As the name implies, the sand on this island is white. It's mostly made up of the shells of a great many dead sea creatures, eroded over time into tiny fragments.

It has a largely desert climate, inhabited by a number of small kingdoms. The largest of these is most well known for it's strange laws regarding the passing of ruler-ship of the the kingdom from parent to child.

In this kingdom, decrees of the ruler cannot be changed by anyone, neither the present or future rulers. What few decrees are made are often carefully worded. The first king decided that his children were too weak to rule the kingdom, so he formally declared in front of many witnesses, “From this day foreword, to gain the kingdom, my children and their children after them must defeat the current ruler in war.” He gave each of them a large sack of money and sent them in a different direction, telling them to raise an army to defeat him with. This has continued to the present day.

The good rulers have sought to minimize casualties in this rite of passage. In many cases, they've raised an army (to satisfy the requirements of law) and then shown up outside the gates of the palace only to declare, “I will spare the citizens of the city if my father/mother will face me in single combat!” This was often previously agreed on by both parties and has been the most common way the kingdom has passed from parent to child.

Others have taken this the other direction and waged a bloody war with heavy casualties on both sides, especially when the parent has refused to let go of the kingdom.

However, all parties involved (including the citizens) fear the uncertain state the kingdom will be left in, should the ruler die by some means other than defeat at the hands of their children. There is no precedent in their law for this. For this reason, it is not uncommon for the ruler to adopt trusted individuals they feel are worthy as children.

In one historical instance, the king was on his death bed, having had no children. He adopted his most trusted general in the last moments, who immediately “started a coupe” with the other generals and the dying man surrendered to him, to satisfy the requirements of the law.

Needless to say, tradition is extremely important to the kingdom.

The current King took power over the kingdom with a sneak attack in the night from behind, while an army of ten thousand men attempted a frontal assault. Surprisingly enough, there were very few casualties. There was a massive amount of property damage, but they were very careful about who got hurt, which is even more surprising considering the fact that the army was composed of brigands allied with the Prince. How he obtained such loyalty from criminals is still a matter of heated debate.

The palace and most of the city were a total loss: a fire got quite out of control, burning most of it to the ground. Fortunately, the number of people actually living in the city were a small percentage of those in the area. The people have, over the years, taken a not-so-strange disinterest in actually living in the capital city, mostly coming in to trade.

In the confusion, the Prince and a carefully chosen group of men tracked down the King and the Prince bested him in single combat.

The current King is very well known as a loving and generous man. He cares for his people and labors continuously to better their lives.

He's also well known as a just and even-handed man. His own sense of justice will not allow him to pass on the kingdom without a nasty fight. He feels whichever of his children to follow in his footsteps must be strong enough to defeat him fairly.

He's a giant bear of man, well-versed in the ways of war, having defended the kingdom on many occasions.

All of these facts together may be why none of his children have made a single attempt to take the kingdom.