The Island of Shipwrecks
Introduction and the feel of the area
The Island of Shipwrecks is a tiny isle, located in between two strong currents which seem to carry many ships onto it. It is surrounded by coral reefs and a low water level, which leads to many of these ships crashing. The local people are diverse and desperate, surviving mostly on catching fish and seeweed from the surrounding reef, as well as resources from ships that crash onto them. In the forest that hides in the middle of the island, however, horrible creatures hide.
The local people are divided among two groups - those who want to return to civilisation, and those who want to enter into symbiosis with the local population of Settled Merfolk.
On every reef hex one may find some broken and rotten planks.
Random Encounters (1d4):
- 1d6 Castaways (1 HD, AC as Leather, Armed with spears and bows) - surprised at your presence, but happy to see more people. Will want to check your shipwreck out (if they learn of the presence of a working ship, they will most likely join you). They are good swimmers.
- (Only on reef) A Giant Octopus (5 HD, AC as Leather, 8 grapples per turn) - curious, playful, beloved by the local Merfolk. A universal friend, may be a bit too playful through. Will not kill nor maim, but may grab you and dip you in water just to watch your reaction.
- (Only on land) 1d6 Ghouls (2! HD, AC as Leather, Armed with Claws (as shortsword, anyone hit must save or take 1d6 NON-LETHAL damage each time they act until their wounds are dressed by someone who cares about them))
- (Only on reef) 1d6 Merfolk (1 HD, AC as Chain in water, unarmored otherwise, armed with their tails (as mace)) - they are gathering the plants and fish from the reef, as well as getting raw copper which they bring to their castaway friends on the land, so that they may get bronze tools.
Hexes themselves
007.029 Castaway Camp
76 people live here. Improvised out of pieces of wood and torn sails are living quarters of tired people. Great structures formed out of sail gather sweet water, but the people are still parched. Some have grown to love this place, there were even a few children born. Even so, they built an improvised forge, which they use to provide bronze for their Merfolk benefactors. They also built barricades towards the inside of the island, afraid of the population of ghouls that lives in the center of the island.
007.030 Bald Forest
This jungle looks strange - everything edible has been eaten, even the moss was licked from the trees. Even so, the non-edible plants make it difficult to see anything. Among the trees, ghouls are hiding, the remains of the crews of the first ships that crashed here - there are 20 ghouls in total, animated by hunger and yet paradoxically unable to die from it. They also have 300 GP among themselves in jewellery. The gold is covered in bite marks.
007.027 Further East
A small yacht, unlike anything else from the "Civilised" lands. Its red sails have now fallen apart, but its hold is still holding - within are rubies worth 500 GP, drugs and letters in a strange language. There is also a map that leads to other realms, that were thought of as just legends.
010.031 Further South
A small ship made out of a single tree, hollowed out, now stabbed through by a jagged piece of stone. The crew died of thirst long before the ship got here on its own. Their corpses are well-preserved by the salt, with only pearls (worth 200 GP) left out of what they carried, everything else cannibalised or used up. If deciphered, the carvings on their walls may also serve as a map to a great land-mass south, of which no one ever heard before.