BogMod/HiddenIslandsOfDarandris
Darandris
Population: 150,000
Capital: Daran
Income: No major trade or economy
Armed Forces: Nothing of any significance.
During the Great Contagion there was a populus and productive chain of islands southeast of Wavecrest Archipeligo. A powerful Lunar and Sidereal, both wise elders, were fighting to do what they could to halt the invading Fair Folk. One thing they did before losing their lives buying time for survivors fleeing the west was use a modified device of Solar craft. This device hid away the islands making only a few very small sea routes actually lead one to them and completely hiding them from the senses of the Fair Folk. This they hoped would protect the place from the enroaching Wyld until someone could return them to Creation proper. In the First Age Darandris served as a major docking fascility for the Western Fleets but was never developed much beyond that. It served the same purpose for the Shogunate as well. The islands are a mix of rocky and arable with four main islands forming the main outer core of the group. Within are dozens of smaller islands and in many places one can just walk to another island through shallows connecting them all or still existing bridges of First Age manufacture.
City: Daran
Population: 60,000
Type: Port city
Defences: Long unused highly defensible port and first age devices.
Income: Nothing significant
Terrain: Arable Island
The major base of Western Military planning and stopovers the port fascilities here are highly advanced and extensive and more then capable to handle great First Age battleships and smaller ships all at once. Gleeming white stone for much of the place the complete lack of use in the last centuries has only meant that the fascilities are unused but not in disrepair. It has also since being hidden away become the capital of the hidden region with the old Solar Manse fascilities serving as a capitol building. Forested and arable ground makes up its main terrain.
City: Pasian
Population: 30,000
Type: Isolationist island
Defences: Large wall but little actual military.
Income: Nothing significant
Terrain: Tropical style island with a powerful large mountain/volcano in the center.
Pasian was named after the Elemental Dragon of Earth due to its powerful earth geomantic energies in the area. It was left uncapped in the First Age and Shogunate due to the natural mineral wealth these energies created in the dormant volcano the island had. Now it serves as a group of very religious isolationist islanders in the region who treat the volcano as holy ground and dont let others nearby. They live in a walled village and have the largest percentage of Dragonblooded in the 4 major islands.
Other population centers
The other 2 major islands and the dozens of smaller ones host the remaining 60,000 people in the region. Of the two remaining one remains now mostly converted into growing lands for foodstuffs. It once was the personal domain of a Lunar Admiral then Shogunate Admiral. After the Contagion the manse fell into disrepair but the mostly untouched land was used for growing. The final major island was a sort of shore leave island for crews who had ships docked and Daran. Now it just hosts a large collection of villages and the still locked up private research fascility of Daran's Solar husband. The Shogunate never seemed to try to explore it instead just locking it away. This was due to a tendancy of the paranoid madness of that old Solar who in later years would work charms into both word and paintings which would bend the mind of those who saw or read to slavish loyalty to his service. The remaining islands are mostly of the temperate/tropical sort and grouped between the four major ones which form a rough outer ring for them.
History:
In the First Age this was a major stopover point for supplies, organization and management of the fleets in the Inner Sea regions and for groups heading farther west or south. Ruled over by the Lunar called Duran he named the entire island group after himself and managed the place as both a personal kingdom and a military outpost in service of the Deliberative. The manses were capped, fascilities put in place and all ran with a perfect efficiancy. The place itself suffered little damage during the Ursupation as the Lunar who lead it fled before the Dragonblooded reached it and the fascilities fell undamaged into their heands. The invasion of the Fair Folk never touched the islands either and most of the ships were away when the Sidereal and Lunar hid the islands away. The military presence and civilian population on the island eventually just settled into a simple rough collection of groups lead by elected officials. Military skills and training diminished along with major seagoing skills.
Technology: The main island of Darandris holds several fascilities that would be ideal for the maintainance and production of advanced magical technologies and equipment though they have lain unused for centuries. Actual technology the villagers hold is rather small.
Holidays: On the 18th of Resplendant Water is remembered as the solemn day where the were given a reprive from the horrer of the Fair Folk invasion. The first day of each month prayers are given to the Gods of the Calander and the first week after Calibration is for Gaia. Last day of each season is the holy day for the appropriate Elemental Dragon.
Culture: Family lines are traced from descent from the mother. Once major seagoing its evolved from a military naval culture to a more simple islander culture. They follow a rough Immaculate Philosophy with an emphasis more on personal action and character then anything else.
Military: Nothing of significance.
Religion: Aside from days of prayer to various dieties as mentioned above in the Holidays there is little major worship or religious character to these groups.
Trade: Nothing of significance though the land can produce a great deal of food if properly handled and Pasian holds an abundance mineral wealth both natural and magical. Sea life is always plentiful as well from fishing and the shallows of several of the inner islands can be used for rice or a kind of seaweed farming.
Laws: There is little serious law in the region. The major usual things like theft and murder are handled by a triad which acts as both investigation and judge. They are chosen by random draw from those who are
Gods and Spirits: The local island Gods lack the power for significant threats to the Islands and there is usually a strong enough Dragonblood alive enough to also counter them. Beyond that the Calander Gods enjoy the places surprising dedication to their praise and would look poorly on any local God that tried to change that.
Economics: Nothing well developed at the moment.
Drugs: A few rare shallow growing sea plants and animals produce a few drugs which mimic things found elsewhere but there is little
In terms of medicines there is little beyond bandages, splints and a few cases of minor thaumaturgy. On the plus side there is little major sources of wounds or disease.
Exalted: There are 7 Dragonblooded on the island of various ages from young to very old. 2 earth and water and one each of the remaining 3.
Manses and Desmenses of Note: The main building at Daran is a level 5 Solar Manse with a Gem of the Day's Light. It seamlessly mixes both military office with capitol building in a perfect harmony. Possessing exactly 111 rooms and 333 windows the place is very open and perfect for enjoying the rays of the Unconquered Sun. It possesses Sentience but will only speak and obey a Solar who attunes to it. 5 Manipulation, Charisma, Intelligence, Wits and Perception. It possesses a 5 War, a 5 Bureaucracy, 3 Presence, 3 Lore, 3 Socialize, 3 Integrity, 5 Archery, Awareness 4 and 3 Occult. It has Valor 5, Temperance 4, Compassion 3, Conviction 4. As part Fortress it possesses Integrated Weapon Artillery worked into its systems. Magical Conveniences, Glorius Halo of Hesiesh and Network Node to the other manses on the island. It requires level 2 maintainance in the form of prayers in honor of the Unconquered Sun. It possesses canveses which write elegantly when commanded, illuminates rooms by glowing small spheres set in the ceiling, self opening or locking doors, an updating plaque which cross-references all the old bureaucratic documents in the place and swords left in the armory sharpen themselves as well as maintainance on other weapons of war left in there. The Artifact weapons it possesses is a Storm Hammer, a level 3 Lightning Ballistae and a level 2 Implosion Bow. These weapons aim outwards towards the harbor and sea.
Pasian bosts a level 5 Earth aspected Desmense.
The old personal home of the Lunar lord of the region is a level 4 Lunar Manse but needs repair. It makes a Wilderness Gem. It counts as a Temple Manse to Luna, Network Node, Archive, Magical Conveniences, Well-Flavored Aspect Lunars. It needs no matainance normally. Its archive is a set of 5 rough stone obelisks. It teaches one Celestial Circle Spell, 5 Terrestial Circle Spells, History(Lore Spec) and Geomancy(occult spec).
Sitting half submerged between two of the smaller islands is a fully working level 3 Water Manse. This boasts the no longer working weather control fascilities for the island group. It has a Stone of Aquatic Prowess. Network Node, Workshop Manse(Magitech), Comfort Zone and Central Control. It requires level 1 Matainance. The weather control systems are artifacts in their own right but housed in the manse and could not be removed without remodling the manse or taking them apart.
There is also another small minor wood manse near the outskirts of the capitol. Producing a Dragon Willow Agate it has Network node and Well Flavored Aspect.
There is one final manse as well. This secret research fascility for an ancient Solar is entirely underground the building above it merely decoration. Technically a level 4 Earth Manse it produces no Hearthstone and all its powers are directed inward for the purposes of that deranged if brilliant mind. It possesses Passwords, Self-Destruct, Ultra-Deadly Traps, Workshop Manse Genesis and is a Dragon's Nest to all 5 elements through very careful use of jade inlays and placement throughout it. In carefully constructed statis devices rest 10 children. Carefully chosen to be completely pure in bloodline and never mixed with mortals they were to be the start of a new eugenics program this solar had in mind. A new race of dragonbloods that could not breed with mortals at all...completely devoted to her and that which would eliminate the disgusting abominations called dragon blooded out there now in a glorius cleansing war.
While the area this region encompasses could easily manage more the first Lunar lord treated much of the area outside of the towns as a private hunting reserve and as a display of respect for Luna's lover didn't enforce his will on the land to a great degree by working the geomancy. The Shogunate never had the resources to properly do the geomantic works to bring the place to proper harmonized levels.