Trundle Islands

Trundle Islands
The Trundle Islands is a large archipelago locates south of the continent of Rowenton. The three main cities of the islands are the captial Dio, and the major ports: Fieran, and Lade.

The People
The islands are primarily populated by those with an affinity for magic. Halflings, Gnomes, Tieflings, Elves, and Humans With a total population nearing one million people, the Trundle Islands have the most tightly packed cities in the world. The islands are a haven for many people and there are places for wanted men to hide, but most are simply people that wanted to live a different life than what their original homeland offered or were born of immigrant parents.

Politics
The country is run by a council of 13 members represented by 4 groups. There are always at least three headmasters appointed by the schools, three master magi chosen by the Directorate of Wizardry, three engineers, and three standard fair politicians. The 13th representative is rotated every six months and comes from one of the four main governing bodies. This prevents stalemates and allows for each group to maintain somewhat of an edge for their agenda on a somewhat regular schedule.

Trundle Stones
The Trundle Islands are most famous for the rather odd, and highly mysterious Trundle Stones. A natural concentration of a magichemical substance gives the stones in the area a unique property. When first mined, the raw stones are riddled with softly glowing blue veins. This is not terribly unique in and of itself, but when refined the stones actually defy gravity to a slight degree. They won't float off into the heavens, but will instead levitate upwards of ten feet off of the ground. Only the most pure and largest of stones can support more than a few dozen pounds before it succumbs to gravity again. This allows for many fantastic creations including floating stepping stones bridges, doors that seem too large to exist, but are easily pushed thanks to their low weight, even wagons and carriages are often made with the stones to reduce the weight.

A truly remarkable substance. So remarkable, in fact, that the export of the stones without express written and magically certified consent can end in disaster and is otherwise completely forbidden. There is concern that there is the possibility for weaponization although every tested application has proven inefficient compared to other available technologies. Still, the process for purification is such a highly guarded secret that it seems even the people working in the purification halls don't know what their doing, although this can't be the case because new stones are always being made.