Government: Oligarchy

Leader: Council of Elders ()

Capital: Se Bu

Population: 521,689

 

Summary:

The islands of Chur consist of nearly all mountains and very little in way of flatland. Water tends to pool into lakes between the mountains and when they overflow from heavier rains, pour over the edges in waterfalls. The island also sits the lowest of the known islands to the Storm. The Rane have adapted to such life and build towns carved into and/or built onto the mountain peaks. Most other species find that outside these roosts, the land isn’t great for farming except a rare few plants that grow better in the rainy mountainous areas of Chur. Instead, the the mountains tend to be clumped with bushes of wild berries that have since been domesticated by the Rane.

 

Because the land is mostly uninhabitable by people that can’t fly, the Kol’ok failed to take the island as part of their empire. The Prince played this off as the land being unbountiful and not worth effort to take. This natural advantage the land has led them to live mostly peaceful lives. The land also has little in the way of predator, though the main danger comes from rock slides and weather. It has some of the harshest storms of any island with blizzards, wind storms, and thunder and lightning. While the Rane have adapted to it, every year, some younger and older members of their society are claimed by the harsh weather.

 

The six major islands that make up the island of Chur is Chi, Wan, Ko, Sie, Ki, and Twee. Chi is the largest but lowest of the islands, making much of it too hard to live in. Sie is the main island for trade and the location of Se Bu, their capital. Twee is the island the Harpies/Mar were sent off too. The other islands feature smaller populations and farms usually.

 

History:

The earliest aspects of Rane history are not recorded by them, but actually the Seyarans. During the Seyaran diaspora, several groups encountered the islands of Chur. At this time, much of the island was covered in fog, revealing only uninviting peaks of mountains, but also an avian people they called Harpies. These Harpies would show up and several men and women would go missing, forcing the Seyarans to assume they had been kidnapped and eaten. This wasn’t the case, instead most were used for copulation and romance. Through this first interaction, the Rane went from mostly bird-like to more and more Seyaran in appearance.

 

Shortly afterwards, they discovered Ure Le on his peak. He then adopted the Rane under his wing and began to teach them language, writing, and civilization. Once they had grasped those three things, he returned to his peak to watch the species grow and flourish. His interaction among them lasted several centuries before he left them to guide themselves. They quickly seemed take to the teachings and cities were built, laws passed, and officials selected to lead. Sadly, it was also during this time period that the Mar were sent to live alone: exiled.

 

It wasn’t much longer after they finished arranging their cities then the Seyarans returned, tracking their trip. The two races quickly bonded again, with many of the stories of the Rane remembering the flightless ones with no feathers that came upon balloons of air. Despite this, some Seyarans dispute that Harpies really are the Rane today, but it is generally accepted. The title was given to the Mar due to their appearances looking closer to the idea.

 

Lastly, Prince Ol’ko eventually attempted to take the islands as his own, but failed to achieve his goal due to the swiftness of the Rane, the lack of aerial combatants on Ol’ko’s side, and the reinforcements coming from Seyaria.

 

Major Features:

Howling Cliffs
Between the three islands of Chi, Wan, and Ko reside a series of cliffs that narrow greatly. The wind here whips around at two hundred miles per hour, but some escaping wind, depending on the spot on the cliffs, range from sixty to one hundred and twenty miles per hour. The name howling fits because the amount of noise this passage makes, deafening most other noises in the area. Sometimes a rather dangerous race occurs here, featuring those able to fly or sail ships. Usually at least one person dies or is horrifically hurt due to these races.

 

Peak of Ure Le
Officially the tallest discovered mountain from ground level of the island. While Utal’s is technically higher in actual position and from the bottom of the island, their average ground level makes their mountains far shorter. Upon this peak is a small bit of flat land surrounded by gales of wind. Here Ure Le meditates and rests. Infrequently, travellers come to seek advice from him, but the journey itself is hard as ships generally cannot reach the peak due to the gusts.

 

The Great Lift
Due to the proximity to the storm, Chur’s location provides little shielding to strikes of lightning that could damage or ruin metal ships. To combat this, a great elevator was constructed with aid from Seyaria off the island Sie to create an artificial dock. This was done by taking a small floating island from nearby and moved to the location. This was then stabilized to always remain upright, which is technology developed in Utal, From there, giant docks were built with highly conductive electrical rods to keep the shocks away from the ships.