The High King of All the Isles

One of my favorite conceits for a Tolkienesque setting is to combine Gondor/Numenor with the archipelago of Earthsea, which aesthetically feels like a slam dunk to me. Enjoy this little gazetteer of my version of this idea.

The Isles

Serd

A grand island, where once dwelt the High King of All the Isles. Serd is rich and beautiful, with pale sandy beaches and towering white cliffs, against which the bright flags and colorful tile roofs of the port city stand out. Many a seafarer longs to hear the merry bells of Serd calling their ship home. Serd also boasts a grove of ancient olive trees, one of the wonders of the isles. The eldest of this grove is the White Tree which grew from the archmage’s staff, planted in the Court of the Kings.

The Lord of Serd is known as the Keymaster or Keeper (as in “Keeper of the Keys”) of the Sea-House of Serd. The Keepers are descended from the stewards of the High King, and keep his house ready for his return.

The Tower

Not truly an island, the Tower is an ancient structure that rises from the sea just off the coast of Serd. The wizards of the isles learn their art here.

The rule of the Tower is given to the Archmage, who is chosen by the masters of the school.

Stoneships

The stone ships of Stoneships are one of the wonders of the world. Were they built in place? If so, how, and for what purpose? They are positioned as if run aground on the stony shore, but how could such vessels ever have floated?

The rule of Stoneships is given to the Master of the Map-House, where it is said that a copy of every sea-chart, sounding, and ship’s log in all the isles is kept.

Mona

Known also as the Isle of Morning, both for its pale pink beaches and because Mona is the easternmost isle of any appreciable size. Mona is considered by many to be the most beautiful of all the isles, for flowers and sweet-smelling herbs grow in profusion there, and the wines of Mona are unrivaled. The College of Harpers is located here, their hall of music built around a sacred spring. The folk of Mona are generally darker of skin than in other parts of the isles, and are notable for their height and their handsome faces.

The Lord of Mona is known as the Daystar, although the Master Harper of the College is also a person of wide esteem.

Pody

A little grassy island in the domain of Pelmar, home to a small but busy port. Pody and Quallon are known for the wild horses that can be found there, the finest in all the isles. Every year horses are swum from Quallon to Pody for a grand horse-market.

Quallon

Larger and more wild than Pody, with a greater proportion of stony cliffs. The half-wild horses of Quallon are a small breed, but swift, sturdy, and intelligent, better able to remain calm aboard ship than their larger mainland cousins. Quallon is sparsely populated despite its size, inhabited mainly by herdsmen and horse-wardens in low houses dry-stacked stones. These hardy folk protect the valuable herds. 

Impish

In former times Impish was a den of pirates and sea-thieves. Now it is a bustling market town (although some say there is little difference between a pirate and an Impish trader). Tales of treasure caves still persist, and not all of the hidden berths and coves have been fully explored.

Pelmar

The folk of Pelmar hold to traditions from the days before the Kings. Bronze work is common there, for copper and tin can still be found in the mountains of Pelmar, and many Pelmarines use long paddle boats to get about the island. The inhabitants of the old Grant of Pelmar, (which encompassed Pody, Quallon, and Impish) are generally shorter than the folk of other islands, with straight black hair and copper complexions.

The chief of Pelmar scorns the title of “Lord,” preferring the ancient style of “Granter”.

Sandling

A long, low sandy island, thinly peopled. Ships rarely stop here save to take on water, for the Sandlingers have little to trade. The Sandlingers themselves say they are descended from shipwreck survivors, and take the porpoise as their sigil.

Great Hording

Once the den of a great dragon. Great Hording is rich in treasure but little else, for the great dragon despoiled the island of its trees and scoured its waters of seals and fish. Even the shellfish have a bitter taste, as of smoke. The folk of Great Hording live mostly in caves or in stone houses partly burrowed into the rock, and when seen far off the smoke of their stone chimneys on winter days can make it seem as if the dragon lived again.

The first Dragonlord of Great Hording was a hero who sailed there to slay the dragon, claim its treasure, and wed the princesses held captive there. The hero’s ship was broken on the rocks when he landed, however, and when the dragon was dead he took up residence in its cave.

Little Hording

Wild dragons can still be found on Little Hording, though few ever reach the size of the dragons of old.

Herridor

A mountainous, thickly forested island. The Lords of Herridor have grown rich supplying timber for shipbuilding, although they are careful not to over-harvest. The pine martens of Herridor are a wise breed, and several of the strongest wizards have made familiars of them (in the language of the Isles the word for marten is “hodag”).

Legends say that the First Lord married a daughter of the cedars, who taught her husband’s people the secrets of woodworking in exchange for an oath of love and stewardship. The Pine-House of Herridor is richly carved, and visitors to that many-pillared hall feel as if they walk among the trunks of a living wood, with the gemstone eyes of carven beasts and painted birds watching them from odd angles and corners.

The Black Egg

A strange and dismal isle, known for its terrible weather. The inhabitants worship a great egg-shaped black stone. The temple of the Egg is very ancient, but the Egg itself is far older still.

The Lord of the Egg is known as the Sitter, although the position no longer commands much respect from the inhabitants of other isles. The Sitters are poorer than many Harbormasters of common blood, and their ways are strange.

Witch’s Nose

A sharp pyramid of rock that thrusts up suddenly from the sea. There is no flat land anywhere on Witch’s Nose, and the sheer sides of the stack make landing almost impossible. The entire rock is honeycombed with tunnels and galleries, although few people live in the ancient fortress any longer. The hidden windows and secret balconies provide nests for seabirds rather than soldiers now.

Makepeace

A small island located almost exactly halfway between Mona and Midnight. The High King once commanded the Lords of those islands to meet at Makepeace (which in those days bore the undistinguished name of Doby) to mediate their grievances. The great marriage that marked the end of that council between the Princess of Night and the Prince of Dawn ended the terrible Second War of Night and Day.

High Hermitage

A great northern mountain island with a fortress at its peak, built where a fallen Star is said to have come to rest. The lights which burn in the windows of the High Hermitage are visible as far away as Serd.

The ruler of High Hermitage is known as the Watcher. The current Watcher has held her post for nearly 100 years.

The Isles of the Crab

A dense archipelago rather than a single island, the people of the Crab are a folk apart. Other islefolk say that the pirate blood runs strong on the Crab, and that the rule of the Kings was always light there. It is true that the Crabbers are a rough-and-tumble lot who keep their own songs and legends, but scoundrels are rife in any port in the isles.

The Crabfolk have no Lord, but the Master of Big Crab is given the keys to the Treasure-House for the duration of their tenure and is acclaimed as the first among equals.

Where in the Crab?

1. Big Crab

2. Crackclaw

3. Clawblack

4. Hardshell

5. Red Kellig

6. Blue Kellig

7. Crab's Eye

8. Handbit

9. Fiddler's Point

10. Tapstones

11. Little Pinching

12. Bottlestop

Teetarum

A small island with only a little cove where boats can be safely moored, Teetarum is also known as Kingsgarden or the Isle of Finches. In the days of the High Kings the island was heavily planted with orange trees and goldfinches were loosed among their branches. The old trees are still there, growing in their orderly rows, but the only king on Teetarum is the king of the finches.

Nursery Rock

Nursery Rock is composed of two islands situated very close together, known as the Mother and Child for their relative sizes and the way that the Mother curves about the Child, sheltering it from wind and wave. Perhaps the legends about it are true, for vast colonies of seals come to Nursery Rock to breed, and the Lady of the Rock is sought out for her powers as midwife.

While the rulers of other islands may be male or female as chance and order of birth dictate, the Lady of the Rock is always a woman, whose seat is known as the Mother-House.

The Isle of Midnight

The westernmost of all the isles. Sailors claim that the island’s ill-favored name comes from the fact that Midnight lies so far out that a ship setting sail from the Rock cannot reach it before midnight, even with fair weather, a good wind, and a captain who knows the way. All of black stone and black sand is Midnight, but the brightest gems come from the mines there — like stars shining in the dark.

The proud, black-clad Nightlords of Midnight have been fierce and terrible men, but they say that they are only as strong as they need to be to guard the isles against the terrors of the Outermost Sea.