Kestrel Isles

The Kestrel Isles (Burgoignesc: Les Crecerelles, East Gothic: Die Falkländer, Fhasen: Eileann Bacain, Hendalarskisch: Dí Ostinselen, Pentapolitan Argot: Die Wershinsel), also known as the Barrier Isles, are an archipelago of eleven major islands and several hundred smaller ones, located in the central Vandarch in northwestern Levantia. Divided between Hendalarsk (the Pentapolis), Faneria and Yonderre, the islands have functioned as a vital crossroads between the Gothic and Gaelic worlds for centuries and also serve as an important stopping-point between the Grand Vandarch Canal in the northwest and the Carolina-Grand Canal in the southeast. The archipelago additionally serves a profoundly important ecological role; its rocks and waters provide shelter and unique habitats for a wide array of terrestrial, marine and airborne species (including the Vandarch kestrels from which the archipelago takes its name), as well as many forms of plant life which have adapted to the sea's changing conditions over millennia.

Fhainnin Kestrels
Faneria has claimed at various times the majority of the Kestrels, and currently possesses de jure control of 48 of the recognized islands, including three of the major eleven: Penn's Island, Blackabbey Island, and the Isle of Harbarrow. Of the three, Blackabbey is both the largest and most inhabited, and hosts a population of several tens of thousands as well as its titular abbey and old fortifications from several eras. The Isle of Harbarrow is sparsely populated and the site of a tourist attraction to some of the last barrow built by migrating early Celts in the region. Penn's Island was originally translated into Aenglish in such a way that it was construed as a joke, not aided by it only barely being classed as a major island of the chain in 1978 and thus actually attaining a level of public recognition. Penn's Island is uninhabited and part of an aquatic and avian-centric preserve, with the exception of a park monitoring station.