Otursoyar Islands

Many stories are told about the Otursoyar islands and the Otursoyinger that live there. These rocks far from the coast, haunted by storms a most of the times obscured by fog, are one of the most desolate places on Nostgard. Still people at the port of Skarfjall tell stories about the Otursoyinger and the blue freckled eggs that they bring to the market twice a year. Few people know who these people are and why they choose to inhabit these desolate rocks where not a single tree seems to grow is even less known.

Localized Phenomena

There are many stories told about the waters around the Otursoyar islands. We know only a few things that are proven by proper accounts. The first thing that is known for sure is about the currents in those water. Those are as treacherous and changing as a Grey Sailingbird, making even the most skilled Fhokki sailors wanting to stay clear of the islands when possible. As the wind pushes the water of Lake Jorakk through the islands and underwater cliffs swift currents will drag of push ships to places the captains didn’t want them to go, even on clear days. While many stories are told about the types of faefolk and water serpents luring sailors to their doom, few reliable accounts are available.

Fauna & Flora

From the accounts of Flóki Vilgerðarson the Famed Trailblazer we know that many of the biggest sea creatures, beings called Largoisefish, can be seen hunting and jumping out to the water on the southern side of the archipelagos. Many other fish as well as Tortiletoise the size of Knarr Sailing Ship are sometimes caught by the most daring fishermen, but never without great costs as the sea catches those who come to often or to close to the islands. Flóki's own account tells of lights at night high up the cliffs seen only from afar and of a sounds of strange music, folk of fae, during one of his last journeys near the islands. It was during this trip he lost many of his close travel companions as a storm threw them off course and placed half of his ships' crew on the waterway towards the Dim.

Natural Resources

Our knowledge of the Otursoyar islands is limited to what the people living in the port town of Skarfjall l know. They are seamen and tradeswomen who ask few questions but welcome all who come to trade. They tell each other about the fierce looking women and the men who follow them. The men are all called either Jón Dóttirsson, Ólafur Dóttirsson or Jánūsh Dóttirsson, which is a strange deviation from common Fhokki naming conventions. These men guard the women as they come sailing in at noon at a high tide, in old fashion makeshift Skute Smallship. They trade blue speckled eggs, delicious and rare, of seabirds that are told to only hedge on the steepest cliffs of the small islands.

History

There are few tales of why someone would end up living on these forsaken cliffs 150-250 feet in the air but the safety of the rocks must be a core reason for those few who know the hidden ways and times to scale those cliffs towards the top. While the surfaces are unscalable for normal men and the winds and weather are ungodly on a good day, local fishermen tell of men seen once every few years, scaling the cliffs on bright days, always from afar as few wish to challenge the currents. The Otursoyinger are told to have been there for at least three generations and are most likely decedents of refugees of the small fishery villages that once stood a fair week of travel from the port of Skarfjall. In the decades that have past since these islanders first came to the port of Skarfjall incidentally one or two men with dark eyes and dark skin have been spotted. These men, always men, are rumoured to be shipwrecked individuals who wound up at the Otursoyar islands and seem to now have one of the islands names; Jón Dóttirsson, Ólafur Dóttirsson or Jánūsh Dóttirsson.

Type

Archipelago