some Oztrojan provinces), the Agåntyrans give them no quarter, and have cultivated deep relationships with First Spirits that specialize in the cleansing of undead. As such they are exceptional exorcists and ghost hunters.Description
Agåntyrans tend to be more pureblooded human than the largely Meranthic human-elven mainlands of the Broken Empire, and as such tend to be taller and more broad-shouldered than their cousins, with wider skulls and more prominent brows.
Like the Outmarchers, Core Islanders have unusually light complexions, with sometimes pale, peach-pink skin colours and blonde to even off-white hair. There is a frequent belief across Gondara that this is due to shared genetics with the enari, of the Autumn Isles, which in turn leads to a strong distrust as the ghost elves are tied to various (usually negative) superstitions. In actual fact the Agåntyrans and Aedermarkers are simply descended from a different human line which mostly ended with the Deluge.
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