The Cold Shores

The Cold Shores are the archipelago upon which the Cold Shores series of games take place. They consist of five main islands, six inhabited minor islands, five lighthouse islands, and the island stronghold the Citadel.

History
The Cold Shores have a rich and varied culture history, which both connects and separates the islands which make it up. The original inhabitants were the Inuk peoples, a tribal group that once commanded an empire that spanned all of the islands, but were virtually destroyed by the successive invaders. The last remaining group of Inuk now exist as a nomadic group in the remote and desolate northeastern region of Werland. The first peoples to encounter the isles were the Tihr peoples, who were escaping their ruined and dying homeland, the continent of Sargoth, which sank deep beneath the waves centuries ago. As such, the Tihr mostly settled along the coast line, and as Sargoth lie to the west, most of the early settlement occured on the coasts of the many fjords and bays of the westernmost island: Werland. They remain by far the most dominant culture on Werland and of the Cold Shores in general. However, by the reign of King Olaf, the Suno peoples had emerged in the southern islands. Hailing from the country of Uxkhal, these peoples were a warlike and marauding peoples who established a homebase and capital in the far south, on the minor island of Sulm, a settlement they named Rhinube. They proved a match for the Tihr people, eventually invading and conquering the islands of Deringoth and Rindyar before King Olaf stopped them at the Battle of Tevarin, a feat which gained him much fame and eventually gave rise to the worship of him as a saint (hence his reverence as the patron of Sunrise City.) A heated rivalry emerged between these peoples emerged, and still exists today. Near-constant warfare between these two groups created a paradox where neither gained an upper hand in the fighting, and as such, the rest of the land between these two nations remained mostly uninhabited, as well as most of the other islands in the Shores, which opened up the settlement of the northern islands by a third group, the Velu. These peaceful peoples were fleeing religious persecution in their homeland of Jelkala, which explains their devotion to religious life and establishment of many monasteries, the chief among these being Wyrmrest Monastery, which gives it's name to both the capital of the Velu nation (Wyrmrest Keep) and the main island of their settlement (Wyrmrest Isle.) They also conquered and sent missionaries to the minor islands of Wyvernia, Salamander Rock, and Basalisk, an island especially relevant to the worship of their chief deity, Asp. Several centuries later, however, a fourth and much more technologically advanced nation, the Cura, invaded. These peoples were mostly seeking the coal and fisheries of the western islands to ship back to their homeland of Reyvadin, and established a colonial capital at Zastavagorod, on the island of Rivachuk. This island was extremely close to the Tihr lands, and it aroused their attention, diverting attention from the invasion of a fifth power, the Juts, who very quietly and mysteriously established outposts at the remote and mountainous islands of Citadel and Skage, respectively. All five groups are currently vying for power, and often start into warfare against each other.

Main Islands

 * Werland
 * Wyrmrest Isle
 * Deringoth
 * Rindyar
 * Skage

Minor Islands

 * Sulm
 * Rivachuk
 * Wyvernia
 * Salamander Rock
 * Basalisk
 * Citadel

Lighthouse Islands

 * The Great Lighthouse
 * Vikingr Straits Lighthouse
 * Leviathan Lighthouse
 * Vyincourd Lighthouse
 * Cape Svarl Lighthouse