Verdun Archipelago

The Verdun Archipelago is dominated by five islands. In order of size: Wrenza, Bresca, Kutz Reccrint, and Toschi. There are dozens of others but they are sparsely populated.

Kutz is host to the capital of the Republic, a city called Jabri. A large building dominates the island, the home to the Parliament of Verdun. Here the wealthy and influential debate one another on matters of policy or strategy. There is a governor of each island who reports to the senate, and recently another was added to govern Gebori on the mainland.

A few have brought human slaves to the islands as servants, but generally they are seen as too rough for civilized life. A few other races live here as merchants or ambassadors, but it is rare to see anyone but gnomes. I found myself mistaken for an escaped slave a few times in my travels there, so I can understand the discomfort that keeps others away.

It is important when visiting to understand the difference between provissos and fissos. A provisso is generally made of wood and built close to the shore. It may be brightly painted or decorated with carvings, but nonetheless it is considered temporary. When damaged by storms, which are common throughout the archipelago, it is common to tear them down, repurpose the materials as much as possible, and reconfigure the entire set of structures to a new purpose.

The fissos are made of stone and concrete reinforced with iron bars. They are built higher on the island, and intended to remain permanent. When damaged they are repaired. Building a new fisso is a major event, planned years in advanced and celebrated at both the groundbreaking and the completion with days of feasts.

The concept applies to many areas of Verdun culture. For example, if a person feels they are unimportant to their important, they might say, “I’m just a provisso around here.” On the other hand, a mother might say to her son, “I rely on you so much and you’re always there when I need you. You are my fisso.”

Each island has its own subtle cultural characteristics. Island identity is important to the gnomes, and they know which families are new to the island and which are long established. They have long memories, so families with a good reputation are loath to leave while those who have earned their neighbors’ ire or disdain move on to find a fresh start.

Steam engines are found in every household. Coal from the mainland powers them, and each family measures its wealth and status by the size of its engine and its coal reserves. The engines are useful. I’ve seen them used with pulleys to hoist loads onto steamships and they can quickly clear away the jungle on the islands for farming.

I’ve also seen the gnomes put them to ridiculous uses just for the sake of using them. One man set up his kitchen knives against the steam engine to chop his vegetables. By the time he got done setting it up I could have chopped three meals worth of potatoes by hand, but he was incredibly proud. Another time the engine was set up to pump a bellows that blew hot air across wet laundry. This drying mechanism was clever in its way, but the open air would have done the job and the clothes would smell less of smoke.

Even the gnome fissos tend to be built within sight of the shore. There are dangerous creatures in the higher, more densely jungled centers of the islands. The gnomes also admit, with some superstitious dread, that they were not the first to inhabit these islands. Strange stone carvings and overgrown temples are found throughout the wild areas of the islands, and the gnomes avoid them. They know little of those who came before, but insist that if they still lived there they would have seen them.