The Fair Isles

Some sketchy notes for a setting I'm working on.

The Fair Isles form a disparate archipelago separated by deep channels and fjords, 25 of which are inhabited by people in some capacity, all in the southeast; 67 other substantial islands (islands with an area over 30 hectares); as well as at least 1,000 smaller islands, islets, skerries, tiny rock outcrops, and the like, with a total land area of over 6,000 square miles. Inismyr, the largest and most populous island, is 514 square miles. Many of the uninhabited islands were formerly inhabited, but abandoned in the long winters of the last five centuries.

The climate is cool, mild, and steady, averaging 44 degrees in Gwine and 57 degrees in Tayu. The average annual rainfall is 43 inches, driest Mytir to Adun though no month receives less than an average 2 inches at the lowest. Snowfall is usually confined to the period between Blyd and Tebrua, and rarely lasts on the ground for more than a day; some regions can go years without snow. Fog is common in the summer. Because of the latitude of the islands, on clear winter nights the northern lights can sometimes be seen in the sky, while in summer there is almost perpetual daylight.

The landscape of the islands is made up of sprawling ranges of soft mountains and low rolling hills, old verdant forests, heather moor, steep rugged coastline, and numerous lakes. Machair is more prevalent along the western coasts, and fjord-indented cliffs along most of the rest of the islands; many sea stacks jut out of the ocean near the coasts. Forests are rare along the windswept coasts, with peat bogs common, and most mountains are topped only in grasses and moss; but in the shielded valleys and lowlands, the trees grow nearly as dense as bluegrass in a field.

Food, lumber, and clean water are plentiful and easy to come by.

The islands aren’t a single nation, but rather many tiny domains under feudal lords or no lords at all. Most towns and crofts are a day or more apart, with villages mainly near springs, rivers, and streams; the average village holds a hundred people or so including surrounding farmlands. Homesteads are scattered across the landscape miles apart, often unaware of their closest neighbors’ existence.

Ruins are common; abandoned homesteads and mines, primarily, with a few abandoned monasteries and castles; other ruins are the settlements and passages and brochs of the Old Folk, from before the missionaries of the True Faith arrived. Caves are uncommon but not rare, and often quite large. Standing stones, rings, and burial mounds are dotted about.

The folk of the Isles tend to wavy hair or loose curls, dark or red; dark eyes, and pale skin.

Days of the Week: Sunning, Moonday, Third Fair, Midweek, Fifth Fair, Sixth Fair, Loreday.

Months

Number	Month	Equivalent
1	Gwine	January
2	Tebrua	February
3	Tanthin	March
4	Osser	April
5	Mytir	May
6	Yoon	June
7	Tayu	July
8	Adun	August
9	Bars	September
10	Kayme	October
11	Blyd	November
12	Yeha	December