Wind Whisperers

Not all of the Aereni refugees sought shelter in the shadow of the Fingerbones. Some fully embraced Lhazaar culture, mingling with humans and creating a significant population of half-elves. The island of Orthoss is a haven for the Khoravar, and half-elves from across Khorvaire have found their way to the town of Blackrock. Notably, the Lhazaar lifestyle has attracted a number of members of House Medani and House Lyrandar over the centuries -- young rebels seeking an escape from the smothering traditions of their houses. Their blood has been spread across the island, and it has been spread quite thin -- but occasionally a child of Orthoss develops a dragonmark.

Those who develop the Mark of Storm generally find their way to the Wind Whisperers. Members of this small principality are as wild and unpredictable as the wind itself. They often help travelers in distress, but are known for raiding or otherwise interfering with Lyrandar vessels.

The current prince of the Wind Whisperers is Koulton Brightwind. The Wind Whisperers have seven ships, including one airship and two elemental galleons. The remaining four ships are small and fast, and not as powerful as Bloodsail or Seadragon warships.

Source: DS2

The Wind Whisperers Principality is primarily made up of half-elves, led by Prince Koulton Brightwind (CN male half-elf ranger 4/dragonmarked heir 4), an expatriate scion of House Lyrandar with a high price on his head. Koulton fled his family in an elemental galleon twenty years ago, and has so far managed to evade the house’s efforts to retrieve the ship and remove him. He has used his Mark of Storm to forge a new principality and pull together a sizable fleet, and the other princes resent him—both for seizing territory some of them had claimed, and for exacerbating the typically strained relations between the Lhazaar Principalities and House Lyrandar

Source: PGtE

Orthoss has always acted as a home for the half-elves of the Lhazaar Principalities. While the Khoravar are accepted on the mainland, the distant elves of Farlnen have left a sour taste in the mouths of most sailors in the Principalities, and the occasional romance between the two worlds leaves a child that belongs in neither. Over time these drifters and in-betweens have congregated on Orthoss, the island of misfit tots.

The Wind Whisperers are a young principality on the run from House Lyrandar. While the occasional exile from House Lyrandar has kept the blood of the Mark of Storm flowing through Orthoss, foundlings held no special position within Orthoss. That changed a decade ago when Koulton Brightwind stole an early airship and recruited a crew out of Orthoss. Now a proper principality, the Wind Whisperers are out to make a name for themselves while dealing with the fury of House Lyrandar.

Source: Politics of the Lhazaar Principalities

Source: April 2023 Q&A

Q: Do you have any thoughts on the Wind Whisperers tradition of death and how it might differ from (or be similar to) the other elven groups?

A: First and foremost, the Wind Whisperers ARE NOT AN ELF CULTURE like the Grim, the Aereni, and the Tairnadal. They don't have a lot of full-blooded elves and thus aren't shaped by some of the biological aspects of being an elf—notably the exceptionally long lifespan, which is part of why the pure elf cultures are so concerned about avoiding death. They are a KHORAVAR culture that from the start "fully embraced Lhazaar culture" and that they has had a steady influx of immigrants bringing their own traditions; the PRINCE is a Lyrandar excoriate who wasn't even born on the island. It's described as a haven for "young rebels seeking an escape from the smothering traditions of their houses" and its people are said to be "as wild and unpredictable as the wind itself."

So: consider the general rebellion against smothering traditions and the fact that the prince is an immigrant; the Wind Whisperers don't WANT to cling to ancient traditions and they aren't going to be obsessed with their ancestors. On the contrary, the Wind Whisperers *embrace constant change.* The fact that they are led by Koulton is proof that they are always looking to the immigrants to bring them NEW traditions and ideas; they don't want to force old beliefs on people, they want to adapt and incorporate to new ones. So the Wind Whisperers of the present day may have very different traditions than they did five hundred years ago, and THEY may have been quite different five hundred years before that. And, as you note, Orthoss isn't noted for Mabaran or Irian manifest zones, which drive the culture of the Aereni and the Grim.

So to address the specific question -- how do they approach death -- I'd say that they have a casual and comfortable relationship with death. They don't try to cling to their ancestors or their past; they are like the wind, ever flowing and moving forward. We are here and then we're gone, but the wind will always flow; not exactly a belief in reincarnation as much as a approach of "It's all going to be all right; don't try to fight the wind, allow it to carry you on to whatever lies beyond." But again, that's a general, casual idea because the Wind Whisperers HATE SMOTHERING TRADITIONS and are always open to change.

Keith

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