Good afternoon. Today we will explore the issue of the Twelve Islands, and most importantly, their relationship with the kingdoms of the Continent. You might know it is not an easy story, but let us start from the beginning…
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On the Unknown Shores
For everyone who arrived in Aedilër in the dawn of the Second Era, it meant severing all ties with the familiar archipelago – nobody was allowed to return, and in any case, there was no feasible way to do it, as all ships would return with merely a small crew that would not ever disembark on the unknown land. The explorers and banites soon started to live a new life on the continent, abandoning hope to ever leave the place. Over the span of a few generations, the Islands became a memory – fond for some, but unpleasant for most.
It remained this way for a long time. The main barrier for Revenith was their lack of decent ships, and low motivation to construct any. Even if the marine industry developed, the hostility towards the Islanders remained too great to be surpassed by any ruler, and so the issue was rarely discussed. At the same time, Envear and the Sapiarchate had means and resources sufficient to reach the archipelago. There were even several attempts made to get there, but the monarchs decided that these were not worth their cost and ultimately failed to establish further cooperation.
Time Can’t Break Us
In the Third Era, the art of shipbuilding returned to the East – and so did exploration. The collective memory of the Twelve Islands was already faint by then. Eventually, the administration in Revenith decided to attempt communication with the old homeland. Two ships were sent to the ocean, with scarce information about their destination, basing their navigation mostly on old sources, and some intuition. After a long journey, they reached one of the islands. The first encounters were awkward – the two groups viewed each other as legends more than strangers, and moreover, the linguistic difference created over almost two millennia was so large that communication was difficult. Despite the approach, the visit was not very friendly.
Nonetheless, upon returning to the Continent, the explorers reported that there was an opportunity of trading with the Islanders, who had an abundance of all marine resources, but lacked metals and minerals. The emperor trusted them, and a year later a delegation travelled to the archipelago with the goal of establishing a trade route, this time equipped with significantly better maps created by the first expedition.
The negotiations were a success – not a major one, perhaps, but nonetheless an important step. In the first years, the traffic was low – no more than a few ships took the route each year for about two decades. After that, more merchants started to gain interest in the opportunity, progressively increasing the volume of trade. Half a century after the first trade deal, an important breakthrough occurred – within a few years, the Sapiarchate, Envear and Taervin all decided to join the agreement and sell their goods overseas.
The trade developed over the Third Era, and upon Sha Rakte’s great journey it was already almost as important for the countries of Aedilër as trading within the continent.
That is everything for now, thank you for coming.
Aedilër 