Land of the Green Isles

The Land of the Green Isles is the name for a land and kingdom comprised of a chain of volcanic islands (though not all islands of the chain are part of the kingdom) During a three month journey Alexander traveled to the islands. . It is a warm and sunny place, with women so beautiful to make jewels weep.

Background
An ancient and peaceful kingdom, the Land of the Green Isles has long been the subject of much debate as to whether the land is a reality or if it is just a work of a great imagination. Until recently, the land was largely dismissed as being myth. The land is a place of vague boundaries--as if islands come and go. The Land of the Green isles is many seperate places, kingdoms and princedoms, and priestly covens, and more. Most of times they live in harmony, but grievances and poor tempers are not unknown. Covering many miles of sea, the many, and ever-changing islands exist close by the edge of the universe. In a world where those living there continually reinvent themselves, the Green Isles is where re-creation is noticed most. Islands come and go; some transmogrify from wood to jungle to mountain to sea. Others appear and then vanish daily. Their numbers change like the waves on the beach, building up an dthen retreating. Some days or months or years there are more; other itmes, fewer. Perhaps four, perhaps five islands, have attained enough constancy to be accepted as more or less permanent parts of the realm. Each of these isles has its own ruler, but all pledge fealty to the rulers of the relam's largest portion, the Isle of the Crown.

The Land consists of four main islands; the Isle of the Crown (the island from which the king and queen rule), the Isle of Wonder, the Isle of the Sacred Mountain, and the Isle of the Beast (formerly the Isle of the Forest)..

A fifth island sometimes stays around long enough to be counted as a semi-permanent member of the insular community, the Isle of the Mists. It is visible and visitable only when the Druids can cast and maintain an earth spell to blow away the island's eternal fog.. The island's druids maintain the tropical climate in the islands, making it an eternal springtime.

One more island of note in the chain is the Isle of the Dead, the location of the Realm of the Dead. Its cold black mountains are sometimes seen on the horizon from other islands, though few have confirmed its existence. It is not part of the kingdom, although it is part of the island chain. The Realm itself, is is not actually part of the world, but the next.

There are other isles and islets and grassy rocks which make up the Land of the Green isles but are of little interest.

The waters about the Green isles are treacherous in the extreme, and it is the reefs and currents and eternal fogs which keep the realm secure from the intrusions of the rest of Daventry--these, and the great storms which local legend claims to be the artifacct of a great protective spell once cast to defeat all intruders.

Rocky Shoals and Dangerous Currents pose danger to most ships that attempt to travel to the islands. The islands have always been surrounded by terrible eddies and currents that make seagoing nearly impossible. The Green Isles lies near the Edge of the World, and the deadly currents are the result of a magnetism that sucks life from one world to the next. Dangerous currents and whirlpools can materialize and suck at a ship at any given moment, pulling it under. Few people survive ship wrecks around the islands, and few are lucky to make it to shore safely. Most are pulled under to their doom. It is pure fate that some survive, washing up on the shore of one of the other islands such as the Isle of the Crown. Only the family that runs the ferry between the islands knows the secret to navigating the islands, and have run the ferry for generations.

Not only is the water dangerous, it is also deceptive. The oceans appear calm, but a dimpling pattern to the surface indicates a strong undertow, and shifting sand is moved by the current. Underwater currents tug at the legs of those who are foolish enough to walk out into the water. Within a few feet the underwater tow become too strong, and the ground too loose to safely walk further. It will ferociously pull a person's legs out from under them, and they are dragged out out to sea, and then currents around the island pull them under. It is impossible to swim in the waters due to the dangerous under currents.

The Green Islanders are fond of saying that the impassable currents in the seas around the kingdom are there as a warning - to keep all ships from sailing further east. For it is believed that within a day's sail in that direction a ship strong enough and foolhardy enough to survive the tempest seas would encounter the Edge of the World.

The kingdom's location so far from the rest of the known world, combined with the dangers of the surrounding inhospitable sea, have effectively isolated it from the influence of other lands.

The kingdom is currently ruled by King Alexander and Queen Cassima, and was very recently ruled by King Caliphim and Queen Allaria (Cassima's parents) and the Green Isles have had many rulers over the centuries, and many Green Islanders believe the Royal Family of the Green Isles, which the citizens call "the Crown" to have existed as long as the kingdom has. But there is evidence which points to an even earlier kingdom, at least on one isle.

Though there has never been any war in the history of the Green Isles, the isles began feuding because their sacred treasures (a Golden Fleece from the Isle of the Sacred Mountain, a Miniature Oak Tree from the Isle of the Mists, a Singing Stone from the Isle of Wonder, and a Coat of Arms from the Isle of the Beast) had been stolen, and each island laid blame on the other island. It was revealed that the former vizier of the Green Isles, Abdul Alhazred had stolen the treasures in order to create discord.

Traveling to the Islands
The exact distance between the Land and Green Isles and other kingdoms is unknown. However we are given a few clues to the amount of time it takes to reach the islands. When Derek Karlavaegen got lost traveling from Llewdor to reach Serenia on the Round About, he had travelled for nearly a month and a half before he reached the Land of the Green Isles. When Alexander left to find Cassima in the Land of the Green Isles he had a long voyage from Daventry to Llewdor (to speak to Derek and get a copy of the Guidebook) before finally traveling to the Land of the Green Isles. The entire voyage took three months.

Behind the scenes
The Green Isles are first mentioned in King's Quest V, as the Kingdom of the Green Isles. They are later visited in King's Quest 6.

Land of the Green Isles (unofficial)
The Land of the Green Isles appears in fan fiction, including fan games, see Land of the Green Isles (unofficial).