Island of Latordan

Latordan, an island not too far from Vicante, where only a few humans have found their homes. Gnomes inhabit the island mainly, though a couple of halflings have found a place to live as well.
Humans are not very welcome at all and in most city's and villages, there are not even inns that have big enough beds to accommodate the taller races. It seems that about six hundred years ago, a last battle was fought between the forces of Vicante and Latordan. On Vicante most people forgot about this, but the defeat of the Vicante forces is still celebrated every year on Latordan.
Latordan is shielded from much of the trade by a strong current running all along the northern and eastern shores. This current then swoops around the southern edge of the island at around twenty miles from the coast. This means that the island can only be reached by sailing in from the west. It is this western shore that runs only about ten miles and then it is ten miles of very rocky grounds, making it perilous to land your ship here without proper navigational aid.
The eastern shore is rather a bit longer, arching away over sixty miles. From east to west, the island measures around eighty miles, making this not one of the bigger islands.

Movement

Having so many gnomes on the island, that have been forced to come up with smart solutions because of the war with Vicante, it should come as no surprise that there are hardly any roads on Latordan. However this does not mean that people do not travel, they just do not travel from one city to another using roads. Roads typically are rather short and if you would want to use those to travel, you would find that the land is divided into a huge number of small segments.
This division into different segments makes it very hard for other forces to travel from one part of the island to other parts of the island, but from a defence perspective this is a great situation.
Transport is done by an ingenious system, using tunnels that have been drilled underground at a dept of at least one hundred feet. In every village or city of reasonable size (say more then two hundred citizens) there is at least one station. Connections from one station to another are always two way, so there is a tube leaving and arriving for each connecting station.
The tunnels are all protected using huge sliding doors and we are told that there are other protection measures as well, so it is fairly impossible for intruders to abuse the system for an invasion.
With all the smart technology, travelling from one side of the island to the other, typically takes about half a day.

To learn more about the transport system, we suggest you have a look at the items and magic section.

Geology of Latordan

Latordan is formed on a strange combination of coral and limestone. This makes it rather easy to build tunnels, while at the same time still keeping out the water.
The western shore is a very rocky and rough outcrop to a further rather flat and placid looking island. Huge trees line the island everywhere, make the island almost look like an island ruled by elf.
The strong current mentioned in the introduction has forced the gnome to build a rather strong underwater fence along the northern and eastern shore. During low tide, the top of this adamantium / granite wall can be seen, however at high tide the barrier is entirely submerged.
Some people would expect this to be rather a dangerous situation, since a storm running down from north, south or east could easily ravage half or more of the island. However the strong current seems to divert even storms.

Political situation

For nearly three thousand years Latordan has been a monarchy and slowly the throne was losing it's importance and influence. However, the recent war with the humans of Vicante has re-established the rule of the Hartglar family.

Crime and Justice

Most of the communities on Latordan are rather small, so crime is not a real issue. Every community does have a court though, because it often happens that some people feel offended by a prank or trick that somebody has played on them.
Now do not think that the gnome here have no sense of humour, but since the war with the humans is still rather recent, most of them are just a little more prudent than you would expect of most gnome.

Magic

Magic is revered as a god in it's own right. It is known that all gnome have some magic running thru their veins, but this force seems to be particularly strong on Latordan.

(game rule information: Gnome born on this island have twice the number of inborn spells compared to the standard rules, so they can cast the spells Dancing lights, Ghost sound, and Prestidigitation a total of six times a day.)

Revered gods

The revered deity among gnome is Garl Glittergold and that is no different here.
If talking about the last journey, it should come as no surprise that most gnome prefer to have Wee Jas guide them.

Main population

Around ninety percent of the population of Latordan is of gnome origin. The rest of the population is halfling, though a group of fifteen humans from various islands have settled in Togral, the western harbour, about seven years ago.
The humans live under very strict regulation. One of the most remarkable examples is that humans need a permit to have children. Currently only two permits have been issued to this extent.

Economy

The economy of Latordan is largely self-sufficient with the halfling running the food cycle and the gnome providing almost everything else, including the materials needed to work the lands. Growing the crops is considered a honourable task, but it is mainly conducted by the halflings.
Latordan imports not much, save for the stronger iron like materials like adamantium and .... Of course they also import premium tobacco, which is used by the halfling population.
In return for import, Latordan exports technology mainly. However the export of technology is very strictly regulated and export permits are needed to export most goods and technological achievements. Currently a copy of the transport system is being build on Bnarligar.

The Teolin Setting
Copyright 2001-2005 Ylorea's Adventuring
Last update 27-05-2004