Hikuwa Islands
Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 10:16 am
Hikuwa Islands
A small island chain in the Tonult Ocean, 1,265 miles from the coast of Ertia, the largest island being its namesake. The island chain is volcanic, though the volcanos have been dormant for hundreds of years. Hikuwa (hee-KOO-ah), the main island, is on the north end of the chain and is about 780 square feet in size. The islands shrink in size as the chain arcs southwards, so the second largest island, around 2 miles from Hikuwa is Maei (mah-I-E), around 590 square miles. The third island, three miles from Maei is Hoé (ho-ay), around 340 square miles. The final four islands are under 100 square miles in size and sparsely inhabited, as such, they are of little consequence to describe. Their names are, respectively, Niu (ne-OO), Hui (hoo-EE), Uika (oo-EE-kah), and Kuio (koo-EE-oh).
The islands share a culture, scattered amongst around twenty villages on Hikuwa, Maei, and Hoé. The largest village on Hikuwa has a port that welcomes travelers from Ertia and Kalesten, allowing some trade between both lands. Pirates, however, are the most common visitors to Hikuwa. Due to this fact, the islands are rather poor, but they are self-sufficient when it comes to the basics of life.
Hikuwans are descendants of sea-faring Ertians, though when and how they came to the island has been lost to history. Whether they settled the island intentionally or were stranded, they learned to survive on the foods provided by the island, subsisting on a diet of fish, poultry from native fowl, fruit, and other native plants. In last couple hundred years, as sailing has become more advanced, sailors from other nations have brought livestock to Hikuwa in the form of goats, pigs, and chickens. Most of these non-native animals are only found on Hikuwa and Maei, however.
The culture of Hikuwa carries some of the male-dominated themes from Old Ertia, but not to serious extent. Women are considered best suited to child-rearing, and as such, they typically marry young, have as many children as possible, and focus on raising them. Marriages are arranged by trade; the groom-to-be makes an offer of trade to the bride’s family, and if her father accepts, then she is traded to the groom.
Much of Hikuwa’s trade is barter, and women are not allowed to make deals, or run businesses. They are, however, allowed to assist their husbands; for example, in the more traditional sense, a family harvests fruits or prepares meat hunted or fished by the husband to be traded, and the husband makes the deals. In the more modern port town of Hikuwa, a man may own an inn or tavern, and his wife will work at the inn as a maid or cook. Aside from inns, another institution from the mainland has been installed on Hikuwa; brothels. Prostitution was not an aspect of Hikuwan culture before trade with other lands, but it seemed to find its place in Hikuwa soon after visits from the mainland became commonplace. Prostitutes are acquired in the same way brides are; a brothel owner will offer trade with a family in exchange for their daughter, and if they accept, she is basically sold into prostitution. Generally, parents are aware of exactly the deal they are making and its only the unscrupulous who willingly sell their daughters to slavery. Some prostitutes started out as orphans, either with their parents dead, or having been abandoned by their mother for one reason or another. Prostitutes do not earn money for themselves, instead, all their earnings go directly to the brothel owner who looks after their upkeep.
As a result of prostitution and a definite lack of birth control, pregnancy and disease is common with Hikuwan prostitutes. Some brothel owners keep the children of prostitutes around as they often serve as good housekeepers when they’re older, and potential future employees. Other brothel owners are quick to adopt out babies, kick children out once they can manage to be self-sufficient, or at worst, kill any babies born to their women. It is typical for girls to wind up in the same position as their mothers, and boys to be kicked out as teenagers, or younger. These boys alone are a major source of trouble on the main island, especially the port town. They often band together in gangs, and if Hikuwans are lucky, a good number of them end up joining pirate crews and leaving. The gangs not only are a bother to residents, but a threat to the hierarchy of the island.
The Hikuwan people share some resemblance to Ertians with dark features, but the result of so many generations has given the people a somewhat uniform appearance in their facial structure and coloration. They are predominately brown skinned, black haired, and brown-eyed. They also tend to be a bit shorter than human averages.
A small island chain in the Tonult Ocean, 1,265 miles from the coast of Ertia, the largest island being its namesake. The island chain is volcanic, though the volcanos have been dormant for hundreds of years. Hikuwa (hee-KOO-ah), the main island, is on the north end of the chain and is about 780 square feet in size. The islands shrink in size as the chain arcs southwards, so the second largest island, around 2 miles from Hikuwa is Maei (mah-I-E), around 590 square miles. The third island, three miles from Maei is Hoé (ho-ay), around 340 square miles. The final four islands are under 100 square miles in size and sparsely inhabited, as such, they are of little consequence to describe. Their names are, respectively, Niu (ne-OO), Hui (hoo-EE), Uika (oo-EE-kah), and Kuio (koo-EE-oh).
The islands share a culture, scattered amongst around twenty villages on Hikuwa, Maei, and Hoé. The largest village on Hikuwa has a port that welcomes travelers from Ertia and Kalesten, allowing some trade between both lands. Pirates, however, are the most common visitors to Hikuwa. Due to this fact, the islands are rather poor, but they are self-sufficient when it comes to the basics of life.
Hikuwans are descendants of sea-faring Ertians, though when and how they came to the island has been lost to history. Whether they settled the island intentionally or were stranded, they learned to survive on the foods provided by the island, subsisting on a diet of fish, poultry from native fowl, fruit, and other native plants. In last couple hundred years, as sailing has become more advanced, sailors from other nations have brought livestock to Hikuwa in the form of goats, pigs, and chickens. Most of these non-native animals are only found on Hikuwa and Maei, however.
The culture of Hikuwa carries some of the male-dominated themes from Old Ertia, but not to serious extent. Women are considered best suited to child-rearing, and as such, they typically marry young, have as many children as possible, and focus on raising them. Marriages are arranged by trade; the groom-to-be makes an offer of trade to the bride’s family, and if her father accepts, then she is traded to the groom.
Much of Hikuwa’s trade is barter, and women are not allowed to make deals, or run businesses. They are, however, allowed to assist their husbands; for example, in the more traditional sense, a family harvests fruits or prepares meat hunted or fished by the husband to be traded, and the husband makes the deals. In the more modern port town of Hikuwa, a man may own an inn or tavern, and his wife will work at the inn as a maid or cook. Aside from inns, another institution from the mainland has been installed on Hikuwa; brothels. Prostitution was not an aspect of Hikuwan culture before trade with other lands, but it seemed to find its place in Hikuwa soon after visits from the mainland became commonplace. Prostitutes are acquired in the same way brides are; a brothel owner will offer trade with a family in exchange for their daughter, and if they accept, she is basically sold into prostitution. Generally, parents are aware of exactly the deal they are making and its only the unscrupulous who willingly sell their daughters to slavery. Some prostitutes started out as orphans, either with their parents dead, or having been abandoned by their mother for one reason or another. Prostitutes do not earn money for themselves, instead, all their earnings go directly to the brothel owner who looks after their upkeep.
As a result of prostitution and a definite lack of birth control, pregnancy and disease is common with Hikuwan prostitutes. Some brothel owners keep the children of prostitutes around as they often serve as good housekeepers when they’re older, and potential future employees. Other brothel owners are quick to adopt out babies, kick children out once they can manage to be self-sufficient, or at worst, kill any babies born to their women. It is typical for girls to wind up in the same position as their mothers, and boys to be kicked out as teenagers, or younger. These boys alone are a major source of trouble on the main island, especially the port town. They often band together in gangs, and if Hikuwans are lucky, a good number of them end up joining pirate crews and leaving. The gangs not only are a bother to residents, but a threat to the hierarchy of the island.
The Hikuwan people share some resemblance to Ertians with dark features, but the result of so many generations has given the people a somewhat uniform appearance in their facial structure and coloration. They are predominately brown skinned, black haired, and brown-eyed. They also tend to be a bit shorter than human averages.