Shattered Strait

The **Shattered Strait** connects the Svell Sea with the Dawning Ocean and separates Svellbjargheim from Sari-Ifa. The strait is renown for its many islands and the pirates that they harbour, the most notorious of which was Joseph Barnafader.

## History

The Shattered Strait used to be a land bridge which connected Svellbjargheim with Sari-Ifa, back when it was known as **Jarnleid**. But the Svellbjarg were too strong and the Sari-Ifa, in their desperation to stop the Svellbjarg raids, asked seven powerful magi to banish Svellbjarg down south so they never become as numerous again. They complied, and in an event nowadays simply remembered as the Sundering they violently tore Svellbjarg from Sari-Ifa and pushed it down south. Tearing Jarnleid apart and creating the Shattered Strait.

## Culture

Living at the crossroad between two worlds, the inhabitants of the Shattered Strait form a amalgamation of their continental neighbours from the north and south. They are quiet and calculating like the man from Sari-Ifa, but they are also excellent shipwrights, just like their Svellbjarg neighbours, and brew a mead which the man of Svellbjargheim would agree on is "Slightly better than 10 year old tree sap", which is as positive as any Svellbjarg will ever be when describing foreign mead.

### Coming of age rites

It is believed that every child in the Shattered Strait needs at least one tour at sea before he can be considered experienced enough to be called a man. Sometimes this time is spend on the family fishing boat, peacefully catching fish with pops before heading home with the bounty of the sea. But more often than not this tour at sea is done on a large trading ship, the young adult spending his time cleaning decks and praying that neither pirates nor the sea nor the terrible living conditions take hem.

## Demographic

Most people living in the Shattered Strait are of humans, halfling, and elven descend. But there is a surprisingly large community of dwarves living in the Shattered Strait. They are the descendent of the dwarves that lived in the mountains of Jarnleid and survived the destruction of their mountain holds during the Sundering. They thought their fellow survivors their nail-crafting and mead-brewing tricks. Which combined with the wood craftsmanship of the humans and elves to allow the Shattered Strait Islanders to become the renown shipwrights they are today.

The islands of the Shattered Strait are also home to small communities of mutant hybrids. These fish-person mutants are begrudgingly tollerated at best and downright slaughtered at worst by most societies, but are accepted as a part of larger society by the people of the Shattered Strait. Most mutant hybrids take up a job as crew members on a large merchant ship only to be pleasantly chocked by the friendliness that their Shattered Strait Islander crew mates show them. Most mutant hybrids who can afford it therefor emigrate into the Shattered Strait, living either in the towns on the island or running large black markets in coves on the side of the island.

## Commerce

The islands that dot the Shattered Strait are well known for their natural beauty. Warm ocean currents from the Dawning Ocean create a temperate climate at these isle's and permit the growth of thick oak forests and grassy planes on them. These makes the Shattered Strait a popular vacation destination for wealthy merchants and nobles during the summer months.

The Shattered Strait is the quickest way for merchants from Corelia and Oxströnd to reach the lands of Berok and Cainaan. This route is generally preferred as the Zapno Mountains going through the spine of the continent make it hard to reach these lands by sailing around the western side of Sari-Ifa.

All this activity and the steady access to lumber and favourable winds that the islands of the Shattered Strait provide has also made it a haven for piracy. Though these pirates are a nightmare for trade they actually help the locals tremendously as they have strong armed the raiders from eastern Svellbjargheim to leave the islanders alone in exchange for save passage. Most pirates when and if they retire also set up successful businesses in the Shattered Strait, boosting tourism and the general wealth of the islands that have helped them and through that sustaining the piracy business.

## Resources

The people living in the Shattered Strait build their houses from locally sourced stones, which is either pulled from a local quarry or fished out of the sea as a remnant of the Sundering. These houses are strong and able to handle the strength of the waves which smash against anything in the Shattered Strait during fall. More well-off families roof their houses with the hulls of decommissioned ships while poorer families have simple gable roofs.

The largest islands of the Shattered Strait are home to small iron deposits, which the locals happily and greedily dig up for whatever they can offer. However to find the real rich iron veins one has to dive into the waters of the strait where it fell down during the Sundering. Diving for iron is both difficult and dangerous, but those who specialise in it are richly rewarded.

## List of Islands

* Gilbert Island
* Isle of Drauff
* Sigshaven