SOI Setting Mutants & Masterminds: Struggles of Iannin - Ki'ninay Island & the Free Port of Bib'ney

[Ouroboros]

Ki'ninay Island

Westernmost of the continental shelf islands Ki'ninay is covered in rolling hills that gently rise from the eastern shore gaining elevation before terminating on the western shore in a cliff face that plummets two hundred feet into the rocky water below. The island is covered in a mix of grasslands (on the eastern half) and woodland (to the west) and recent expansion has created many new farming villages as Bib'ney expands with refugees from the mainland. The only major city on the island is the harbor of Bib'ney, located within the shelter of the harbor on the south of the island.

The Free Port of Bib'ney

Bib'ney is located on the southern end of Ki'ninay Island on the shore of the large Ki'ninay Bay. The harbor itself is made up of the southern cup of the island as well as extensive coral reefs which lie just beneath the waters. There is only one safe entrance to the harbor which is marked with buoys. During most of the day the reefs lie only a few feet below the water, and only at the low tide can they be seen peeking above the waves. Even at high tide only ships with the shallowest of draughts can float over the reef.

Bib'ney itself is a chaotic jumble of buildings that sprawls outward onto the island haphazardly. Due to the size of the harbor the city is huge, and as a result is run by nearly autonomous districts. Bib'ney itself is located almost dead center along the Ki'ninay Bay and at the extreme east and west are a pair of smaller harbors. On the west side is the shipbuilding town of Drydock, and in the east is the settlement of Haven, where many of the islands fishermen make their homes.

Bib'ney's most sprawling district is the Harbor itself which includes the docks and the warehouses that run for nearly ten miles along the shore. Before the war Bib'ney was the major port of trade on the World Ocean for sailors from Rakonu, Ignum, and the archipelagos of the Z'ights and A'lough. Since the war many warehouses sit empty or have become refugee infested tenements of a sort as their occupants await their chance to move inland.

Further inland from the warehouses is the colloquially named "Comfort Rows", which is primarily made up of inns, brothels, and tap-houses, and the Market District, whose purpose is clear to all. Beyond the inns and markets lie the many streets of local homes. Captains, merchants, and others all make their homes here. Many a sailor who seeks to someday retire hold apartments in this part of the city where they can keep from the tap-houses and try to save their coin for their later years.

Roughly two miles from shore buffered from the chaos of the markets and comfort houses by local housing a grand tiered spire rising some 300 feet into the sky. The Temple of the Winds was built and is maintained by Ankassim. It operates as a lighthouse for the harbor and collects operating fees directly from the city, most specifically the Harbor District, but also smaller dues from the Markets and Comfort Row, both of whom rely on the continued trade to survive. The temple also accepts donations for blessings of fair winds, as well as having priests of Ankassar who can be hired to act as arbiters and judges. Priestly judges of Ankassar take their duty seriously enough that none doubt that their ruling will be impartial and fair.

Other temples cluster in the shadow the Temple of the Winds, around a large cleared and stone paved space to form the tiny district known simply as Sacred Square. Still more housing continues to sprawl out, around and behind Sacred Square and into the wild of the island.

Ki'ninay Government

Ki'ninay Island has a very loose decentralized government. Its history as a Free Port means that the original citizens of the island tend to look down on people bossing others around, especially themselves. As a result, the the districts of Bib'ney and the other towns all are free to run themselves as they please. For larger concerns each district or settlement sends 1 or more members to a ruling council. How the council members are appointed is dependent upon the districts themselves as follows:

• Haven is small enough that they all just get together and vote democratically
  
• Drydock sends one of the shipbuilders, voted by the owners
  
• Sacred Square always sends the head of the Temple of the Winds
  
• Dockside sends 1 warehouse owner and 1 captain
  
• Comfort Row sends the most wealthy innkeeper, tap-house owner, or brothel owner.
  
• The Market District, sends one merchant, supposedly determined by who is willing to front the most money into the district's coffers.
  
• One representative is sent to represent the logging camps and the farming villages combined
  

The council meets quarterly for one week and hammers out issues for the island as a whole among themselves. Despite there being 8 council members there has never been an issue with ties during votes; how this is accomplished is unknown. At this point there is a strong streak of independence among the various districts that have prevented the island from forming a more permanent and lasting government. Eventually some influence, be it external or internal, may finally gather the support to force Ki'ninay to become a nation united.

Maps of Ki'ninay Island