Sundered Isles 4 - Final Prep
I finalize the prep by creating my local area, The Emerald Waters, and get ready to set off on the adventure proper with a new local connection!
Having created the world, a general backstory, my character, and his ship, I am almost ready to set sails. The final step in my campaign prep was to create the local area in which my first adventures would take place. I will not describe that process in details, but I had a lot of fun with the various prompts and oracles in the Sundered Isles book. The resulting area of the Emerald Isles can be seen below:
A brief re-cap for those of you who can read neither my handwriting nor my mind:
The Emerald Waters are a part of the Myriads of the Sundered Isles, i.e. the more populated and settled parts of the vast ocean. Characterised by relatively fair weather, plenty of settlements and much shipping, this is a good area to start. The sketched map above does not show all the islands of the area - just the major ones created by the prompts. As such, there is still plenty left to discover on the fly. Even the islands mapped have the briefest of descriptions, giving me the opportunity to envision settlements, peoples, factions and stories as we approach them. Otherwise, I would spend all my time on prep!
Ottago Island is the large island to the northwest. It is sloped and lush. It has one nearby major island to the north. The main settlement on this heavily forested island is called Port Caldera and it is a city (i.e. a few thousand inhabitants). It was founded by the Kayran Empire as a major industrial, commercial and political hub in the Myriads. During the Sundering and in its aftermath, the influence of Port Caldera faded to an extent, allowing other players to establish themselves in the Emerald Waters. In recent years, however, the Dutch have forged a close alliance with Kayra. As such, with the Empire’s blessing, the Dutch have now taken over the main activities on Ottago. They have revived the shipbuilding trade in Port Caldera and have a significant naval presence in the area. Port Caldera is now once again a significant regional hub and as such, it is a nest of entertainment for high and low society alike, as well as for espionage and intrigue by all the factions of the Sundered Isles.
To the north of Ottago Island, we find a much smaller island whose main feature is the notorious Keep Galloon prison.
Recently, Port Caldera has suffered significant storm damage
To the south of Ottago Island, we find Kouri Islet. It is flat and quite withered. Other info yet to be established.
To the east of Ottago lies Gull Skerry - a small archipelago of flat, lush islets. Also not fully fleshed out yet, but…
…A lighthouse on the southern tip of the island group has been abandoned. How or why is not yet known.
Finally, in the south-east of the Emerald Waters, we find Apex Isle. It is a dramatic island with steeply rising cliffs and mountains from most of the shoreline. In the middle of the island is a mountain both tall and imposing, which is ever shrouded in mist. No one has yet been able to scale this peak and return to tell the tale. In a southern bay of Apex Isle is the Spanish settlement of Puero de la Roca. It is a town (hundreds of inhabitants) and the main industries are mining (within the depths of Apex Mountain) and metallurgy, including cannon-making.
It is currently visited by a large, Spanish fleet. Its purpose is not known before the start of the adventure.
Aside from the Dutch (dominant), Kayran Empire (established) and the Spanish (established), two other factions of note are known to populate the Emerald Waters. One of them is the secretive organization known as The Ashen Spiders (they could be cultists or buccaneers or something else; I have not yet decided. The other is the House Bakura, a small Merthen polity that used to rule Ottago Island until it was all but displaced by Kayra. Its remnants dwell on Kouri, but they have no unified political stance vis-a-vis the other major facitons.
The final bit of prep was for me to roll up a “local connection” who can provide an initial plot hook. In my case, this is Nerissa Redpalm. She is associated with the Brethren of the Sea (i.e. the semi-organized “Republic of Pirates). Nerissa is located in Port Caldera, she is a helpful acquaintance of mine that I have had the pleasure of working with in the past. She has sent message that she needs my help with an urgent task. She suffers from a rare disease with no known cure leading to her cursed moniker “Redpalm”.
And thus, all prep is done, and I can kick off the story with an initial scene. From now on, I will keep “meta-comments” in italics and/or with square brackets. Everything else will be “the narrative proper”. Enjoy!
Find all entries in my Sundered Isles solo RPG campaign playthrough here