Isle of Kortos

Isle of Kortos

(Region)

Titles

Starstone Isle

Nation

Absalom

Capital

Absalom

Demonym

Absalomians
Kortosians

Images of Isle of Kortos

Source: Guide to Absalom, pg(s). 12

An Aeon Tower on the Isle of Kortos.

The Isle of Kortos (meaning Starstone Isle in the Azlanti language) is prominently located in the center of the Inner Sea and hosts Absalom, Golarion's largest city.

Geography

While the metropolis itself does not occupy the entire landmass, the remaining land is considered among the city-state's holdings, including the smaller settlements of Diobel and Escadar. The tiny village of Pier's End sits on the northern coast of the island and caters to travelers trekking to Escadar, while the small port town of Otari is located on the southern coast about halfway between Diobel and Absalom.

Much of the unpopulated land surrounding Absalom is filled with ruined siege engines and battlements from the countless assaults on the city's impenetrable walls, and has come to be known as the Cairnlands. The Kortos Mounts rear out of the center of the island, forested in their lower reaches but barren and icy at their peaks. Its highest peak is Arazlant Mox at over 26,000 feet in height.

From directly north to far to the west of the city of Absalom, stretches a vast, primordial woodland known as the Immenwood. The wood harvested from these lands fuels the logging trade that helps sustain the Isle. Centered within the woods themselves is the town of Meravon, where the logging trade is centered.

Just to the north of the Isle of Kortos lies the much smaller Isle of Erran, home to the navy town of Escadar. The tiny island of Pariol, owned by the wealthy and influential Blakros family, lies south of it.

History

See also: Aroden and Absalom

More than 5,000 years after the destruction of Earthfall, Aroden—then still a mortal—was called to the Inner Sea, where he found the Starstone and was subjected to the Test of the Starstone upon contact with it. His first act as a god was to raise the stone from the watery depths he found it in, along with the surrounding earth, up to form the Isle of Kortos.✝

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Inhabitants

Tribes of minotaurs, harpies, and centaurs occupy the untamed wilderness beyond the Isle's civilized shores, constantly battling one another and intruders to their territory, and sometimes causing problems for caravans from the western port of Diobel to the markets of Absalom.

Politics

Even though Absalom is the largest city in the Inner Sea region, most of the island, especially its inland, is disputed territory. While Absalom claims the entirety of the isles of Kortos and Erran under its domain, most of the areas outside the major settlements is de facto lawless wilderness. The Kortos Consortium, itself a part of Absalom's regional government, controls the port city of Diobel, and is generally on good terms with the folk who work in the island's interior who supply the port cities with food, lumber, and fur. Representatives of the city of Absalom's government, including the First Guard's Eagle Garrison that patrols the islands, have a much tenser relationship with the isle's rural inhabitants. These differences are soon forgotten, however, when both groups are threatened by the minotaur, centaur, and harpy populations.

Fauna

Horses are not present on the Isle of Kortos as the centaurs regard them as invaders and the harpies like to eat them, so most farmers, merchants, and nobles on the island use camels or axe beaks. Rumor holds that there is a race of winged camels on the north end of the island, but these creatures must be exceedingly rare.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.