The Shepherd Isles
"Course, there are no actual shepherds on the Shepherd Isles. Sheep are mostly illegal here. No indeed, it's just the name of the genterman that found the islands."
"No sheep. But plenty o' tales. Ask us anything."[1]
The Shepherd Isles are a small archipelago of islands located in the region of Shepherd's Wash.[2]
Tales Upon Tales
"...surface roilin' like a porridge-pot...up with a roar of steam and flash of fire!...three widows swimmin'... TENTACLES!... and then we saw His Highness..."
(There is rather a lot of this material.)"[3]
The most notable fact about the Isles is their inhabitant's eagerness to tell fantastical stories about them and their history. These stories are rather questionable and often contradict one another; an example of this is The Isles' most notable landmark: the Standing Stones.[4] During just a single visit, the locals might tell visitors several different stories of the Stones's origin, such as:
- They were brought there 80 years ago by a wise man from Irem and have been growing ever since that day.[5]
- They were members of the sisterhood of Abbey Rock, who have been transformed into pillars by Stone.[6]
- They were raised by Blemmigans, using poetry.[7]
As a result of that, many people consider the villagers' tales as utter nonsense- although some of their tales may have a grain of truth to them.[8][9]
The Truth of the Matter
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The true reason for the archipelagos' nonsensical tales lies in the Mithridate Office - the Elder Continent's office of spreading misinformation and falsehoods among foreingers.[10] Many years ago, a previous director of the Office resigned from his position and decided to retire to the Shepherd Isles- strongly influencing their culture into it's current form.[11]
References
- ↑ Shepherd Isles, Sunless Sea
- ↑ Shepherd Isles, Sunless Sea
- ↑ Compile a Port Report, Sunless Sea
- ↑ Tales of the Standing Stones, Sunless Sea
- ↑ Tales of the Standing Stones, Sunless Sea
- ↑ Tales of the Standing Stones, Sunless Sea
- ↑ Put a blemmigan ashore, Sunless Sea
- ↑ Engage an Officer: the Sigil-Ridden Navigator., Sunless Sea
- ↑ Shepherd Isles: submit as unsubstantiated hearsay, Sunless Sea
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London "The Mithridate Office fabricates [...] stories about the Continent [...] to confuse foreigners. [...] they often employ foreigners.
- ↑ Listen to a storyteller, Sunless Sea
