The Lejos Archipelago (Map) is a chain of rich and populous islands, located in The Northern Reach, midway between Skull River Bay and Gianthome along the Palo Mejor. Despite being on the very edge of civilization, the region is a major agricultural center, and trade between the area and the The Inner Archipelago is rich and profitable. Recently, that relative prosperity has been jeopardized as the people of the archipelago have come under increasing pressure from raiders out of Gianthome.
In addition to the town of Puerto Lejos, the island chain hosts many smaller villages, villas, and farms, including the famous Abbey of St Ursula. Most of these settlements are within a few days sail of the safety of Puerto Lejos. Settlements tend to face inward, away from the open ocean, facing the shallow sea called The Mar Tranquila.
History (Timeline)
This area was long inhabited by tribes of the First People, albeit lightly. It's lush, inviting geography attracted the interest of the Annwyn Empire shortly after the Empire arrived in these waters. Not long after the founding of Haven Towne the Annwyn were already mapping the area and establishing outposts. Annish settlement in the area began as a small trading post in IY 701, in the location that would later grow into Puerto Lejos. The trading settlement found rich soil and mild weather, and proved profitable. Over the next twenty years settlement grew and expanded, and soon the other nearby islands were also colonized, their rich volcanic soil lending themselves to all manner of agricultural pursuits. The region prospered.
Of course all that ended with The Recall. The Interregnum, an era of anarchy and collapse was a difficult time for the region, as it was for most parts of the The Thousand Isles. It was during this period, in IY 724, that a line of ruling Dukes, starting with Carlos the Grand, came to power and eventually (by IY 730) extended their sway over the entire archipelago.
The small kingdom managed to weather the storm of The Interregnum, and even began to prosper as the The Thousand Isles gradually returned to a degree of political and economic stability. However, the Dukes, who had always had a rapacious bent, were not satisfied with the humble profits of agriculture, nor even the wealth they were learning to extract from the newly discovered mithril mine of Cerro Rico. Their greed gradually turned them more and more toward piracy, transforming Puerto Lejos into one of the greatest pirate havens in The Northern Reach.
As a result, during the The Pirate Crusade, the heavily fortified town was one of the places where the hammer of the Crusaders fell the hardest. After a year long siege, the town finally fell to the Crusade, Duke Carlos VI was taken prisoner and the town and Duchy fell under the suzerainty of the governments of The Inner Archipelago.
Currently, the entire region is officially ruled by the Governor of Puerto Lejos, a lifetime appointment made by the Heads of State of The Inner Archipelago. In reality it's ruled by House Vetrini. What the Vetrini mostly care about is that the mithril and silver keeps flowing from the mines of the Cerro Rico.
Geography and Climate
Volcanic in origin, the mountains of the area are old, eroded, and worn, most barely rising a thousand feet above sea level. Isla Lejos, the island on which Puerto Lejos resides, is the largest island, approximately 250 leagues in diameter, with a peak that rises 3000 feet toward the sky. The other islands of the chain are considerably smaller.
The center of the archipelago forms a shallow, mild sea called The Mar Tranquila. Sheltered from the open sea by the island chain, it's waters are remarkably warm and peaceful, as is it's weather. Fish and all manner of sea life abound in the warm shallow sea. The weather is generally mild on the islands, at least on the slopes that face the Mar Tranquila. Small rivers and streams flow from the low mountains in the interior of most islands to the sea, watering a lush landscape on their short journeys.
The rich volcanic soil and pleasant climate are suitable for a wide variety of crops, but what the islands are most famous for is wine. A variety of villas, small towns, monasteries and abbeys produce excellent vintages that command a high price in the cities of the The Inner Archipelago. And of course none is more famous then the vintages crafted by the Abbey of St Ursula.
While most of the volcanic fire of the low, eroded mountains is long spent, this is not universally true. A trio of active volcanoes on the edge of the archipelago, to the southwest of Isla Lejos still regular belch fire and lava into the sky. The Tres Demonios have a dark reputation and even the First People avoid those seas.
Demographics and Trade
The islands are lightly populated and backwater compared with the great cities of the The Inner Archipelago but are cosmopolitan centers of population by the standards of the Reach. The civilized population of the region never numbered more then 20,000 souls at it's height, and today is likely not even half that number. The only real town of any size is Puerto Lejos and even that town is tiny. Most of the rest of the people live in a ring of small settlements, farms and villas ringing the Mar Tranquila, generally within two hundred leagues of the town.
In addition to the civilized settlements, the First People still inhabit the islands in numbers. Pushed from the more lush lands facing the Tranquil Sea, their villages are mostly found in the less desirably locales facing the open ocean, especially in the chain of islands to the northwest of Isla Lejos. While many tribes are represented, most are of the Curari people, who have a fearsome reputation.
The First People and the folk of Lejos Archipelago exist in uneasy truce. The natives still resent the interlopers and are not beyond raiding the occasional outlying farm or homestead, but also realize that too much of such activity results in retaliation and reprisals.
Economically, the area has sufficient substance farming and fishing to feed itself, however it is heavily dependent on exports for manufactured goods and general prosperity. In addition to wine and wine derived spirts such as sherry and port, the islands manufacture a type of volcanic glass that is considered a luxury among some populations, in addition to other luxury crops such as spices, tobacco and indigo.
While the Cerro Rico mines have generated great wealth for the Vetrini, very little of that wealth has found it's way into the local economy. A vast majority of the precious metals are shipped back to Haven Towne.
Piracy
Despite the archipelago's storied history, of late the islands find themselves more on the receiving end with regards to piracy. While the Vetrini have generally kept the area within a couple hundred leagues of the town well patrolled, a long and perilous voyage separate the goods the islands produce from it's markets. So perilous are those seas in fact, that most captains will only brave the journey in convoy, preferably a convoy guarded by Vetrini Galleons or the swift ships of the Knight’s Radiant.
The Ruins of Lost Farbosheia
Occasionally, while going about their business, the inhabitants of the islands are reminded that this land has an ancient history, a history that is far older then humanity. Long, long ago, or so the legends say, these seas were much lower, and much of the scattered archipelagos of the The Thousand Isles were joined together in one huge land mass.
Those lands were not ruled by humans, but rather a mysterious people called the Old Race, or the Yuan-Ti. While the strange ruins of those people can be found scattered across the Isles, for whatever reason, the are much more prevalent here. Perhaps because of the age of these mountains, perhaps for some other reason, regardless, the pyramids of the Old Race protrude from the jungles of The Lejos in great numbers. Some humans live among those haunted halls, such as the folk of Bolcán Idithe, but few dare to venture to the far greater ruined city of Lozuemel in the east.