The islands of Shen Sherin
Shen Sherin Calendar
General Information
Shen Sherin consists of thirteen grown and two natural islands in the east end of North Terorma Bay off the Khusari. The basalt islands contain over fourteen hundred square acres, including the fifteen-foot walls. Shen Sherin is the oldest standing city and has never fallen to outside attacks. The islands create bottlenecks in the bay, increasing the wave force at the beginning of the tidal surge. Strong winds and a roar proceed the wave rushing up the artificial canyons. The outer islands have an 80-foot smooth wall grown from the bedrock, with the inner walls being 10 feet above the islands.Tides routinely reach twenty feet and sometimes thirty. The Triple moons create chaotic turbulence as conflicting tides pull against each other. When the moons and the sun are at four compass points, the waters are pulled in four directions at the same time. During this time, most experienced sailors will remain away from shore or on land. A flap on the sewer drain prevents the water from entering the city, and magic prevents the bay from entering through the gates. The outer islands are thirty feet above the mean sea level. With the inner islands set five feet higher, and the castle island is over fifteen feet higher at the edge. Strasev island is the only one with a major elevation increase from the waterline.Cobblestone roads connect the islands through a series of bridges. A single bridge connects the adjacent islands. Three major roads, North Bridge Road, runs from Synhom to Mienka. Jarve Road starts on the mainland and ends at the castle on Strasev, and the South Bridge road connects Synhom to Hulyci. The North and south streets intersect Jarve Road on Synhom, where lots of small shops fill the marketplace. In the center of major intersections is an enchanted fountain with a statue of the island gods. Each isle also maintains several docks for the flat bottom fin barges used for transporting between islands.
Time
Like most cities around Khusari Sea, the years a divided up into dynasties. For Shen Sherin, the first year starts on the winter solstice when the first island is grown out of the bay, known as Tiswaj. It takes Hauv Pem 449.3024 days to make a complete orbit. There are 13 months in a year with each one starting on Nobyrim and ending 34 days later on Rocejxi, except for Anuj and Minekiag. Anuj has the spring equinox and Minekiag as the fall. During this time there are 4 and 3 extra days per month respectfully. These holidays are counted seperate from the rest of the month, for example: Anuj goes from 7 to 1,2,3,4, then 8 making the last day of the month always 34. More. The calendar is set for the begining of book I.
Population
Shen Sherin’s population is over 80,000 distributed across the islands. In the 23rd year of the Jarve Dynasty, the city closed its gates to any new residents. Only the elite may ask for a non-resident to be granted citizenship of the islands. In which case, the sponsoring citizen must provide accommodations and a guarantee they will be an asset to Shen Sherin. When a person performs exceptional service for the city, they may be granted the title of zojzas and a small estate on Audiluam Island. The title is a single generation title.The Thesilans used a hierarchical system with castes and the emperor above all. Next are the old nobles, with family ties dating back four generations or more. Below them are the new nobles and zojzas. Next are the craftsmen, the merchants, and farmers, with indentured servants just above slaves. By law, everyone can buy their way out of servitude, except for captured prisoners of war, who can earn their freedom. Mages belong to one of the other castes, often taking a leading role in their respective groups. Powerful magicians called wizards run the guilds and are sought after as advisors.
Defense
Natural, magical, and military defenses create a gauntlet of obstacles for any would-be attacker. The walls have magical enchantments, preventing flying creatures from entering by air, which needs to be recharged periodically. On the top of the outer abutments are ballista, springals, and catapults, along with hundreds of archers. The outer islands are a thousand feet from the main-land, except for a 600-foot bridge with three gatehouses leading to Munthiv. A single twenty-foot path with fifteen-foot walls travels the thirteen-hundred feet to the next gatehouse off the island. Over a thousand soldiers practice their craft on Munthiv. Every seven hours, massive tides rushing in and out add to an already formidable defense. Each island maintains several wells, with a desalination facility, and the bay provides a bountiful food supply. In over two thousand years, no invader has taken the city.
Every island has its own gatehouse at the bridges and walls with its own militia. Resident over the age of fifteen is required to spend two years in the military. Three years in the island militia can be substituted for the city’s army. Being in the militia allows the person to remain home except in case of war. The island militia captain answers to Shen Sherin’s military commander.
Waste disposal
Beneath the streets lie parallel medium size tunnels running from the east to the ocean. Vertical pipes lead to the streets and buildings above, allowing garbage to be wash or thrown into the sewers. Metal greats and floating flaps stop the rising water from entering the city. Water from the river flows through the passages, washing the garbage to the sea during low tide.
Legal
The island militia is allowed to chase a suspect from one landmass to another. But they need to request permission to return with the prisoner, which is usually granted. Every island maintains its own court of three judges dealing with minor infractions. Either party can petition the high court on the island of Strasev to listen to the case. On rare occasions, the upper court or emperor will hear both sides and make the final decision, which is indisputable. The courthouse on Strasev has a balcony where the emperor or a member of their court may watch the proceedings below.
Minor crime sentences range from paying a fine to community service and/or jail time. Anyone imprisoned receives a specific tattoo related to the crime. Criminals wear them as a badge of honor and ranking. The more severe crimes carry sentences of longer incarnations, exile, and even executions. A few hundred years ago, exile meant being sent to Fire Island for life or battle in the arena. In Jarve 130, Fire Island stopped being a dumping ground for criminals, and in Jarve 205, the island became its own hold.
Some choose to fight in one of the three arenas to win their freedom and continue afterwords for glory and money. Some captured soldiers prefer a fighting chance in the arena rather than becoming a slave. Many disputes are settled in the arena, with the outcome being final. Both sides must agree to the terms in advance of any combat. Many off-worlders fight in the arena, drawing large crowds. The emotions of combat spread across the stands, and natives can get a nearby room in hopes of creating a child.
Food
The waters around the city are teeming with aquatic life. Editable aquatic plants with an abundance of marine life are found all around the islands. Shen Sherin has many whaling vessels, losing a ship every couple of years. In the spring and fall, the waters around the islands are filled with migrating salmon. The farms around the town grow a variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains. The forest and mountains to the east are teeming with wild game. However, many hostile races dwell in untamed lands. Every island several wells and desalination plants powered by the wind, magic, and/or tides. A few of the magical plants are still operational. However, some say they are more trouble than they are worth.
Transportation
Most people travel by foot, with the more affluent using horses or a carriage. Anyone can own a weapon, and most do. However, horses are regulated by the city and each island. Thesilans used magic to move ships and carriages, but the knowledge disappeared when they left. Finned boats using the tidal currents for power transport commodities between the islands. Horses, and oxen, fill the streets, pulling wagons full of goods between islands. Three mast sailing ships arrive daily, moving products and people to parts unknown. The deep-water harbor is the busiest in the Khusari Sea.
Economy
an ounce. They are colored to represent the different denominations and can be tracked. Green ( ny tuaj) is the most prevalent. 10 green equal a yellow (ny daj), 10 yellow for a blue (ny xiav), 10 more for a red (ny liab). For the everyday person, a red jade is the highest they will see if they’re lucky. The upper class will also use white (ny djawb), violet (ny nsthev), black (ny dub), and star jades, all at the same increase. One Star Jade is worth over 10,000,000 Green.An unskilled laborer can make 4 blue in a year, while a master carpenter over 2 red. A barrister might make 120 red during a year. Local cities use black and star jade when dealing with other cities. The city exports lumber, artistic jade figurines, potatoes, and fish by road to the south and east. Spices, wool, grains, and fruit arrived from all over. Shen Sherin is the primary shipping port on the Khusari Sea, with six or more ships in port on any day. Within the last ten years, the increasing attacks on caravans make the shipping of goods dangerous. Many traveling merchants stay within the kingdom, leaving only a handful of traders willing to risk everything.
Climate
Shen Sherin’s climate is cool and wet, stabilized by the cold Khusari current flowing counter-clockwise around the Khusari Sea. The summer months of Soierl and Pinothuv have an average daytime temperature into the eighties. Shiji and Zenaida are the coldest months reaching into the lower fifties. Shen Sherin receives over two hundred days a year, totaling fifty-five inches or more. The coldest day on record reached into the negatives, with the warmest up into the hundreds.
Religion
Every island worships a different major deity, in addition to several minor gods. The city has one major temple for every five thousand residents and a minor temple per thousand. During the Lehtii Dynasty, the necromancers used the dead against the family’s wishes. In Lehtii 121, Kianj Lehtii ruled the practice of burying bodies would stop. All corps are cremated, and the ashes returned to the family. Many of the working class put a box on a small boat setting them adrift. The wealthy citizens entombed the ashes in a crypt with a grave plaque on their grounds. Outside the city are several magically protected tombs where the ancestral bodies lay.
Government
The king /Queen oversees thousands of square miles, and his word is final beyond reproach. Some appoint advisers to handle everyday tasks and to keep royalty informed about current events. Each island has an adviser on the royal court and employs its own administrators, laws, and guards, subservient to the crown. When a dispute between two islands erupts, it is settled in the high court on Strasev. Outside the city walls, the people are under a thane or noble, who answers the king.
The Islands
Munthiv
Named after general Munthiv, the island has the only gate to the mainland. The smallest of the islands is only one acre wide and twenty acres long, surrounded by a fifty-foot grown wall, looking like cut marble. After crossing a six hundred-footbridge from the mainland, A twenty-foot drawbridge leads to the first portcullis. A five-thousand-square-foot rectangular courtyard surrounded by a separate thirty-five-foot grown wall and a portcullis at the other end marks the entrance. On one side of the yard is two pulsating multi-color crystal columns. Along with any magic items, the posts glow a specific color depending on the type of magic. The darker the color, the more powerful the enchantment, and all magic is registered. Strangers are channeled through the pillars, and if any item changes color, They’re questioned about the item. Once through the second gate, the road with a wall on each side, down the island’s length. One door at each side and the ends, along with a few bridges over the path, is only the change in scenery. The other way off the island is a two hundred feet bridge leading to Synhom Island.
More?
Synhom
The largest island encompassing over 25% of the city land area and 40%. Forming a T with the Isle of Munthiv, Thirty acres long and ten acres across, covering three hundred square acres covered in a maze of streets and alleys. The weary traveler can find just about anything here, from a place to rest to replenish their supplies and even companionship. In the center of the island is a round-a-bout with a fountain, where the bridge roads merge. The main roads covered in cobblestone are twenty feet across with magical street lights, though many are disarrayed or broken. On the west end of the island, between the bridges to Eposiaj and Oralub, sits the Coliseum. The arena floor sits ten feet below the median tide. The arena floor is flooded for naval battles or to wash the bodies out to sea. Synhom bridges connect to each of its neighbors, Munthiv, Eposiaj, Oralub, and Kukab.
Eposiaj
One of the outer islands covering about a hundred and thirty square acres. This is the island where one goes for anything having to do with overland travel. There are several training facilities for horses and other animals. Wagons, carriages, and carts. Blacksmith, Cartwright, saddle maker, harness maker, or anything having to do with horses and wagons is found on Eposiaj. Unless arrangements are made with an inn, all the horses are stabled here. Three bridges lead off the island, one to Treasib, Oralub, and Synhom.
Oralub
About ninety-seven acres divided into four quadrants with the northwest section set up for tanners and other high water users. The rest of the island is for craftsmen don’t require large amounts of water. Tucked away in the SE section are a few shops the deal with magic devices. If it can be made, this is the island to visit. In the center of the island a marble statue of Axtjla Oralub, the best craftsman in the history of Shen Sherin. There are four bridges, one to Synhom, Eposiaj, Treasib, and Cheberin.
Kukab
Only about 85 acres in size with a unique channel for running the mills turn wheat and corn into flour. They also turn apples and other fruits into a liquid for ciders, wine, and beers. The city distilleries for the fermentation of fruits and berries are also found on the island. In the fall, blackberry brandy is popular with the population. The north end of the island has many bakers and pastry chefs. The bridges lead to Synhom, Oralub, and Hulyci.
Treasib
Encompassing about 80 acres and sits between Eposiaj and Ruases on the north side of the bay. This island is dedicated to combat, whether melee weapons, armor, or something with distance, like a bow or crossbow, with practice areas. The island has a few specialized weapon-smiths, armorers, bowyers, and others. The bridges to this island are narrow, allowing only one person to pass at a time. The only way to get to this island is from Eposiaj and Ruases.
Cheberin
This where the wealthy merchants and mages reside. Covering about 75 acres, each house has its private distillation building, and a small stable and a barracks attached for the owner’s personal guards, and a two-story main house. The narrow streets lined with rock walls only allow a one-horse cart a person. Some estates have docks for small sea vessels. The three bridges off this island lead to Audiluam, Hulyci, and Oralub.
Hulyci
Covering 65 acres, housing the lesser nobles. The roads are similar to the Cheberin with the estates, the main house, a private well, and a water purifier. Most have stables, separate barracks, with a few having smiths on hand. The only bridges lead to Kukab and Cheberin.
Ruases
only 32 acres. The waters around this island are filled with sharks as this island is where all the animals for the city are butchered. Fishmongers and all the sausage-making buildings. Only two bridges are connecting to Ruases, one to Treasib and Meinka.
Audiluam
Only 49 acres with the three main roads meeting in a circle surrounded by open-air shops selling some of the most beautiful silk and fine cloths around. Seamstresses, weavers, dyers, and shops of exquisite and exotic clothing fill the shops. The unique, handcrafted, and high-quality items for the discerning are on the island. Three foot bridges lead off the island. One is back to Cheberin, and the others are to Tebailuam and Tiswaj.
Tebailuam
The tight security for this 250-acre natural island is second only to Strasev. The gatehouse has double the guards with double the active patrols in the streets and the surrounding walls as the other islands. Most of these lots are only about an acre with a few exclusive specialty shops. The Star Jade Inn on the Island caters to island guests, and some nobility uses the inn as an apartment. Most of them also have large estates on the mainland. Tebailuam is the only island with additional magic symbols on the buildings, walls, and even the bridge from Audiluam. Only people with the proper credentials are allowed on the island.
Meinka
one of the few islands with direct access to the Khusari Sea. Designed for the docks, The triangle shape covers about 75 acres and sitting away from the other islands. The docks themselves can handle over a dozen ships and anyone time and has some unique security equipment, including a couple of warships loaded with enchantments and weapons of magic. There is only one bridge to this island from Treasib, and most of the goods are transported from here using the finned flat-bottom barges.
Tiswaj
All the major administration buildings for each of the islands and the advocates, courthouses, and essential offices are found here. Any activity involving more than one island is dealt with here in parliament. A three-judge panel hears high-profile court cases or ones involving more than one island. Any case can ask to be heard by the royal court. However, unless the king agrees, the previous court ruling stands.
Strasev
only the Castle and its support buildings, including the high court. Its high walls overlook all the islands, and with just one well-defended bridge. During the Reetta Dynasty, the Elves attempted to blockade Shen Sherin to no avail. The massive ballista on the city walls and with the help from Vamonamo rock-boats, the siege ended within a few months.
History
The Thesilan magistrate Deyr Khusari founded Shen Sherin almost 2700 years ago with a few nuesg or humans. Located where the Sherin river flows into the Terorma Inlet. To the East lay the only available road through the mountains, and the capital city, North and South trails, connect to other villages and towns west of the mountains. The Thesilan Road follows the Sherin River through the Tuzia Kys (Tuzia pass), ending at Twin Rivers. A short boat trip downriver to Dragon Claw lake lay the entrance to the magical city of Thesila.For over 400 years, the area prospered. The Thesilans wizards grew islands in the inlet to expand the town. After Castle Shen’s completion, the government moved to Strasev island. Over the years, they developed thirteen islands, and the locals settled as each one became available.Since its founding, Shen Sherin has survived 12 dynasties. The Thesilan Dynasty began before the existence of the village and lasted for 184 years afterward. Ancient wizards created everyday magical devices used to keep the islands clean. They built sewers under the city streets allowing river water to keep them clean. Enchanted spheres lighting the roads at night. Magic pipes extinguished fires and washed the trash into the sewers. Beautiful fountains powered by magic were the focal points of major crossroads and so much more. It was a good time to live on the islands. The population grew, overflowing into the forest, and in Thesilan 139, a group of human settlers killed an Elvin family. The elves retaliated and thus began the Nuesg-Neov war. Elves had superior skills and weapons, but the humans overwhelmed them in numbers stealing many spells from the elves during the conflict. In Thesilan 142, the Green Branch Treat signed outside Clybhir ended the hostilities.In Thesilan 509, all the Thesilan’s administrators left for Thesila and never returned. Many of the trade routes became dangerous and riddled with bandits becoming lawless, almost stopping all trade. With no reason to travel beyond Twin Rivers, travel east diminished, and within a generation, the route didn’t exist. For years the battle for the leadership of Shen Sherin waged until Soryan Seijag took the castle in 512. He created the current calendar, starting a 0 for each dynasty. He was also first called himself king. The Seijag Dynasty is remembered as being cruel, ruling with an iron fist. Demanding human sacrifices and forcing the residents to live in squalor. Every time the citizens tried to revolt, it was squashed with devastating consequences. They held the city for 138 years until Gyng Laillia assassinated the last of the Seijag family.The Laillia Dynasty encouraged the use of magic. Soon every house had enchanted items, and magic shops appeared on every island. The city prospered, and the villagers got fat and lazy. But the Orks east of the mountains wanted the power and marched west, starting the Ork war in Laillia 175. For many months the elves stayed out, until 176 when the Owrken army destroyed an Elvin Village. The invaders could not battle two front, so they retreated across the mountains in 177, taking some magic knowledge. The Laillia Dynasty lasted for 237 years until Zhou Kyliah took power by taking the castle one night.Zhou did not trust magic, banning it from the city. He executed witches, wizards, destroying magic shops, and demand all magic be destroyed. Mages fled the city, many of them ending up in Epyfina. Mages tried hiding in the coastal cities of Clybhir and Vamonamo, but Zhou would not trade with anyone hiding a mage. Kyliah’s reign lasted for 62 years.Cyhin Tainna, a cook in the castle by spending years putting a hallucinogen into the royal food. Over time, they went insane and killed each other. Cyhin became the first Tainna Queen. In the Tainna 60, an army of Orks, Tsaubs, and Tumojs numbering in the thousands crossed the mountains. The army overran villages, killing thousands before the invaders split, laying siege to Tenskie and Shen Sherin. For over a year, the inlet and tall walls kept the attackers out of the Shen Sherin. In Tainna 61, Syrran Tainna invited the mages back, promising full citizenship if they help defend the city. Within two years, the invaders retreated across the mountains with heavy losses. During the battle of Tsaub cliffs, they found a cave protected by an illusion. There were dozens of confused people there. They looked like zojzas but spoke in strange languages. The strangers understood each other, but not the natives. They returned to the city with the army. Syrran gave the mages citizenship and the island Cheberin. For over 400 years of peace reigns.The Tainna family had no heir to the throne and, after 275 years, turn the throne over their son-in-law Lynag Lehtii. They ruled for almost another 260 years, Then civil war fills the streets, and in 3 months, Dajuo Reetta became the first queen to rule. Within two years of her taking the throne, pirates attacked the city, but the city defenses repelled their attacks every time. In Reetta 6, Dynasty rumors of a prophecy spread throughout the land. “An off-worlder will return princess Dalistra as queen and the ancients wizards before the three become one.” Most people didn’t take it seriously,Qyua Iirro wanted to make sure the prophecy did not happen. He takes the throne and, on the first day, commands all off-worlders to be executed, killing thousands of strangers while many more escaped. Within a generation, there are no new births in Shen Sherin. The Iirro Dynasty discovered Fire Island in the middle of the Khusari Sea. Named because of the active volcano at one end. It was in Iirro 98, the first prisoners sentenced to life were put on the island. Shen Sherin and many other coastal cities use it as a prison. Political dissents were soon added to the list sent to the island. The guilty were given a choice between the arena where they could win back their freedom or the island for life. The life expectancy in either place was short. The Iirro family ruled for 295 years before they vanished without a trace.Quing Arcttu took the throne without a fight, welcoming the off-worlders back into the city. Within one generation, infants could be heard all over town. However, there was a forty-year gap between the youngest mothers and babies. Forcing many families to take in other children as the adults died. Arrena Arcttu assented to the throne just a few years before a massive army moved over the mountains from the East in 128. Xoargh led an army of owrks, giants, trolls, ogres, witches, and hook-bill dragons. Their attacks organized and precise, leveling every structure in their path. This was the first time they attacked the west with magic and dragons, using both skillfully. The conflict lasted for 100 years.Tain Targho kills Zieb Arrena in his sleep, ending the Arrena rule. Tain almost lost the city several times. He uses the military to keep order in the city and leaves the people outside the walls to the fates. He holds power for 27 years until he slinks away in the dark after Rhynnia and her wood elves fight their way to the city gate.Rhynnia Varpul showed up with hundreds of Elves to join the battle. Tain slinks away by boat in the night, leaving the throne vacant. Rhynnia became the first wizard to ascend the throne in Shen Sherin. By this time, the pirates of Fire Island joined the battle, blocking the ports and controlled the Khusari sea. Until the stone ships from Iimytir arrived, destroying the pirates fleet, sending them back to fire island, and several Iimytir warships remained around the island. In 34, Rhynnia and Xoargh signed the Fire Jade Peace Accord, ending the 100-year war. They set up trade routes, and all sides prosper from the agreement. Some say Rhynnia was a part elf, but she remained in power for 169 years. She left through the gate, leaving Alandra Tolvonian as the new king.Some say Alandra Tolvonian was part Neov (Elf), but most thought he was Naj Tewb (off-worlder). He taught them how to build pumps using the sea breeze to get the water out of the ground. He showed them how to make lamps using whale oil and replace the many items as magic dwindled and devices just stopped working. A variety of races moved about the city, opening shops and joined the military. After 108 years, he turned the throne over to Argoria Jarve and left the city just like his predecessor.After 23 years, Shen Sherin became overpopulated, and no new island residents were allowed on the islands. The city expanded to the surrounding countryside, expanding the farms and orchards. Under the Jarve family reign, the town prospered and became the shipping hub again. In 120, bands of Orwks, Tsaubs, and Trolls moved west of the mountains, breaking the peace treaty. The battles were short, and within a year, they retreated East. There are still ongoing skirmishes with the eastern races.
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