The Isle of Bones is a remote island of Vala, “over there” beyond the City of the Dragons, called “the last territory”: a fearsome mountain covered with the bones of those who failed in the same feat. It is named in pairs with its neighbor, the Isle of the Lake.
| Type | Island |
| Spanish entry | Isla de los Huesos |
Description
Its one fixed feature is “a fearsome mountain that remains in the memory of others, asambrada with bones, skulls and their amientes, those who failed to undertake the same feat”. Remains of travelers and seafarers cover the slope and surroundings; there is no enclosure, wall or temple. It warns: in it one sees “those who failed to undertake the same feat that you want to undertake”. There “the bones are buried”; it is the last destination. No toll in gold is recorded.
One rule of access, exceptional in Vala: “it can be entered by a group”. No one enters alone.
Other islands
Other islands appear under the same word and are not to be merged:
- a ritual islet, “a little island on the river”, in Extramuros outside the city;
- the Middle Isle, home of court scribes, where travelers lodge by the king’s order;
- Blake’s Isle, where a king was taken prisoner;
- the Isle of Ashes, reached “by crossing the Sea of Cholo”;
- the Isles of Eternal Autumn, behind the Garden of the Alpha and Omega, beyond a veil of reality, with esoteric winds and shapes;
- the Isle of the Venturous Children, which the founder of Vala could have reached: “instead of going to the isle of the Venturous Children, he jumped here”.
Conflicting accounts
- Some versions place the Isle of Bones far off, by the City of the Dragons; the same records include a river island beside a city.
Open questions
- Whether the islands form one system or merely share a word.
- Its bearing from the City of the Dragons; why the Isle of the Lake is named beside it; extent, coasts, climate, buildings.
- The group rule’s minimum number, authorization and passage.
- Who buries or carries the bones; whether there are inhabitants or guardians.
- What “the feat” is.
- Whether the Isles of Eternal Autumn are a real place or a poetic image of a liminal space.