Shan Isle
For as long as anyone can
remember, Shan Isle has been the home of the Ravensclaw family.
The island that lies off the south coast of Shardar has no large
communities, nothing more than a few hundred residents at most, but it is still
a thriving and growing land. It is virtually separate from the rules and laws of Shardar
in every way and the Ravensclaw family are more than happy to keep it this way.
A regular ferry service runs from
Shandow out to the Isle with boats travelling across at least once every couple
of days, although anyone entering the island without the express permission of
Lord Ravensclaw would have a lot of explaining to do.
The port that the ferry comes in at is the largest collection of people
on Shan Isle with upwards of 250 people living there.
It is from this port that goods are
brought in to supply the islanders and the main product of the island is shipped
out to be sold in Camber and River Run. Shan Isle is famous for the giant lobsters that live in the
shallow waters surrounding it and these creatures are considered to be
delicacies that many of the nobles of Shardar are quite happy to pay very highly
for. These lobsters can reach
upwards of eight feet in length and their pincers are quite capable of cutting a
man in half. It can be a dangerous
task to try to trap these beasts and they have claimed the lives of many of the
island’s residents.
Lord Ravensclaw makes very sure that
poachers do not get anywhere near these lobsters and he employs many warriors to
act as a sort of ‘gamekeepers’
for the island. Over the years, the
Ravensclaws have grown into one of, if not the richest family in Shardar and
they use this money to move in the correct political circles.
Lord Ravensclaw has more political weight than any other Baron or Lord
and only High Lord Calloway himself is in a stronger position than the
Ravensclaws.
There are rumours going around that
the Ravensclaws family have more money than they could possibly raise by normal
means, even considering the giant lobsters, but no one can say where this extra
money has come from. There have
been various reports that Lord Ravensclaw is a Mage of no little power, that he
has sold his soul to evil powers, that he is working to overthrow High Lord
Calloway and that Calloway is paying him to ensure his rule in Shardar while he
is battling in Dargoth. Any one of
these rumours could be true or none of them at all.
The Ravensclaws ignore these malicious stories and continue with their
lives in the normal fashion.
The balls and parties arranged by
Lord Ravensclaw are famous across the length and breadth of Shardar and if you
are invited to one, you know that you are now moving in the correct circles.
The Ravensclaws arrange hunts, massive parties, fishing expeditions,
orchestra recitals, anything that the nobility might find amusing.
Not surprisingly, the Ravensclaws are a very popular family indeed and,
at any one time, at least half of the family will be in various parts of
Shardar, guesting at the homes of other Barons and Lords.
The peasants and villagers of Shan
Isle are not quite so wealthy, however. The
real inhabitants of the Isle have the lowest levels of income anywhere on
Shardar and they have to struggle just to survive.
The land of Shan Isle is not particularly good for farming, there is far
too much salt, and there is little in the way of trade goods, other than the
lobsters of course, for the population to exchange with the mainland of Shardar.
It is not unusual for people to die of starvation on the Isle while the
Ravensclaws are holding banquets and feasts in their mansion house in the middle
of the island.
There is no religion of any kind on
the Isle, Lord Ravensclaw has expressly forbidden any form of church or religion
at all. Many of the Priests of
Shardar have approached the Lord and asked him to be allowed to set up a church
on the Isle, but each time he has refused, often violently.
The reason for the Ravensclaws’ aversion to religion is unknown but it
has always been so. Through every
generation of the Ravensclaws there has never been a church on the island.
There is a legend in Shardar that
when the first settlers arrived in the land, they first arrived on Shan Isle.
From there these legendary settlers moved out to the rest of the land and
they may have left many powerful, long forgotten artefacts hidden somewhere on
the island. As with all legends,
there is absolutely no reason to believe that this was the truth but the legend
persists and every few years there are treasure hunters who search through Shan
Isle. Lord Ravensclaw takes a very
dim view of these sort of people and he does all he can to prevent them from
coming to his home, but they do try and there are always at least a few who are
found on the island every year.
The storms that sweep across the
Southern Sea every spring and autumn do large amounts of damage to the
relatively low and flat Shan Isle. They
do little to harm the Ravensclaw mansion in the centre of the island, but the
homes of the peasants are often completely destroyed and twice every year there
are large numbers of deaths and property destruction. The deaths could be lessened if the villagers would move away
from the coast but at the same time that the storms come along, the lobsters
move closer to the Isle and are easier to catch.
Lord Ravensclaw insists that his peasants catch the lobsters when they
can so they are prevented from moving to safer ground.
It is unlikely that anyone will be
allowed onto the Isle unless they are being employed to act as ‘gamekeepers’,
they are merchants with supplies to deliver or they are members of the nobility
who have been invited to a Ravensclaw party.
Generally, access to Shan Isle is by invitation only and Lord Ravensclaw
does not give out many invitations.