Ghyll:Kebro-shepenor
Pronounced KEVro shef eh NOOR
A small island in Marty, one of the Dagger Seas, which is inhabited by a small group of sheep farmers, collectively know as The Kev. The island is located within sight of the fishing village of Shepenor, but is rather too far out to swim. At low tide, the island is connected to the mainland by a sandbar, but it is too long to walk during the short time that it is exposed.
The island appears to consist of a single central mountain surrounded by thick forests, with beautiful white beaches on three sides of the island, and sheer cliffs on the western end. Very little is known about the interior of the island, as no modern observer has visited the island and returned.
The few pleasure cruises which ply the waters of Marty like to circle Kebro-shepenor so that the tourists can see the beaches. Ironically, it is the stories of the bloodthirsty and vicious inhabitants of the island which keep the EctoMechanauts away from the nearby waters, and thus protect both the beauty of the island and the fishing grounds of Shepenor.
The Kev occasionally come to the mainland to barter wool for supplies, but they do not in any other way participate in the culture of Ghyll, nor do they appear to speak, or understand, any of our language. The Kev do not welcome visitors.
Several linguists and anthropologists have attempted to visit the island, but in most cases, they have been politely refused admission upon arrival at the island. On two well documented occasions, scientists have actually gained admission to the island, but have not been heard from since. While many fictional accounts and urban legends tell accounts of their unpleasant demise, nothing is actually known for certain about what happened.
In -44 EC, Bob Phanqué published a book about the island and its enigmatic people. It described the beauty of the forests, and the hair-raising antics of The Kev. However, when the book was met by unexpected popularity, Phanqué immediately admitted that the book was purely fictional, and had been published against his protestations that it would hurt his professional reputation.
In the summer of -27 EC, a slim book was published by the virtually unknown publishing house Shepenor Press, by the completely unknown author Viktor MiBrons. The book, titled The Kev: My adventures on Kebro-shepenor, told the story of how Viktor accidently landed on the island during a fishing trip, then spent 16 completely uneventful years among The Kev. The book was dreadfully written, frightfully boring, and was an immediate best-seller. It described The Kev as peaceful, friendly people, who subsisted on fishing, farming, and the occasional mutton. Apparently they're also very fond of weaving flowers into jewelry, as many chapters are spent on this topic. Viktor also noted that the missing linguists and anthropologists had simply been delighted with the people and culture, and decided to stay.
After the first three printings of the book sold out Viktor, sick of celebrity and mainland life, gave all the proceeds of the book to the Aminfarances Institute of Science and Technomancy and moved back to the island. Immediately after this, a coalition of local curio shop owners who had, until that summer, made their entire living selling curios of "The Deadly and Warlike Kev!!" bought the rights to the book from Shepenor Press, and then hired a variety of scientists and Brothers to discredit the contents of MiBrons' book. The scientists baffled the public with statistics, and the Brothers confused them with irrelevancies. The book was soon forgotten and the vendors returned to their trade. Occasionally, copies of the book show up at auctions and the controversy resurfaces, but it's usually quickly squelched.
Only one Kev is known to have left the island to become part of the larger Ghyll culture. This man, who goes by the stage name of M'Kev D'wal, travels around the country performing at county fairs. His act consists mainly of capering about the stage shrieking horribly and frightening the children. His friends say that he's not really like that in person. M'Kev D'wal enjoyed fame and popularity during his early career, but is now in semi-retirement.
You are encouraged to drop by Shepenor on your next vacation, and pick up a few of the gruesome clubs and axes of the bloodthirsty Kev warriors.
Citations: Dagger Seas, M'Kev D'wal, Shepenor.
--DrBacchus 21:24, 23 Nov 2004 (EST)
