South of the Westeros, between the Summer and Shivering Seas, were the Summer Isles,
home to an ancient civilization whose long history traced back thousands of years to
the Dawn Age, when their ancestors believed the islands were alone in world of ocean.
Populated by tall and handsome dark skinned people, Islanders spoke the Summer Tongue,
ate a diet of fish and fruit, drank sweet amber wine, wore capes with brightly coloured
feathers and earned a reputation as wise and courageous explorers.
A fractured people ruled over by various rival princes and princessed, their culture evolved
over thousands of years to value peace and love above all else, developing enlightened
principles foreign to most other nations. A polytheistic people, their most revered
deities governed love, beauty and fertility, believing intimacy a holy virtue and prostitution
a noble profession, practised by nobles and commoners alike. Retaining an almost divine
reverence for making love, they often mourned the death of loved ones with wine and sex,
thereby answering death with life. Perhaps most fascinating of all, they considered
war a highly ritualized event strictly regulated by priests and holy figures. Rather than raising
large armies for combat, rival princes or nobles seeking to settle disputes through
violence, gathered small bands of highly trained warriors which met on predetermined soil,
to fight small, tournament style battles, in which the victors won the disputed prize
while the defeated who survived were exiled from the islands. In this way, disputes could
be settled and a warriors honor sated, while avoiding civilian casualties and collateral
damage. Although they did not keep many written histories,
much of their past was recorded through carvings upon the Talking Trees of Tall Trees Town,
as well as oral histories passed down through the generations in formal verse. Much of what
Westerosi knew about these lands came from the book Children of Summer by Maester Gallard,
who translated their history into written form.
According to what the scholars of Westeros could ascertain, first contact with the outside
world occurred between five and eight thousand years Before Conquest, when the Ghiscari Empire
of Essos was the height of their power, sending ships far and wide to explore the known world.
One of these vessels was blown so far off course they landed on the island Walano and
so sought to explore this new found land. Yet the Ghiscari immediately boarded their
ships and fled upon finding the dark skinned natives, believing they saw demons whose skin
burned black from the fires of hell. Naming it the Demon Island, Ghiscari ships simply
avoided returning to the region, but for the Islanders this was a monumental moment in
their history, finally learning they were not alone in the world.
Embracing this discovery, they entered an age of exploration in which they developed
a strong seafaring culture, constructing vessels capable of sailing the open ocean, with the
hero Prince Malthar Xaq of Koj, also called the Windrider and Mapmaker, earning fame as
the greatest of their ship builders. Exploring the world around them, they first
sailed east and met the peaceful people of Naath, before moving on to the Basilisk Isles,
northern Sothoryos, Southern Essos and Westeros. Finding Sothoryos largely uninhabited, the
islanders attempted to settle colonies along the coast, which all eventually failed due
to plagues, ferocious wildlife, and raids from the native Brindled Men. Even so, some
claim the famed adventurers of Koj may have explored deep into Sothoryos, possibly reaching
and mapping its southern coast. Yet these claims are near impossible to verify as Islanders
refuse to share their findings with outsiders. Some even suggest the Islanders may be responsible
for spreading false rumours about terrible dangers in the south of the continent, inventing
tales about lizard-men, eyeless cave-dwellers, giant vampire-bats and monstrous apes, as
a means of discouraging travellers and slavers from exploring those areas, thereby preserving
the settlements and civilizations they found. In any event, the Islanders proved great explorers
and merchants, eagerly trading with the peoples they encountered, able to offer many valuable
goods from their homeland, such as pearls, gemstones, like emeralds, rubies, and sapphires,
Spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, and pepper, hardwoods like bloodwood, ebony, mahogany,
purpleheart, blue mahoe, burl, tigerwood, pink ivory and Goldenheart, as well as exotic
animals like parrots, monkeys, apes and spotted Panthers cubs.
In exchange, they sought goods which their islands were unable to provide, like iron,
tin and other metals. Among the many trade routes they established, the most common connected
them to Oldtown, King’s Landing, Braavos and Qarth, becoming so well known trade ships
from as far as the Port of Ibben came to barter for goods.
The islands themselves, which numbered over fifty, varied drastically in size and quality
of soil, with most of the population settling upon the three largest islands Walano, Omboru
and Jhala. Walano was the northern most island, where they built Lotus Port, Tall Trees Town
and Last Lament, while Omboru was in the centre between the Smiling Sea and Indigo Straits.
To the south was Jhala, home to the port city of Ebonhead, the Sweet Lotus Vale, the Red
Flower Vale and the Golden Head peninsula. Although 9/10ths of the population lives on
these three islands, some few migrated to smaller islands like Stone Head, the Isle
of Birds the Singing Stones, the Three exiles, Moluu, the Isle of Love, Lizard Head, as well
as bones, Xon and Doquu of Parrot Bay. There was also the island of Koj, ruled by princes
living in a pearl palace, where their best ship builders produced 75% of their famed
Swan Ships. Then there was Abulu, which had it’s own
separate history from the rest of the islands, beginning roughly 700 years Before Conquest
when the Valyrian Freehold destroyed the City States of Rhoynar in Essos. Fleeing certain
doom, Princess Nymeria, the last Rhoynar ruler led the remnants of their people to flee aboard
ten thousand ships, taking to the sea in search of a new homeland. After failing to settle
Sothoryos, Nymeria led her people west to the Summer Isles where they were turned by
Princes who feared upsetting the Dragonlords of Valyria by providing refuge to their enemies.
Even so, they did provide some small measure of assistance by gifting Nymeria the small
island of Abulu, which was no where near large enough to support the Rhoynar population.
Thus Nymeria and most of her people returned to the sea and continued their journey, while
some few, largely women and children remained behind to settle Abulu, from then on known
as the Isle of Women. Unfortunately for the Islanders, the attention
and renowned they earned through the age of exploration and beyond, led many, like those
of Old Ghis and the Basilisk Isles to start raiding their lands and enslaving captives.
Although the Islands had amicable relations with the dragonlords of the Valyrian Freehold,
often trading with their people, they were nonetheless targeted by Valyrian slavers as
well. As the various factions of the Summer Isles
were often in conflict, many of their leaders started engaging in the slave trade, selling
both foreign and domestic captives. The rush for profits drove the Islanders to grow increasingly
corrupted, fighting many wars amongst themselves with the aim of selling captives in foreign
markets. Later known as the Years of Shame, this period
of constant civil strife only ended when Princess Xanda Qo, a former slave rose to power and
united the islands under her rule. As metal was a scarce resource, Xanda invented a famed
longbow made of goldenheart wood which shot arrows a yard long, able to pierce steel plate.
She then built great Swan Ships, with tall platforms specially designed to hold her archers,
turning them into deadly warships. Winning many victories, Xanda Qo died a hero to her
people, and was succeeded by her courageous daughter Chatana Qo, the arrow of Jhahar,
a great warrior who fought and won a Slavers War to completely eradicate the slave trade
from their islands. Yet after her victories, Princess Chatana ruled unwisely causing the
unity of the islands to collapse after her death, once again returning to independent
princedoms. Over the years many more attempted to unify the Islands, with half a dozen rulers
successfully holding them together for a time, yet the islands always reverted to a fractured
state. Although they produced great warriors, the
Summer Isles never attempted to conquer foreign lands, instead focusing on defence, exploration
and trade. Even so, individuals sometimes left their homeland to end up as pitfighters
or mercenaries in other parts of the world, finding ample opportunity for work in the
wars of the Free Cities. One of the most infamous Islanders to earn a reputation outside their
homeland was Xhobar Qhoqua, an exiled prince who led a mercenary company and grew wealthy
in the wars of the disputed lands. Growing his ambitions, Xhobar joined the powerful
Band of Nine, an alliance of rich pirates, merchants and sellswords that included Maelys
the Monstrous of House Blackfyre, who was backed by the mercenary Golden Company. Causing
turmoil in the disputed lands, they soon conquered the Stepstones to perpare for an invasion
of Westeros. Yet the Targaryen King learned of these plans and so sent his army to fight
the War of the Ninepenny kings also known as the fifth blackfyre rebellion, defeating
the invaders before they reached they ever reached the mainland.
A regular trade partner to Westeros for thousands of years, this relationship continued under
the rule of House Targaryen, with the sack of Tall Trees Town by a pirate fleet in 19AC,
convincing Aegon the Conquerer to build walls around his capital of King’s Landing. This
fruitful trade relationship then continued throughout the years of Targaryen rule and
beyond, so that when the island of Jhala fought a civil war in which Prince Jalabhar Xho of
the Red Flower Vale was deposed from power, he sought refuge in Westeros, finding sanctuary
with King Robert Baratheon. An honored guest of the king, Jalabhar Xho often petitioned
for armed support in taking back his lands, an idea which intrigued Robert Baratheon as
he was great and fearless warrior. And while the King’s advisers ultimately convinced
him to deny the request, Jalabhar was allowed to remain in the capital, becoming a regular
fixture in the royal court.