Skellige

The Skellige Isles are an archipelago off the coast of Verden. There are six clans, each with its own territory. Each clan has a jarl but there is only one king, chosen by vote. Other than that, all Skelligers are considered equal. Their islands take the brunt of ocean storms, and are not particularly rich or fertile. Their coastlines are rugged with tall, jagged cliffs and few natural harbors to land in, but many fjords to hide in. Before the First Nilfgaardian War they had strong alliances with the Kingdom of Cintra. The strong, wise, and beautiful Queen Calanthe of Cintra, after being widowed, couldn’t rule due to her gender. She married Eist Tuirseach of the Skellige Clan Tuirseach as her second husband. Eist, who was at that time King of Cintra and Skellige, fell in the Battle of Marndal in 1263, leading Cintran and Skellige warriors against Nilfgaard. Since then the Skelligers have hated Nilfgaard. They are not so much part of the North as they are an ally with similar goals. No nation’s ships are safe while sailing through Skellige waters. All six clans trace their lineage back to their legendary champion, Hemdall. The most powerful is Clan An Craite with their current jarl, Crach an Craite. Their territory is the northern half of the largest island, Ard Skellige. This clan has had many strong jarls and kings. Their colors, which identify them on the battlefield, are red, brown, and black. Clan Tuirseach lives on the island of An Skellige. Their colors are blue with bearskin and their current jarl is Svanrige. The previous jarl, Eist Tuirseach, became King of both Cintra and Skellige. Torgeir Tuirseach the Red was a legendary pirate of the clan who sacked Nilfgaard’s capital, the City of Golden Towers, several times with his companion Gerd, of the Bear Witchers. Clan Brokvar, and their jarl Udalryk, live on Spikeroog. Clan Brokvar is known to produce archers without equal, but many clans still consider them cowards after they once left the field of battle because their opponents were too numerous. Their colors are black and gray. Clan Hemaey, and their jarl Donar an Hindar, live on Hindarsfjall. This is also the site of the largest temple and sacred grove of the goddess Freya. Donar an Hindar is a much-revered and patient elder jarl and the Hemaey are a pious group. Their colors are yellow, black, and white. Clan Dimun lives on Faroe, the smallest island. They are the most merciless of raiders. Their jarl is Holger Black Hand who said “After you’ve taken their wenches and their gold, burn their home to the ground. That’s how Clan Dimun lives.” Their colors are brown, black, and olive. Clan Drummond, with their jarl Madman Lugos, live on the southern half of Ard Skellige. The Drummonds still rage over the seizure of the northern half of their island by the more powerful Clan an Craite. One’s position in Clan Drummond is based on personal combat. The Drummond colors are purple and black with minor blue points. Clan Tordarroch is in limbo now, as their people, once known as excellent smiths and fisherman, have recently been chased off Undvik by an ice giant and an army of sirens. Most of them are living in An Craite territory on Ard Skellige.

Culture

Clans

A clan is a kinship group among the Islanders, giving its members a sense of shared identity and descent. Skellige is divided into seven clans, each seated on one of the archipelago's larger islands. At the base of each clan are kins led by a so-called bonds; bonds, in turn, are then led by the clan chieftain called jarl (not to be confused with the "Jarl of Skellige" which refers to the main commander of the armed forces).
Every Skellige clan has its own insignia and characteristic colors that define it as a distinct group bound by family ties and age-old traditions. These colors also act as a distinguishing mark that lets warriors easily identify each other on the fields of battle. They appear on clothing, sails, shields, and tartans.
Clan Tordarroch
Clan Tuirseach
Clan Drummond
Clan Heymaey
Clan Brokvar
Clan an Craite
Clan Dimun

People

The inhabitants of these cold and windy isles are called simply the Islanders, by other Northerners on the Continent in particular. They are renowned as hard, tough, and decent men, while at the same time frightening when attacking their foes. They are a nation with deeply rooted seafaring tradition and, although their harbors cannot compare to those in Cidaris in terms of the number of completed units a year, the Islander's drakkars are feared throughout the waters of the north and south because of the rage and knowledge these people possess. The Islanders themselves proudly state that "they have the sea in their blood".
The people, however, are not only backward corsairs and plunderers as most Continentals powers see them. Quite a number of them are fishers, jewelers, merchants, alchemists, or other common professions and at least two examples of a classic mage are recorded: Marquard and Astrid Lyttneyd Ásgeirrfinnbjornsdottir. In contrast to the North, the Islanders are predominantly free and posses rights nearly equal to those of the jarls and kings who lead them as the gap between higher and lower classes is milder. While being able to speak without a problem in the Common Speech, they have their own language, the Skellige jargon, based on the Hen Llinge.
Many of the Skalds that hail from the isles utilize bagpipes. The inhabitants domesticated bears and utilize them in warfare. On the Skellige Isles, women and men stand on legally equal footing, and both train in arts of war and seafaring. In practice, however, certain discriminatory beliefs still persist; it is much harder for a woman to reach a ruling position.

Religion

The Gods of the Sea and goddess Freya are chief objects of worship throughout Skellige. Undoubtedly, the latter is revered by the Islanders above all other deities, and she is a central figure in their religious system. They grant her the venerable title of the great modron, meaning "mother" in their tongue, for Freya is the patron of fertility, love, and beauty. She also poses as the patron of soothsayers, clairvoyants, telepaths, as symbolized by her sacred animals: the cat, which sees and hears while being unseen, and the falcon, who watches everything from the sky, and by her jewel: the necklace of foresight Brisingamen.
Apart from these, Islanders revere mythical hero Hemdall, his mistress Heulyn, and their children, founders of the most powerful clans and the first alleged rulers of the archipelago: Grymmdjarr, Modolf, Broddr, Otkell, Sove, and Tyr. They also trust and believe in local druids, who are seen as wise men and act as diplomats, royal advisors, warriors, and wielders of magic.
There are also two forgotten deities: Svalblod and Melusine. Svalblod was worshiped by a cult cast out of Skellige, for even in a land of violence-orientated culture, these worshipers practiced rituals so drastic that they repulsed the minds of many. When it got too far, jarls brought an end to it and by 1272 only the henge in Fornhala remained standing.
Melusine was a siren but was so strong, large, and different from the others that some Islanders worshiped her as a semi-divine being. She hibernated in a cave at the southern cliffs of Spikeroog, leaving at times to hunt. The locals feared her enough to worship her and even built a massive shrine in her cave, remembering her as the mad and dangerous Lady Melusine of the Depths.