Godherja Encyclopedia

Central Aversarian Islander (culture)

Inhabiting the rocky Isles that divide Etepezea and Opakhasia, Central Islanders live a hard-bitten life at the improvished fringe of what most consider civilisation. In spite of their cultural obscurity, Central Islanders can be found in most Aversarian coastal towns and villages, selling or tithing all manner of fish, eels, and crabs harvested from the teeming waters of the Sea of Empires.

They have a reputation for being cold and unfriendly to outsiders but to their fellow Central Islanders they show a different face, generous to the point of self sacrifice. It is not uncommon for the survivors of shipwrecks to be adopted wholesale into Central Islander families, and are treated as equals if they can prove their worth. For those seeking fortune elsewhere, the only reliable way they find to escape their poor circumstances is service in the Marine Legions, whose ranks are swelled each year by youngsters seeking anything but a life spent repairing nets and crab traps, to the point that their ranks are nearly entirely composed of young Islanders.