Sudureyja
Sudreyja (SUD-oo-rey-ah)is the southernmost island in the Aedrinarian peninsular and a part of the Kingdom of Aedrinar. A diverse island with fertile taiga to the south, arctic mountains and tundra to the north. A key trade point, Sujurejya is an important island geographically and economically to the humans of Aedrinar.
Settlements
The island has three main settlements and numerous hamlets scattered along the main roads from Lastlight. Its largest is the capital of Lastlight, and impressive port city known for its gargantuan statue of an Aedrinarian warrior which doubles for a lighthouse. In the north, the large village of Fiskvatn serves as an internal trading centre and fishing port, whilst the small village of Fargenvur acts as the mining centre of the island.Geography
The island’s southern coast is cliffy and overlooks the wild Terrasic ocean. Although the ocean brings storms and gargantuan waves, warm air is carried from the south to make the coastline generally fertile and capable of large scale farming and animal husbandry.
A large forest known as Sigrid’s Wood lies on the south-eastern section. This is an evergreen and mainly pine forest with fertile wildlife such as elk, rabbits, wolves, and brown bears. Fey creatures such as pixies can also be found in this woodland.
The Southern Mounts dominate the centre of Sudurejya. Composed of largely extinct volcanos, the mountains are perpetually snowy. Some small herding hamlets such as Elvskirk can be found along narrow roadsides. The mountains also have large glacier lakes the thaw in the summer months and form impressive fjords. To the west, the Southern Mounts give way to rolling hill lands rich with ores.
The northern coast of the island largely lies around the Bay of Squids and the Dreken channel. Colder and less hospitable, farming is harder in these areas but vegetables such as turnip and cabbage can be grown here alongside Winter Wheats.
Natural Resources
Sudurejya is rich in iron, copper, tin, and Arcanium ores which serve as the backbone of its economy. Pine trees and lumber can also be found throughout the island and provide for plentiful building and shipping resources.
History
Mythic Age
The island was largely ruled by the Derro who inhabited the central mountains of the region. Human tribes shared this region from the 6th century onwards, most notably the tribes of Uller and Skadi. Ice Elf Settlers overlooked Sudurejya due to the prescence of the Derro, and on ancient Asrinheim maps the area is marked as Suderronel, land of the southern derro. During the War with the Forgotten Gods, Uller united the human clans with his marriage to Skadi and brought the Derro of the island to hold. In exchange, the Derro were given domain of the whole island, with the native human tribes agreeing to relocate to the northern islands. During the period of Derro supremacy, wildgrasslands native to mammoths took hold on the southern coastline. The Derro King of the South ruled from the legendary midnight city within the island, where exports of obsidian, Sudrejyan steel, and bronze trinkets were sold to the High Kings and various jarls.First Age
With the great division of the Aedrinarans following the first kingdom, the derro's trade slowed and the golden age of their civilization set. They became more isolated which allowed smaller human tribes to settle the island again. The Fish clan, the ancestors of Fisk and eventual founders of Fiskvatn settled the north whilst the Rat clan took control of the south. During the flight of the dragons, the Black dragon Yndress the Doombringer took control of the Derro on the island and torched the Rat Clan and their fields. High Queen Astrid I Dragontamer united the Fish clan and took control of the island when defeated the Doombringer and other dragons throughout Aedrinar. After Astrid's death, the island fell back into the control of the Fish clan. With Astrid dead, the age of 1000 clans saw battles and feuds between the clans of Aedrinar. The Gull clan, the ancestors of the modern Gully family from Lastlight, took control of the south of the island and the Blackstones, who had been granted rulership of the island by Astrid, retreated to the ruins of the Derro cities. In legend, the last Cheif of the Blackstones dug too deep into the Derro minds and awoke the dark beasts. The semi-mythical hero, and founder of Lastlight, Torbjorn Redhands, a man of 9ft tall and red skin, defeated the darkspawn and united the island, becoming the first King of Sudurejya. Redhands would built his jarlskeep in the south of the island where Lastlight now stands. The Redhands, Fish clan, Gull Clan, and Thairgir families would exchange control of the jarldom until the last king, Ulf, was defeated in single combat by Ragnar the Great in the final days of Ragnar's conquest. By this time, Lastlight had become a major city on the island, and served as the capital for the Kingdom of Aedrinar under the rule of Olaf I and was where the Aedrinarans set sail to join the First Soulthek War.Second Age
Sudurejya would fade into obscurity for the first five centuries of the second age. With the Death of High King Rollo II in 56, 2e, the Redhands regained the title of King of Sudurejya, with feuding between the clans and houses of the island leading to constant instability. Eventually, it broke into numerous indepedent settlements and nomadic clans. In 634, the island was pillaged by the Nightooth clan from Haastarok who claimed it as part of their kingdom of the Southern Islands alongside Haastraok, Einmanfjell, and Drekenheim. The island regained some stability during this age, and lastlight began to grow again. The island remained a key part of this kingdom and as its economic hub until the Titanskyn clan declared their independence in 1019 during the 'Age of Midnight Sky.' The kings of Sudurejya ruled out of Lastlight once again, with the mighty Final Light statue being constructed by Rulvild Farsight in the 11th century. Sudurejya remained an important kingdom throughout this period, frequently competing with its rivals in Halgafjar and Winterharbour. The Long Age of Long Winter, as it is known in Aedrinarian oral history, saw Sudurejya grow in power and prestige. The fertile lands on the southern half of the island allowed it plentiful resources as its northern rivals slowly fractured. The Golden Age of Sudurejya came with the rise of High King Haarold II of Lastlight, who used diplomacy to unite the other cities and clans under a 5th kingdom. The island was a hub of activity and culture, with a new mercantile trade network spreading throughout the isles which allowed the population to boom. In the 2030s, Sigrun I centralised the kingdom with Lastlight as its clear capital, her descendents would then begin their invasions of the Prima Terra mainland with the war fleets leaving from Lastlight's docks to red flames from The Final Light. Sudurejyan supremacy decline in the 22nd century with High King Haarold IV, who would eventually be murdered in a duel in the southern mountains by Jarl Rollo of Kiregerholm, who became the new high king and transferred the capital. A rumoured monument to Haarold along with his treasures are allegedly buried in the mountains. A blood feud between the Rollossens and Sudurejyan nobility contined during the lesser interregnum until Olaf II ended the feud with the burning of Kriegerholm saw Lastlight regain its status as capital for 13 years, when Olaf III would abdicate so he could launch a great raid on the western continent, from which he never returned. The dock stone he launched from can still be found in Fiskvatn. During the Fifth Kingdom, Sudurejya's importance waned as attacks on the mainland decreased and a period of stagnation returned.Third Age
The rise of cross Terrasic trade networks led to new prosperity in Sudurejya. Clans from the island earned wealth and glory by attacking trade vessels whilst Lastlight opened its ports and offered its longships as 'protection' for travelling merchants seeking ore and riches from the islands. Sudurejya remained divded between three bickering factions, the Fisk family, the Thairgirs, and the Goldsworns. Each would be defeated by High King Olaf III, the Kingmaker. The Thairgirs willingly bent the knee after the Fisk clan were crushed in the battle of squid bay, and the Thane of Lastlight, Igrid Goldsworn, battled the king in a duel for the fate of the city and fell after 7 hours of fighting. The island remained divded between the Thanes of Lastlight and the Thairgir family. During the 590s, the Thairgirs sided with High King Karl III during the broken spear rebellions whilst Lastlight remained neutral. In the aftermath of the rebellions, Haarold V Lightbringer, known as the Great United, was chosen by the kingsmoot to suceed Karl and helped to reunite the various factions of Aedrinar. Haarold's ascension brought the Century of Light, a culutral golden age of Aedrinar where new awakening ideals and technology were embraced, all centered on Sudurejya again. The island saw growth and redevelopment, with High Queen Ingrid II overseeing a substantial rejuvination of Lastlight and the Freyasport district with the docks entirely rebuilt. The century of light and the islands importance dipped once again with the death of Haarold VI, who died childless, ending the Lightbringer dynasty. Ulfgir V, the Wolf King, lead his mighty fleet from Lastlight's docks and saw the entire Sudurejyan navy and many of its most prominant clan and house leaders killed in battle with the Eldrians. In the chaos, Sudurejya saw a power vacuum as new families rose to prominance. The Tharigirs and Fisks retained their power in the north, whilst Lastlight and the South saw constant clan fighting until the Bloodraven clan came to power and united the island a single jarldom again. Sudurejya peacefully entered the 8th Kingdom with Jarl Bloodraven's marriage to High Queen Sigrun III. Since the 900s, Suduerjya has become closer to the mainland, with the ports at Lastlight and Fiskvatn opening the island to other cultures. Outside of Jameleska, Sudurejya is the most mulitcultral region in the islands and has a mixing pot culture with Aedrinarian and other beliefs and practices mixed together. Powerful merchant families grew more prominent, with the Fisks, Oath-Knees, Goldsworns, Far-Mines, Gullys, Worm-Bringers, Mead-Bringers, and Silver-Hearts gaining more power and prestige. In 2023, Jarl Sverre the Cruel was overthrown by the merchant families, with the island being divded between the merchants council of Lastlight, the Fisk family of Fiskvatn, and the Tharigirs of Fargenvur. The 40 year saw Lastlight become a military port and base of operations of the Dragon Empire's Great Western Fleet. The Seldrinar had numerous plans to try and take the island, but all failed due to the Aedrinarian's mastery at sea warfare. The Great Liberating Armada would leave from Lastlight before retaking the Commonwealth, earning the city a famed place in the war's history. Since the war, the island's steady supply of food and grain and connection to the Terrasic trade route has seen it become the economic powerhouse of the kingdom. The rise of Jarl Naerfi Oath-Knee and exile of Fisk has seen the island united under a single ruler again, with smart money being placed on the jarl becoming the next ruler of the kingdom and the island regaining its historic status as capital.
Type
Island
Location under
Owner/Ruler
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