Islands

Vareth is surrounded by numerous island groups, but they differ greatly in scale and character. Some are remote mountainous archipelagos, others are scattered maritime islands close to the mainland, and many of the smallest islands occur around narrow channels and broken coastlines.

Dragon Isles

The Dragon Isles, known in Draconic as Shaalthar, form a large remote archipelago far off the western and northwestern side of Vareth.

The islands are exceptionally rugged and mountainous. Tall jagged peaks dominate the larger islands, with steep dark rocky coasts, broken shorelines, narrow channels, isolated valleys, and numerous smaller islands, reefs, rocks, and islets around them.

The surrounding waters are notoriously exposed to ocean weather. Rough seas, strong winds, heavy cloud, rain, and persistent storm systems are characteristic of the archipelago, giving the islands a markedly harsher maritime environment than Vareth’s other major island groups. Storms may obscure portions of the islands for long periods without making the archipelago uniformly cold or glaciated.

A substantial stretch of open ocean separates the Dragon Isles from the northwestern mainland. Their remoteness, severe relief, hostile channels, and persistent weather make them physically distinct from the nearer Vesarel Isles and the colder but more scattered Frostwake Isles.

Shaalthar is Draconic, from shaal, “open sky” or “height,” and thar, “domain.” The archipelago has an ancient association with dragons and is particularly connected with the black dragonflight and Onyxaroth.

Frostwake Isles

The Frostwake Isles, known in Dwarven as Keldrek, are a scattered group of cold northern islands within the Pale Sea.

The islands are generally smaller and more dispersed than the Dragon Isles. Many are rocky and windswept, while the larger islands contain steep uplands, narrow valleys, and sheltered coastal ground. The highest islands can retain snow for much of the year, and a few support small permanent ice fields.

Keldrek combines Dwarven keld, “cold” or “frost,” with rek, “broken line,” “scattered continuation,” or “fragmented chain.”

Vesarel Isles

The Vesarel Isles lie along the western maritime side of Vareth and toward the approaches to the Selvaren Narrows.

They form a broad collection of inhabited and uninhabited islands rather than one compact chain. Their landscapes range from rocky coastal uplands and exposed cliffs to sheltered valleys, wooded islands, and productive maritime lowlands.

The Common name comes from the Vesarel Ocean. Akkari traditionally call the islands Vaishai, from vai, “wind,” and eshai, “island.”

The western islands and neighboring mainland cliffs support one of the strongest surviving concentrations of akkari settlement. Exposed heights, offshore cliffs, strong winds, and short sea crossings favor communities adapted to flight.

Selvaren Islands

Numerous smaller islands lie within and immediately around the Selvaren Narrows.

Collectively they are usually called the Selvaren Islands, although individual islands carry their own local names where they are inhabited or historically important.

Their physical size is modest compared with Vareth’s major archipelagos, but their position gives them disproportionate maritime importance. They provide natural anchorages, navigational landmarks, defensive positions, sheltered passages, and potential control points over traffic between the Mereth Sea and Vesarel Ocean.

Sunward Isles

The Sunward Isles are the scattered islands lying south of southwestern and south-central Vareth.

They are not a single tightly connected archipelago. Large stretches of open water separate many of them, and their landscapes vary considerably. Western islands tend to be drier, rockier, and more exposed; farther east, greater rainfall supports more vegetation and larger areas of habitable ground.

Their collective Common name comes from their position within the broader Sunward Sea. No single older native name is universally applied to the entire group.

Eirshai Archipelago

The Eirshai Archipelago forms the great island chain extending outward from southeastern Vareth into the Sunward Sea.

Larger islands lie closest to the mainland. Farther outward, the chain divides into increasingly numerous smaller islands, reefs, channels, and isolated rocky outcrops. The inner islands contain substantial forests, river valleys, fertile coastal plains, and uplands, while more distant islands are generally smaller and increasingly maritime in character.

Eirshai is Akkari, derived from eir, “clear light” or “sunlight,” and eshai, “island,” in the broad sense of “Sunlit Islands.” Common normally preserves the Akkari proper name as Eirshai Archipelago.

The archipelago forms a natural continuation of southeastern Vareth, following the same broad sweep as the mainland coastline before breaking into smaller islands and open sea.