Isle of Kortos

The Isle of Kortos sits prominently in the center of the Inner Sea and hosts Absalom, Golarion's largest city.

Geography
While the metropolis itself does not occupy the entire landmass, the remaining land is considered among the city-state's holdings, including the smaller settlements of Diobel and Escadar. The tiny village of Pier's End sits on the northern coast of the island and caters to travelers trekking to Escadar.

Much of the unpopulated land surrounding Absalom is filled with ruined siege engines and battlements from the countless assaults on the city's impenetrable walls, and has come to be known as the Cairnlands. The Kortos Mounts rear out of the center of the island, forested in their lower reaches but barren and icy at their peaks. Its highest peak is Arazlant Mox at over 26,000 feet in height.

Just to the north of the Isle of Kortos lies the much smaller Isle of Erran, home to the navy town of Escadar. The tiny island of Pariol, owned by the wealthy and influential Blakros family, lies south of it.

Inhabitants
Tribes of Minotaurs, Harpies, and Centaurs occupy the untamed wilderness beyond the Isle's civilized shores, constantly battling one another and intruders to their territory, and sometimes causing problems for caravans from the western port of Diobel to the markets of Absalom.

Horses are not present on the Isle of Kortos as the Centaurs regard them as invaders and the Harpies like to eat them, so most farmers, merchants, and nobles on the island use camels or axe beaks. Rumor holds that there is a race of winged camels on the north end of the island, but these creatures must be exceedingly rare.

History
Aroden raised the isle from the sea floor in the act of bringing the Starstone from its resting place in the Inner Sea's depths.