Scaurwél

Scaurwél - also known as Scaarghél  - is an island under Etrandish rule, populated by less than five thousand people, almost exclusively Etrandish-speaking Humans following the Church of Titanius. While the island is nominally under Etrandish rule, in reality, due to their isolation and lack of importance, the islanders are largely left to their own devices, with de facto political power being in hands of the church, and the island's de facto governor being the local abbot.

The islanders are mostly a mixture of fishers and sheepherders; exporting crystals, wool and whale oil, relying on a diet consisting mostly of fish, mutton, sheep milk products (such as cheese and butter), mead, apples and potatoes; due to extensive contact with Etrancoast and frequent visits by Etrancoasti merchants and fishermen, much of Scaurwél's (male) population is bilingual in the Etrancoasti language. They also speak a highly divergent dialect of Etrandish.

Due to the island's low population support capacity, every generation, a number of young adults get pressured to seek their fortunes on the mainland (to keep the island's population below five thousand) - and likewise, because a population of five thousand means a small gene pool, new blood has to be brought in from the mainland every now and then to prevent inbreeding.

History
Scaurwél - originally called Scaurghél - was originally part of the Kingdom of Hulra, and just like today, it was populated by a mixture of fishermen and sheepherders. Due to the island's lack of strategic importance, it did not have a colourful history until the Hulran invasion of Etrand in the 270s, when the Hulrans invaded Etrand, and the Etrandish launched a highly successful counterattack that led to the Etrandish annexation of Hulra, and thus the creation of the Viceroyalty of Etrancoast. A large number of Pagan Hulrans fled their country and this new Etrandish-Titanist persecution, becoming refugees, settling down overwhelmingly in the Free City of Gabyr, but a small number was content just to flee to the island of Scaurwél.

Initially, the Etrandish didn't care about the island - it was isolated, had a tiny population, and lacked any serious economical or strategic importance. However, due to the influx of refugees, the island quickly became overcrowded, and the islanders began to experience a shortage of everything, most importantly food - thus, they turned to piracy and began raiding Etrandish and Etrancoasti coastal villages. The Etrandish did not tolerate this, and launched an amphibious invasion that led to the occupation of the island, and a massacre that drastically reduced the island's population - especially the male population. It is said that the natives fought until the last man, but that is merely a legend, a romanticist exaggeration - however, it is true, that the majority of native men were killed, leaving native Hulran women to be married off to those Etrandish warriors who elected to stay on the island. Titanist missionaries also arrived to the island to convert the remainder of the natives and build a church on the island, and were followed by opportunity-seeking families and couples from mainland Etrand.

As a result of the early massacres and the migrations that followed them, the Etrandish came to outnumber the native Etrancoasti on the island, and eventually assimilated them completely: the island now had an Etrandish-oriented culture, with the islanders speaking a dialect of Etrandish. As such, when the Etrandish king made a compromise with the Etrancoasti nobility in the 430s, giving them autonomy and authorizing the replacement of the Viceroyalty of Etrancoast with the Earldom of Etrancoast, the island wasn't given back to Etrancoast, but continued to be - at least nominally - administered from Etrand itself, while in practice being left to their own devices, due to their isolation, low population, and lack of notable economic or strategic utility: the Titanist church, or more precisely, the local Titanist abbey stepped up to fill in the de facto power gap and provide administration to an island that would otherwise be nothing but a lawless congregation of fisherman and sheepherder families.