The Bourden Isles

### Country in the Island Chains

The Bourden Isles is characterized by it’s riches- both cultural and literal. While most of the non-natives who visit the Bourden Isles are sailors, it’s beauty is well known throughout Trioque and Cadisith. The Bourden Isles is the source of spider silk that is coveted by the nobility of the surface. Due to the Bourdenian hold on the spider silk trade, most nations have allied themselves with the Bourden Isles.

With a prominent relationship with the Drow of the Underdark and an odd relationship with piracy, The Bourden Isles may be small, but it has become a global superpower in it’s own right, through economic and cultural waves.

## Culture

### Demonym(s)

Bourdenian
 Bourdeaux

### National Language

Bourdenian
 Common

### Other Languages

Elvish
 Undercommon

### Racial Groups

Humans
 Drow
 Gnomes
 Dwarves

## Power Structure

### Noble Families

du Bellay Family
 Eckhardt Family
 Marchant Family

# Geography

The Bourden Isles is made up of a large main island, Bourden, and six smaller islands. These islands are Alestair, Queen’s Island, and the Four Sisters: Tonia, Amelia, Cassandra, Artesia. Each of these islands has a ruling noble house, while the Monarch runs Bourden and Queen’s Island.

Located to the west of Trioque in the Kelas Ocean, The Bourden Isles is a major trading hub. Rather than risk crossing the spine, ships use many of Bourden’s beautiful ports to travel between the North and South of Trioque. It is also used as a major hub for trading between Eastern Cadisith and Western Trioque. Most major cities are port cities, with trading hubs and smaller cities built over the tunnels connecting to the Underdark.

The Bourden Isles are volcanic islands, with each island having a dormant volcano at the center of it. The Bourden Isles are well known for lush farmlands and pleasant weather, and is widely considered a beautiful place to live.

An unusual part of Bourden Isle’s geography is the lack of leylines. This makes natural magic rare, and most magic and magic items need to be imported.

## The Islands

**Bourden**

The main island, and the largest of the islands. Characterized by it’s large port cities with beautiful ocean vistas. The capital Ballyhall is located on the southern edge of the island. Most of the passages to the Underdark are located here.

**Queen’s Island**

Second largest island, both in size and population. Located to the east of Bourden. A tourist location characterized by large resorts and lush tropical fruits.

**Alestair**

A smaller island that is almost exclusively coffee farmlands. This is where contact with the underdark first happened. Located to the North of Bourden.

The Four Sisters

**Tonia**

One of the four sisters, located North West of Amelia. Very small, but the largest of the four sisters. Tonia is considered as beautiful as the rest of the Four Sisters, but is most well known for having scenic sunsets.

**Amelia**

Located to the South West of Bourden, another small island. It is known for it’s beautiful beaches with pure white sand.

**Cassandra**

South of Amelia, this island also consists of small farmlands and fishing villages. This island has many more cliffs and rockier beaches than the other islands.

**Artesia**

The southernmost island in the Four Sisters, this island is unique for it’s diamond deposits. It is the only island with dedicated mining towns, and most jewelry in Bourden uses diamonds from Artesia.

# Demographics

Due to the Bourden Isles being a major connection between the Underdark and the surface, this is the country most surface dwelling drow will live. Due to the long standing trade deals with the Underdark, the drow are viewed as friends, and there is no significant discrimination towards drow/human couples or half-drow.

## Population

The entire population of the Bourden Isles is estimated to be 10 million, with a majority of the population (7.5 million) living on Bourden. Both Tonia and Alestair have an estimated 750,000 residents, while the remaining three sisters have about a million residents between them.

The Bourden Isles consists of large swathes of farmland that have sparse populations, and cities that are densely populated. Most larger cities are either near the ports, or on top of trading points between the Underdark and the surface.

## Racial Makeup

The population is mostly human, with a growing population of drow and half-drow.

Drow that live on the surface usually move to a city rather than staying rural. As the economy has started to boom, more and more drow have moved up to the surface.

The Bourden Isles is 60% human, 20% Drow, 15% Half-Drow, and 5% misc (Elf, Halfing, Dwarven, etc)

## Linguistics

The native tongue is Bourdenian, which is the preferred language of most residents. Bourdenian is based off of French, with French spelling and naming conventions used.

Common is also spoken by many residents in the port cities, as they need to be able to communicate with the non-native sailors and traders.

Undercommon is also common in Bourden, due to the large Drow population. Many humans who live near or on trading hubs will learn Undercommon to speak with their Underdark Neighbors.

# History (WIP)

Not a lot of natural magic. Always been a trading hub but the spider Silk Road has made them very rich and powerful

## Contact with the Underdark

Contact was made in 1201 AV, when the drow reached the surface to discover the island chain. Unlike when they reached Dahl'Amythal, they were met with strangers who did not speak the same Elvish tongue, and while things were rocky to start it was Jean-Francis Aubelle I who brokered peace between them. He made a deal with the Drow to export coffee (and a smaller number of surface only items such as wood, specific food/plants, etc) in exchange for imported spider silk and precious stones.

## The Pirate Marriage

Despite being betrothed to Jean-Francis Aubelle VI, then Princess Verna du Bellay broke off her engagement in order to marry the man known as the Outlandish Renegade, Alois Moreau, a pirate. This caused a huge scandal among the nobility and would have sparked a civil war if not for Princess Verna being extremely well liked by the common people, the marriage only increasing her popularity among them. They were wed in 1473 AV.

Despite the slight to his house, Jean-Francis took the broken engagement in stride and married the daughter of a prominent drow diplomat, a woman named Seraphine.

## Trouble In Paradise

Abraham Marchant, an extremely intelligent and eccentric inventor quickly rose to power on the island of Tonia, marrying the only heir to the island's previous noble family. After a few years his wife passed, leaving him with three children. This didn't seem to slow down his inventing, nor did it slow down the family from gaining more members. Abraham had sixteen children with various consorts and while they never took the family name they were seen as very popular figures among the island of Tonia. He did not declare an heir until his final child was born, the only aasimar among the family. Abraham declared the young Isaac Marchant to be a gift from the gods, the one to lead them to a prophesized *Kingdom of the Sun*.

Many of the older Marchant children grew bitter toward the young Isaac as their father focused all of his attention on him, entirely focused on training him to be the perfect soldier, the perfect heir, and most importantly, the perfect prophet. It is not well known that in order to finally bring an aasimar into the family he made a deal with the Demon Lord, a god in her own right, Misery.

## Henley Family Acquires Tonia

After the subsequent failure of an experiment gone array by Abraham Marchant with a crafted pair of wings for his heir that resulted in the disappearance and believed to be death of Isaac Marchant, Abraham and the other Marchants became more erratic with their behavior. In an effort to quell a possible uprising, Queen Verna du Bellay made the decision to remove them from power with a show of force that far exceeded necessary means before quickly putting the Henley family in power.

The noble families of the other Four Sister islands grew incredibly enraged by this decision and nearly sparked a war with the queen, the move also incredibly unpopular among the common people. Only the Aubelle family of Alestair supported the queen's decision.

# Culture

The Bourden Isles is a proud nation with a rich history. It is a culture that values knowledge, aesthetic, art, and innovation. Due to the general prosperity of the nation, most people have free time and use it to their advantage. The arts are particularly well beloved, with theaters being common in most Bourdenian cities and large towns.

## Bibliothèque D'Histoire Commune

Meaning the Library of Common History in common, it is one of the oldest and most well respected institutions in The Bourden Isles. It was founded approximately 1160 AV. It exists to categorize, store, and archive the history of the world. It is considered one of the premier institutions in not only housing top of the line archivists, historians, professors, and wizards, it also schools many of it’s workers.

While it is not a school, the Library of Common History is unique in how it trains it’s employees. Most employees are taken in as students as young adults, and go through multiple stages of schooling. If they make it to the end of their schooling, they are either offered a position in the library or given a recommendation to another position that would better suit their talents.

Despite The Bourden Isles not having much natural magic, Wizards have flocked to the library, and many students are casters. Since it is a library and archive first and school second, not many students are taken on. The largest locations will take a maximum of 5-10 students a year, while smaller locations may only take 1-2, if any.

Magical Schooling is very expensive, and most commoners cannot afford to purchase the materials needed. Many noble families will sponsor promising young wizards in hopes to raise the prestige of their family’s name.

The Bibliothèque D'Histoire Commune has multiple locations; Bourden has multiple across larger cities, and every island has at least one. It has also spread out to Western Trioque, with the library looking to eventually expand to the East Coast.

## Fashion

The fashion of The Bourden Isles is inspired by French Rococo fashion. Unsurprisingly, spider silk is the most common fabric in Bourden with even commoners wearing silk clothing. Large silhouettes, gowns, embellishments, floral patterns, and pastels mark the Bourdenian fashion.

Commoners cannot afford the bodacious gowns that the nobles can, but their fashion is still influenced by it. Commoners will often accent their outfits with jackets, shawls, and ruffles are common ways to dress up their outfits.

In areas connected to the Underdark, fashion tends to be a bit different. Clothes tend to mirror Underdark fashion and darker colors, less embellishments, and more form fitting silhouettes are common.

Fashion is extremely important in The Bourden Isles, and the nobility are expected to keep up with the trends. New trends come and go fairly quickly, and popular fashion designers are well respected and well paid.

One of the biggest achievements in Bourdenian fashion is what lets the Drow live on the surface; their smoked lenses. These are tinted glass lenses that can be worn on the face and stop the negative effects of the sun. These come in a variety of colors and styles, and are popular fashion accessories for humans and Drow alike. Surface dwelling Drow tend to own multiple smoked lenses that they can swap out with their outfits.

## Piracy

Thanks to the booming economy and the leniency of the royal family toward piracy, piracy is booming in the Bourden Isles and it is considered to be the Golden Age of piracy as of 1474 AV. Most pirates are left to their own devices unless they plunder the wrong ship--it's still incredibly risky business, but extremely bountiful when it goes well.

The most well known of these pirates is Captain Arthur Adelgrim of the Siren Pirates, known for his small fleet of ships and the legend that he is married to the goddess of the seas, Kelby. His flagship is the *Siren's Song*, a galleon boasting a crew of nearly five hundred, followed by a brigantine ship known as the *Siren's Scream*, and a loop known as the *Siren's Whisper*. Their flag depicts a mermaid wielding a harpoon.

## Imports

Magical items; very expensive due to most magic having to be imported

Surface goods unavailable in the Underdark

Spider Silk from the Underdark

## Exports

Surface- silk (Raw and clothing), coffee, clockwork

Underdark- Coffee, surface goods

# Notable People (WIP)

## Ruling Families

### du Bellay

The ruling family of the Bourden Isles for many generations now. Traditionally the first born in the family accepts the crown as it is passed down and they are almost always betrothed to nobility.

###### Verna du Bellay

Queen and reigning monarch, she has held her reign now for many years. She had high approval with the common folk, though not as much with nobility, as she started her reign by breaking off her engagement with Jean-Francis Aubelle VI in order to marry a pirate.

###### Alois du Bellay

Royalty by marriage, Alois du Bellay became king when he married Verna du Bellay. Born Alois Moreau, he was the son of a prostitute who turned to sailing after they passed away.

###### Mavis du Bellay

Crown princess and first child of Verna and Alois, born the same year that they married, 1473 AV. Despite being the crown princess, she was not betrothed to anyone before her birth and rather encouraged to find love by her parents. She has found her affections in Queen Amaryllis Benizelos of Helleda.

###### Jean-Francis du Bellay

First of the triplet princes. Betrothed to Verna-Amelie Aubelle as a way to make amends for the broken engagement in the previous generation.

###### Marius du Bellay

One of the two identical triplets. Unlike his brother Maxime he is rather bookish and prefers a sedentary lifestyle.

###### Maxime du Bellay

The other of the two identical triplets. He yearns to be a pirate like his father used to be to the point where he sneaks out often.

### Aubelle

The ruling family of Alestair, the Aubelles are in charge of not only the largest selection of coffee farms in the Bourden Isles, but the entire Merchant’s Guild as well. While the Aubelles have slowly integrated more Drow into the family, it wasn’t until Jean-Francis Aubelle VI married Seraphine that the main bloodline became part elven.

###### Jean-Francis Aubelle VI

Current patriarch of the Aubelle family. Runs the Aubelle estate

###### Seraphine Aubelle

Drow, wife of Jean-Francis VI and mother of Verna-Amelie

###### Verna-Amelie Aubelle

Half-Drow daughter of Jean-Francis VI and Seraphine. Betrothed to Jean-Francis du Bellay

### See Marchant Family Article

###### Isaac Marchant

The heir to the Marchant family. He was presumed dead after an accident occurred with his father’s invention, a set of wings powered by an elemental in order to give him the ability to fly. During his maiden voyage in a winter storm in late 1480 AV.

###### Lilith Henley

Current ruler of Tonia, put in by the Queen in 1482 AV to replace the Marchant family. She is from Helleda, but not much else is known about her. Other noble families find it suspicious that a woman from another continent with no apparent connection to the Bourden was placed by the queen, but any research into a possible connection has turned up blank.

###### Achille Séverin

The elderly patriarch of the Séverin family. He has enjoyed a rather leisurely life, though not without it’s tragedies. His son and daughter-in-law perished in a shipwreck years ago, leaving him to raise their only child. An enthusiastic painter, he is inspired by the landscapes of his home and paints the glorious sunsets.

###### Olivie Séverin

The only heir to the family, Olivie is Achille’s grandchild, their parents having perished in a shipwreck. They are a painter like their grandfather and are in no rush to rule over the island.

###### Agrippine Lemaire

Matriarch of the Lemaire family. True to her namesake, she raises racing horses. Despite her position as the head of the family, most of the work of running Cassandra is left to her wife, Megane. Agrippine spends most of her weekends riding her prize horse Bisou on the rocky beaches of Cassandra.

###### Megane Lemaire

The wife of Agrippine who married into nobility. She has a head for business, and does most of the work to maintain the island. She is considered very down to earth due to her commoner origins.

### Chevalier

Ruling family of Artesia

Milun Chevalier

Evette Chevalier

## Misc

Alistair Goodryett

Chérie Goodryett

Director Maze