Lendore Isles
Proper Name: [rough translation] Radiant and Transformed Domain of Sehanine of the Lendore Isles
Ruler: The Most Radiant Bow of Sehanine, Orb of the Heavens, High Priest Anfaren Silverbrow (CG male elf Clr20 of Sehanine)
Government: Theocracy in which the church of Sehanine takes on all government responsibilities and authority, and the highest-level cleric rules the realm; each island is governed by its own religious authorities, who are advised by various community leaders but need not take this advice into consideration when rendering judgments and decisions.
Capital: Lo Reltarma
Major Towns: Lo Reltarma (pop. 3,200 other large towns on Lendore Island are rumored to be abandoned, dismantled, or reduced to mere villages; elven communities are of unknown nature
Provinces: Five protectorships (islands), with each island governed by an elven cleric of a proportionately similar level
Resources: Unknown
Coinage: Unknown
Population: 41,000—Elf 97% (high 70%, gray 30%), Half-elf 2%, Human 1% (So)
Languages: Lendorian Elven, Elven, Common, Lendorian (humans only)
Alignments: CG*, NG, N, CN
Religions: Elf pantheon (state favored, especially Sehanine [humans only] Phaulkon, Kord, Xerbo, Osprem, Norebo, Lydia, Syrul
Allies: None officially, though the church of Sehanine and the People of the Testing fully support it
Enemies: Lendore exiles, some groups in Sunndi, Scarlet Brotherhood (minor distrusted by other neighboring states
These islands have always been a mystery, due to their native aquatic and high elves who kidnapped intruders into their realm and did not release any to tell tales. Both the Sea Barons and the Lordship of the Isles kept well away from the six isles in this chain, save Lendore Isle itself. This was populated by Suel-dominated humans who conducted much trade with the continent and paid the Barons and Lords to allow their ships to pass safely.
In 583 CY, the elves moved swiftly to subjugate Lendore Isle, offering the humans safe passage to the Sea Barons, the Lordship of the Isles, Medegia, or elsewhere along the east coast of Aerdy as it then was. They simply informed the humans that the time had come for the elves to use the whole island chain for religious purposes, and no mere humans would be allowed to get in the way. A minority were permitted to stay as humble fisherfolk and laborers.
The entire island chain is now shrouded in magical fogs and illusions which form an almost unnavigable barrier to the outside world. Only elves drawn to Lendore can find their way there readily. When elves leave the mortal world, they have their own secret places of safe passage and departure, and Lendore is the most important of these within the Flanaess. It is said to be watched over by no less than a dozen full Patriarchs and Matriarchs of the goddess Sehanine.
Obviously, very little in the way of information about transformed Lendore filters back to the ordinary, mundane world. One story is almost certainly true, however. The elves of Lendore speak a unique, highly complex tongue: Lendorian Elvish. It is not learned in a normal manner. Rather, an elf newly arrived in Lendore gradually develops an understanding of the language as it is implanted into his mind in a series of revelatory stages. This is said to parallel a growingly otherworldly nature, drawing the elf painlessly away from his attachments to matters mundane. It is also fairly certain that Lendore is an intensely magical land, but how this may manifest, the elves do not say.
Overview:The Lendore Isles, as they are now known, were until recently named the Spindrifts. This group of five islands, located some 100 leagues east of the Medegian peninsula, is now a fog-shrouded navigational hazard to all but elf-piloted ships. Located in the midst of the Asperdi-Duxchan chain, most charts show the five islands of the Spindrifts (though some older charts show only four) as the easternmost in the Aerdi Sea.
Spindrift Sound itself is navigable, but shipping is menaced by the Scarlet Brotherhood and the activities of a few pirates based on the eastern Medegian coast. Elven vessels are sometimes seen to cross the Aerdi Sea in the direction of Lendore Isle, presumably shipping from secret ports cut beneath the Hestmark Cliffs. A number of elven warships also travel to or from the Lendore Isles as escorts for passenger craft. They will certainly intercept any seagoing craft that manages to bypass the barrier of magical mist that envelops these islands. Elven ships were also sighted farther east on the Solnor by Sea Barons' ships in the late 580s, perhaps exploring or trading with distant elf colonies.
The primary inhabitants of the Lendore Isles are the olve, with a small number of half-elves scattered throughout the islands. Most half-elves left in protest following the subjugation of Lendore Isle; those that remain, along with the human menials who are permitted to stay, now form a protected underclass of the elven-dominated society. Since they are unable to acquire the use of Lendorian Elven, they are required to keep silent in all public places, unless addressed by an elf directly. The government and society are otherwise entirely elven, led by the cult of Sehanine.
History:This group of islands has housed from time immemorial the strongholds of high-elven wizards and lords. They had little contact with humans until the arrival of the legendary Archmage, Lendore, who brought his fellowship out from the lands of the Suel Imperium in anticipation of the Invoked Devastation. Fleeing the impending disaster, the wizard and his band journeyed to the easternmost shores of Oerik, then further still, until they came at last to the Spindrift Isles. The Invoked Devastation occurred, as Lendore knew it must, but it was followed by a catastrophe he had not foreseen: the Rain of Colorless Fire and the destruction of the empire.
In the years that followed, the wizard and his followers lived in peace with the elves, while elsewhere in the Flanaess, the Suloise were being pushed out of habitable lands by the conquering Oerid. In time, Lendore persuaded the elves to cede him the southern island, that he might make a refuge of it for his followers and kin. Only a few families of Suel made this their home while Lendore ruled, but in the years after his passing, their population slowly grew. Lo Reltarma became the capital of the island, and its ruling Council of Seven maintained close ties with the high elves' Council of Five in the northern islands.The peoples of the northern and southern isles did not freely mix, but both communities recognized the benefits of unity in opposition to the warlike Aerdi and the piratical Suel of the southern islands. Whenever seriously threatened by their rapacious neighbors, the heirs of Lendore would remember his promise of an aerial sanctuary, and gather at the Gate of Glass outside Lo Reltarma. One of Lendore's last prophecies had promised his appearance there, before the Final Calamity overtook the island. In time, the Gate of Glass became something of a shrine that Lendorians would visit in times of crisis, or in memory of crises averted, and the citizens of Lo Reltarma would gather here on the last day of each year to celebrate their ancestor's foresight. For centuries the Spindrift Isles maintained their independence from all foreign powers, both through strength and through cunning. Perhaps the Scarlet Brotherhood made incursions into the Council of Seven in the years leading up to the Greyhawk Wars, but they were given no time to take advantage of their gains before the high elves took control of Lendore Isle. Elves have always been plagued with mysticism, and those of the Spindrifts had finally succumbed to the cult of Sehanine. The Final Calamity, it seemed, had arrived.
It was a bloodless revolution, yet catastrophic for the inhabitants of Lendore Isle. They were informed that they must be exiled from the only home they had ever known, in order for the Spindrifts to serve as high elven holy ground. The high elves used powerful phantasms to overcome strong resistance, and threats of imprisonment persuaded most others to cooperate. The humans were given three days to prepare for their removal from the island. In that time, perhaps half of Lo Reltarma's population escaped through the Gate of Glass before the elves could deactivate it; the rest were either exiled to the mainland, the Sea Barons' isles, or other local regions, or were among the few allowed to remain as workers in Lo Reltarma.
In the years since the Greyhawk Wars, some of the surviving exiles have joined together with half-elven captains on the Medegian coast. It is an open secret that they are smugglers, willing to transport any cargo for a price. Several of these ships secretly accompanied the flotilla of the Sea Barons in their voyage over the Solnor in 586-589 CY. The Spindrift exiles were thought to be searching for the last members of the Council of Five, who had fled across the waves when the clerics of Sehanine usurped their authority. It is not clear what benefit they seek by contacting their deposed leaders, but the half-elves clearly wish to return to their birthplace and free it of the magical affliction of Sehanine.
Conflicts and Intrigues:A human resistance force operates from a magical stronghold above Lendore Isle. Rumors circulate of a spy network in Lo Reltarma, loyal to the Council of Five in the northern isles, searching for rebel humans. Orcs, goblins, and kobolds hold subterranean lairs not yet discovered on the large southern isle.
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