The Stone Isles, a campaign setting [In the House of the High King]

When I started to conceive of this campaign setting, I thought of this post by my colleague Tom Kilian who asked: What if Gondor had been in Earthsea? You may say that this is a fork of his original post. And I've started to write so many strange things that are so different from his original conception, I must give them my own names. But I hope Tom will be indulgent (or at least forgiving) with the way my ideas have run away from his initial inspiration. The story of the Isles is one of invasions, each layered on top of each. First, there were the dragons, who ruled the seas and the skies. Then came the Fair Folk, who mastered stone and fire. Then came humankind, who claimed dominion over all four. First Wave: The Age of Night (600 years ago)Anu and her daughters came to the Isles on stone ships with sails filled with mage-wind. When they arrived, they burned the sails, set their stone ships up as houses, and began the long work of learning the secret names of all things written in…