We saved the biggest and best for last!
Finally the last island, the big boy in the center gets all of the naming out of the way and we put a wrap on Step 15:
The crown jewel of the Bluestone Isles is Ashford Island, largest of the islands in both landmass and population, it is the literal centerpiece to the island cluster.
The island's eastern border is covered by the great Bluestone Mountains, named so because of the blue tint they take on when viewed from a distance in the morning light, and from which the Isles take their name. These great peaks jut skyward, from the jagged summit of the tallest, Mt. Eudora, down to the lower, gentler mountains to the south. This natural barrier helps protect the island from the harsh smoke and ash pumped out of the neighboring volcano, The Heart of Chasnor.
The mountains themselves are flanked by the rolling Lafe Hills, who's western side is carved into by three rivers. The twin rivers Alar and Falar are naturally fed, formed from water running off the Bluestones, as well as from collected streams throughout the surrounding hills. They collect into the Mud River, named so for the dark, murky waters that are created by the rough waters from where the rivers meet, combined with silt and other particulates that are brought down from the mountains. Further to the east, the White River is named for the caps that form on it, due to a rapid current and numerous rocks. It is a younger river, once a mountain fed stream, it now is thought that a crack into the Elemental Realm of Water is feeding it, creating a much larger volume of water than was previously there.
The mountains are also split, separated by The Marble Lake, thus named for the marble striations created from the mixing of the opaque waters of the Mud River with the crystal clear waters of the White river. Marble Lake is a source of food and water for those on Ashford Island. The Goblins that have taken up residence north of the lake often are a nuisance, but aren't in large enough numbers to pose a real threat. The real danger of the lake lies in the wildlife that lives in the nearby woods, as well as elemental creatures that slip through and travels to the lake via the White River. In fact, many ruins of failed attempts to settle lands around Marble Lake speak of the danger of the elemental creatures. These attacks happen so frequently on any attempt to settle along the lake's shore that many believe some mad druid or practitioner of magic is protecting Marble Lake for some unknown reason.
Further west, the land begins to even out and a vast forest growth, named first by the lizard folk as the Garové Woods (the name being adopted by the humans as well), used to dominate the rest of the island. However, as the humans and their lizard folk allies have begun to settle and expand the lands around them, much of the woods has been cleared to make way for farming. The farmland covers most of the south of Ashford, and while numerous farm houses dot the land, several prominent settlements have been built as well.
Furthest north, nestled into a “bay” created by The Sorrow as it tore Ashford Island free from the land below, is Ashford Bay. This city had existed long before the great cataclysm and was gradually resettled by humans and lizard folk, who expanded it by added vast airship docks as well as allowing the gnomes to create several steamwork systems to help run the day to day functions of the great city. The “bay” itself is protected by two great towers, built upon two chunks of rock hauled close to its entrance and connected to Ashford itself by great, and magically reinforced, lengths of chain, each with link as big as several men standing side by side. These towers are named Orial and Cannas, after two brothers and great heroes who managed to infiltrate and defeat a great gathering of airship pirates before they could launch a raid on Ashford Bay during its infancy.
Situated in the middle of the farmland is the great keep known as The Citadel. From it, the crossroads of five trade roads come together, like spokes meeting at the center of a wheel. These roads are well built and well maintained, wide enough to allow two wagons to pass one another. It is along these roads, and the many smaller roads that branch off them into the farmlands, that the Citadel Marshals patrol, keeping the road safe from bandits and monsters that would prey upon caravans, pilgrims, and travelers. Those captured are brought back to The Citadel for quick sentencing, usually left to rot in the prisons beneath the keep or put on display at the crossroads in the various stocks and cages that run along beside it.
These roads lead to the other notable settlements of Ashford Island. To the west is the village of Sama, the center of the agricultural lands of the Bluestone Isles. Most of the harvested goods travel there, prior to being dispersed to Ashford Bay and other population centers near and far. The village maintains it's own docks, primarily used for the heavy shipping barges that transport the grains, meat and other foodstuffs collected from the farms. Sama itself doesn't host that much of a population, while there are some residents, most of the workers come from the surrounding farmlands. Most of those that live in the village proper are cobblers, wheelwrights and others of the sort. There is, of course, a few local taverns. To the south of Sama is Iscarion's Way, a small port hamlet used primarily as a trade stop for smaller airships carrying goods from Calder's Promise. It mostly caters to airmen crews and has a large number of inns, taverns, and brothels to keep the crews occupied while the deals of trade are worked out in great guild halls by the docks.
Further east and south of Iscarion's Way is one of Ashford's two logging and hunting hamlets, a place known as Forest's Edge. Situated along the current edge of the Garové Woods, this small settlement is mostly known for its practice of sending its children to South Island to hunt the great Fangbeast the roam there. The other hamlet, directly east of The Citadel is called Falconwood. Here, many of the hunters are trained falconers, and primarily hunt in the farmlands themselves for small game, helping to control pest populations and bring in food to feed the hamlet itself. The rest of the hamlet provides much of the lumber used in the rest of the settled lands.
(insert Crackdown reference here)
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