The Four Islands of the Evergreen

The Four Islands of the Great Evergreen, more locally known as Vera, is a small group of islands far off the coast to the south-west of Laevateinn. The small island group split away from the main island of Laevateinn many millenia ago, and since then has become the farthest lying islands still part of Laevateinn. Due to its distance from the main island, The Four Islands enjoy a more independent status and in general have a lesser distrust of magic.

History
Thousands of years ago, Vera was still one island drifting in the large western ocean, the island started to crack into the four islands it is nowadays. It is believed that Mieliki saved the island by growing the Great Evergreen to keep the four parts together. Most Verans believe that the Great Evergreen is connected to the Tree of Life through its roots.

In return for Mieliki saving the island, the Godess asked for the inhabitants to protect the unique nature of the region, to help those that appear on their shores and make sure strangers can’t harm the delicate nature of the four islands. Every couple of thousand years one worthy individual from Vera would be gifted a so called Blessing of the Forest Queen. Those blessings are usually strange and can look very useless and absolutely ridiculous, with previous individuals being recorded to get the ability to speak with animals or plants. The Blessing usually reflected the personality of its receiver. The Blessed person is then by tradition sent out in the world to collect the knowledge and catch up on everything that happened since the last Blessing was given out. It is said that the Blessed one takes the Great Path of Knowledge. This journey can take anywhere from 5 to 20 years.

In the year 1770 an evil entity nearly destroyed the island along with the Great Evergreen. These events drew the attention of the Roderorden and the Oberjarl, forcing the islands to begin full reintegration into Laevateinn society.

Governing
The tradition of the Vera has always been to chose their leader from the people. Anyone can nominate themselves, but they have to prove to people that they have what a leader needs to have. A new leader is chosen upon the death of the old one or if, for whatever reason, the people become unhappy with the Jarl and so they can chose a new one. The leader of Vera is given the title of Keeper.

The Jarl holds a seat in the House of Jarls, though rarely visits Holmhallas to exercise their rights or advocate on the behalf of The Four Islands.

In recent times - up until the events in 1770 - the current leader of Vera was Keeper Alder. However, after the disturbing events that threatened The Great Evergreen - and by proxy possibly The Tree of Life, he was forced to step down as he faced a moot. A new jarl has not been appointed, and instead stability on the islands is ensured by contingents of Roderorden.

Geography
Leto is the biggest island still left intact. On this island is the Jarl's home, the public meeting hall, library and market. Osen is the agricultural island of Vera. Vesna is the island of habitation, where most of the private homes of the Verans are. Zima is the fourth island, and the one where the working district is located. This island has a large forest in the middle. There is a fifth island where the Great Evergreen is located. The area surrounding the Great Evergreen is believed to be sacred, where one only comes to get married or if they have permission from the Jarl himself. The Great Evergreen is also where the Blessed Child of the Forest Queen is chosen and announced.

The islands are arranged in a rough circle and in the middle there is a small island that fits a huge tree, that has its roots reaching all the islands.

Biome
The climate of Vera is very gentle, and when it does snow, it is usually only on Zima. The temperature rarely drops below 0 degrees, and usually is around 20 degrees during the day. There are a number of plants, animals and resources that can only be found on the islands of Vera, the citizens themselves in a lot of cases have no use for most of those materials or have not discovered any yet due to the lack of people doing any kind of research.

One of the plants, which is theorised to be infused with magic, that naturally grows on islands of Vera is called Blossoming Memories. It’s a small dark green, almost blueish plant with tiny white flowers clustered together in small groups. It is commonly gathered, dried and then used by people who suffer from insomnia. It is also used for people in pain as it work as anaesthetic. For that a couple of dried leafs are simply eaten or can also he rehydrated and consumed that way. If the leafs are added to hot water and the resulting drink is consumed it has a relaxing effect that can make you feel drunk and doesn’t cause nausea or hangover. People say the experience is similar to being drunk, but can be much strong. For a lot of people consumption of Blossoming Memories cause strong feeling of nostalgia and it is said that this herb can help people remember things from their past better, nostalgic and good memories tend to resurface. In small doses used for meditation. This plant is non addictive.

Traditions
Verans celebrate each season by having a festival on the appropriate island, with the Summer festival taking place on Leto, the winter festival on Zima, the autumn festival on Osen and spring festival on Vesna. Majority of the population does not eat meat due to the lack of it as well as due the respect for the wildlife. The animals are only consumed in case there is a spike in their population and it’s allowed to hunt them, to make sure there is no overpopulation. Fishing is a popular activity, so fish is a readily available product.

Population
Mostly Elves/half-elves (wood and sea), humans, halflings, some gnomes with very rare occurrences of s goliaths and genasi. The population is around 5000 people.