People

Ironborns

CanonOfficial lore from the booksSSGp. 6, 21, 45

The Ironborns, also called Iron Islanders, are the people of the Iron Isles, a group of islands lying even further north than Fraza, in the Northern Ice Sea.¹

The islands

Almost all of the Iron Isles is made of metal and stone, and farming there is nearly impossible, yet somehow a powerful civilisation thrives on them. About half of the islands are precious metals. The isles are very remote, and meeting an Ironborn or doing business with one is an extremely rare experience; even so, despite the great distance, they still pay taxes to The Empire.¹

Society

The Iron Isles are ruled by wizards, and survival and travel on the islands depend entirely on magic. Those who cannot work magic are forced into slavery. Life on the isles follows the principle that the strong prevail: a clear caste system is in place, and everyone knows their place in the hierarchy.¹

Ironborns are known to buy and sell slaves of many races, and they make great use of slave labour in their households. Unlike in the Empire, slaves on the Iron Isles have no rights.¹

The Ironborn keep track of the passing days through magic.²

Faith

The Iron Islanders do not worship the same gods as the rest of the Lands of Exile, yet, like the people of Fraza, they firmly acknowledge and believe in the existence of the gods to whom they offer no respects.³

Notes

↑BookLands of Exile: Starter Setting Guide, p. 45
↑BookLands of Exile: Starter Setting Guide, p. 6
↑BookLands of Exile: Starter Setting Guide, p. 21

Sources

This article draws on:

SSGLands of Exile: Starter Setting Guide(Bad Badger Games, 2024), pp. 6, 21, 45

Related articles

RegionFrazaThe harsh northern realm beyond the Empire's mountain passes, a land of monsters and relentless winter whose clans live free, honour strength and deed above blood, and esteem their seers and witches.RegionIron IslesRemote island groups of metal and stone in the Northern Ice Sea, north of Fraza, where wizards rule a powerful caste society, those without magic are enslaved, and the arcane arts are studied without limit.PeopleHumansThe people who lived in northern Caligran long before the Desolation, sheltered the long-lived races after the Exodus and remain the greatest power in the Lands of Exile, at the heart of which stands their Empire.

PeopleBadgerfolkA small, fur-covered people from the Blue Forest who resemble badgers standing on two legs. They are skilled craftsmen and archers, build wooden towns they can move with the seasons, elect their mayors, and often stand with the wood elves.

PeopleCapraA tireless, goat-headed nomadic people of the Yellow Sea beyond the forest frontier, led in herds by their strongest warrior, the Shepherd, and divided between herds bound to nature and herds touched by dark gods.

PeopleDroomA rare people born from the heart of an ancient forest, whose bodies of bark, leaves, vines and resin make them resemble walking, talking trees. They have no parents, do not age, and turn back into trees when they die of natural causes.

PeopleForgottenThe dead who walk with their souls and their memories intact. Unlike the mindless dead, a forgotten remembers everything, looks as they did in life but paler and cold, does not age, and must hold to a purpose or slowly lose their mind again.

PeopleVenerethPeople born to any race with enigmatic writings on their bodies, a legacy of sages who sought to save the knowledge of the world before the Desolation. Each is born with a gift for one field of learning, and many are feared or hunted for their marks.PeopleAutumn DroomOne of the seasonal kinds of droom. Autumn drooms are covered in big yellow leaves, are artistic and melancholic by nature, and value the gathering of knowledge above all else.PeopleDark CapraOne of the two kinds of capra found in the Lands of Exile, whose members carry an inescapable stain in their blood and the dark powers that come with it.